Sighing to himself, Ronan walked down the stairs, digging his cell phone out of his pocket. He would need to call a new ride to pick him up. He hadn’t bothered renting a car for his stay in the city. At the time, he hadn’t been entirely sure how long he’d be staying. Michael had rented a car and was currently acting as Mara’s personal bodyguard, chauffeur, and all-around bitch boy.
Upon meeting Mara prior to leaving for the States, Ronan had made it clear that he wasn’t her servant. He was muscle when it was needed. She hadn’t been pleased, but she hadn’t argued. So far, she was happy to leave him to his own devices. Considering she knew that Ronan and Aiden were previously acquainted, she was likely leaving him to sway Aiden to their side.
Maybe.
Fuck, he didn’t care what she or the Ministry thought.
His phone vibrated in his hand, and he blinked to see Aiden’s name flash across the screen. He’d programmed Aiden’s number into his phone and sent a few texts, but Aiden never replied. Not that he was surprised. There were a lot of vampires out there who didn’t care for cell phones and texting. He just figured Aiden might be in that lot.
“Aiden?” he said when he answered the call.
“Make a left at the end of the drive and walk to the corner. I’ll meet you there.” And the call ended.
Ronan stared at the phone, speechless. That was Aiden’s voice. He didn’t sound angry or hurt. Just…decisive.
Why did Aiden suddenly want to see him? Did he suspect the Ministry’s darker plans and the part Ronan was expected to play in them?
To hell with it all. He wanted to see Aiden.
Briskly walking down the driveway, Ronan made a left and continued along the sidewalk, glancing at the extravagant homes brightly lit against the late hour. Most of the interior lights were now extinguished since it was nearly midnight, but each home had lavish landscape lighting. If a cop passed him, it was likely he’d get stopped even though he was nicely dressed in Armani slacks and a cream-white cable-knit sweater and a black leather jacket that came to his hips. If he was a thief, he was definitely a well-off, accomplished one.
As he reached the curb, a deep red Audi TT RS coupe stopped in front of him. The darkly tinted driver’s side window lowered to reveal Aiden with a playful smile on his face. His brown hair looked slightly mussed, as if he’d been running his fingers through it.
“You wanna get out of here for a little while?” Aiden asked.
“Hell yeah,” Ronan breathed. He recovered from his shock to run around the front of the car and jump into the passenger seat. He’d barely sank into the buttery soft leather seats and shut the door before the engine roared and they leaped forward. Ronan’s startled laugh filled the car as he grabbed madly for the seat belt.
The little car was spunky and powerful with plenty of grip to hold the road through each of the tight turns. Trees blurred past Ronan’s window, but he barely noticed it or the road. He could barely pull his eyes off how Aiden looked in the dim glow of the interior lights. Just a minute ago, he’d been sure he wouldn’t get to see Aiden tonight, and now he was sitting beside him as they sped into the night.
“Ethan said you weren’t seeing visitors,” Ronan stated when he finally got his seat belt buckled. He didn’t want to get Aiden’s family in trouble, but he thought Aiden should know if his family was trying to keep them apart.
Aiden released a long breath. Steering with his right hand, he balanced his left elbow on the door and rested his head against his hand. “Yeah. Sorry about that. I thought I needed some space to think. But the moment I got that space, I felt…” he drifted off and drew in another breath. “I don’t know. Trapped, maybe. Of course, I realized then that it’s been weeks since I last fed properly. As I was sneaking out, I heard you talking to Ethan and knew I wanted to see you.”
“Really?” he asked, failing to catch the question before it jumped from his lips. Lovely. Now he sounded like a teenage girl. “Wait. Sneaking out?”
Aiden rolled his eyes, but there was a slightly embarrassed smile on his lips. “Do you have any idea what it’s like to go hunting at my age with a chaperone?”
Ronan threw his head back and laughed. He was laughing so damn hard, he couldn’t breathe. Tears slipped from the corners of his eyes, and he might have even snorted. Aiden had been a trained fighter and killer before he’d been reborn a vampire. He had lived more than a thousand years, and Ronan had no doubt that he’d honed his skills to a sharp, lethal edge. The fact that Aiden’s sons felt the need to protect him…