Toxic (Venom Series) Book Three Read online

  “Well… what do you know?” murmured Melody, smiling toward the bench.

  Surprisingly, instead of Slade waiting for us there, it was Liam, and he was alone.

  “Do you think Liam got stood up?” asked Melody as we headed over to him.

  “I don’t know. I guess we’ll just have to find out.”

  Liam had changed into a cream-colored sweater, beige khakis, and dark brown leather jacket. His blonde hair was pulled back into a small ponytail and he looked very handsome.

  “Fancy meeting you here,” said Melody with a smirk. She looked around. “So, um, where’s your cougar?”

  “Bridgett? She had to cancel,” he answered, looking disappointed.

  “Why?” asked Melody, who looked quite the opposite.

  “Something to do with family.”

  “Bummer,” she replied.

  “Where’s Slade?” I asked, looking around.

  “He had to leave. We loaded your other bags into the limo and he’s dropping them off at the castle.”

  “Dropping them off? Where was he going afterward?” I asked.

  “He said that he was heading back to Romania.”

  “As in for a few hours or…?” I asked, confused. He hadn’t even said “goodbye” and now he was heading home?

  “As in a couple weeks, it sounded like,” replied Liam. “He’ll be back so that we can practice for the next tour. Our recording studio is in the castle and we were going to be testing out some new songs, too.”

  “So, that’s it? He just took off?” I mumbled in disbelief.

  Liam shrugged.

  “Nice of him to say ‘goodbye’,” said Melody dryly. She turned to me and sighed. “I don’t know, maybe he was upset that we spent so much.”

  “No, money has nothing to do with it,” said Liam. “He’s been traveling a lot lately and just needed to get back to Romania. To his home. He wanted me to mention that he was sorry for leaving so quickly, though, and said that if there was anything you needed, to let me know so that I could relay the message.”

  “I don’t think we need anything else from Slade,” I said looking away. I didn’t want Liam to notice how shook up I was. It was more than obvious that Slade had gotten everything that he’d wanted from me the night before. Now that it was over, he was off to his next conquest. Probably Maureen. The thought of them together brought tears to my eyes.

  “You okay?” asked Melody, touching my arm.

  “I’m fine,” I said, trying to avoid eye contact with her.

  She sighed. “I swear, I’m going to kill Slade the next time I see him.”

  “Why?” I asked, turning away to brush the moisture from my lashes.

  “For what he did to you.”

  I laughed bitterly. “Don’t worry about it. He didn’t do anything to me, Melody.”

  “You two are just friends, right?” asked Liam, looking slightly confused.

  “Of course,” I said. “Anyway, screw Slade if he’s just going to take off like that. We have you, now, Liam. You’re much more fun anyway.”

  Liam grinned. “Damn right I am. So, who’s in the mood for food? I have reservations at Shane’s Steak and Ale and we can still make it if we leave right now.”

  “Where is it?” asked Melody.

  “Not far. The next street over.”

  “Let’s go,” she said, her face beaming up at his.

  At least one of us is enjoying the day, I thought. From the way Melody was staring at him, she was still enthralled by Liam and although he was a player, he never pretended to be anything but.

  Unlike, Slade. Now, I wasn’t sure what to believe about him. For all I knew, he’d lied about Talia and Vanessa, just to make himself look better.

  We began walking and Melody glanced over at me, as Liam began talking about the menu at the restaurant. I could tell that she was checking to see if I was okay.

  I smiled, to let her know that I was fine, even though deep down, I wanted to go back to the castle, climb into bed, and cry my eyes out.

  AFTER RUNNING INTO Liam, on Grafton Street, and hearing about Bridgett, canceling their date, I talked him into taking over for me with the girls. He agreed, and then helped carry all of their purchases to the limo. Afterward, I had his driver take me back to the castle, so that I could make sure that the servants put the bags into the correct rooms. When that was finished, I went in search of Lucian, to tell him to stay the hell away from Chelsey and Melody. Unfortunately, he’d left somewhere with Talia, so instead, I sought out Aiden, who was in his office.

