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  “What are you ladies talking about?” Tavian asked.

  “History, I was just asking Sarah about her reading material.” I noticed then that Tavian had a bag of cat food. I held back a bark of laughter and had to ask, “So you guys have a cat?”

  “Well kind of, this beautiful kitten has been hanging around; Tavian thinks she’s a stray. Dante wants to keep her if she comes back.”

  Kitten? Was I that small as a cat?

  “Awe, that’s nice of you to try to take of her. I’ve always loved cats”

  “Me too,” Sarah cooed. “Dante’s already named her.”

  “Really? What’s her name?” I asked, smiling at him.

  “Krasivaya.”

  Sarah began to tell me, “It means…”

  “Beautiful.” I murmured.

  Tavian and Dante stopped what they were doing to look at me.

  “You speak Russian?” Dante asked in a surprised tone, his own Russian accent lacing his words.

  “A little, like I was pretty sure what zhopa meant last night.”

  “Seems your full of surprises.”

  I winked, grabbed my coffee, and went out to the sun porch. Once out there, I found myself watching Tavian and Sarah through the glass doors as she helped him and Dante put away the groceries. They’re very affectionate towards each other. He truly loves her without any question, all the little things he did proved it every second he was with her. The way his face lights up when she was near, the gentle way he strokes her face, and how he steals little kisses whenever he gets a chance. She’s the same with him.

  Young and true love.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  “Should I be jealous of the way you’re watching my brother?” Dante had joined me on the porch with a smirk on his face.

  I smiled “No. Not at all. I’m just watching the joys of young love. They seem really good together.”

  The statement made me a little sad thinking of how Irad intended to find her and in a sense was seeking to destroy what they have… I knew with even more conviction that I had to keep it from happening. Sarah shouldn’t have to pay for what wrongs my brother feels her ancestors had bestowed on our family.

  “That they are. But you seem sad, Sophia. Why is that?”

  I shrugged. “No not sad, just thinking about what it was like when I was their age. It feels like a lifetime ago, but I guess it hasn’t really been that long.”

  “I’m sensing the lingering pain of a broken heart.”

  I smiled. “You have pretty good senses, but the pain is gone; just shadows of the memory remain. There are only a few lucky people out there who haven’t had their heart broken at some point.”

  He just gazed at me, seemingly lost in his own memories. I wondered if he was thinking about Kara right then. That thought made my stomach clench.

  I cleared my throat. “Well anyways, I really should be going. Thank you for everything.”

  I walked back into the kitchen. Dante didn’t follow; I guess Sarah was wrong. I went upstairs and got my purse. As I came back down I heard a car pull up, and a…scanner. Oh…the sheriff. Crap. Dante was opening the door as I reached the last step.

  “Good morning, Bill, what can I do for you?”

  “Good morning, Dante. I’m here looking for a young woman, who was involved in an altercation with a man in Curley’s parking lot last night. Witnesses say she was last seen with you.”

  The sheriff was a tall, slender, but well built man with a young Wyatt Earp essence about him. Hello Cowboy. He wore a tan uniform, a brown cowboy hat, and matching cowboy boots. I stepped into the doorway next to Dante.

  “That would be me you’re looking for, Sheriff.”

  The sheriff gave me an appraising once over. “Well, you fit the description. What’s your name?”

  “Sophia Daletsky,” I said in my most demure voice.

  “Can you tell me what happened last night, Ms. Daletsky?”

  “Sure, a drunk guy came at us when we were leaving the bar; he was upset because I had beaten him at pool a few nights ago. He got aggressive, threatened me, and pulled a knife. I relieved him of his knife and we all went our separate ways.”

  “How did he threaten you, Ms. Daletsky?”

  “Ah let's see, I believe his exact words were, ‘How about I get rid of him,’ meaning Dante, ‘and take it out in trade, you are a good looking’ little thang.’ You see, he lost some money to me, and then he said he’d see me back at the hotel. That’s why I stayed here last night.”

  “Okay, and how did you relieve him of the knife, Ms. Daletsky?”

  “I kicked it out of his hand.”

