It didn’t take a genius to work out that Alessandro De Luca was batshit crazy.
With a raised brow, Marcus turned away from the floor to ceiling windows to eye his father and then the lifeless body at his feet. A pool of blood was rapidly forming around it as it gushed from the large hole in the neck. He felt his teeth tingle as the intoxicating scent hit him, forcing him to turn away from the temptation.
“Don’t judge me,” Alessandro snapped. “I said I wanted creases on the sleeves of this shirt, this fucking ingrate should have listened.”
His father kicked the body with enough force to send it flying across the room.
His first thought was the blood would stain and he would have to hire professional cleaners to get rid of the metallic, delicious scent. His second thought was he now had to go through all the trouble of disposing of the body without being seen. He didn’t trust Cleanup not to report the killing. And that meant he was going to be late to meet Aidan.
Since the truce had been called after the Great War, it was against the law to kill a human without good reason. It would do no good to remind his father of this. He was an Elder and had therefore been present when the Council had decided on the new laws.
“How long will our guests be here?” he asked Alessandro.
He looked away from the view of Scarlet City again to look around the opulent penthouse suite, his sharp eyes not missing a thing. He had already scanned the area within a two mile radius of the hotel many times. Everyone he sensed was either human or cleared to be in the area. The hotel was owned by one of their own so it had been no trouble to ensure there were no bookings besides the ones he had personally approved. Two human maids were quietly unpacking in one of the bedrooms probably unaware of their friend’s demise while a vampire bodyguard stood just inside the entrance door. The guard’s eyes were glued on the mess that had left a trail of blood across the room and landed right next to him, but he had been in Alessandro’s service long enough to know not to react. He knew two more guards stood outside and the whole building was swarming with members of his League, a special sect of the army known throughout the realm for their systematic ruthlessness.
It had been his job to assemble only the best security, a lot of whom he’d called in from their posts around the country. They would handle any situation discreetly, professionally and with all their inhuman skills and strength. It still did nothing to abate the nagging in the back of his head.
“We’ll leave just after the Council meeting. Make sure you have everything in place by then.”
Great. A whole two weeks with a bunch of fucking sitting ducks.
He watched Alessandro De Luca wipe the blood from his mouth and hands before he poured himself a shot of whiskey into a crystal glass. The offending white shirt now lay useless in the pool of blood. Alessandro moved gracefully to the black leather sofa, straightening his black silk robe like he hadn’t just killed a man. He had always walked like that, like he didn’t give a shit about anything – which, of course, he didn’t. That was probably one of the reasons why a lot of his enemies underestimated him. That plus the fact that he looked like a harmless twenty-five year old boy with nothing to offer but his good looks. Had Alessandra been born in this generation he would probably have been a movie star. He was a tall blond with the killer baby blue eyes, the only consensus to his Italian heritage in this century being his name. He had lost the accent even before Marcus had been born. He grew or cut his hair depending on his mood and had even been known to put strange colours in it. At the moment his hair was colour-free and tied at the back in a neat ponytail, a sure sign of how serious this meeting was.
His father picked up a file from the table, a report from one of his deputies that was among the many he had to read before the meeting. Alessandro had never been one for paperwork. It was highly likely he would only read one or two before he passed them down.
And it was likely he was going to be the unfortunate recipient of his father’s work load, even though he was already in charge of more than three-quarters of his father’s business empire.
“Yes, sir.”
The Elders hadn’t met since the war had ended. Having them all under one roof in this hotel now with rumour of the truce coming to an end was a very bad idea, no matter how heavily secured and how much power the occupants had. Then to have the whole Council, all the leaders of the species they would soon be at war with, was an even worse idea. Any fool could have told them that.
“Maybe you should stay somewhere else,” he suggested. “You could use my apartment at headquarters. It’s just as secure and not likely to get attacked.”
The last thing he wanted was to have his father anywhere in his space, even though he hardly used that apartment. But his first duty lay with his family so he had to protect his father.
“We’re not likely to get attacked here either, Marcus.”
“With all due respect, we’re in a fucking glass building that’s thirty storeys high, and at the brink of war. This isn't the best tactical decision. Forgive me for not sharing your optimism.”
Even with all the extra security the witches had erected, if there was an attack not many of them would come out of it intact. If some of them survived, it would take a long time for them to heal, and they would lose before the war had even begun.
Alessandro put the paper down and trained his icy gaze on him. It was meant to intimidate him and it worked. Though he looked like a mere boy, Alessandro had more power in his little finger than a lot of males combined, himself included. And he was never afraid to use it. In his five hundred years, he’d earned his place among the Elders in the most gruesome fashion.
“Are you questioning our judgement, Marcus?”
His father crossed his legs and looked at him squarely in the eye. Alessandro would think nothing of condemning him to death, even though he held a valuable position both in the family and among their people. Family meant nothing in his father’s world. It was only respect and loyalty that mattered to him.
He bit down on his jaw.
“No, sir,” he answered carefully.
Alessandro smiled, a boyish smile that didn’t quite light up his eyes. Like the psychopath he was. The danger had passed. When tensions were high like they were now his father was very unpredictable and dangerous, as proven by the body lying on the floor.
The file was flung to the end of the chair. Alessandro stood up and joined him by the windows.
“So," Alessandro started with that grin again. "Two weeks before you start breeding. Isn’t it exciting?”
