How to Marry a Millionaire Vampire(43)

"Ian," Roman spoke into the phone. "I want you and Connor to take Shanna back to the house. And Laszlo and Radinka, too." He hung up. "I have to go. Connor will be here soon."

"Where was the explosion?" She followed him to the door.

He picked up his cape and used it as insulation to turn the locks. "Petrovsky blew up a storeroom of synthetic blood."

"Oh no."

"It could have been worse." He slid back the bar. "The storeroom was far enough away from the ballroom that no one was hurt. But it'll put a dent in our supply."

"Why destroy synthetic blood? Oh." Shanna winced as the answer dawned on her. "He wants to force vampires into biting people again."

"Don't worry." Roman touched her shoulder. "What Petrovsky doesn't know is that I have other plants in Illinois, Texas, and California. We can make up for the shortage on the East Coast if we have to. He hasn't hurt me nearly as bad as he may think."

Shanna smiled with relief. "You're too smart for him."

"I'm sorry I have to go, but I need to check the damage."

"I understand." She pulled open the silver door so he could leave.

He grazed his knuckles down her cheek. "I can be with you later tonight. Will you wait for me?"

"Yes. Be careful." She wanted to hear more about the upcoming war. Roman zoomed down the hall at lightning speed.

As Shanna shut the door, she realized her mistake. He meant he would come to her tonight for vampire sex. And without realizing it, she had agreed.

Thirty minutes later, Shanna was riding in the back of a limousine with Radinka and Laszlo. In the front seat, Connor sat next to Ian, who was driving. Shanna realized now that Ian was much, much older than fifteen. She eyed her companions, trying to figure out if they were all vampires. Ian and Connor definitely were, and they slept in those coffins in the basement. Laszlo was such a sweet, little, cherub-faced man. It was hard to think of him as a demon, though she supposed he was.

Now, Radinka was harder to figure. "You …  you went shopping for me during the daytime, didn't you?"

"Yes, dear." Radinka poured herself a drink from the small wet bar. "I'm mortal, in case you were wondering."

"But Gregori-"

"- is a vampire, yes." Radinka tilted her head to look at Shanna. "Would you like to hear how it happened?"

"Well, it's none of my business."

"Nonsense. It involves Roman, so you should know." Radinka sipped her Scotch and gazed out the tinted window. "Fifteen years ago, my husband, God rest his soul, died of cancer and left us with some horrendous medical bills. Gregori had to leave Yale and come home. He transferred to NYU and got a part-time job. I needed a job, too, but I was inexperienced. Luckily, I found a job at Romatech. The hours were atrocious, of course."

"The night shift?" Shanna asked.

"Yes. After a few months, I adjusted and found I was very capable. And I was never intimidated by Roman. I think he likes that. Eventually I became his personal assistant, and that was when I began to notice things. Especially in Roman's lab. Half-empty bottles of blood, still warm." Radinka smiled. "He's like an absent-minded professor when he's hard at work. He would forget to give himself time to drive home before sunrise. So he'd have to teleport home at the last minute. One second he would be in his lab, and the next, he was gone."

"You knew something was weird."

"Yes. I'm from Eastern Europe originally, and we grow up with tales of vampires. It wasn't difficult to figure it out."

"Didn't it bother you? You didn't want to quit?"

"No." Radinka waved a hand elegantly in the air. "Roman was always very good to me. Then one night, twelve years ago, Gregori came to pick me up from work. We only had one car. He was in the parking lot, waiting for me, when he was attacked."

Connor twisted in his seat. "Was it Petrovsky?"

"I never saw the attacker. He was gone by the time I found my poor son, dying in the parking lot."

Radinka shuddered. "But Gregori says it was Petrovksy, and I'm sure he's right. How could you forget the face of the monster who tries to kill you?"

Connor nodded. "We'll get him."

"Why would he attack Gregori?" Shanna asked.

Laszlo fiddled with a button on his tuxedo jacket. "Most likely, he thought Gregori was a mortal employee at Romatech. He made an easy target."

"Yes." Radinka gulped down some Scotch. "My poor Gregori. He'd lost so much blood. I knew he would never survive a trip to the hospital. I asked Roman to save him, but he refused."