  “You’re back already?” he asked, staring up from his laptop.

  “Liam and I switched places. His date canceled, by the way.”

  “I heard.” Aiden smiled. “So, you had enough, huh? I could only imagine what it’s like to take two teenaged girls shopping. I assume you let them pick out whatever they wanted?”

  “Pretty much.” I sighed. “I need to talk to you about something and I know you’re going to be pissed, but… you should know.”

  His face became serious. “Is it about Chelsey?”

  “Yes.”

  He leaned back in his chair. “I already know.”

  “You already know about what, exactly?”

  “That something is going on between you. It wasn’t hard to figure out. The way that you both look at each other gives it all away.”

  I sat down in the chair across from him. “I started something that I shouldn’t have and now… I’ve been trying to make her think I’m a complete asshole.”

  “Look, I’m going to be honest with you... when it comes to women, my brother is a complete asshole and he has no qualms about it. You? You’re a good guy, Slade. Why exactly do you want her to think otherwise?”

  “For the same reasons that you warned me about not getting romantically involved earlier – Chelsey doesn’t need someone like me in her life. She needs stability and someone who’ll stand by her.”

  “And you wouldn’t?”

  “Of course I would, but I’m a vampire and she’s… she’s young and innocent. I just don’t want to take any more of that away from her.”

  “Any more? You slept with her, didn’t you?”

  Nodding, I rubbed my jaw. “Last night. It just… happened. We were arguing about something and then we both lost control.”

  “No. You lost control. You’re far too old to not know any better.”

  He was right, obviously.

  “Was she a virgin?” he asked. “Please tell me she wasn’t…”

  I nodded.

  Aiden swore.

  “I know. I made a mistake. It’s why I’m trying to distance myself from her. So I don’t continue making them.”

  “By acting like an asshole?”

  “Yes.”

  “Why don’t you just tell her what you’ve told me? That would have been the smartest way to go about this.”

  “I realized now that I should’ve, but it’s too late. I’ve already set things in motion and I’m sure she hates me.”

  “What exactly did you do to piss her off?”

  I told him about flirting with Maureen and making sure that Chelsey saw me accept her phone number.

  “That’s not too bad. There’s still time to tell her the truth,” said Aiden. “At least she would have more respect for you.”

  “I doubt she’d even listen to me. She was pretty angry when I left her.” I smiled. “You should have seen how much she charged on my credit card, just to spite me.”

  Aiden smirked. “Good for her.”

  “I feel like such an idiot. I don’t know why I didn’t just tell her the truth, like you said,” I mumbled, tapping my fingers on his desk. “I guess I’m a little out of practice when it comes to women.”

  “Believe me, there’s no amount of practice that will make you an expert on them,” he replied with a smirk. “So, what do you plan on doing now?”

  “I’m going to go back to Romania. I’ll return in a few days to practice w
ith the band. Other than that, I’m keeping my distance from her.”

  His eyebrow arched. “Did you tell Chelsey that you were going away for a while?”

  “No, but I told Liam to let her know.”

  He grunted and shook his head. “If she didn’t think you were an asshole before, she certainly will now.”

  I shrugged. “It’s for the best.”

  He let out a ragged sigh. “Maybe.”

  “By the way, did the girls meet Lucian this morning?”

  “Briefly. He introduced himself before they left to go shopping with you.”

  “That was it?”

  “As far as I know.”

  “He’s leaving tomorrow, right?”

  “Yes.”

  “Good. I’d keep an eye on him. Chelsey was talking about him like he was her new best friend.”

  “Really? That’s odd.” He chewed on the side of his lip. “Hmm… Could he have charmed her?”

  I grit my teeth. “He’d better not have.”

  Aiden stared ahead, thinking for a few minutes. Then he looked at me. “We’ll keep an eye on Chelsey and Melody. I’ll also make sure that Lucian stays away from them.”

