Bled Dry (Vegas Vampires #3)(26)
Author: Erin McCarthy

“I’m relaxed.”

The bastard did look completely content.

He took another sip. “Would you care for a drink? Smith ended up heading home early with a date, and he never touched his blend.” Donatelli bent over and lifted another of the coffee cups and held it out to him.

Ringo shook his head rapidly. He knew what was in Smith’s blood drink. It would be tainted with heroin, because Smith was an addict, like Ringo had been. And Donatelli knew it.

“No, thanks,” Ringo said, heart pounding. He wanted a drink. Desperately. He wanted to sink and swim into the blood, to let it careen through his body with the force of a roller coaster, setting off prickles of pleasure everywhere, emptying his mind and soaking him in a false artificial bliss. “I came because I wanted to offer you a piece of information for a price.”

“In regards to what?” Donatelli still held the cup, and swirled the liquid in it around and around.

Sweat formed on Ringo’s forehead. This had been a mistake. Greed had driven him to take a chance, and he was suddenly afraid he’d just dicked himself over. He hadn’t realized how gnawing the temptation would still be, how hard it would be to stare down Donatelli and not be reminded of their past, where Ringo had been the consumer and Donatelli the provider. Clenching his fists in the pockets of his jacket, Ringo said, “In regards to vampire procreation.”

Donatelli looked mildly surprised. “You have my attention, since that is not your area of expertise.”

“But it is Atelier’s, who was in charge of my treatment for drug abuse.”

“How intriguing. I’ll bite. How much?”

“A hundred grand.”

Donatelli snorted and turned toward the skating rink. “That’s ridiculous. And why is that woman wearing those purple pants? That is a crime against cotton.”

Ringo had been prepared for that reaction. “What if I told you that Atelier is going to become a father?”

“I would say congratulations, especially since I was starting to suspect he doesn’t even have a prick. He’s not known for socializing.”

“What if I told you the mother is half-vampire.”

That got a reaction. Donatelli shot him a startled look. “I’d say that is very interesting, but worth only five grand, tops.”

“Throw in twenty more and I’ll tell you who she is.”

“I don’t need you for that. I can just have someone observe who Atelier is visiting these days.”

“Except my sources tell me that Atelier isn’t seeing anyone these days. No one knows about the child. No one knows about the mother. No one but him. Her. And me.” Ringo swallowed hard. He could smell the blood, thick and warm and laced with that extra tangy mix of alcohol and drugs. His hands were starting to shake.

“When is this bundle of joy due?”

Ringo shrugged. “I’ve said enough.” He stuck his foot on the bottom of the railing, needing the support. Vampires weren’t supposed to feel cold, but Ringo felt the sensation of ice water careening through his veins. He wanted that blood. “I’ll be in town tonight, then I’m leaving tomorrow. Call my cell phone if you’d like to discuss it further.”

Donatelli didn’t reach for the card Ringo gave him, so he tucked it into the pocket of the Italian’s expensive overcoat.

“You realize you have tipped your hand, don’t you?” Donatelli asked him.

Ringo pushed back. “Just the first card. I’ve got four more facedown.”

Not to mention he had lifted Donatelli’s wallet out of his pocket. Ringo and Kelsey’s hotel bill would be compliments of Donatelli that night. Time to move to the Ritz.

“Ever confident. Ever foolish.” Donatelli smiled at him. “Stick to murder for hire. You’re better at that than vampire politics.”

But Ringo just smiled back. “See you around, Donatelli.” He waved and cut across the sidewalk, heading toward Forty-second Street and away from the coffee cup that was calling him.

Kelsey waited until Ringo had left, lifting his hand for a cab. She had been watching from the clothing storefront across the street, hidden among shoppers behind a table of turtleneck sweaters.

Donatelli was still staring at the ice rink, but she didn’t want to risk him walking away, so she moved quickly. He sensed her coming behind him and turned. A smile crossed his face.

“Ah, Miss Kelsey, how good to see you again. I should have known you were hanging about. Where there is Ringo, there is Kelsey.”

Her fear and revulsion fought to gain supremacy, but Kelsey stopped two feet in front of him and screwed up her courage. This man may have ordered her drained of all her blood and left for dead a few months back, but he couldn’t hurt her, not here, not with hundreds of people moving around them.

“Leave my husband alone.”

His eyebrow rose. “Husband? What a surprise. Congratulations, my dear. You are now attached for eternity to a drug-addicted killer. Should I send you a silver soup tureen? Linens, perhaps. Either way, may you have more success with your marriage than I had with mine.”

Kelsey put her hands inside the pouch pocket of her hooded sweatshirt. “I’m serious. Leave Ringo alone.”

“You aren’t taking into account he contacted me . I was minding my own business, doing a little preholiday shopping and sampling the delights of the city, when he called me.”

Despising the way he talked, the arrogance, the way his finger rolled around and around the rim of the coffee cup in his hand, Kelsey tensed. She knew what was in his cup, as well as the one on the ground. She knew this man was responsible for Ringo’s addiction. “You don’t really believe him, do you? He’s trying to bilk you because we’re broke and we’re on the run.”

Ringo thought he could shut her out of his thoughts, but Kelsey could catch random bits and pieces, enough to know that he had come to Donatelli to sell information. She also knew that he loved her, even if he didn’t realize that’s what it was, and she loved him in return. Unfortunately, his sense of right and wrong wasn’t exactly well developed and he made bad choices. A lot of them. But she could fix this one.

Donatelli sipped his drink. “You know, I find that a fascinating strategy on your part. You’re willing to risk his anger in order to protect him from me. I’m flattered that you are that frightened of what I can do to him. But I don’t think he is making this story up… he couldn’t have created it on his own, or understood the importance of it. Sorry, Kelsey, you can’t make me go away. I am interested in negotiating a sale with your husband.”