Enemy Mine

Chapter 22

Angry voices spilled out of the apartment when Vincent and I touched down on his balcony. Colin and Jonathan stood outside the open door, watching Charleton and Boris argue in the living room, and Colin reached out a hand as Vincent loosened his grip on my waist. It was a protective gesture on Colin's part, but Vincent's ferocious growl had Colin raising his eyebrows dubiously, which I chalked-up to poor timing. Vincent's fury had no equal, at the moment.

"Keep Reese safe." Vincent gave his command as he relinquished me to his brothers, ducking inside the apartment without changing out of his gollum form.

"How dare you approach me in such an intimidating manner!" Boris bellowed as Vincent came to stand in front of his grandfather, outlooming him in girth and wingspan.

"Do I intimidate you? Good!" Vincent's voice boomed, and I startled against Colin's chest as he tucked me under his arm.

"Are you cold, Reese?"

"A little, but I think it's more nerves. Will they do battle?"

"That's a guarantee. Maybe not now, but I foresee a challenge in the near future."

"Is that really necessary?" I said, feeling slightly responsible for the family feud.

"He tried to kill you," Jonathan put in. "Vincent won't be the only one seeking justice for Boris' tyrannical actions."

"How long has Boris been like this?"

"Since birth, I think. He comes from a long line of traditionalists," Jonathan said. "Our mom is nothing like him. She raised us as Valentinos and snubbed the intolerant Seacrest traditions. He has never forgiven her for that."

"...and I have plenty of support to make my case as iron clad as it needs to be!" Boris shouted, drawing our attention back to the fight.

"You better look harder at your list of friends," Vincent countered. "You won't find any decent gollums who support the act of cold-blooded murder. That is not a traditional gollum trait."

"You are a disgrace to the Seacrest lineage, and you will drag the Valentinos to their graves," Boris moaned.

"So, it works out for you then. You seem to be a fan of death." Vincent said this through a growl before adding, "You are no longer welcome in our domus. Don't forget to dust off your passport. I will see you in court."

Charleton ushered Boris to the door, with Vincent following imposingly behind them, and when the two older gollums had left, Vincent stalked through his living room and disappeared down the hall without acknowledging us. It was probably just as well.

"Can we go inside now?" I said, stepping away from Colin's pheromone-scented warmth. "I don't see any more assholes in trench coats." I heard one of the boys snigger and turned to find both of them smirking. "I know it's insensitive of me to call your grandfather an asshole... to your faces."

"You know us better than that," Colin said as he nudged me through the door. "The guy acts like an asshole. So, call him an asshole."

Colin and Jonathan slumped onto the couch while I made straight for the kitchen to quench my thirst. A few moments later, Vincent appeared still in his gollum form, and he stopped in his tracks when he saw me.

"You. Bedroom." Vincent's command had an edge to it, causing a chill to raise the hair on my arms, but I knew he wasn't angry at me. How could he be? I made my way around the counter toward him, and Colin and Jonathan were on their feet in a nanosecond.

"Reese, stop," Colin said as he thrust his arm out to block my progress. "Vincent, needs more quiet time."

Vincent removed his gaze from me to focus on Colin. "I intend to do that now, with my mate."