Sensual Danger (Venice Vampyr #4)

“It would merely be a marriage of convenience in any case. A minor annoyance,” Dante added.

“Don’t let your wife hear that, or she might stake you instantly.” Nico pushed a strand of hair out of his face.

“As all of us here know, I married for love. But then we can’t all be that lucky. Besides, I didn’t think you believed in love, Nico.”

“Of course not. It’s all a big lie.”

“Then I don’t really see why you object this much,” Raphael interjected. “If you don’t believe in love, you’ve got nothing to lose by marrying this young woman and—”

“Young woman? Her father looks ancient. For all I know she’s well past her prime. Maybe even in her thirties!”

“God forbid.” Raphael chuckled.

Nico nodded. “That’s right! And most likely she’s as ugly as a piss pot. Or why else would she still be unmarried in her mid-thirties?”

“Now she’s in her mid-thirties?” Dante asked and tossed his brother a sideways glance. “Give it another half hour and she’s an aging spinster in need of a walking cane.”

“And who is to say that she isn’t? Her father is well off. He can provide her with a decent dowry. So why, I’m asking you, has nobody stepped forward to claim this prize?” Nico looked from Dante to Raphael, but the two did well to suppress their answers. Their smirks were another matter. “I tell you why: because a forty-year old spinster with a nose like a hawk and a walk as graceful as a washerwoman on her last leg is the last thing any man worth his salt would want to warm his bed.”

“Who says she has to warm your bed?” Dante loosened his cravat and opened the top button of his crisp white shirt. “Why can’t you just send her to your estate on the mainland and have her live there while you stay in Venice?”

“Send the hag to the country?” Nico contemplated the idea. It wasn’t bad at all. And he wouldn’t even have to give her a reason why. She would have to obey her husband’s orders. It would be simple. “She could travel to the mainland the day after the wedding.”

Raphael tossed him a disapproving look. “Don’t you think that’s a little harsh? Sending her away the day after your wedding night?”

“Wedding night?” Nico echoed. “You don’t expect me to fuck a woman who looks like a wicked witch?”

Dante laughed. “I’m afraid, Nico, you’ll have to at least consummate the marriage. Nobody expects you to enjoy it.”

A cold shudder ran down his spine at the thought of bedding Lombardi’s daughter. If she had inherited any features from her father, she would be the ugliest woman he’d ever fucked, and that included some of the cheaper whores he’d frequented on occasion. Sure, he wasn’t all that choosey when it came to bedmates, but at least the few less-than-handsome women he’d been in bed with had made up for their lack of beauty with their knowledge of the carnal arts. Those women had sucked cock better than the pretty ones.

He swallowed hard. “Easy for you to say. Your wife is beautiful. Who wouldn’t want to—”

“Don’t say it,” Dante warned, his voice low and dangerous. “One word of disrespect toward Viola out of your mouth and I’ll toss you into the canal myself.”

Nico’s eyes widened instantly. Landing in the waters of the canal was a death sentence for any vampire. Their cells were so dense and solid that as a result their bodies were much heavier than water and therefore sank like a rock. He would drown. “My apology.”

“Apology accepted.” Dante nodded swiftly. Then his expression darkened. “Don’t think I don’t understand your plight. But we need this house. We need every single house on this block to build a sanctuary for us and our fellow vampires. The Guardians are on our heels, and without a stronghold affording us safety and security, our numbers will diminish. We need to be strong to fight them.”

Nico understood only too well. The Guardians of the Holy Waters, a secret society of Venetian noblemen and merchants, had made it their mission to eradicate each and every vampire in their midst. They had killed many of his friends in the last few years. It was because of this ever increasing threat that the vampires had decided to band together and purchase all houses on the block where Dante and Raphael lived, and to connect them with secret walkways, creating in effect one large fortress in which they could move around safely.

“Have we still not been able to glean any information from the list of names Lorenzo’s wife found?”