Dark Obsession

Chapter 2

Chapter Two

If there was one thing Charley’s years of thieving and con artistry had taught her, it was how to compartmentalize.

So when the sun dawned on a new day after the worst night of her life, Charley took a deep breath, reminded herself that Sasha was a total badass, and shoved everything else into that rusty metal box inside her.

A fear so sharp it shredded her heart.

A rage so blinding it made her tremble.

A loss so deep and dark it threatened to swallow her whole.

None of that s**t would help Sasha. Right now, she needed to stay focused. Rudy was a demon, but he still had weaknesses. With Dorian’s help, Charley would find them, exploit them, and get her sister back.

And then?

Rudy would burn.

It was that simple.

Ignoring the headache and the dull throb of the cuts in her mouth and on her hands, Charley wrapped herself in Dorian’s sweatshirt and headed downstairs in search of strong coffee or a strong drink—either would suffice. Instead, she found Aiden sitting alone at the table in the breakfast nook, his face smudged with soot, his gaze a million miles away.

“Aiden?” she said softly, taking a seat across from him. “Are you… Is everything okay?”

The air on the main floor was heavy with the scent of woodsmoke, and the vampire himself looked as if he’d just escaped a fire.

It took him a beat to respond, but when he finally looked up at her, a faint smile touched his lips, and he blinked away the haze from his eyes. “Ms. D’Amico. I thought for sure you’d sleep the day away. Are you feeling all right?”

“As well as can be expected. But…” She took a deep breath of smoke-scented air and narrowed her eyes, taking in his disheveled appearance. “Was there a fire?”

“In the rose garden, yes. Completely controlled, I assure you.” He ran a hand through his hair, his fingers coming away with ash. “Dorian just needed to… clear out a bit of old junk. In with the new, as they say. How’s your head?”

“Still attached to my body. I suppose that’s something, right?” Charley closed her eyes and turned toward the window, basking for a moment in the sunshine streaming through the pane. “Where is Dorian, anyway? I tried to wait up for him last night, but I guess I kept passing out. I don’t think he ever came to bed.”

“He’s in the city with Gabriel following up on another lead, but not to worry. I’m looking after you today, so anything you need, you just let me know.”

The fact that Dorian had left without telling her stung, but she understood why he’d done it.

Dorian and Gabriel were vampires—damn near impenetrable. She was a fragile human, as weak and breakable as glass. Whatever lead they were chasing now, Charley would only get in the way.

With a deep sigh, she opened her eyes and met Aiden’s gaze across the table. He was so calming, so kind. And last night, he’d risked his life for her—first in coordinating the art buy with Vincent Estas, then in fighting off those grays…

God. She was so grateful, yet she couldn’t find a single word to express it.

“What is it?” he asked, his brow creasing with worry.

“I… I don’t deserve your kindness, Aiden. This is… It’s all my fault.”

“Nonsense. You certainly didn’t kick your own ass last night. As a matter of fact, you faced down some pretty terrible odds, and came out—well, slightly worse for the wear, but still. Here you are, head attached, as you’ve so keenly noted.”

She wanted to return his smile, but she couldn’t. Despite her best efforts at compartmentalizing, the guilt still burned in her gut. “I need to tell you something, Aiden. It’s about my uncle and—”

“The sodding demon, you mean.”

“Yes. He’s also my boss.” Charley’s stomach churned, but she forced herself to continue. “He’s an art thief—we’re art thieves. We were plotting to rob the manor. To rob Dorian. His brothers. All of you. That’s the reason all of this happened. The reason Sasha’s missing, and you’re stuck babysitting a chick with a possible head injury, and Dorian’s out there chasing down who knows what, and…”

Before she could stop herself, she blurted out the whole story—how she and Dorian had met at the Salvatore auction, how Rudy had zeroed in on him after she’d mentioned the Whitfield, how she’d been running schemes her entire adult life.

