Fratelli: The Awakening (The Vampire Cartel #1)

51. A Fragile Trust Part Two

Chapter 51

A Fragile Trust Part Two

B ellagio Casino, Las Vegas - Nevada

April 16, 2018

(5 Days Before Death)

“What is it that you want in return for protecting my brother and me?” Dolly asked.

“You.”

“Me?”

“That’s right. It’s nonnegotiable. I want you, and I mean all of you. If that means I must be tested, then test me. If that means I must be punished, then punish me. But I will not let you go, Dolly. Ever,” said Lucio.

“I’m not immortal. There is no forever with me, Lucio,” she corrected him.

“You don’t know what you are. We haven’t even scratched the surface. And there are ways to gift you immortality,” he replied.

Dolly was too stunned to speak. He just told her the craziest terms of a relationship ever said between a man and woman. Torn between her desire to protect Russell and her anger over his outrageous arrogance, she couldn’t believe that he was convinced he could force her to be his forever.

“If we stay,” she said slowly, “If me and Russell stay, promise me—no more Darlene. Ever. She’s gone. For good.”

Lucio’s eyes stretched. “She’s in you.”

“She’s not in me, Lucio. I am me. We are two different people.”

“Do you know how crazy that sounds?” Lucio asked.

“No crazier than you being a vampire and telling me I am stuck with you forever!”

“Stuck?” Lucio frowned.

“You know what I mean. If we do this, then you have to choose. I choose Russell, and I’ll do whatever I have to, to protect him, even let you… drink from me. Now you choose. Me or her. Right here, right now. Make the choice.”

“I already did. I brought you back,” Lucio reasoned.

“Make the choice, damnit! I want her to hear you say it,” she said and crossed her arms.

“I promise,” Lucio began in a steady and calm voice. “I promise, no more lies, no more secrets. I promise Russell will be safe. You have my word.”

“That’s not what I asked you to do. I said make a choice,” Dolly insisted.

Lucio wiped his hand down over his mouth and chin. “You don’t understand. If I choose you only, I reject her, and that means I reject you both. I’m not choosing you over you. You two are the same.”

“Fine. Not choosing is a choice.” Dolly threw her hands up in defeat. When he reached for her, she sidestepped his touch. “Kill me now or let your brothers do it. Feed me to your father! Feed me to that dragon Darlene brags to me about being inside of you and fucking her. Feed me to it. I don’t care. I don’t.”

“You’re bluffing,” Lucio tossed back.

“Try me. They will come for me, and I swear I will make it easy for them, Lucio. I’ll give myself to your brother. I was there. I saw how he sniffed around Darlene. What do you think will happen when I part my legs for him?” Dolly asked.

“Careful Dolly, you can only push me so far,” he warned. “And what of your brother? What about him? You just going to give him up to my Draca too?”

“I can’t protect him. Not as your slave, not as your blood bag, not as your whore while you fuck me, Darlene, and whatever descendant of Julia Brown that walks through the door!”

“You know about that?” He blinked.

“I know everything, damn it!” She clenched her teeth. “Choose! Me or her!”

Dolly screamed and screamed, her demands of him in his face until it provoked a reaction. Lucio’s anger ignited into a scalding fury. In an instant, he snatched Dolly off her feet, shifting his grip from her arms to her face in a blur of motion. Shocked by experiencing his power, her heart seized in her chest. The heat he emitted was closer to the fire than she’d ever been. She dangled in the air, held aloft by his sheer will. His hands cradled her face with surprising tenderness, a stark contrast to the raw force he exhibited. Her eyes strained downward to see how high he had taken her.

“Lucio…” she said, her screaming voice now reduced to a quiver. “Please don’t hurt me.”

His eyes pleaded with her, the Draca’s fury having stolen his voice. Smoke and power swirled around them, defying gravity and keeping her suspended. She could feel his breath on her lips, the heat of it sending shivers down her spine. His mouth was so close, his presence overwhelming. The fire burning behind his eyes was both electrifying and mesmerizing.

“Don’t hurt me,” she pleaded.

“How could you think it? Do you really think I’m only capable of evil?” he said in a voice choked with emotion. “Have I really lost you?”

He entered her mind against her will, and she was defenseless to stop him. She saw him—a tiny babe, sucking his thumb on a dirty cot. An elderly black woman entered the room. Her presence and touch felt gentle to the babe, but something ageless and dangerous hung over her like a second wrinkled skin. Dolly felt a chill through the experience, like that of a ghostly presence, and she feared for the baby boys. Four cots held sleeping toddlers, but it was Lucio the old woman preferred. Dolly experienced the baby boy’s innocence and love for the old woman, and through his eyes, she felt the woman’s deep affection for him.

