"What?" Hearing the horror in Alexis's voice, Cara imagined used condoms, sex toys, porn, a penis pump. "What is it?"
"Donatelli's underwear. They're briefs."
Cara glanced at Kelsey, who gave a snicker of amusement. "Geez. You scared me. I thought it was something really gross."
"This is gross!"
"There is nothing here," Cara repeated. "Let's go. I just remembered I said I'd start back at work tonight… they'll want me there by ten so we should go before Donatelli decides to come back to his room."
"Too late," Kelsey said. "He's coming in the door now."
"What?" Cara grabbed Kelsey and glanced around frantically, looking for a place to hide.
"Don't bother. He can sense us."
"Shit," was Alexis's opinion.
Cara looked around for a weapon. That lamp looked heavy, but it was bolted down, and Donatelli was already walking through the door with two women.
He stopped inside the doorway, expression unreadable. Glancing from one of them to the other, he finally settled on Alexis, who was still over by his bed. "Mrs. Carrick," he said. "What a pleasant surprise to see you this evening. You don't usually venture out of your husband's place."
"I felt the need to check out the Venetian," Alexis said, with way more aplomb than Cara could have mustered.
"Excellent." He smiled at Kelsey. "Hello, Kelsey. You're looking good, as usual. I always thought you should have been a supermodel, not a secretary."
"Thanks."
Cara couldn't gauge Kelsey's true feelings from her neutral, polite expression and she was impressed that Kelsey had pulled herself together. She had real reason to be afraid of this man. He had ordered her to be drained of blood, then had her tossed in Ethan's apartment like an empty blood bag.
"And I don't believe we've met." Donatelli held out his hand. "I am Roberto Donatelli."
Alexis and Kelsey were both playing it cool so she needed to do the same. She swallowed a gallon of spit and said carefully, "Cara Kim." She forced herself to shake his hand and concentrate on keeping her thoughts locked.
"Ah. Seamus Fox's new lover. It's a pleasure." With his Italian accent,
lover
didn't sound rude, but Cara sensed it was meant to be. That he was good at saying one thing and meaning another. "Allow me to introduce my friends, Kathy and Laura. They are in town from Oregon and I've been showing them the best spots in Vegas. Kathy, Laura, this is Alexis Baldizzi-Carrick, the wife of a business associate of mine. Kelsey, a close intimate friend of mine, and Cara Kim, a dancer down at the club Some Like It Hot."
Oh, he was good. Cara would give him that. He had managed to let her know he knew who she was, what she was. Intimidate Kelsey. And be the only one to call Alexis by her full given name, in an unfailingly polite gesture that clearly infuriated her. All while ignoring the fact that they were in his private hotel suite without his permission.
"Nice to meet you." Kathy stuck her hand out.
Cara shook automatically while Laura grinned. "We're here for our birthday. We both turned forty this month, so we left the soccer games and the laundry at home and came for a wild weekend."
"Oh, well, Happy Birthday." Cara tried to pull her hand back. Kathy was gripping it too hard, and something about the glassy, drunken look in both their eyes was disturbing.
These were normal suburban housewives and Cara had the sudden sick sinking feeling that Donatelli was toying with them. In what way, she didn't really want to know, but she couldn't imagine it was totally of their own free will. He was using his vampire influence on them and it repulsed her.
"We were just going to have a drink. Would you care to join us?" Donatelli asked, heading to the bar in the sitting room.
"Cut the shit, Donatelli," Alexis said, obviously tired of being polite. "Where's Ethan?"
"You've lost your husband?"
"Do you know where he is?"
"No." Donatelli poured scotch into three glasses. "Is that the reason for your charmingly unexpected visit? You think I know where your husband is?"
"Yes, I do."
"What about Seamus?" Cara asked.
Donatelli handed Kathy and Laura a glass each. They both tossed the whole thing back like seasoned alcoholics.
"I don't know where they are, though I imagine they're together, as usual. If I were both of you, I'd start to worry that maybe there is more than friendship between them."
"You're scum," was Alexis's opinion.
Kathy and Laura were starting to look confused. "Well, what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas," Kathy said inanely.
Donatelli smiled at her, clearly amused. "Come here, both of you."
