Relentless (Vampire Awakenings #11) - Brenda K. Davies Page 0,5

but they were a place to start.

Before he could hail a taxi, his gaze went to Adler’s piano bar, a few buildings down and across the street. His chest constricted; he was so close to the woman he could almost smell her.

And then, he realized he did smell cherries on the air. Turning his head, he searched the crowd of people on the sidewalk before spotting her a hundred feet to the left. His heart slammed against his ribs as she weaved expertly in and out of the crowd.

She was about six inches shorter than his six-two height. Her formfitting jeans and blue shirt emphasized her rounded hips and breasts that would fit perfectly in his hands. Her sandy blonde hair flowed around her shoulders in waves. She had high cheekbones, a slender nose with a slight slope at the end, and a red, rosebud mouth that could do many amazing things to a man.

He’d encountered more than a few beautiful women in his lifetime, but they all paled in comparison to this one. And her grace was as mesmerizing as her beauty. He couldn’t look away from her as she flowed across the ground like water over rocks.

She had no idea he was there, but he suddenly felt as excited and awkward as he had in that lunchroom with Tiffany. No, he felt as nervous as he had while standing on Tiffany’s doorstep. He’d smoothed his hair and straightened his shirt a couple of dozen times before finally ringing the bell. Looking back, he realized Tiffany knew he was there the whole time as the door opened almost instantly, but he’d been too anxious to notice at the time.

And he wasn’t the only one who noticed the woman as more than a few heads turned to follow her. Dante gritted his teeth when unexpected jealousy clawed at his insides. He barely knew her, yet images of beating down every one of the men staring after her filled his head.

Dante turned his attention back to the woman. He felt like an awkward teen all over again, but he couldn’t let this opportunity pass him.

“Mr. Vares? Mr. Vares?”

Dante was about to step off the sidewalk to run across the street when he realized someone was calling him by the fake name he used for his investigations. After using it for ten years, he was adept at responding to it, but it took far longer to penetrate this time than he cared to admit.

Hoping that he hadn’t given something away, Dante tore his gaze from the woman and turned to find Missy hovering at his side. She frowned at him.

“What is it, Missy?” he asked.

“I was calling you for like… a minute.”

He doubted it had been that long, but it might have been. He’d been pretty focused on the woman. “I’m sorry. I was trying to figure out where to go next.”

“Hmm,” she murmured doubtfully. “Anyway, you should talk to Julie’s brother.”

He didn’t have to check his notes to know Mrs. Abbott told him there were no siblings. They were one of the first things he asked about and always a good starting point. Even if they fought constantly, siblings often knew more about each other than they realized. Why had Mrs. Abbott denied the presence of a brother, and where was he in all those perfect family photos?

“Julie has a brother?” he asked.

“Yeah, but her mom doesn’t know about him, so you can’t, like, say anything to her.”

“I won’t,” Dante promised. “How come Mrs. Abbott doesn’t know about him?”

“He contacted Julie after their dad died. Apparently, her dad got some woman pregnant before Julie was born. I don’t know all the details, because honestly, that’s when Julie started getting all freaky. Paris will know more about him.”

He was looking forward to talking to Paris. “Do you know the brother’s name?”

“No.”

“Thank you, Missy.”

“I hope you find her.”

That was the first time Missy revealed any hope for such a thing.

“I mean, she turned into a raging bitch, but I don’t want to see anything bad happen to her.”

And there was the Missy he’d come to know over the past half an hour. “Neither do I.”

Dante turned away in time to see the woman enter Adler’s. He considered following her; she was alone, so now was the time to talk to her, but he suspected he wouldn’t want to leave, and he had to check out those vamp bars.

Chapter Four

Cassidy closed her eyes while the words for “I Will Always Love You” flowed from