Free Niccolo (Blood Brothers) by Eve Vaughn

state we call la morte dolci. I have not personally experienced it, but my brother GianMarco did when he denied himself his bloodmate. To hear him explain the illness, it made him feverish and caused him a great deal of physical pain. His bodily functions were out of control and his temperature rose to scorching proportions. My brother was in such bad shape that he lost all rational thought and attacked his bloodmate, who had been human at the time. Had Dante not intervened, he might have killed her.”
    “Oh, no!” Sasha covered her mouth in horror. “The poor woman must have been frightened out of her mind.”
    “I’m sure she was. I wasn’t there.”
    “But how did he get past this illness?”
    “He stopped denying himself and took what he wanted.”
    “And his bloodmate? Is she okay?”
    “Better than okay. They’re married now and expecting their first child together. My new sister is sure that the baby will be a girl, but she may be in for a little disappointment; female-born vampires are quite rare.” He smiled briefly as he thought of the happiness his younger brother had found with Maggie. Marco deserved a little happiness after the brutal slaughter of his first wife and child long ago.
    “I’m glad that things worked out for them.”
    “So am I.” He glanced at his watch and mentally calculated how long it would take them to get to the airport. “We have to get to Jagger soon. We have to leave now.”
    She nodded. “This is my fault. I wanted so badly to protect him; I might have done more harm than good.”
    “There’s no point in beating yourself up over it.”
    “But I kept so much from him. I kept his true birth certificate hidden in case someone within the immortal network was to discover it. Your family isn’t the only one with enemies. My father has made many over the centuries. We didn’t mingle with other immortals beside my brothers. From the time he was very young I told him to never reveal his powers around anyone but myself and his uncles.”
    “You made him suppress his warlock side as well?”
    “Only around humans. He still received his training under Blade.”
    “So your father had nothing to do with him even though it’s customary for the heads of your covens to train young witches and warlocks?”
    “Yes, but the last thing I wanted was for my child to be subjected to my father’s demands of perfection. Ivan had a way of making one feel inadequate for the slightest of flaws. And after what happened to Petra ... well, we barely spoke. Even as a baby, Jagger was very smart. He would have picked up on our tenuous relationship.”
    “I understand.” Niccolo could sense her pain and knew she had suffered, but he felt so conflicted. One second, he wanted to hate her; the next moment, he wanted to hold her and promise everything would be okay.
    “Sasha, you could have come to me at anytime for help.”
    “We agreed it was best not to keep in touch. But had I known how suppressing his nature would put him in such a precarious position, I would have reached out sooner. But let me ask you something. What about me, Niccolo? If I needed you, would you have come?”
    Her question caught him off guard so he hesitated to answer. “I…” He was at a loss for words. Would he have gone to her?
    Niccolo wanted to punch himself when he saw the sad droop to her lips. She slowly shook her heads. “Don’t bother. I already know the answer. Like you said, we have to get out of here. Let’s go.”
    They were silent for most of the ride to the airport. Niccolo wanted to say something, anything, to take that haunted look from her eyes and to ease the awkward tension between them. “I’m surprised that your brother would defy your father and train Jagger. I’m sure Ivan wasn’t pleased.”
    It took a moment for Sasha to respond. “No,” she said quietly, “he wasn’t, but my brothers have limited contact with my father. They had a falling out with him as well.”
    “When and