  The sheriff sighed. “Did you realize you broke his hand? In five places. He said you also told him to get out of town and that Dante and Tavian would have killed him, if they had gotten a hold of him, and he was lucky it was you who got to him first.”

  Dante sighed next to me. I gave him an apologetic smile. “Look, Sheriff, I’m sorry. I was not trying to cause any problems. He was drunk. I told him twice to go sleep it off but when he pulled the knife, I reacted.”

  “Is that how it went down, Dante?”

  “Yep, she left out the filthy names he called her, but that’s what happened.”

  “Okay,” the sheriff scrubbed his face and then looked back at me, “Ms. Daletsky, we’re not going to file any charges against you or him. If I file charges against him, he has more to come back on you with, than you have on him. Also, be aware that Mr. Russell does not intend to leave at this time and will continue to stay at Maldera Springs Inn. I suggest you find alternate accommodations.”

  “Yes sir,” I replied politely.

  “Oh, and Ms. Daletsky, do try to call me next time you have a problem instead of breaking people’s body parts.” He tipped his hat at me and walked back to his car.

  When I turned around, Sarah and Tavian were in the hall watching us.

  “Looks like you guys have a new house guest,” Sarah remarked with a smirk.

  “No they don’t. The sheriff only suggested I find a new place to stay and I do not intend to intrude on you guys. Plus, I won’t be staying there that long. I’m going to look at a few houses today and I’m hoping for a quick escrow. Now I need to go back to the hotel, get my car, and meet my realtor.”

  Dante grabbed his keys and turned so fast, staring me in the eyes, his swirling and deepening. “Come on, I’ll give you a ride to the hotel so you can get your stuff and your car. Then, you’ll come back and stay here after you meet with your realtor.”

  I didn’t have time to move and break the stare before he started to compel me. I was in a sticky situation; argue and have him realize there was something different about me, or play along as if he had actually compelled me. I went along.

  “Ok, sounds good.”

  “Ok, I’ll be out in a second.”

  I walked out the door, slightly pissed that he seemed ok with compelling me, but hey, good intentions and all that. I heard Tavian and Sarah both give him an ear full for it though.

  “Dante, you should not have done that! You didn’t even try to reason with her, and it’s not like it’s the first time, you were going to compel her last night too. That’s not like you.”

  “I know that…for some reason the lines of right and wrong are blurring when it comes to her safety. Tavian, you of all people know how I feel about compelling people to do what they don’t wish to do, but I’m not going to sit here and let her go back to that hotel. You could sense what Mr. Russell,” he said the name with such venom it made me recoil and move faster towards the car, “intended to do to her. Men like that don’t wake up the next day regretting the way they have acted.”

  I waited in the car for Dante. He didn’t say a word at first when he got in the car, he only stared at his hands on the steering wheel.

  After a long sigh, he turned to look at me. “I am sorry, Sophia.”

  Well, that was unexpected. “What are you sorry for?”

  “It does
not matter; just know that I am sorry.”

  I knew what he was sorry for and I couldn’t be mad at him. He truly looked upset with what he had done. “I don’t think you need to be sorry, unless you’re apologizing because you’re making me late to meet the realtor.” I teased. “And Dante, whatever it is you’re sorry for; I have a feeling you wouldn’t have done it unless you had a good reason so don’t worry…but we do need to go.”

  He smiled and started up the SUV. I got my things with Dante escorting me to my room and to my car. I said goodbye and told him I would see him at the house after my appointment. He offered to come with me, but I said no. There had to be better things for him to do.

  CHAPTER SIX

  My realtor, Liz, and I looked at several different houses. Unfortunately, my new home was not among them. Feeling slightly defeated, I went back to the Baikov’s. I was greeted by a whole gang of people. Sarah and Tavian had a few of their friends from school over. A cute, blonde-haired boy named Brandon, a football player, I gathered that from the letterman jacket he wore. There was also a pretty, crimson-haired girl attached to his arm named Jordan. And of course Sarah’s pretty, auburn-haired sidekick, Rachel.

