My Roommate Is a Vampire(79)

His assurances went a long way towards loosening the knot of pain that had settled in my chest. I sighed, turning in the circle of his arms until my head rested against his chest. His hold on me tightened.

“I made a serious miscalculation when I assumed they would drop this,” he continued. “I know now that they will not take no for an answer from afar.”

My mind caught on the words from afar. I pulled back a little so that I could look at him. “Are you planning to tell them in person?”

He blew out a breath. “The Jamesons are expecting me. My mother is here and will not leave without me. Yes, I believe I need to go to them directly. It’s the only way they will understand I am serious about staying here in Chicago and living my life the way I have chosen to live it.” He swallowed, and pressed a kiss to my forehead. “If I don’t, it’s only a matter of time until they all show up on my doorstep. And I will not allow that to happen. Not while you are living with me.”

I tried to ignore the way my stomach sank like a stone. I had a very bad feeling about this. “So you’re going to the Ritz-Carlton tomorrow night, then?”

He nodded.

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” I hated how needy I sounded. But it had been a wild twenty-four hours. I’d had myself some glorious sex with one vampire and an unplanned altercation with another. I got rejected from one professional opportunity and landed an unexpected job interview with another.

I probably needed to cut myself some slack.

“Yes.” He brushed a lock of my hair that had fallen into my eyes behind my ear. His free hand came up to cradle my face. “All I intend to do is go to the hotel, tell the Jamesons I will not marry Esmeralda, tell my mother she can go to the devil for all I care, and then come right back.”

“Somehow I don’t think it will be that easy.” I’d only spent a few minutes in his mother’s presence, and had only known he was in the middle of a messy Regency-era betrothal situation for the past half hour. Even still, I saw at least five different ways this could end badly.

“I do,” Frederick said, with a confidence I absolutely did not feel. “I don’t remember Miss Jameson well, but it’s the twenty-first century, isn’t it? She can’t want to marry someone she barely knows any more than I do.”

He sounded so confident, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that this was a terrible plan.

“Do you trust any of these people?”

At that, he paused. “No,” he conceded. “But they won’t take no for an answer by missive, and I’m out of options.” I opened my mouth to protest, but he shook his head. “It’ll be fine, I promise. And then I’ll come right back home to you.”

My heart fluttered at his words, despite my misgivings.

“I like that part of the plan,” I admitted.

He paused, his eyes suddenly growing dark with mischief. “Since I’m not going anywhere until tomorrow evening, why don’t I give you something to remember me by before I go?”

His mouth was at the pulse point of my throat, his hands tangling in my hair before I could even answer his question. All at once it was like the past half hour, and all the complications and new entanglements that came with it, had never happened.

I melted against him.

“That sounds good to me,” I breathed, throwing my head back to give him better access.

He growled his approval, then carried me into his bedroom.





EIGHTEEN




    Text messages between Stuart and Sullivan, the night guards of Naperville Dungeon

Hey Stuart

Hey man what’s up

Caught the Naperville Police Department sniffing around this morning

Well, fudge

Yeah

Not good

Did you tell the boss

Not yet

I’m about to

I tell you what, between our new prisoner, who’s done nothing since he got here last night but cry and write letters to some human girl, and the police dropping by, it’s been a hell of a week already

And it’s only Tuesday!

Ugh, I know

Should I ask Mark to go take care of the cops?

Actually scratch that

I haven’t eaten in a while

I’ll do it

Thanks

I owe you one

Yeah, yeah

Meanwhile I better get some ear plugs or else Count von Romeo in here is gonna drive me batty




I’d begun suspecting something was wrong when I woke up in the middle of the night and Frederick still hadn’t come home from the Ritz-Carlton.

Now, though, fifteen hours had passed, with still no word from him. I was nearly sick with worry, and even more convinced that agreeing to meet with his mother and the Jamesons had been a terrible idea.

I hated that if Frederick were in trouble there was literally nothing I—a human—could do about it. But it was unfortunately also the truth.

And right now, I had to focus on my interview with Harmony Academy—which, through a cruel twist of fate, had been set for that afternoon. I told myself that if I could just get through this interview I’d try and find a way to reach Reginald to see if he could help me figure out what had happened. Reginald might be a jerk, but I believed he did care for Frederick on some level and would help if there were something we could do.