They walked over to him. He put an arm around each of their backs and walked them over to the bed, murmuring lowly. They stretched out on the huge king-size bed and Donatelli bent over them. Cara was about to scream and yell and do something to stop him, when he stood back up.
Both women were asleep. Cara let out the breath she'd been holding.
Sighing, he walked back to the sitting room. "They were starting to grate on my nerves. I got them for a friend of mine, and he has the audacity to be late in returning tonight." He smiled at Kelsey. "You know my friend, Kelsey. Ringo would enjoy these women, don't you think?"
Kelsey didn't answer, tiny spots of red appearing in her cheeks.
"Leave her alone," Alexis said. "We're leaving anyway."
"Oh, you think so? But I'm not done enjoying your company yet. I was hoping we could play parlor games, have a few drinks, talk and tell jokes." He opened the drawer of the buffet and rooted around in there. "I'd love for Cara to dance for us."
Cara started to back up, tapping Kelsey on the elbow to get her attention. Donatelli was starting to creep her out. He had something in mind. He was taunting them.
"Maybe another night." Cara shot a frantic look at Alexis, who was frowning and studying Donatelli's back. Alexis wasn't paying attention to her.
"No, you'll dance for me tonight." He pulled something out of the drawer, and Cara realized it was a thin, sharp wooden stake. "Ever seen one of these?" He pushed it into his palm, drawing blood.
Cara grabbed Kelsey by the arm and tried to run for the door. There was a rush of movement, air, a loud slamming sound. Cara blinked, fear freezing her to the carpet. Donatelli had Kelsey up against the wall, one hand on her neck, the other holding the stake right over her chest.
Kelsey looked terrified, her breath hard and urgent. Her eyes darted around wildly and landed on Cara, pleading with her.
"Let her go," Alexis demanded. "Kelsey doesn't have anything to do with this."
"But she does. She's here, isn't she?" Donatelli wasn't a big man. He was actually shorter than Kelsey, but he leaned forward and whispered to her, twisting the stake slowly. "Do you remember the last time we were together, Kelsey? This time it will be more than blood I'll take. It will be your life."
Kelsey whimpered as he pressed a little harder, breaking the flesh beneath her silk cami. The silver stained with fresh blood, a tiny quarter-size spot, but growing.
"Stop!" Cara cried out.
Alexis suddenly attacked Donatelli's back, but he knocked her to the floor with one sharp crack of his fist.
"Alexis!" Cara scrambled to her, finding her friend unconscious. Fear made her stomach flip. He'd barely touched Alexis. He could kill Kelsey before they could even blink.
"What do you want?" she asked him.
"I want you to dance for me. That's not so hard, is it? You do it every night."
"Will you let Kelsey go if I do?"
"Absolutely. Once you are stripped down to nothing and you've given me a full five-minute routine, I swear to you, on my honor as a vampire, that I will let Kelsey go. I'll let all of you go. And I'll even tell you where your boyfriend is." He caressed Kelsey's cheek, making her shudder. "What do you think? It's a pretty good deal on your part, don't you think? A bargain, given your experience."
It was meant to humiliate her, mock her. Cara felt nauseous at the thought of taking her clothes off for Donatelli, but one look at Kelsey and she knew she had to do it. Kelsey was crying now, blood tears streaking her pale cheeks, and her whole body quivered. Even her teeth were rattling. Alexis was still out cold on the floor. And Donatelli wouldn't think twice about killing all of them. She could sense that. He let her feel that. He allowed his thoughts of malice and cruel intent, amusement and lack of conscience, drift over to her, so she would understand he was serious.
"Do you have some music?"
He might be lying about letting them go, but it felt like he was telling the truth, and she wasn't sure they had any other options. In fact, she knew they didn't. Giving a desperate call in her head to Seamus, who very possibly needed help of his own, she watched Donatelli let go of Kelsey's neck and point.
"There is a satellite radio system over there on the desk. I'll let you choose the music."
How generous.
Cara found an R&B station with some thumping bass driving a soulful song. She started moving, her back to Donatelli, not ready to face him and his leering, triumphant face. It was harder than she'd thought. She felt cold and stiff, terrified and disgusted.
"Is that the best you can do?" he asked, scoffing. "It's a wonder you keep your job. Dancers are a dime a dozen in this town."
Coming to a complete stop, Cara clenched her fists. She couldn't do this.