  “Hey Sophia, how’d it go?” Sarah asked cheerfully.

  “Well I didn’t find my dream home, but she has more to show me, so fingers crossed. Anyways, what are you guys up to?”

  “We’re going to do a movie night, order pizza, and hang out. You want to join us?”

  “Yeah, but in a little bit. I’m going to go for a run; I haven’t worked out in a while.” I smiled and started up the stairs. “Oh hey, where’s Dante?”

  “Funny you should ask, him and Tavian are in the gym.”

  The gym? “They have a gym?”

  “Yeah, you want me to show you?”

  “Absolutely! Let me change real quick.” I ran up to my room, put on some yoga pants and a tank top, and ran back down the stairs. Sarah led all her friends and me through the house to a large room with French doors. She opened them to reveal a room full of exercise equipment: weight bench, treadmill, stair climber, punching bags and a large sparring mat, where Dante and Tavian were fighting. They were incredible to watch. Each landing and dodging blows, they were fighting in a mixed martial arts form where pretty much anything goes. When they finished we all clapped. Tavian came over to Sarah, planting a kiss on her.

  “Impressive,” I told Dante as he walked over to me.

  “Then I shall thank Sarah for bringing you in here. I’ll take any opportunity to impress a beautiful woman.”

  I rolled my eyes at him. “Dante, you’re doing that smooth talker thing again.”

  “You did tell me last night that flattery will get me everywhere, did you not?”

  I laughed. “I did say that. So, you got another sparring session left in you?”

  “Wait Sophia, you want to spar with Dante?” Sarah said nervously. “You saw them! He might hurt you.”

  Dante tilted his head at her, offended that she would even think that, let alone say it out loud.

  “I mean, I know you wouldn’t do it on purpose, Dante, but you're, you know…really strong.”

  Sarah was legitimately concerned. She’s a truly unique individual; compassionate, caring, loving, and obviously understanding, to be dating a vampire and spending so much time alone with two of them.

  “It’s okay, Sarah, I’m sure he won’t actually hurt me, and if he does, I heal fast. I’ve sparred with some really cruel people; I think I’ll be ok.” I turned to Dante, “So, what’d you say? You up for it?”

  “After you, beautiful.”

  We walked out to the middle of the padded area, bowing and then taking fighting stances. I struck out, kicking my right foot in a horizontal arc, impacting Dante on his side. He caught my foot and arched an eyebrow at me. I simply smiled as he let go of my leg and came forward with what I knew were nowhere near as powerful of blows as he had in him. I blocked the first couple of punches but he got a few hits in. When we separated, he came back at me with a roundhouse kick. We were pretty evenly matched, neither of us using our full strength. We sparred for a while, both landing and taking hits and kicks.

  “You ready to throw the rules out the window?” I asked through panting breaths.

  “You want a street fight?”

  “Yep, no rules. I think I can pin you.”

  He laughed, but didn’t say a word as he strode towards me.

  What the hell? So. Not. Fair.

  He was stripping off his shirt, leaving only his pants to hug low on his hips, revealing the radiance of his perfectly sculpted abdomen. My god, he’s gorgeous. I was temporarily sidetracked by his perfectly sculpted body of cream-colored marble. Damn it, Sophia, focus. But I didn’t scold myself in time. He was in front of me by the time I focused back on the fact that he intended on taking me down. I didn’t react fast enough to keep him from sweeping my legs out from under me and landing me on my butt. I heard Sarah giggle and someone else gasp.

  “Were you not ready, luv?” His smile had a cocky twist to it.

  I smirked. “I was temporarily distracted.” I flipped back to my feet and punched at him, only he blocked it. I kept striking, but he kept blocking. He finally grabbed my arm and pulled me against him. I dropped down low and spun around, kicking him from behind. He turned and came after me.

  I ran and he followed. Perfect.

