Page 51 of A Vampire's Pain
“No, but I am the one who works the hardest.”
I watched him for a little while, as he scanned a paper in his hand. He had always been like this. So hardworking. It got even worse when our dad died. Sometimes I felt bad for him actually. He always seemed to put all his time into anything but himself. Did that not get lonely?
“Damon?”
He looked at me again.
“Yes?”
“Sleep,” I said.
He chuckled and just nodded.
“Yeah, in a minute.”
I knew when he said in a minute, it meant he could stay up all day just working, and then I would find him when it became night again, still working and forgetting all about sleep.What would he do without me?I thought, yet the thought didn’t make me smile. If I chose to be with Gabriel, would that mean my brother would have no one to take care of him? I worried about my brother a lot. Ever since I became more me again … more … normal, you could almost say, I noticed how he gave so much of himself and rarely asked for anything in return. It was good to be kind to others, but we couldn’t forget ourselves.
“Damon?”
“Hmm …” he just said this time without looking at me.
“Why don’t you like Gabriel?” I asked.
My question seemed to make my brother freeze and he slowly turned to me.
“What?”
I swallowed hard and tried not to give anything away, but I needed a clear answer. I needed to see if I could fix all of this and make my brother accept the man who was my mate.
“Gabriel, you don’t like him,” I said.
“You’re right.”
“Why?” I asked.
“I don’t trust him.”
“But why?”
“Maybe because Dominic’s family and his family have always been enemies. For a long time.”
“But they are all hybrids,” I said.
“Haven’t you seen the way wolves fight each other? Or vampires? We can be of the same kind and still hate each other,” he said.
“But Gabriel has always supported Dominic.”
“I don’t feel like he has. Not the way that I have,” he said. “Not like he should.”
“Are you really scared he might want the throne for himself?” I asked.
I knew Damon had been there for Dominic a lot. He felt like he owed him since Dominic helped train my brother and become the fighter he was today and the way he had helped defend my honor and all of that. It was a lifelong debt that Damon felt like he had to pay. Therefore, he was so loyal to Dominic and had been the only council member who had supported Dominic and Lara, but I couldn’t see how Gabriel was bad. The one I had met was kind and sweet and so caring.
“I hope not but I refuse to let down my guard and then find out he wanted it all along,” he said.
“But Damon—”
“You don’t know him, Valeri,” Damon said.