A sharp cry of pain and a gurgling jerked from Kelsey. Cara spun around. Donatelli must have pushed the tip in, then pulled it back out, because Kelsey's shirt was crimson on every inch of the left side. Before she could even ask if she was alright, Donatelli reached out with his expensive leather shoe and stepped on Alexis's wrist.
Cara realized Alexis had been discreetly reaching for him, probably to pull his leg out from under him. But he came down on her wrist with enough pressure to rip a scream from her, the sick crunching of her bones reverberating in the room, jarring over the bass music.
"You're starting to irritate me," Donatelli told Alexis.
Alexis held her wrist limping against her chest and rocked back and forth in pain, her lips clamped shut.
"Leave her alone."
"This is getting redundant and tiresome," Donatelli said, voice hardening. "Strip for me, bitch, or I'll kill all three of you in the next thirty seconds."
Menace rolled from him in waves.
Cara pulled off her T-shirt and went into her Tuesday night routine.
Seamus grabbed his head in the elevator and cursed. "Damn, what was that?"
"What?" Ethan was using the wall to prop himself up.
"I felt… fear, or something. Pain." He glanced at the numbers lit up above the doors, suddenly anxious. "I could have sworn I heard Cara calling for me. She was scared."
They were flying downward past the fourteenth floor. "What floor was Donatelli on when we went to his room before?"
"Before he tied us up?" Ethan shrugged. "Twentieth. Why?"
Seamus hit the button for the twelfth floor to get the elevator to stop. "Shit. I think Cara is in Donatelli's room." He didn't know why, but something was just telling him that he needed to get to her. That something was very wrong.
"Why would Cara be here at the Venetian?" Ethan asked, rubbing his jaw.
The elevator doors opened and Seamus hit the button for the twentieth floor. The doors slide shut again and they started back up. "You tell me. Can you call Alexis or are you still too drunk?"
"No, I'm sober now." Ethan shook his head. "But when I call Alexis there is a wall there. I thought it was because she was mad at me but… what if… what if something is wrong? "
Seamus watched his friend's face leech of all color. Ethan ran his hand through his blond hair. "Shit, Seamus. What if Donatelli went after Alexis and Cara while we were tied up on the roof?"
That's exactly what Seamus was afraid of. "I have the worst feeling about all of this. Ethan, you go in the front door. I'm going back up on the roof and fly down to Donatelli's balcony. That way we can watch each other's back."
"There are no balconies at the Venetian," Ethan said, his voice rising in frustration.
"Fine. We'll just have to rush him and hope we catch him off guard."
"If he's hurt my wife, I'm going to be very, very angry," Ethan said.
Seamus was thinking the same thing. "I know exactly what you mean. And when I have Cara safe again, I'm going to sit her down and propose."
The elevator opened on twenty. "Now, let's go."
Cara had her eyes closed so she could block out Donatelli as she moved, her jeans off now. But she couldn't ignore his voice, his insidious, hypnotic, amused voice. It was like a knife picking at her wounds, flicking at her over and over again.
"You remind me of Marie," he was saying. "Seamus's lover from the eighteenth century. She was more petite, that's true, but lush like you, with dark hair and fair skin. She was an actress, did you know that?"
Truthfully Cara hadn't even known the woman's name. Just that she had betrayed Seamus. She didn't want to hear it now, when she was already on display, vulnerable, being mocked and humiliated.
"I can tell from your expression you didn't know. That's a shame, because really you have a lot in common, and I imagine you would have liked her. Quite intelligent and cunning for a mortal, our little Marie, and while her career was based on her looks and her breasts, she was actually an astonishing actress. The whole time she had Seamus convinced she was in love with him, she was working for me. Fancied herself something of a vampire slayer, you know. Saw me as a means to an end. There aren't that many vampires who have the blood of an ancient one, and with Marie's zealous help, I was able to eliminate a number of them on the guillotine. Fox escaped, but many didn't."
Cara couldn't escape either. That was obvious. He wanted her trapped there, he wanted her to hear his vile braggings. He knew she wasn't going to take off her bra and panties, and he was going to let this go on and on until she lost it and crumpled in front of him and begged, cried. She had to work up the courage to finish this. She shook her hair back, rolled her shoulders and her thighs.