Page 8 of Sandro

“Can you tell me who this Vincent person is? You said he was your coven master?”

Sandro shook his head and then opened his mouth, but quickly closed it again. He did that a few times before he sighed. “He is our coven master, yes. Master Vincent Vittone is…how do you share something like this?” he asked Rio.

“I don’t know. Just spit it out,” Rio said. He shrugged before he walked out of the room again.

“Is he horrible or something? Because it will be difficult to be worse than Alpha Franco.”

“I cannot believe you haven’t heard of the Vittone family. We’re…let’s just say we are part of a certain type of organized crime family.”

It only took a moment for those words to register. “You mean like a mafia family?” As soon as I asked the question, Rio was back. He seemed to have perfect timing. He was holding his phone in his hand, and his eyes met mine and held a hint of uncertainty.

“Exactly like that,” Sandro said quietly.

“Really? Seriously?” I asked as I looked between the two with excitement. Rio started chuckling, and it quickly turned into full-on laughter.

“You’re not upset about that?” Sandro asked.

“What? Why would I be? I think it’s awesome!” I was suddenly hit with a wonderful thought. “Oh, hey. Is it possible that you have some guys that can go rough up Bruno and Pietro?” Rio was still laughing. “You guys do that, right? I mean, I know I’m not really anything to any of you, but seriously, I could use some help in getting to the train station over on the other side of the city so I can get my bag from my locker.”

Rio finally got himself under control and nodded as he sat down in a chair. “I can certainly help with your bag. But why is it in a locker?”

I hesitated but only for a moment. “I’ve been planning on leaving as soon as I had enough money saved anyway. My parents both died last year while they were out of the house. They had a bad auto accident, and since my father was human, his body couldn’t quite recover quick enough, and he died shortly after. My mom, they said, died later on that night in the hospital.” I shrugged. “At least, that’s what I was told the next morning.” I sighed and started playing with my fingers to distract myself. “I’ve never really been fully accepted by the pride because my dad is human. And after my parents were gone, I’ve basically become the pride’s servant who isn’t treated very well. I was saving to get away. Today just happened, and I ran.”

“What exactly happened?” Sandro asked as he reached out and placed his hand on top of mine. “I’m not upset at all that you ran into me, literally. Surprised, but in a positive way. But why are they after you? You had mentioned they would kill you. What is it that you’ve done?”

I winced but knew that I owed them an honest response. Sandro was my mate, and it wasn’t as if I could hide things from him forever. Especially not if he claimed me. “I was scrubbing the floor. Alpha Franco loves his white tile. But it has light-colored grout. And they poured red wax all down it, starting at the other end of the house. It stained the tile and the grout, and I knew Alpha Franco was going to blame me. I just broke, and after all of the abuse they’ve given me since I was a teenager, I just…” I shrugged again. “Something inside of me snapped, and I screamed and leapt onto Pietro as he was laughing and walking away. My claws came out, and I sliced his cheek open, and probably the top of his head too.”

“Did you really?” Rio asked. If I wasn’t mistaken, there was a hint of pride in his voice.

I nodded. “Alpha Franco got me off his brother, and I just ran. I don’t know what happened after, but I know I’m in trouble if I ever go back or they catch me.”

Sandro gave my hand a squeeze and then stood. “They’re not going to catch you, so you don’t have to worry about that.” He looked over at Rio. “You said you could take him to the station to get his things?”

“I can. Or if you’re overly concerned for his safety, I can retrieve his things for him. I just need to know where the locker is.”

I stood and pulled the key out from the chain around my neck. “It’s at the station.” I gave him the key, and when he handed me his phone, it was open to the notes app. I typed in the information and handed Rio the phone back. “Thank you,” I told him. “It’s just a backpack. It’s all I have right now. I’ll need to find another job, hopefully one that pays me better. I’m a hard worker.”

He smiled at me. “I’m certain you are. But that is something you and Sandro will need to discuss.” He patted me on the shoulder. “I’ll be back in just a little while with your bag.”

He gave Sandro a look before he walked out of the room, then disappeared completely. I wondered what it would be like to have that ability.

“I guess we should discuss some things. Mainly us.”

I looked at Sandro and shrugged again. It seemed as if I was doing that a lot. I was completely out of my element. I hadn’t ever thought I would find my mate, but here I was, standing in front of a sexy vampire that was supposed to be mine.

“We can, I guess. I’ve gotten the impression you’re not exactly happy with who you were gifted. Or maybe it’s just that you were gifted a mate in general, I’m not sure.”

Sandro still had my hand, and he pulled me up from the couch before he led me through the apartment and toward a door. I could see a bed inside and had to assume it was his bedroom. “I was not expecting a beloved. There are things we should discuss before we even think about claiming each other though.”

Sandro quietly closed the door behind us, and although I wasn’t against having sex with the man, I hadn’t really expected things to progress quite so quickly.

“Uh…okay. What is it that you wanted to talk about?” I asked as I nervously looked toward the bed. It had been made but looked as if the covers had been pulled up quickly. Or perhaps someone had lain on top of them?

Sandro chuckled. “I’m not going to claim you now, Leo. You do not have to be so concerned.”

I blinked at Sandro in relief. “I mean, I would,” I told him. “You’re sexy and all, and I’m sure you know how to do things in the bedroom.” At least, I sure hoped he did. I knew some, but probably not nearly as much as he did.

Sandro’s chuckle turned into a smile while he shook his head. “Yes, I guess one could say that. I would hope so since I’m just over two centuries old.”