The Temptress - Chapter 4

Hastily everyone goes silent.

Blondie takes a step back away from me and lowers his gelled back head in submission.　

　　　　　　　　 Little Tony stalks towards us from his table at the far-end of the room. His tight sweater stretches to the shape of his pectorals and rippling biceps. The matching black tailored pant suit molds his strong legs and hints to an impressive anatomy of his body that from what I hear through the grape vine does little justice to his name. The black loafers on his feet shine under the light from the chandeliers that are hanging from the high arched hand-painted ceiling.

　　　　　　　　 Great. As if things couldn’t get any better. His black aura is now tinged with red. The muddied color taints the space around us. The magnitude of it is so powerfully overwhelming that it radiates off of him which in turn corrupts the carefree and joyous mood of everyone around us.

　　　　　　　　 The wise guys that were enjoying themselves just a minute ago are now sitting quietly and watching from the sidelines. Their personal body guards are standing at attention in front of them in case something goes down.

　　　　　　　　 I really hope something doesn't go down. I can't take them all out by myself with just one clip of bullets and only two spare throwing knives. That would be almost as bad as turning myself in to Darius.　

　　　　　　　　 I resist bowing to Little Tony in submission like all the others. He narrows his eyes dangerously at me and then looks to Blondie.　　

"Leave us." He says dismissively.

　　　　　　 Blondie bows at his unimpressed master. He then regains his composure and walks past me to the door. I didn’t miss the glance that was thrown at me on his way out. It held promises of unfinished business. I look forward to expending him if we ever meet again. 　　

Little Tony closes to distance between us and smiles cordially.　

　　　　　　　　 After sensing no danger everyone resumes their conversations as if the incident never happened. The wise guys pay no attention to us as they finish off their meals and dry out the remnants in their glasses. Finding no threat their body guards heel their stance and step in the background much like the golden-leaf wallpaper along the walls of the room.　　

Little Tony crosses his arms in front his large chest. "To what do I owe this untimely inconvenience?" he asks.

　　　　　　　 I glance around the room before looking back at the vampire in front of me. "Is there some place we can make this a little more...Private?" I ask in a low voice.

　　　　　　　　 I don’t want to draw any more attention than I already have. And I certainly cannot afford to have any curious eavesdroppers listening in on our conversation. I might not recognize any of Darius’s men in the room but that means nothing. For all I know Darius might have an informer playing sides.　　

After a moment of silence Little Tony motions for me to walk with him. I silently follow him across the room and back to his table.

"Sit." he demands.

　　　　　　　　 Instead of arguing, since that would get us nowhere, I do as he says and pull back a white chair opposite him from the pre-arranged table. I take the purse off my shoulder and tuck it firmly between my legs. Little Tony might have let the incident back their slide but I don’t want to take any chances. Besides, I feel more comfortable with the knowledge that I have something to defend myself with in case he decides to change his mind about the whole forgive and forget thing.　　

　　　　　　　 On top of the round clothed table sits a big plate of uneaten Spaghetti ai ricci. He tilts an empty wineglass and starts pouring red wine from an already open bottle.

"This isn't exactly what I had in mind." I look around and notice a few of the wise guy vampires staring at us. Their auras contain mixed emotions that settle somewhere in between honorably troubled to dumbfound confusion.

　　　　　　　　 It’s no secret that my kind carries a special hatred toward the bloodsucking parasites. And yet, here I am, about to share a meal with one. Pitty.

He hands me a glass half full of the red wine. "Have you eaten?" he asks.

I raise an eyebrow. I haven't exactly had the chance to sit down for a meal ever since I found out Darius wanted my head on a spike.

"Yes." I say. The last thing I ate was a yogurt parfait for breakfast. I wasn’t about to tell him that though.

"What have I told you about lying?" he asks mildly amused.

　　　　　　　　 Little Tony raises his glass and takes a sip before placing it right by his plate. "It's a bad habit you know." He adds casually. "And, no, I didn’t read your mind. I can hear the adrenaline pulsing in your veins whenever you neglect to tell the whole truth."

　　　　　　　　 He reaches over and grabs the large polished fork that’s nestled upright in the spaghetti and places a heaping pile of the warm sea urchin pasta on the oval plate in front of me. The heated steam rises in the air. I can smell notes of garlic, fresh seafood, and tomatoes.

"Eat." he commands

　　　　　　　　 Instead of doing so I sit back in my chair and watch as he serves himself a good amount of the spaghetti pasta. He grabs a spoon and fork and twirls a small round neatly. Before I would have thought the sight of a vampire with manners unheard of but I’m used to it by now. Just like his expensive taste in the luxurious, Little Tony’s polite manners could make anyone else seem unnaturally barbaric. What can I say? He just has that effect on people. 　　

　　　　　　　 The smell of food becomes arousing. Much to my displeasure it causes my stomach to growl uncontrollably. Thankfully Little Tony decides not to comment on the obvious fact that I’m too stubborn to admit when I’m hungry.

