The Bloodline War by Tracy Tappan Read Free Book Online

magnificent as the décor was, her eyes couldn’t help but rivet on the two black-haired men across the room.
    One was rising from behind a desk, unfolding himself to a height of well over six feet. He was dressed with understated wealth, pleated gray silk slacks and a v-necked cashmere sweater in cobalt: a completely respectable look that should’ve offered reassurance, except that there was just something about this man. Something…that whispered danger.
    Yet, even he only received about one second of her attention. As much as this man demanded notice, the man who was standing statue-still off to the side of the desk, his hands clasped behind his back in a stance that pushed his enormous shoulders forward and made them look even more enormous, demanded it more.
    He was, without doubt, the most frightening man she’d ever seen outside of the movies. No whispering here; this man’s danger came at a person like a wrecking ball. He was dressed in clothes directly out of a Gangstas Я Us catalog, steel-toed biker boots with thick silver buckles at the ankles, black leather pants that hugged a pair of powerfully built thighs and lean hips, and a black lycra T-shirt that similarly clung to his torso in a way that displayed every delineated muscle the man owned, of which there were a lot . The scary dude look was made complete by a pair of dark sunglasses that hid his eyes, and a jaw so hard she’d bet she could take a crowbar to it and never crack a smile out of him. Maybe someone had already tried that maneuver; there was a line of scabbed flesh streaking the man’s cheek.
    “Dr. Parthen, welcome,” the man behind the desk said in that same affable tone she’d heard over the intercom. “My name is Roth Mihnea. I’m the leader of this community. Please, come and sit down. We have much to discuss.”
    Community ? Had she…oh, crap, had she been committed to a mental hospital by mistake? Jesus, she’d probably completely wigged out on Nurse Bun’s drug and…
    But then…these men didn’t exactly look like psychiatrist dweebs, did they?
    Roth Mihnea indicated one of the antique black Renaissance chairs set before his desk and
    smiled. No big, toothy grin here, either.
    She rounded on Dr. Jess. “What’s going on here?”
    The doctor’s expression turned sheepish as he shut the double doors, and she heard another snick. This time it was the lock reengaging.
    Adrenalin surged through her body, tripping her heart into a runaway beat and suffusing her flesh with heat. She was usually pretty quick on the up-take, but it was only now reaching her concussed brain that perhaps she’d been knocked unconscious for reasons other than incompetence.

 
    Chapter Five
     
    “Am I being held against my will?” Toni asked tightly. Probably a real stupid question, all things considered.
    “I should think not,” Roth answered mildly. “We’re hoping you’ll willingly help us, Dr. Parthen, once you’ve heard of our plight.” Roth’s smile remained in place. “I admit that drugging you and then abducting you is hardly likely to have put you in a helpful frame of mind. I do apologize for that. But this is a top-secret community, and such methods were necessary to maintain security.”
    Top secret ? As in…? What ? A research institute for nuclear weapons…? Chemical warfare…? Cloning…? Stem cells? Again, she didn’t think so. Whatever else these two men might be, they definitely weren’t think-tank dweebs, either. She rapidly ran through a list of other possibilities, her mind landing on the most probable, at least based on the presence of Hard Face over there, who looked every inch a “goon” bodyguard, and the Drug Lord security system. These guys were Mafia. An icy prickle raised the fine hairs on her skin. Oh, shit .
    “I understand how disconcerting this is,” Roth inserted into her elongated silence. “Please, Doctor, I just ask that you listen to what we have to say. If you don’t agree to our offer