Raphael Read Online Free Page B

suppose. Although he is awfully good looking. I wouldn't mind having a go at him myself if you're not interested.” She twisted a lock of blond hair between her fingers and gave Cynthia an appraising look.
    Cynthia tried to imagine Nick and her sister together. Maybe not. “Nick's just ... Nick,” she said instead. “He calls when he's in town and we have a good time.” She shrugged. “It works for both of us. No complications."
    "Complications,” her sister repeated sourly, dropping both perfectly manicured hands to the tile counter. “As in actually requiring you to take someone other than yourself into account once in awhile?"
    Cynthia swallowed the sharp retort that leapt to mind, opened the refrigerator door and stared blindly at Holly's yogurt stash, counting first to ten, then to twenty, before turning to face her sister. “Nick's a friend, Holly. We enjoy each other's company and that's it. Not everyone is looking for a husband, you know."
    "Easy for you to say. Not everyone was gifted with a trust fund on her twenty-first birthday either. Some of us have to worry about our future."
    Cyn sighed. Money. It always came down to money with Holly. And the fact that Cyn's father had it and Holly's didn't. Like it was Cynthia's fault, like she'd somehow stolen what should have been Holly's. Of course, Holly never wanted to hear the other side of it. About what it was like to be raised by the best nannies money could buy, and about being the only child at school whose parents never came to visit. About holidays with a pile of presents and no one to watch her open them, about all those little milestones of life—graduations, first day on the job, the first dollar she'd earned on her own—all those moments she'd celebrated alone because no one else cared enough to be there. No, Holly didn't want to know about that part. “Actually, I do worry about my future,” Cyn said finally. “Which is why I have no intention of getting married."
    "Oh, get over yourself, Cyndi. See a therapist, for God's sake."
    Cyn sucked in a breath. It wouldn't serve anyone's purposes for her and Holly to argue yet again. Nick hadn't been far from right; they might as well be from different planets. She and Holly were sisters, but genetics was the only thing they had in common and there wasn't even much evidence of that.
    "I like my life the way it is,” she said quietly. “Speaking of which, I've got to run. Be sure to lock up if you go out."
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Chapter Five
    Raphael stood behind his desk, staring out through a wall of arched windows to the wide ocean beyond. A full moon rode the sky; the gently rolling waves shimmered silver in its light. It was a pale cousin to the glory of sunlight, but the only celestial light he would ever see again. The vampire paused, puzzled by his own musings. He rarely thought of such things and wondered why it came to mind now. The door opened behind him to admit Duncan.
    "Lonnie has arrived, my lord."
    Raphael remained silent a moment longer, then turned to take the seat behind his desk. “Show him in."
    "My lord.” Duncan bowed his head briefly, slipping out of the room to return a few moments later, Lonnie Mater in tow.
    Normally the picture of good cheer, tonight Lonnie was uncharacteristically silent, subdued, like a small animal remaining quiet beneath the gaze of a predator, hoping to escape notice. An apt comparison. He was an unremarkable man of medium height, pleasant looking, but nothing too dramatic. He'd been a movie producer when Raphael found him, a man with little success, but many contacts, the perfect vehicle for the vampire lord's insertion into Hollywood society.
    The former producer bowed from the waist, a surprisingly elegant gesture from an American who'd never had to learn the skill. “Sire,” he said quietly. “I am yours to command."
    In spite of the grim circumstances, Raphael regarded him with some amusement. For all the man's extravagant ways, he was