The Vampire's Mail Order Bride(4)
A tingle of something shot through Delaney’s spine. Fear? Hope? Stupidity? Probably all three. There was no time to think about this. Anthony Rastinelli and his greasy son could be headed to her apartment at this very moment. Her breath stuck in her throat. Captain was there! If they hurt him, she would make sure they went to prison. Then she would send them poisoned cakes.
She paused. Except they’d be going to her old address. She’d moved a month ago and had yet to give Rastinelli her new info. There was hope yet.
She looked at the info in the file again. Annabelle wasn’t expected for another week. A phone call from Adelaide’s new assistant and Annabelle would have to understand this match just wasn’t going to happen.
Delaney would make that call on the way. Right now, she had to get Captain Underpants and herself packed for a trip.
She jammed the file under her arm and raced toward home.
“How are you, Grandmamma?” Hugh kissed his grandmother’s barely wrinkled cheek, catching the fragrance of violet water even though it competed with the arrangement of fresh flowers that adorned the top of the piano. He braced himself for the worst. She wore violets only when she was in an obstinate mood.
Come to think of it, Elenora Ellingham wore violets often.
“Not well.” She held a lacy handkerchief to her nose and looked toward the marble fireplace. She might have been turned in her sixties but she’d been a handsome woman even then. Becoming a vampire had only made her more beautiful.
He stifled a snort as he settled into the velvet Louis chair across from her. “I’m sorry to hear that. You’re not thinking about facing the dawn, are you?”
She dropped her hand to her lap and glowered at him. “I like you least of my grandsons.”
He nodded dutifully, suppressing the grin that would only get him into more trouble. “I know.”
She shook her head at him. “You hardly visit me anymore.”
“We went out to lunch two days ago, and three days before that we were all together for Sunday supper.”
She took a deep breath and stared toward the window. The crescent moon was just visible in the night sky. “I’ve decided enough is enough.”
“What is?” Oh, this had the makings of something epic. He waited to see what he’d done now.
“Of you being alone. Of you mourning Juliette and breaking hearts.” She raised her brows. “It’s been over three hundred years. Plenty of time for you to move on and give me some grandbabies.”
His jaw fell open, but he was powerless to close it.
“Shut your mouth, Hugh. I can see your fangs.” She frowned at him. “It’s not like it’s impossible for vampires to procreate. As long as both parties have been turned, they have as much chance of producing a child as a mortal couple. You know the rest, I assume, or would you like me to have that talk with you as well?”
“Have you gone mad, woman? No, I don’t need to hear the birds and the bees from you.” He pressed his fingers to his brow in an attempt to stave off the headache that would be hitting him at any moment due to the influx of questions barraging his brain. He wasn’t sure where to start, so he chose the topic of least resistance. “Why am I suddenly the one responsible for carrying on the Ellingham line?”
“Well, your brothers aren’t going to do it, are they?”
“Sebastian…no, never mind.” His eldest brother had also been married when they’d been turned, but unlike Juliette, Sebastian’s wife had survived the transition. Their marriage had not. She’d decided she enjoyed the vampire life so much she’d rather try it unencumbered by a husband. The whole ordeal had soured Sebastian on women and wedded bliss.
Hugh understood. To an extent. Sebastian had taken it hard, where as if Juliette had simply left Hugh as opposed to dying, he could very well imagine he would have been remarried by now. “Sebastian may never get over Evangeline.”
“I’ve come to accept that.” She nodded. “Sebastian is broken. I don’t believe there’s a woman alive who could mend that man’s heart.”
“There’s still Julian—”
“Oh, please.” She waved her handkerchief at him. “Julian is a complete and utter charmer, but he’s also a man whore. He’s made a mockery of monogamy. It will take a woman of a very particular kind to set him on a loyal path, if such a creature exists, and I don’t have the time or patience to wait.”
He squinted at her. “You don’t have the time? Grandmamma, we’ve been vampires for almost three hundred and fifty years, and there’s no reason to think we won’t be vampires for another three hundred and fifty. Time is not something we lack.”