While the other babes slept, the old woman picked Lucio up and balanced him on the bone of her ancient hip. Leaning on a cane, she managed to walk out of the room with him and not disturb his baby brothers. Lucio spoke to her in baby babble, and she replied in French as if understanding every word. Dolly watched as the old woman found a plastic nipple from a bottle and placed it in his mouth like a pacifier while she cooked their stew.

He entered her heart, and she felt the care he had for his brothers. Even at a tender young age, he would climb down from his cot to crawl into another brother’s bed and hold him with his tiny arms when the little ones feared the whispering outside of the cabin’s windows. Dolly’s own heart smiled at the tenderness of the cherished memory.

Lucio melded with her soul, sharing with her the despair and heartache of his teenage years. She saw him struggle to be the perfect twin and friend to his brother Domencio, only to face rejection, mockery, and isolation. The pain of being cast aside time and again was a heavy burden that made him feel unloved.

A tear slid down Dolly’s cheek. She had never felt anything so close to the loneliness she carried inside. The unfiltered truth of his ancient pain, suffering, and longing enveloped her, making her weep openly. Lucio’s mouth swept in over hers and his tongue slipped in to render a kiss for her soul. And her arms went around his neck. She was powerless to stop him from taking her over, and if she didn’t fight back. Soon, he’d win.

“Don’t force me, Lucio,” she found her own telepathic ability and sent it straight through his clouded judgment. “This isn’t real if you force me to love you,” she pleaded in her thoughts but deepened the kiss and he received the message. He let his power release her from its hold. He lowered her to her feet with gentleness.

“You win,” he whispered and stole one last kiss before the spell he cast over her broke. All the anger and disappointment returned to Dolly. She hated him for making it so hard to own her feelings and know what was real. What he did, no matter his intention, violated her again, and he didn’t understand it.

“I’ll choose,” he said, his voice finally broke free of the pleading emotion. It came across as empty and void.

Dolly grew bolder when he weakened and gave in to her demand. “Say it Lucio, say it loud and clear. Which one of us do you choose?”

“I choose you. Only you, Dolly,” he said and tried to kiss her again, to reconnect with her, but she turned her face away. Her actions forced him to see how maddening his actions were. He didn’t charge at her or seize her with his vampiric power. She stepped back so fast she stumbled. He was out of her. She could feel his invisible leash that had snaked all around her breaking away. She was free to reclaim her emotions and own them.

Dolly smiled in triumph. “Good. Darlene heard your choice. Now, I’m yours. Let me know when I have to fuck your dragon,” she said and walked away from him. Tristan didn’t dare try to intervene, nor stop her without Lucio’s command. She was free to go.Lucio’s hurt and confusion prevented him from commanding anything. Uncertain of what had transpired, he found himself sitting at the empty dealer’s table in the private suite of the casino. He gave her the most inner part of him, and she spat on the gift. For the first time in over a century, he felt genuine shock. Not even Wanda could reject him when he shared his heart. And his Draca roared with fury inside of him over his actions and rejection of Darlene. He closed his eyes and suffered the darkness’s wrath.

“I can have them both,” he tried to reason with his Draca, to keep the beast from eating him alive from within. “I can convince her and Darlene to unite.” But he knew it was a losing bet. Darlene would not forgive him for casting her aside, and Dolly would never love him or offer him any salvation through her light. He saw it in her eyes. She hated him for what he was, and what his compulsions forced him to do. And she still wasn’t aware of all his crimes.

“Boss?” Tristan whispered.

“Stay away,” Lucio snarled.

“If I can speak?—”

Lucio struck Tristan with his unseen force and sent his consiglieri flying backward into a pillar, nearly blowing a hole through his chest in doing so. The Draca swept up Lucio’s rage like a swarm of bats at the bartender who made a feeble attempt to escape. With his fangs, he tore through his throat. He killed the vampire servant swiftly but viciously. He let his Draca free to savage the flesh and bones, crunch them to dust with his teeth, and spray the room in blood.

And he was not done. He destroyed everything in the suite, from chairs to the walls and ceilings, even exploding the liquor bottles and anything made of glass. Tristan backed away. He kept backing away until he reached the door. Once able, he stood, hurt, but recovering, and took his position at Lucio’s side.

“Go!” snarled Lucio’s Draca, who mourned the loss of his Darlene as Lucio mourned Dolly. “Go, or I’ll eat you next!”

Tristan gave a curt bow of his head and left him.