  “I’d appreciate that,” I said, relaxing.

  “You do care about her, don’t you?” asked Aiden, with a knowing smile.

  “Yes. Of course I do. Probably more than I should.”

  “It’s too bad.”

  “What’s too bad?”

  “That life can play such cruel jokes. How many years has it been since you’ve cared about another woman, Slade?”

  I thought of the time I’d courted Vanessa. When things had been good. “Too many to count.”

  “Exactly. Why don’t you start hanging out with your kind more? Female vampires are damn sexy. At least the ones I’ve met.”

  “Yeah, but most of them aren’t worth the bother.” I’d only met a handful of female vampires and they’d all been head-cases. They’d carried more baggage than that psycho Faye Dunbar. “Speaking of which, what are you going to do about Talia?”

  “Now that I know she’s been playing me for a fool?” he sneered.

  “Yes.”

  “I’m pretty sure she’ll be leaving with Lucian and Dr. Shephard. If not, I’ll fire her.”

  “When are you going to confront her?”

  “I’m not sure yet. Maybe tomorrow.”

  “Why wait?”

  He grinned. “Because it’s times like this that I really like toying with people.”

  “Just be careful with Talia.”

  “She doesn’t frighten me,” he replied, thinking that I was warning him about her. “And I haven’t gotten to where I am today without knowing what I’m doing.”

  “I understand. I’m just saying that Lucian might be brainwashing her.”

  “I thought you hated Talia?” he asked, surprised.

  I shrugged, not even sure why I wasn’t telling him that she was really Vanessa, when he was usually my biggest confidant.

  Aiden stood up. “Don’t worry. I’m not going to hurt her. Not physically. But, you know as well as I do, that she played me for a fool. I just can’t let her get away with something like that unscathed.”

  All I could do was nod. The woman had played all of us for fools. Even more than he’d already guessed.

  “Anyway, she’ll definitely be gone tomorrow, with the others. Are you sure you don’t want to stick around and watch as things unfold?”

  An image of Chelsey popped into my head. If I didn’t leave now, I knew I’d be back in her bedroom. It would only be a matter of time. Even now, I wanted to fly back to her, snatch her off of the street, and take her away with me to Romania, where we could just… be.

  I pushed the absurd thought aside. “I need to stay away. For Chelsey’s sake.”

  Noticing something in my expression, he smiled. “Do you really think that it will be enough? Keeping your distance?”

  “It will have to be.”

  “Your eyes give you away, Slade. You’ve got it bad for her. I wonder how long you’ll be able to hold out.”

  I smirked. “You don’t believe that I can do it?”

  “Keep your distance?” He chuckled. “What’s a few thousand miles when you’re a vampire?”

  “I won’t have to see her face.”

  Aiden got this faraway look in his eyes. “Believe me, if you’ve already fallen in love with the girl, you’ll never stop seeing her. Especially when you’re alone.”

  “I’ve been there, with Vanessa,” I replied. The interesting thing was that now that I knew she was alive, my sorrow was gone, but so was the passion I’d once felt for her.

  “Believe it or not, this might be worse. There’s a finality in death but when you know that the woman you love is alive, her existence haunts you. You may even find yourself wondering if you’d made the right choice…” he said, his voice trailing off.

  My eyes widened. “You’ve been in love?”

  He smiled grimly. “You’re surprised.”

  “I am, only because you’ve never mentioned it. I’ve seen you with women before and from what I can tell, you’ve not been too serious with any of them.”

  “I make it a point to keep my distance.”

  “Was she a Lycan?”

  He nodded.

  “Is she still alive?”

  Aiden sighed. “Look, this isn’t about me. It’s about you,” he said, looking uncomfortable.

  “I know and I appreciate you trying to help. As far as Chelsey goes, I wanted to end it before she really gets hurt. She might be pissed now, but at least she has a chance for a normal life with a normal man.”

  “This is true.”

  “It’s better this way.”

  “Sounds like you’re trying to convince yourself, more than anyone else,” he chuckled.

