After I Fall (Immortal Billionaires #1) - Melissa Sercia Page 0,12
back was turned but I could see she was petite with a perfectly tight ass and long black hair that was swept up into a ponytail. “You’ll introduce me to her later, no? What’s her name?”
Enzo smiled wearily. No matter how old or tired he got, he refused to let me turn him. He said it was against his beliefs. Stubborn old bastard. Though, he never judged me for what I was. “Her name is Raven. She’s inexperienced, but she knows her wines and has an excellent palate.”
“Good. Belissimo. I trust your judgement, Enzo. That’s why you handle all the hiring. You must see something special in her.” Enzo had a soft spot for wayward souls. Sometimes it worked out and they went on to have great careers in the food and beverage industry. And on the rare occasion they turned out to be psycho, he was the one that dealt with the restraining orders. Hopefully, this Raven girl wouldn’t turn out to be the latter.
Enzo sighed. He looked to Raven, who still had her back turned, and then to me. “Promise me you won’t try to sleep with this one. She is very naïve and I think you would ruin her. She has dreams of becoming a chef. I wouldn’t want her getting distracted by your dick.”
A tiny spurt of wine spewed out of my mouth as I burst out laughing. Enzo had never been the shy type, but that was the bluntest thing he’d ever said to me. I liked it. “You make me out to be some kind of sex monster,” I joked. “Relax, the days of me screwing the staff are long over. That was when, the eighties? In Paris? You must really like this one, old man.”
Enzo’s cheeks reddened as he smiled sheepishly. “I do. She is different. This city will eat her alive if we don’t watch out for her.”
It almost seemed like he was getting fatherly protective over her. Enzo never married and never had children, so maybe this was his way of adopting. I just hoped she didn’t disappoint him. “Listen, I’ll meet you at the bar in a few so you can introduce me to your new protégé. I need to make a couple more laps around the terrace before these assholes get too drunk to remember I was a gracious host.”
As I continued to make my rounds through the crowd, my eye kept getting drawn back toward the new hire. I couldn’t explain it but I needed her to turn around. I wanted to see her face. The way she moved gracefully across the terrace drew me in. The curves of her hips and ass, bouncing as she walked, stirred something primal in me, reminding me I was a predator.
I would look but not touch as I’d promised Enzo, but I needed to see more of her. I could sift out the scent of her blood amidst all of these people and it was intoxicating. Her blood was pure, sweet, but filled with nervous energy and a hint of mystery. And something else. Something familiar.
My mouth watered the more I thought about her. I unbuttoned the top of my shirt as visions of tasting her began to choke me. I’d had plenty of blood before the party started but this woman’s scent was making my glands salivate. Just her sheer presence made me thirsty. Coupled with all the noise from a thousand conversations blaring in my ears—conversations I could hear from a mile away thanks to heightened vampire senses—it was dizzying.
I darted in and out of the crowd, trying to make my way back into the main penthouse. If I were going to meet this woman, I would need more blood, or risk coming unglued in front of all these people. I’d always prided myself on being discreet and I’d had hundreds of years of practice, but her blood was getting to me as if I hadn’t fed in days.
I was almost to the living room when one of my business associates cut me off. “Ozi, we need to talk. I found some weird shit going on with one of our accounts.”
Cassius—a giant behemoth of a man covered in tattoos with long dirty blond hair that he swept back into a ponytail—towered over me. He was my business partner and an old friend, but he had terrible timing.
“Cassius. Hello to you too. Can it wait? I need to pop into the storage room before I explode.” I needed to get