A chill crept over Shanna's skin. "You asked Roman to turn your son into a vampire?"

"It was the only way to save him. Roman insisted he would be condemning the boy's soul to hell, but I wouldn't listen to him. I know Roman is good." Radinka gestured to all the vampires in the car. "These were all good, honorable men before death. Why would death change them? I refuse to believe they're condemned to hell. And I refused to give up on my son and let him die!"

Radinka's hand shook as she set her glass down. "I begged him. I got down on my knees and begged him till he couldn't stand it anymore. He took my son in his arms and transformed him." She wiped a tear from her cheek.

With a shiver, Shanna hugged herself. Radinka believed there was good in Roman, too. Why couldn't he see it in himself? Why was he torturing himself for hundreds of years? "How-how does someone get transformed?"

"A mortal must be drained dry by one or more vampires," Laszlo explained. "At that point, the mortal enters a coma. Left alone, he will die a normal death. But if a vampire feeds his own blood to the victim, the mortal will awaken as a vampire."

"Oh." Shanna swallowed hard. "I don't suppose many people get transformed anymore?"

"Nay," Connor answered. "We doona bite anymore. Of course, Petrovksy and his damned

Malcontents do. But we'll take care of them."

"I hope so." Laszlo jerked at a button. "He wants to kill me, too."

"Why?" Shanna asked.

Laszlo fidgeted in his seat. "No good reason."

"Because he helped you escape." Radinka sipped some more Scotch.

Because of her? Shanna's throat tightened, making it hard to breathe. "I …  I'm so sorry, Laszlo. I had no idea."

"It's not your fault." Laszlo scrunched down in his seat. "I was watching Petrovsky on the surveillance camera with Ian. That man is not …  normal."

Shanna wondered what was normal for a vampire. "You mean he's crazy?"

"He's cruel," Connor said from the front seat. "I've known the bastard for centuries. He hates mortals with a passion."

"And he does that creepy thing with his neck." Ian turned the limo to the right. "Verra strange."

"You havena heard that story?" Connor asked.

"No." Ian glanced at him. "What happened?"

Connor twisted in the seat so he could see everyone. "About two hundred years ago, Ivan was still in Russia. He was attacking a village, not only feeding off the people, but torturing them. Some of the villagers found his coffin in the cellar of an old mill. They waited till he was asleep so they could kill him."

Laszlo leaned forward. "They tried to stake him?" "Nay, they were an ignorant lot, the poor sops. They thought burying the coffin would do the trick, so they took it to a consecrated graveyard and buried Ivan under a large statue of an avenging angel. That night, Ivan awoke and tried to dig his way out. He upset the earth so much, the statue tipped over and clobbered him on the head. Broke his bloody neck."

"You're kidding." Shanna grimaced. "Yuk."

"Doona feel sorry for the bastard," Connor continued. "Instead of fixing his neck, he flew into a rage and murdered the entire village. The next day, when his body tried to heal itself, his neck wasna lined up properly, and he's suffered for it ever since."

"He should suffer," Ian said. "He needs to die." Even if they managed to kill the Russian vampire, Shanna didn't know if her problems would be over. The Russian mafia could hire someone else. And a vampire war was erupting around her. She sank down in her seat. The situation seemed hopeless.

Back in her bedroom at Roman's townhouse, Shanna had no choice but to face the truth: She was seriously attracted to a vampire.

She glanced at the pillow where Roman had rested his head. No wonder she had thought he was dead. During the day, he really was dead. But at night, he walked and talked and digested blood. He worked in his lab, using his brilliant brain to produce amazing scientific achievements. He protected his followers. And whenever he felt like it, he had vampire sex. With his harem. All at the same time. And now he wanted to do it with her?

She groaned. What a strange dilemma. She had locked the door after Connor had brought up a tray of food, but it wouldn't stop Roman from trying to enter her brain. A very satisfying experience, he had said.

She put the empty tray on the floor and grabbed the remote control. She didn't want to think about sex anymore. Or his harem. On the DVN channel, she saw Corky Courrant standing in front of a blown-up section of Romatech and reporting on the latest details. Shanna hardly heard her, for she spotted Roman by the crater. He looked tired and strained. His clothes were gray with dust and grime.