　　　　　　　　 Fed up with the silence I grab the fork next to my plate and use it to spin the long noodles in a messy circle. Unlike my dinner companion I don’t know much about etiquette. I was trained to catch people who don’t want to found not to become someone’s unfortunate housewife. 　

　　　　　　　　 I raise the fork a good few inches in front of me. From what I can see there are red specs of tomato, strips of fresh green basil leaves, finely minced garlic, and bite sized pieces of the sea urchin in between the strands.

　　　　　　　　 If it were poisonous then Little Tony wouldn’t have eaten it. I don’t peg him for being suicidal. If he died then his reign over the vampires would die as well. And if there was anything he liked more than food itself it would have to be his absolute dictatorship among his own people. Yes it was cruel and old fashioned. But it was necessary. There are plenty others who could do a lot worse than Little Tony. I’m sure his followers knew that as well. That’s why so many of them are overly cautious whenever it comes to their ‘king’ and his safety.　

　　　　　　　　 I capture the bundle on top of my fork in my salivating mouth and chew the aldente pasta slowly. I can taste a slight hint of the imported olive oil that was drizzled on top. The slightly chewy urchin goes down my throat with a unique aftertaste of its own.

Little Tony watches me closely. "It’s a family recipe. Sicilian urchin doesn’t compare, am I right?"

Not wanting to seem rude I settle my fork down and use the large white napkin to wipe any remnants of red sauce from the corner of my lips.

"It’s definitely an acquired taste." I fold the used napkin aside and eagerly fork another small round of spaghetti in my mouth.

　　　　　　　　 When you’re on the run you lose resources for basic necessities. A homemade meal was one of them. The food here is free and I don’t know when I will get another chance at a hot meal. So I eat as much of it as my stomach will allow.

He smiles pleasantly and sips more wine. "I’m glad that you enjoy it. I made it myself, you know."

He swirls his glass by the stem. "And here I was thinking that I would be dinning alone." He casually admits.

His dark eyes bore into mine. A curious glint flashes in them. "Tell me, why haven’t we done this before? It’s much more…..civilized."　　

　　　　　　　　 Instead of answering him I turn my attention to the glass in my hand and watch the vortex of red liquid spiral as I rotate it around a few times. "We aren’t exactly friends." I confess.

Eager to end the conversation I bring the glass to my mouth and hungrily drink the remnants of the wine.

"Would you like to be?" he asks.

I almost spit out the un-swallowed mouthful all over him. I forcefully gulp down the alcohol and place the glass on the table far away from me to let the waiter know I didn’t want anymore.

"I’m sorry, what did you just say?" I ask hoping that I misunderstood.　

　　　　　　　　 He rests his forearms on the side of the table and leans in towards me. Unfortunately his eyes are locked on mine the entire time. "I get the impression you’re evading the subject…..yet again." He ponders lightly.

　　　　　　　　 Unwilling to be the first that surrenders I don’t break eye contact with him. Not even when he tucks a curly strand of hair behind my ear.

　　　　　　　　 Amused, he sits back and eats the remaining of his pasta as if the unwanted intimate moment was all an illusion and never happened.

　　　　　 　 I clear my throat and try to regain my dignity. "This isn’t a social call." I remind him. "And I’m not one of your whores." I add the last part firmly hoping that he gets the point.

"So it seems." He sighs. "Fine. We’ll do it your way then." He snaps his fingers and a circular energy shield instantly materializes around the both of us.

　　　　　　The sound proof barrier is more than effective. I can no longer hear the hushed voices in the background or the ‘clink’ of shot glasses.

　　　　　　　　 It took some pretty advanced magic to create the large force field. I glance at his hand and I find the source behind the magical summon. It seems ordinary enough. I’m surprised that I haven’t noticed it before. On his left pinkie finger is a gold ring with a large black ruby cushioned in the middle. For a pinkie ring it’s definitely over the top. Especially for a heterosexual.　　

Little Tony looks at it faintly. "Do you like it?" he asks. "Personally, I thought it was a bit much. But it grows on you." He shrugs nonchalantly.

I look up at him. "Where did you get that from?" I demand.

　　　　　　　　 Black rubies are hard to come by and contain many mystical properties that strengthen any magic casted upon it. Effectively making the spell bound object successfully compatible to whoever puts it on. Better yet, the energy that’s emitting from it is strong. Whoever enchanted the piece of jewelry has fully active powers running in their blood line. If someone hell bent on destruction were to entrap the person who created it, it would become disastrous for all of us. Not even Lilith would be able to interfere.　

His eyes gleam dangerously, the amusement in them long gone. "You’re not very subtle are you?"

"I’d rather get straight to the point. The rest is meaningless." I tell him dismissively.

He huffs and dramatically rolls his eyes. "For Lilith’s sake! I didn’t kill anybody for it."

He crosses his arms in defiance. The act causes his biceps to contract out of muscle reflex. "If you must know, I acquired it. Someone needed my help. And as you know I’m a very busy man. I can’t just drop everything on a whim. These idiots would burn the place down if I did. Do you know how expensive it is to import furniture from Italy? If I didn't have my second job I'd get shut down just for expenses alone. I would hire new employees but I’m not a very trusting man." He shrugs his large shoulders nonchalantly.

