It had been just over a week since the evening at the private club. It had been exactly seven days since the newspaper's lurid story of its closing. Dee had listened with satisfaction as Dominic translated for her; his club had been shut down, his assets frozen, his employees arrested... he was wanted for questioning regarding tax evasion, drug trafficking, human trafficking, money laundering, child prostitution and murder.
It had been one week since Dee had become a virtual prisoner in her palatial beach home. Raul, the personal assistant, had introduced her to the leader of a squad of very serious men who had shown up the next morning, all wearing military fatigues and carrying assault rifles with practiced ease. Although most stood guard in full view around the estate, Dee knew several were hidden, watching and waiting for any attempted egress. Probably with snipers eight blocks down the street.
Attack could come from any side, and so Dee gave up her swims in the private cove and sunbathing on the beach. She couldn't relax on the sundeck with armed strangers standing on the roof, and so her days were lazed away inside with a book, or surfing the net. For a couple of days, she scanned the massive rocky outcroppings of Los Arcos through her binoculars, methodically adding bird sightings to her field guide.
The nights were the worst of all. After the briefest of greetings and lingering kisses, Dominic and Yukio melted into the shadows with the guards, hunters in their element. Edgy and in ill humor, they returned just before dawn, to secret themselves away behind the blackout draperies and bulletproof glass. The tension was exhausting, and every day found them all just that much more tightly wound.
Each morning, Raul brought her the newspaper, looked through it with her for any mention of the missing club owner. Every day, for a week, there was nothing.
"I think perhaps the gentlemen will find this story of interest," he said to her, eight days after the club's closing. Raul folded the paper open to the story, and even with her limited Spanish, Dee understood the word: Muerto.
"He is dead?" she asked, not sure if it was a reprieve or not.
"Yes, Senora. It was done in a manner that left no doubt as to his superiors' displeasure with him."
Dee thought of the ways a vampire could be killed, the REAL ways, and looked at Raul for explanation.
"His throat was cut, Senora." Raul drew his finger in a line from ear to ear.
"Thank you, Raul. I'll tell them when they get up tonight."
"The guards will remain until I hear otherwise."
"Of course, Raul."
Dominic read the article with interest. Then he went back upstairs. When he returned, he was freshly shaven and dressed to the nines.
"Raul," he said, "call the limo, please. Yukio, stay in the house with Dee... just in case."
Dominic took Dee's face in his hands and kissed her softly. "Just sit tight."
Dee didn't ask him where he was going, or what he was going to do, or why. She merely nodded and let Yukio herd her toward the couch, away from the windows. She kept the fear in check until Dominic was in the limo and headed down the drive.
Yukio's arms were tight around her as she shook. "It's ok," he said softly. "He will do everything necessary to keep you safe."
Dee didn't ask who would keep Dominic safe, but Yukio chuckled. "He is strong. He will return to you."
The wait was pure agony. Dee had never been good at sitting and doing nothing, but she knew pacing the floor wouldn't accomplish anything. So she closed her eyes, willed her thoughts still, and half-dozed.
Yukio roused her, and she looked up to see Dominic smiling at her.
"It's done."
Dee laughed with relief, then squealed as Dominic casually slung her over his shoulder and headed upstairs. Yukio followed, his face alive with hunger.
Dominic tossed her roughly onto the bed, giving her scant seconds to catch her breath, before he was on her, his mouth and hands moving over her as he laid her bare before them.
"You cost me much tonight," Dominic rumbled as he and Yukio closed in.
Dee grinned. "How can I possibly repay you?"
A lecherous leer stretched across his face. "I can think of several ways."
"As can I," Yukio said from between her thighs.