  “No. I know it’s the right thing to do.”

  “So, you’ve got this?” he asked, smirking.

  “Definitely.” My answer sounded forced, even to me.

  LUNCH WITH LIAM helped to take my mind off of Slade for a while. Between bites of corned beef and cabbage, he told us stories about some of the escapades involving him and his two brothers, when they were growing up. By the end of our meal, I couldn’t remember laughing so hard.

  “You and Aiden were so cruel,” said Melody, after he told us about Torin and some of the practical jokes they’d played on him.

  “We were usually just trying to get him to laugh. He’s always been so damn serious about everything,” replied Liam. “Unfortunately, he didn’t have a very good sense of humor, even back then.”

  “Did you ever think that maybe he’s like that because you and Aiden are a couple of jokers? Maybe he just felt the need to balance you two out,” said Melody.

  “Yeah, I guess that would make sense. Anyway, you’re going to get the chance to meet him sometime tomorrow. He’s flying over with a couple more guests.”

  “Really? That’s great. So, is he cute?” asked Melody leaning forward with a gleam in her eye.

  Liam’s smile faltered. “He gets his share of women and he is a Rylan. I guess one might say he’s good looking,” he replied, taking a swig of his beer.

  “Good. I can’t wait to meet him,” she said.

  “Whatever happened to your parents?” I asked.

  “They were murdered,” he replied, his face turning grim. “About twenty years ago.”

  Melody and I both stared at him in horror.

  “What happened?” I asked.

  He explained that they’d been traveling in the U.S. when it happened. “We’re not really sure of the details. They were found in the desert, near Las Vegas. Both of them were carved up pretty bad.”

  Melody reached over and touched his hand. “God, I’m so sorry, Liam. Did they catch the people that did it?”

  “All we know is that they were Lycan and no… we never did catch the bastards that did it.”

  “But you don’t know? Are the
re that many Lycan in the U.S.?” I asked, still in shock. Although it had happened twenty years ago, you could still see the pain and anguish in his blue eyes. He’d never gotten over it. I doubted I’d get over my parent’s deaths either.

  “Apparently. Anyway, we have an idea but it isn’t enough to go start killing other Lycan.”

  “No, I guess not,” I replied.

  “Aiden has people still looking into their murders. He thinks we’ll find out eventually. When that day comes, the bastards will beg for a quick death.” He stared right through his beer. “But, we won’t give it to them. It will be slow and painful. The only kind they deserve.”

  “I wish Faye would get the same kind of treatment,” said Melody. “She doesn’t deserve to live, either.”

  “She’ll be getting hers, soon enough,” said Liam, looking up. He smiled. “I’ll be there to make sure she pays for your family’s deaths.”

  “Thank you, Liam,” she said softly. Her eyes began to glisten with tears. “You’re one of the good guys.”

  “When it comes to my friends, I try to be,” he said and then gave us a lopsided smile. “Now, enough of this melancholy B.S. How about we get ourselves some dessert, rent a couple of movies, and then go back to the castle and watch them?”

  “Rent some movies? Really?” I asked, smiling back at him. The normality of it sounded not only fun, but comforting. Right now, I needed both.

  He finished his beer and signaled for the waitress. “Yeah. I’m thinking a comedy would be good. I think we’ve all had enough bad news for the day.”

  I couldn’t have agreed more.

  ON THE WAY back to the castle, we stopped at a place called Boots, and picked up the rest of the items we needed, like - deodorant, makeup, and other personal items. Melody even bought some condoms, just to tease Liam, who agreed to pay for it all.

  “So, Liam, which brand should I get?” she asked, staring at the boxes.

  He looked around the store, a little embarrassed. “I don’t know. Why don’t you not worry about it and let your fella decide?”

  “I like to be prepared. You just never know what could happen in the heat of a moment. You know?”

  He grunted. “Yeah. I know.”

  “I’ll get both of these in different sizes,” she said, throwing four boxes into the cart.