Page 73 of Endlessly Raphael
Clutching him around the neck, I lift him off the ground. “No? Then what was the threat made to his father?”
Joe coughs as he chokes in my grip. “I thought…” He squeezes his eyes closed for a second. “I thought if he came down here and got beat up, he’d back off.” He coughs again. “I paid—” He can’t get his words out so I loosen my hold just enough.
“Talk.”
“I paid some kids, but Haven… he went inside.” Joe grimaces. “There’s some mob guys inside.”
I toss Joe to the ground. “I’ll deal with you later,” I growl as I stomp towards the building’s door. Eros and Thorn are beside me while Midnight keeps Joe under his watchful eye.
I kick the door off its hinges, navigating the musty, dark space to the only dim light on near the back. I tear that door from its frame too, entering the room just as some huge dude is touching my mate’s face. I hiss loud enough to rattle the windows before descending on the man, easily dragging him away from Haven.
I let my beast take over at that point, or rather, I give in to what is already happening, shredding the man’s neck open with one swipe. Then I’m on top of him, tearing at his flesh with my fangs and soaking in his pained screams as he begs me to let him live.
I don’t know how much time passes until my beast is satiated and the man beneath me is nothing but a bloody ruin, but when the haze lifts, I turn to Haven and the realization of what he just witnessed sinks in. But instead of fear, I see awe and lust coloring his features.
“Holy fuck, Rapha. What are you?”
I glance around the space. Thorn is packing up the cash while Midnight and Eros destroy the guns and drugs. The other man lies lifeless on the floor between them, a pool of blood surrounding his body.
Without a viable excuse and too relieved that Haven is safe to come up with a plausible explanation or to compel it away, I simply nod. He had to know at some point.
“Haven, my beauty. I’m a vampire.”
I don’t know what kind of reaction I expected, but it isn’t the one I get. Haven’s mouth spreads into a brilliant smile.
“A vampire? No way. A vampire,” he repeats in a breathy voice. He gazes off for a second then nods. “That’s how you influenced my father. That’s why…” He pauses as his face lights up. “That’s what you meant earlier that we aren’t just soulmates.”
I nod, pulling myself up from the floor. I’m covered in the man’s blood, and now that Haven knows, the vampire in me won’t subside. He doesn’t seem to fear me as I slowly walk toward him though.
“You’re not in the Mafia or CIA ops.” He chuckles. “A vampire.”
“There’s a lot to discuss, but first, we need to get you out of here.”
“Okay.”
He studies my face as I untie him. Once his hands are free, he reaches out and brushes his fingers across my bloody cheek, wiping them on his own shirt.
“I knew you would come. I felt it.”
Haven lifts the hem of his t-shirt and wipes the blood from my mouth. My eyelids flutter from his unspoken acceptance. I turn my face to kiss his wrist as he cleans me up.
“I knew you weren’t a regular man,” he whispers.
“No.” I grip his hand. “Haven, Joe is outside.”
His brow creases. “Joe? My uncle Joe?”
I nod. “Yes. He sent you here to have you beat up.”
“What? I got a text from you.”
“No. It was him. Somehow he texted me too, from someone in my contact list. Led me across town from here. He planned all of this.”
His eyes widen with betrayal and shock. “He wanted me to die?”
“He says he didn’t mean for it to go that far. Do you want to see him?”
“Fuck yeah, I want to see him.”