Obey Me by Paige Cuccaro Read Free Book Online Page B

I buy comes with screw-on lids or in a convenient party-size box dispenser.
    Octavius leaned back in his chair, one hand fiddling with the tail of his folded swan napkin on the table. “Tell me about Alexander. How is he? Business good? What’s his place called…Il Piccolo Morso, isn’t that it?”
    I nodded. “That’s right.” But a strange tingle rippled through my belly as though I was betraying some confidence.
    “The Small Bite.” He laughed to himself. “Moderation. Ironic coming from our dear Alexander.”
    “I’m sorry, but why’d you invite me here?” My spidey-reporter sense was off the charts telling me this meeting had little to do with me. I was being played. “What was so urgent we had to talk tonight ?”
    “Do you love him?”
    My brain went off-line for about two seconds. I couldn’t fathom the question. “What?”
    Octavius suddenly lurched forward, forearms on the table. I squeaked and flinched at the same time. “He’s fed on you. I can smell him on your breath. Do you know what that means to a man like Alexander, a man of… moderation ?”
    “I barely know him.” I tried to scoot back in my chair but he grabbed my wrists, held me so we were both leaning toward each other across the table.
    I twisted my hands but the friction against his grip stung my skin. “He didn’t feed on me. I went to his club and we hit it off. We kissed. That’s it. Can you let go? That hurts.”
    Octavius’s brows creased, confusion flickering through his unreal blue eyes. He glanced at our hands then released his hold. “Forgive me. I forget my strength sometimes. Alexander…he…he worries me. Too long he’s kept to himself. I’m happy to hear he’s finally moving on, making friends.”
    “Yeah. He’s…good. He’s doing fine. I think.” I rubbed my wrists where he’d held me, scooting back in my chair to put what little distance I could between us without looking like I was trying to inch toward the door.
    “That’s good to hear. Yes.” Octavius leaned back, seemed to relax again. “I haven’t seen him in years. Not since… Bess . He was having such a hard time of it then.”
    “Bess?” Being female and a reporter I couldn’t let the mention of another woman’s name pass without question.
    A satisfied smile flickered at the corner of his mouth. He hiked a brow. “He didn’t tell you?”
    Just then the maitre d’ stepped up to our table. “Mr. Perrotte, excuse the interruption but…” He leaned over and spoke to Octavius in a whisper. After a moment he straightened, and Octavius reached into his suit jacket and pulled a business card from his breast pocket.
    He held it out for the maitre d’. “Tell him to call tomorrow night. We’ll work something out.”
    With a small bow, the maitre d’ reached for the card, flashing his wrist and the same Roman X tattoo as our waiter. “Yes, sir.” He hurried off to deliver his employer’s message.
    Octavius’s gaze swung to me. “I apologize. There’s no such thing as off duty when running a business. What were we discussing?”
    “Bess.” I could tell he was only pretending to have forgotten.
    “Ah, yes.”
    The waiter arrived with our wine and poured a glass for both of us, then left the bottle without asking if we were ready to order. My stomach growled in protest, but Octavius didn’t seem to have heard.
    “Bess turned me,” he said as though it was as mundane as naming his mother. “She birthed me into this world of eternal life and unending love. I was to be her companion, her anchor to the changing world around her. She was desperate for me.”
    I sipped my wine, feeling the warmth of it tingle over my lips, down my throat. He wasn’t lying. The wine was good. Really good. “Did Bess turn Alex too?”
    Octavius scoffed. “No. Bess and I were together fifty years before we met Alex. He’d apparently had an unfortunate encounter with another female of our kind in an opium den. He’d been whoring himself for a