Free Bad Blood (Aurora Sky: Vampire Hunter, Vol. 3) by Nikki Jefford

I turned the handle. Before I finished twisting the knob, a fist pounded on the other side of the door. My heart leapt straight up my throat. I nearly screamed.
    Now what? I didn’t want anyone to see me with Fane. Maybe if I kept quiet enough whoever it was would go away.
    The knocking resumed.
    I looked at Fane, who looked at my hand frozen on the doorknob. He raised one eyebrow and smiled slowly.
    The person behind the door reached for the knob on the outside and turned. My hand turned with it. This time, I willed it to be my mom, not Dante, but who else would let themselves in?
    The door moved outward.
    Dante stood on the threshold grinning from ear to ear. He continued to grin even after he saw Fane lingering behind me.
    Dante leaned in to give me a loud smack on the lips. “Hey, babe.”
    “What are you doing here?” I asked.
    “I came over to give you a lift to school.”
    “It’s across the street.”
    Dante pulled me against him. “Yeah, but it’s your first day. I wanted to be here for that.”
    I would have given my left arm to see Fane’s expression when Dante kissed me. Probably similar to the cable tight frown currently stretched across his face.
    “Hey, man,” Dante said, one arm snaking around my waist, the other reaching forward. “I’m Dante.”
    Recognition lit up Fane’s eyes. His jaw loosened as he smiled and gave Dante’s hand one firm pump.
    “Dante,” Fane repeated. “How could I forget that name? Aurora’s big brother, right?”
    The fiend looked very pleased with himself all of the sudden.
    Dante’s hand dropped from my waist as he turned to me. “Brother?”
    Fane skirted past us. “I’ll let you two have some family time,” he said as he walked out the door.
    Couldn’t leave without causing problems, could he? I slammed the door shut.
    Dante folded his arms across his chest. I swear he’d grown an inch taller.
    “Aurora? Who was that?”
    I sighed. “Can we sit down before we talk?”
    Dante extended an arm forward for me to lead the way.
    I savored my last seconds of peace in the twenty seconds it took to reach the living room. I know I’d mentioned sitting, but I didn’t.
    “That was my ex-boyfriend.”
    The muscles on Dante’s chest tightened. I was so used to his carefree grin that it gave me no small thrill to see his jaw clamp down and his eyes narrow.
    “What was he doing here?”
    I shrugged, suddenly unable to meet Dante’s eye. “He showed up unannounced. I guess he wanted to apologize for being a dick.”
    “You gave your ex-boyfriend your new address?”
    “No way! That was Noel. They’re friends.”
    “Great. Your ex and your friend are tight.”
    “Noel’s not my friend!” I cried, but Dante wasn’t listening.
    “Why did he call me your brother?”
    Oops. That wasn’t good.
    “Umm,” I said, nudging the carpet with the tip of my toe. “Remember when we went to Fairbanks to interrogate that kid involved in Janine’s death?” Maybe bringing up Dante’s ex-lover would help my cause.
    “Yeah,” Dante said.
    “Remember how I’d just broken up with a guy and told him I was going out with you so he wouldn’t try getting back together with me?”
    “Yeah,” Dante said.
    “Well, that was him,” I said nodding toward the hall. “He’s the guy who went out with Valerie first.”
    Dante’s arms remained locked across his chest.
    “I remember you telling me about him,” he said. “How is it he’s dated both you and Valerie and is friends with Noel? Is he another informant I haven’t met?”
    I smiled before I could stop myself. The whole thing was too ridiculous.
    “He’s not an informant. We all went to Denali High School together and somehow our lives collided.” I shrugged. “It’s crazy, I know.”
    Dante frowned.
    “What’s his name?”
    “Francesco.”
    Dante huffed. “What kind of name is that?”
    Fane had asked the same thing about Dante.
    “It’s Italian.”
    “Oh, Italian.” Dante rolled his eyes. “You