Charley’s shame and embarrassment were so immense, she was sure she’d combust. But through every terrible confession, the kindness in Aiden’s eyes never dimmed.

“It’s all in the past, Ms. D’Amico,” he said when she’d finally run out of words. “No need to further torment yourself.”

“Wait. You… you knew.” Charley stared open-mouthed as the realization struck, but she shouldn’t have been surprised. He was Dorian’s oldest friend—and a damn good one at that. She suspected there weren’t an awful lot of secrets between them.

“Cole as well,” Aiden admitted. “Dorian’s not one for gossip. He simply wanted us to understand the situation before we approached Estas.”

Another flame of guilt licked down her spine, but Charley nodded. Her own mortification aside, it was good Dorian had told them. They had a right to know what kind of person they were fighting for. What kind of person had caused so much destruction.

“I’m so sorry,” she said. “I realize those are just words, but for what it’s worth… I know you’re all risking a lot for me. I… I guess I’m still working on deserving it.”

“Dorian is my brother, Ms. D’Amico, in all the ways that count. He loves you, he trusts you, and he’s forgiven you.” He reached across the table and took her hand, giving her an encouraging squeeze. “That’s enough for me. Let it be enough for you as well.”

She pulled her hand back and lowered her gaze, blinking back tears. “I want to. Really. I just… Sometimes I still can’t believe he stayed, you know? It would’ve been so easy for him to walk away—to avoid all of this. He had so many opportunities to bail, but he never did. Not really.”

“Nor will he.” Aiden let out a soft sigh. “Dorian Redthorne is, among other things, a complicated vampire. I’ve known him for centuries—literal centuries. I’ve seen him through the worst moments of his life as well as the best. Through all of them, he’s carried a darkness inside him that would utterly annihilate a lesser man… And then he met you.”

“But that’s the thing,” Charley said, finally meeting Aiden’s eyes again. “He’s not dark, Aiden. He’s haunted by darkness, he struggles with it, but the darkness itself—it’s not who he is.”

“No, it isn’t.” Aiden’s eyes shone with affection. “And you’re helping him remember it, I think. For that, I’m grateful to you, Ms. D’Amico.”

Charley’s heart ached, but she managed a small smile anyway. “Then, as a show of your gratitude,” she teased, “you need to call me Charlotte. Or Charley. Take your pick.”

“Very well, Charlotte. But now, I should let you get back to bed. I promised Dori I’d look after you, and here I am, chatting your ear off.” He rose from the table. “I’ll come check on you again in a bit.”

“Wait.” She reached up and touched his arm. “Don’t go. I… I won’t be able to get back to sleep anyway.”

“You must try, Charlotte. Dorian will be back later, and I’m sure he’ll have good news. There’s nothing more you can do right now.”

“I need to at least attempt to figure this thing out. And to be honest, I could use the company… if you’re up for it?”

Aiden held her gaze another moment, then finally nodded. “Very well. I’ll put the kettle on, and you can tell me everything you remember about what happened last night. Perhaps we missed a clue.”

Charley nodded. It was a good idea, especially now that her head had cleared a bit.

“Mind if I crash your little tea party?” Cole stepped in through the garage door, his face and flannel smudged with dirt, a rogue maple leaf dangling from his scruffy beard. Like Aiden, he clearly hadn’t slept last night, but his smile was warm and genuine. When he shot her a quick wink, it filled Charley with hope and relief.

They were good men, Dorian’s friends. And for reasons she still couldn’t fathom, they’d taken her in and made her one of their own, faults and fuckups and all.

“How do you take your tea, wolf?” Aiden asked, brushing the leaf from Cole’s beard.

Cole procured a small bottle of booze from his inside flannel pocket. “I’m easy. Straight from the bottle for me.”

Aiden rolled his eyes. “That’s whiskey.”

“Well, it rhymes with tea, don’t it? Right there at the end?”

“An artist and a poet?” Charley grinned, then held out her hand and gestured for the bottle. “We are definitely going to be friends, Cole Diamante.”