To Love and Serve by Caridad Piñeiro Read Free Book Online Page B

that had touched their young lives much too often.
    He held her tight. “No need for apologies. If it wasn’t for that, I would never have met Melissa, or had Mariel. I wouldn’t have you, Sis.”
    Tears filled her eyes and her throat closed to the point of choking. She ran her hands up and down his back, just as she had when, as teenagers, they stood side by side and buried their father.
    “I’ll work it out somehow, Sebastian,” she promised, and pulled away from him, swiping at her tears.
    “Will you?” he asked, and she had no doubt about what he meant.
    “I never wanted a husband or kids,” she reminded him.
    Since the day she emerged from the abyss of grief, her single-minded goal had been to take up her father’s crusade of chasing down bad guys.
    That had been her one and only plan. But God laughed at people who made plans. He’d thrown her for a major loop by tossing Ryder her way. And Sebastian’s precious daughter, Mariel. Which led her to realize that deep inside, a part of her longed for love, family, and a happily-ever-after. If the treatments worked, there might still be a baby. If they didn’t, and she had to face either death or the horrors of being turned, along with the possibility of losing Ryder’s love forever—
    “Di?”
    She met her brother’s questioning gaze and said, “You can’t always get what you want.”
    He frowned. “You’ve never been one to give up so easily. Especially when it’s something that’s so important to you.”
    “I love him more than I ever thought possible.”
    “But loving him is stealing the rest of your life. It’s taking away important things that you want.” He motioned toward the closed door of her office. “And the job you love so much.”
    She gazed longingly at the door, then turned her attention back to Sebastian. “ I made the decision that led to my suspension, not Ryder.” She tapped her fingers against her breastbone. “ I made that choice.”
    He wanted to argue with her, she could see, but he changed the subject instead. “Please come down and see Mom before she leaves. She misses you.” His stubborn expression turned wistful. “ I miss having you around for family stuff.”
    She hugged him fiercely, then gave him a teasing shove. “Speaking of which… Time for you to go back to your lovely family, and for me to get back to work. I’ll try to come down before Mom leaves.”
    “Don’t just try, Di. Please do it,” he admonished as she walked him out.
    After he’d gone, she shut the door and leaned against it, staring at her office, taking in the papers and photos carefully laid out on her desk and pinned to the board. Jesus had given her another chance to do what she did best. She wouldn’t waste that opportunity. With determined strides she went back to her office, to one of the things she wanted so badly to keep. And as she worked to develop a profile, she thought about something else she badly wanted.
    A normal life with Ryder. The kind of normal, happy life her brother had with Melissa and little Mariel. But that kind of life, the life she craved with every ounce of her being, seemed more impossible with every passing day.

Chapter Seven
    It had been easy to pick off the waitress when the bar closed. She’d been one of the last to leave, her smile forced as she bid good-bye to the wanna-be-human vamps who lingered behind as Foley closed up for the night. When she recognized him, her smile had been radiant. Until he slashed her throat open and shock froze her lips and eyes into wide Os of surprise. She stumbled backward and banged feebly on the door to the bar. Once. Twice, then slowly collapsed to the ground. Blood streamed from beneath the hand she wrapped around her throat in an attempt to hold in her life force.
    Her mouth moved as he bent closer.
    “Why?” she mouthed, her blue eyes pleading.
    A blue much like his mother’s and his younger sister’s.
    For a moment that made him hesitate as love for them filled