Venice Vampyr - The Beginning

“It appears that Bianca ran away from her father when he planned to marry her off to some rich old aristocrat. Headstrong young woman. Wouldn’t give into her father’s demands.”


Headstrong certainly sounded like Bianca. He’d been at the receiving end of it himself. “I assume she had a beau already and eloped with him?”

Nico shook his head. “Not at all. She left on her own. And your sweet Bianca has never been married.”

If she hadn’t been married, then some cad had first taken his pleasure with her, and then left her. Why else wouldn’t she have been a virgin? “Her lover left her?”

“Which one?”

Confusion spread in Lorenzo. “What do mean by which one?”

“What I’m trying to tell you, my dear Lorenzo, is that the woman currently waiting in your bed is quite at home at what she does there.”

A sense of dread filled him at Nico’s words, but the full implication of them hadn’t sunk in yet. “What are you implying?” Only when the words were out, Lorenzo noticed how his voice had risen in anger.

“I’m not implying anything. I’m telling you that Bianco Greco has spent the last few years as a highly-priced courtesan in Florence. She’s no lady and certainly no innocent.”

Shock made Lorenzo jump up from his chair. Instantly, all their interactions rushed back to him: how she’d responded to him in her sleep, the way she’d demanded he’d satisfy her, and then the way she’d squeezed his cock that had given him so much pleasure. Of course, now it all made sense. She was an experienced woman. And not better than a common whore.

“As for the money,” Nico continued undeterred, “she collected it from Mancini the day the deed was recorded.”

Lorenzo felt as if he’d been staked. She’d lied to him about everything from the very first moment. “She’s playing me.”

Nico nodded, his expression grave now. “I’m afraid so. Now, we’ll just need to find out what her plan is.”

“Her plan?” The wound in Lorenzo’s chest widened as the realization of her betrayal sank in deeper and buried itself in his vulnerable flesh. “Isn’t that obvious? She wants the house back even if that means she has to service my carnal needs.”

“It’s simple then. Just show her the door.” Nico brushed a dust particle off his immaculate breeches, flicking his wrist in a nonchalant gesture.

“I can’t do that.”

“Of course you can. Tell her to get dressed and shove her out the door.”

“Nico, you don’t understand: I made her my mistress.”

Nico’s eyebrows rose in surprise. “Well, that’s unexpected coming from you. But I’ll let you in on a little secret.” He edged forward on his seat. “Men dismiss their mistresses at will. Now do it. You certainly don’t need a gold digger in your home. Besides, she might get in the way of what we’re trying to accomplish. I’m sure neither Raphael nor Dante would be pleased to have a human woman among our midst, who might turn out to be a spy.”

Lorenzo dismissed the idea instantly. Bianca was no spy. She was a greedy woman, who was after his wealth. After realizing that her father had left her nothing, she’d seen her chance and taken it. Unfortunately, he hadn’t seen it coming, and now there was something else that made it impossible for him to send her away.

“I can’t dismiss her. I’ve compromised her.”

Nico stood up, agitated now. “She was already compromised. You didn’t fuck a virgin!”

“I knew that already. But you don’t understand: I took no precautions, and neither did she.”

Nico frowned. “Precautions?”

Lorenzo rounded his chair and gripped its backrest, suddenly in need of support. “To prevent conception. She could already be carrying my child.”

His friend let out an exasperated breath. “I don’t believe this. You? You of all people?” Nico’s look was scolding. “You’ve been had!”

Lorenzo cursed. “I know that. Don’t you think I know that?” He hit his fist against the backrest of his armchair. “She’s planned this down to the last detail: seduced me with her innocent demeanor, lulled me in. And what did I do? I complied. Now she’s going to use a child to get what she wants.”

Worst of all, if she turned out to be enceinte, he would have to make an important decision: have her bear a human child or make her give him a half-vampire child. His actions during her pregnancy would determine the outcome. If Bianca fed from him while the child was in her womb, the child would draw from his blood and receive its vampire traits. But if she never took any of his blood into her, her child would be perfectly human. The choice was his.

“What are you thinking?” Nico cut through his thoughts.

“Nothing.”

“Oh, no, you’d better not be thinking what I think you are.”

Lorenzo cut him an annoyed glare. “Stay out of this. It’s none of your business.”