Free Venice Vampyr - The Beginning by Tina Folsom

was hoping you’d be home. We need to talk.”
    His brother rose from his chair, his long legs eating up the distance between them without effort. “Yes, that we do. But after dinner.” He glanced down at Isabella. “Have you tasted her yet? She looks positively delicious.” Dante licked his lips.
    Raphael blocked his brother from approaching her. He would have liked to give Dante the news in a less abrupt way, but the cad didn’t leave him any choice. “She’s my wife. And you’ll do well keeping your hands and fangs to yourself. As well as your dick.”
    “Your wife?” Dante’s voice filled the entire room. His doubtful look would have been amusing if Raphael didn’t have other things on his mind—like her family connections.
    “You got married?”
    He couldn’t miss the accusatory tone in Dante’s voice. “That’s my own business.”
    “Not when it affects us both. She’s human.” His brother squared his shoulders, but Raphael wasn’t intimidated. When he ran his hands through his thick, black hair, Raphael knew that Dante wasn’t planning on a fight. “Why in hell would you do such a thing?”
    “She saved me.”
    “What?”
    “She saved me from drowning. Pulled me out of the canal when I’d already slipped under. She risked her own life.” There was a certain pride with which he said it. His wife was a brave woman.
    Dante took a step back in shock. “You nearly drowned? What happened?”
    He shrugged. “I’m not sure. I felt a hand on my back and fell into the canal. But there were lots of drunken revelers around, a rowdy crowd. It could have been an accident.”
    His brother raised an eyebrow. “What if it wasn’t?”
    “Then you and our friends will help me find out who’s behind it.”
    “I could venture a guess.” Dante gave him a pointed look, and Raphael knew immediately that he was thinking about the Guardians of the Holy Waters. A moment later, Dante glanced at Isabella still lying motionless on the sofa. “By the way, what’s wrong with her? What did you do, drug her?”
    Raphael grinned. “Multiple orgasms.”
    The laugh that followed echoed in the entire mansion. “You scoundrel!”
    “Not likely—what I did was entirely proper. After all, she is my very respectable wife.” Respectable—yet with a lusty streak he didn’t mind a bit. “Now, let’s let her sleep. She’s exhausted.” He pulled his brother away toward the sitting area in front of the fireplace.
    “Yes, and sore, I’d imagine. She looks petite.”
    “She’s stronger than you think. And don’t worry about my wife. I know how to take care of her.” Yes, she would be a little sore from the ferocity with which he’d rutted on her, but he’d make it up to her by eating her sweet pussy and soothing her flesh with his tongue soon.
    Raphael let himself fall into his armchair as Dante settled back into his own. He had to forget about his new wife for a moment. “I discovered one of the Guardians.”
    His brother sat forward with a start. “Of the Holy Waters?”
    “Yes, the very same.” He motioned his head toward the place were Isabella slept. “Her late husband’s cousin is one of them. I saw the ring. He wore their symbol.”
    Dante’s face flashed with surprise. “In public?”
    “Not exactly. He burst into Isabella’s bedchamber just as we were ...” Raphael cleared his throat. “His name is Massimo Tenderini. I want you to follow him, find out everything you can, what he does, who he meets, where he goes. Everything. He will lead us to the Guardians. We just have to be patient. Can you do that?”
    Dante nodded. “Yes, nothing simpler than that. I’ll put a man on him. However—” He paused and gave him a long look. “—has it crossed your mind that your meeting Isabella and then her cousin was not by accident?”
    “In what way?”
    “What if she was put in your path so you would then in turn lead the Guardians to our kind? Don’t you think it was a little too convenient