Of Blood & Consequence (Book 2 of The Blood Bond Series)

5. Syndicate

Michael wanted to bring up the subject of his parents to Delia one of these days, but he just didn't know how much was too much for her. The Mafia, be it Sicilian or vampiric, were very secretive. The only reason Michael got out without being dust in the wind was his parents. The head of the DiSalvio family of crime.

It had been passed on on his mother's side, and his father had been Guiliana's father's right-hand man until he'd been imprisoned and then died of a complication from a heart condition that had been untended and ignored to prior to that.

Yes, his mother had once been human, and when she was marked and mated to Nicholas Jensen, Guglielmo DiSalvio's most trusted protégé, they had turned their little version of the Italian Mafia into a supernatural one as well.

Now many of Nicholas'—who Giuliana called Nico—most trusted advisors and consigliere were vampires as well, a shake-up that astounded many of Guglielmo's men when Nico took over. Michael didn't know how he smoothed over the transition without much blood lost, but it was done, and now the DiSalvios were feared more than any other gang of criminals.

Though Giuliana was more of a symbol of the DiSalvios, she was only on the sidelines and let Nico do the heavy lifting for his mob of vampire and human factions. He kept the vampiric members close to his home and let the humans deal with humans—mostly with Anselmo Lastra in charge of the mortals in the cartel. Anselmo had been almost as close to Guglielmo as Nico had been, and was one of the few 'people' that knew about vampires. It kept him the way Nico and Giuliana wanted him—scared and respectful. Anselmo had seen Nico rip a man's heart right out of his chest before, and the man had actually made the sign of the cross and uttered a quick Hail Mary in Italian when he'd seen that. Nico was not a man to cross, and Anselmo knew just how badly things could go for him if he so much as hinted at anything supernatural about Nico, his mate, and their whole operation. He had a wife and family to support, so he kept mum. On pain of death.

Delia was happily humming along to the radio as they drove home from Eli and Cassie's place. They'd stayed far longer than intended, but that was usually the case. Once Delia and Cassie started chatting, it wasn't long before the hours had passed, most likely due to the fact that Delia was pretty much homebound unless going to or from work, or at SecurElite itself. She kept in touch with the world around her through the news and magazines, but seeing it on paper wasn't the same as having a life.

Another six months, Michael thought to himself. That was about the time it might take to curb Delia's ravenous appetite for humans, though he was hoping for sooner. He had vacation time he wanted to use now that he had a reason to use it.

And Delia had been talking about visiting her grandmother for almost as long as they'd been mated. Unlike Cassie—thank God—Michael and Delia had marked each other only a little while after things had settled down after her kidnapping and being held prisoner in the mountains. Delia was impulsive, whereas Cassandra White was careful and thought things through before making any life-altering decisions. Michael thought Eli to be the most patient man when it came to his mating. After waiting over 400 years to find her, he had still been just as resolute about giving her a bit of time—with a few minor exceptions—as ever. You only got one mate in a lifetime, and it was always for a lifetime. You didn't need to push the one person away that made you complete. A rejected mate was a good as dead, for a vampire. Once the bond was broken, the vampire would seek vengeance on anything or anyone. Refusal of the mating pull was a death sentence.

"Sposina, have you thought of what you want to do after you're able to blend with the human population again?" Michael asked over the low tones of the radio.

Delia looked over at him to see him perfectly honest in his question as he glanced over at her. "Not really. I know you're not a fan of me working at Promises again, so I was thinking of heading back to school if I can find the money to do that."