Secret of the Wolf(16)

Tori's mouth formed a perfect little O. Then she pressed her lips together, he figured, against a grin. "That couldn't have been easy."

"It wasn't. But it was SOP for Granddad. He was in jail the day I was born. And the last time he got sent up was the last time. The old man died in prison."

"Oh, wow." She reached out and touched his hand where it rested on the tabletop. "And your parents?"

"My dad had his fair share of run-ins with the law. He was killed in a car accident when I was fifteen. My sister was ten." Dante rubbed his hand along the back of his neck, trying not to let the memories get t Cemoident wheo him. "My mom died several years later after a lingering illness. Lily, though she was only eighteen, had been married by that time. I figured she was taken care of, so I joined the army and got as far away from family as I could."

"But Lily didn't stay married," Tori murmured.

"No, she didn't. I got out of the rangers and came home to find her in an unhappy marriage."

"Dante, there's not a whole lot you could have done about that." Tori shifted on her seat, her foot bumping against his under the table. "She's responsible for her own happiness."

"I know I couldn't have prevented her marriage going down the toilet, but I could've at least been there for her, not halfway around the world fighting someone else's war."

"So you joined the police department to fight a war closer to home?"

He shrugged. "The job uses skills I already had. And this time, when Lily really needed me, I was around."

"I'm sure she appreciates it." Tori circled the rim of her glass with one finger. "You've been with the police department how long now?"

"Almost ten years." He wet his lips, then took a swig of beer. "I feel like I still have a lot to prove, to my colleagues, to my sister." He blew out a breath. "To myself. Hell, when it comes right down to it, I'm just this side of being a wet-behind-the-ears newbie when it comes to being on the Special Case squad."

He didn't usually open up like this with people, not even his sister. Feelings weren't something he was comfortable discussing and usually he deflected the subject with humor. He was surprised how natural it felt to confide in Tori.

"Anyway," he went on, "it's just me and Lily now, so … " He gave a one-shouldered shrug.

"Lily's doing okay?"

Dante nodded. "Now she is." At Tori's questioning look, he said, "Right about the time that her ex filed for divorce she was diagnosed with breast cancer. She's been living with me while she tries to find her footing again."

"That's nice, isn't it?" Her smile seemed sad. "You're not alone."

"No. She's there to nag me about leaving my socks on the floor and she gets me to eat better. Well," he added on a laugh, "she tries, anyway. I don't know what I'd do if … " He swallowed the emotion threatening to clog his throat. Redirecting the conversation now was a good idea. "What about you? You just hooked back up with your brother, right? That has to feel good."

"It does," she responded quietly. A look passed through her eyes before her lips curved upward. "But that's enough serious talk for one night." She dipped into her drink and brought her hand to her mouth, slipping her finger between her lips. A foot slid up his calf, scrunching beneath his jeans so that bare toes touched his skin.

Dante felt the shock of that flirtatious touch like a punch to the gut, and it weakened his resolve. Would it be such a bad thing to relax a little and see where things went with her? He could always find the time. He knew she could take care of herself; otherwise she'd have been killed a long time ago. But if he went down this road, if he allowed himself to feel anything more than friendship for her, would his heart survive if she were taken from him?

Probably. But her loss would scar him. And right now, still fearing he might lose his sister, he wasn't prepared to face losing Tori.

As she rubbed the pad of her foot up his calf again, he stared at her. He knew she was doing her best to change the subject of family, which made him wonder why. Were things not as good on the home front as she'd made out? He moved his leg and leaned back in the booth, keeping his fingers wrappe Cing mad around his beer. His investigative instincts kicked in. Why didn't she want to talk about her brother? "No, no, sweetheart, I want to know more. Tell me about this brother of yours. Randall's his name, isn't it?"





What could she say about her brother? Tori shifted her weight on the seat and took another sip of her drink. "Uh, well, he's younger than me by five years. He's smart, really smart." And rebellious and bratty and acting like a five-year-old at the moment. But she didn't say all that. She gave a shrug. "That's really all there is."

"Uh-uh." Dante wagged his finger at her. "What's he do? Where's he been all this time?"

"He's in between jobs right now," she said. "As you can imagine, over the last hundred years or so he's done a lot of things." She signaled a passing waiter and asked for another drink, then said to Dante, "He's been on the East Coast for the last twenty-five years. He was finally able to track me down and … here he is."

"It took him that long?"

"What?" She frowned.

Dante lifted one shoulder. "It just seems to me if I lost contact with Lily, I'd do all I could to find her."

"It wasn't that easy back in the day," she muttered.

"I understand why he had trouble a hundred years ago, but these days? With the Internet-"

"Which is how he finally found me. It took him time to find out who I'd gone into, and I'm not the only Victoria Joseph in the world, you know. It took him a while to sort through everyone." She wasn't certain of that last bit, because Rand had never said so, but it made sense. It was the only thing that did make sense. But she wasn't ready to look too closely at Rand's apparent lack of interest in finding his only sister, and she didn't want to talk about it. She took a breath. "So, that's enough about me. What do you say we get out of here?" she asked, rubbing her foot up his muscled calf again.

His gaze sharpened. Crap. She'd awakened his investigative instincts, which she hadn't meant to do.

He leaned forward, clasping his hands around his glass. "You'd tell me if something was going on between you and your brother, right?"

She frowned. "What do you mean, ‘going on'?"

"I just mean … you seem uncomfortable talking about it. I'm just wondering why … if he threatened you-"

"No." She smiled nervously. "It's nothing like that."

She pressed her lips together. She couldn't-wouldn't-admit that she was jealous of the relationship he had with his sister. As much as he tried to make it out like Lily was a nag, it was evident from the tone of his voice, from the emotion he couldn't hide, that he loved her and would move heaven and earth to find her if she disappeared from his life. And Tori, now that she'd found Rand again, would do as much for her brother.

She just wasn't sure he'd do the same for her.

"Rand and I haven't seen each other in over a hundred years, Dante." She looked at him. "It's like we're two strangers getting to know each other. It's … hard."

"I can understand that. It'll take some time." He glanced around the club. "Which is why I'm kinda surprised to see you here tonight. Figured you'd be at home with him." Dante looked out at the dance floor. "Or that he'd be here with you."

"He was busy." Watching mind-numbing reality TV, instead of spending time with his sister. And it made Tori mad all over again.

"I can't see how anyone would be too busy to spend time with you, particularly your brother … "

Tori couldn't under Cldnanystand it either, especially when she hadn't seen Rand in over ten decades.

She tried to hide the sadness that overcame her.

She couldn't deal with this tonight. Didn't want to deal with it. "Yes. Look, I've gotta go." Tori slid out of the booth. "I'll see you later."

She caught the look of surprise on Dante's face but didn't wait around for him to respond. She was here to have a good time, not talk about things that made her upset. Didn't Dante know men weren't supposed to be so talkative?

                       
       
           



       Chapter Seven



Tori didn't need this emotional crap right now. She'd come to the Devil's Domain for a good time, and she was going to have one, damn it. She headed toward the bar. She'd find Finn and get him to dance with her so at least the night wouldn't be a total loss.

As she walked she glanced around the club, searching for the demon. She saw him near the front door, hand flat against the wall, bracing his weight as he leaned toward the woman he was talking to. She was turned away from Tori, so all Tori could see was flowing auburn hair that ended at the small of the woman's back.

Well, hell, it looked like Finn had already hooked up with someone. She wasn't going to horn in and ruin whatever action he might be about to get. She looked around the club but didn't see anyone else who could keep her company and help get her out of her funk.