  I hit the wall, taking four steps up it and flipping behind him with a back kick to momentarily stun him. I ran to the other side of the mat, ignoring the gasps and ‘holy craps, how’d she do that’s’. I stopped at the opposite end of the mat and waited. When Dante started to turn, I ran at him as fast as would be humanly possible, though not nearly as fast as I could have. He faced me just in time to catch the full force of my body slamming into him. I took him to the ground, with me straddling him just above his navel, and pinned his arms. He raised his eyebrow and chuckled.

  “Well done, but Sophia, you didn’t have to go through all this trouble just to get on top of me.”

  “Oh Dante, it was no trouble at all; it was my pleasure in fact.” I rolled off him while we both laughed and I tried to catch my breath.

  Movie night was fun with a 1940’s theme. Sarah and Rachel had chosen Casablanca and Notorious as our films for the evening. Ah, the classics. I was unfortunately exhausted and after finishing Casablanca, I feel asleep halfway through Notorious, curled up on a plush loveseat with Dante. I woke the next morning still on the loveseat with Dante’s arms wrapped around me. The sunlight peeking through the thick drapes told me we had slept a good portion of the morning away. I wiggled a little, stretching my back. I felt his lips sweep across my ear

  “Good morning.”

  “Is it still morning?” I asked, rubbing my eyes.

  He chuckled. “Yes, late morning.”

  “Well, good morning then. Have you been awake long?” I asked as I attempted to sit up, but his arms tightened around me. “Not really.” He smiled.

  “It’s quiet, are Tavian and Sarah gone?”

  “Yep, we’re all alone.” He wiggled his brows at me as I rolled over to face him. “Tavian and Sarah left about an hour ago. They peeked in to say bye but you were still sound asleep.”

  “So you have been awake for a while,” I teased. “Do you have plans today?”

  “I told Tavian and Sarah I would meet them and their friends down at the town’s Cherry Festival. But I’m afraid we missed the parade.”

  “You should have woken me,” I protested. “I told you I didn’t want to be an inconvenience.”

  “You’re not; this is far more enjoyable than any parade could ever be.” I stared at him for a moment, studying his expression before burying my face in the crook of his neck.

  ”I’m going to have to keep an eye on you, aren’t I? You really are smooth, you know that?”

  “No my sweet Sophia, I’m just being honest,” was his response, as he held me a little tighter in his embrace.


  His honesty was certainly getting to me after only a few days spent together and I was falling for this guy. After lying together a little longer, we finally got up and went to the hot-springs for the carnival and street dance.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  We met up with Sarah, Tavian, Brandon, Jordan, and Rachel. When we got there, I was surprised. There was a carnival with rides and games, a flower expo, and a street dance with Lady Antebellum providing the music. The town put on one heck of a festival.

  We all walked through the flower expo; it was beautiful with the ‘Wizard of Oz’ as the theme. They had set up the flower expo in a huge tent. When we entered, we were greeted by some kids from the elementary school playing the munchkins. They had laid a yellow brick road for us to follow as we enjoyed different scenes that had been created from flowers. I was so caught up in the sights, I hadn’t realized Sarah was talking to me.

  “Sophia?”

  “Hmm. Oh God Sarah, sorry, what did you say?”

  “I asked if you were enjoying the expo. I’m guessing you are.”

  “Yes, very much in fact. The ‘Wizard of Oz’ was my mother’s favorite movie. She would have loved this.” I sighed wistfully as we continued down the yellow path.

  “But it’s making you a little sad, isn’t it? My mom passed away years ago, being surrounded by things she loved is always bittersweet for me. Much like your mom loved the Wizard of Oz, mine loved the flower expo. She used to be in charge of all of this. It was hard for me the first couple of years, but now I love coming here, it reminds me to remember her.”

  I smiled. “You’re a smart girl, Sarah.”

  There was an old time photo booth at the carnival Sarah, Rachel, and I decided to get a photo taken. We all wore southern belle dresses, with the large hoop skirts, and lovely matching hats. The skirts on Sarah and Rachel’s dresses were tiered in white satin and trimmed with green lace on Sarah’s’ and burgundy lace on Rachel’s’. Mine had a three-tone blue satin and lace pick up skirt. Dante and Tavian were watching us as we posed for our pictures. Dante had a distant look in his eyes.