"So, what, you demanded for it instead?" I ask impatiently.

Little Tony throws his unused napkin on the plate and pushes it away from him. "I thought this wasn’t a date." He states.

I grind my teeth. "It’s not."

He raises an eyebrow. "Then why do you want to know what I do for a living so badly?" he asks.

I cross my arms and roll my eyes. "Forget it." I huff.

Not wanting to let the subject go I narrow my eyes at him. "I’ll find out eventually, you know."

He hums in thought. "I’m sure you will."

He snaps his fingers and grins. "Until then how about some dessert?"

Little Tony sits back comfortably in his chair and summons the waiter.

　　　　　　　　 An elf of about average height wearing a black apron shimmers to our side of the room and takes both Little Tony’s clean plate and my half eaten one. In the end it turns out that I couldn’t eat much. I wanted to bag what was left but that would have been rude of me. And I get the slightest impression that I’m not exactly winning over Little Tony’s good side if he ever had one. Hell, I haven’t even gotten straight to the point of why I was here in the first place.

　　　　　　　　 Little Tony is good at distracting people I’ll give him that. Once the table is cleared the waiter places one small lemon meringue tart in between the both of us. The torched whipped topping is piped in nice tall brown peaks. From what I can see of it the crust is buttery and golden.

"Bon apetit." The waiter says.

　　　　　　　　 He puts two spoons down on the table and shimmers out of the room and back to wherever it was that he came from. I’m guessing the kitchen.

　　　　　　　　 Little Tony leans over and grabs one of the spoons. "I love bitter things and this seemed appropriate." He says as he helps himself to a large spoonful.

　　　　　 　　　I watch as he closes his eyes and hums appreciatively at the sweet and sour flavor. As if he can sense me staring he looks at me rolls his eyes. "The kid gave us two spoons for a reason, ya know."　

　　　　　　　　 I look from the half eaten tart and back to him. There is no way I’m going to eat that. I know it’s not poisoned. I just don’t really care for the sourness of lemon is all.

When I don’t eat any of it he sighs heavily and grabs what was supposed to be my spoon.

　　　　　　　　 He pushes it down in the tart to cut the crust off and lifts a piece of it in front of my unopened mouth. The sweet smell of burnt sugar, fresh lemon, and buttery crust fills in the air around me.

He narrows his eyes and sighs in irritation. "Stop being stubborn and open your big mouth."

I roll my eyes in agitation.

　　　　　　　　 Unfortunately there is no one else that I can turn to for help. And I know he will easily turn me down if I don’t play by his sick game. My patience is running thin and quite frankly I’m getting tired of his attitude. Clearly out of options I blow the air out of my mouth and lean towards him.

I bring my lips over the spoon and quickly take the chunk in my mouth.

　　　　　　　　 I fight the urge to barf it out and lean back in my chair quickly chewing the piece of meringue. The sweet whipped topping balances out the sourness of the lemon custard. I still wouldn’t eat it voluntarily any time soon. I grab a perspired glass of water from the table and quench my assaulting taste buds with the chilled water. 　　　

　　　　　　　　 Annoyed, I glance at Little Tony. He seems more than pleased with my compliant attitude as he cleans my spoon with his saliva.　　　　　

I scrunch up my nose. "That’s disgusting."

He shrugs his large shoulders and puts the spoon back down. "Are you always this offensive? Or am I just the exception?" he wonders out loud.

I tilt my head in thought. "I would say don’t think too highly of yourself but it’s too late for that."

He fixes his solid gaze on me. "Your use could easily change, you know." He says darkly.

"True. But where would the fun be in that?" I ask thoughtfully.

　　　　　　　　 Since Little Tony doesn’t trust easily not many people are fortunate enough to be acknowledged by his inner circle. I’ve known him for some time and nobody knows we're on speaking terms. Until now that is. I guess you could say I know where we stand. Well, sort of. Honestly, I'm not sure what to think. How about an 'it's complicated'. Even so, I never doubt for one moment that he wouldn’t kill me on the spot.

He drawls out a low growl deep in his throat. "Since we’re in the business of asking personal questions it’s only fair that you answer one of mine." He starts to explain.

I raise an eyebrow at his bold statement.

　　　　　　　　 Oh really now? First he forces me to eat dinner with him in front of witnesses. And now he wants to get personal? Since when?

　　　　　　　　 We never talked for long whenever I needed help to find a perp. And even then it was only to complete a business transaction. I haven’t come to him with a case in a couple of months. What's changed?

I cross my arms and roll my eyes upwards. I really hope I don’t regret this. "Fine. What do you want to know?"　

He leisurely props an elbow on the table and rests his chin in his right palm.

He smiles widely allowing me to see the sharp fangs protrude from his mouth. "Tell me. What do you know of our Queen, Lilith the damned?" he asks curiously.