Carpathian 22 - Dark Predator

with the De La Cruz family, he won’t find it here. Does he want to do some sort of business with them?
    Lea nibbled at a tea biscuit, a small frown on her face. “I don’t honestly know. Esteban won’t talk to me about it. He just tells me to do whatever DS says.”
    Marguarita allowed the tea to slide down her throat. It was hot and sweet and her stomach rebelled a little, but settled after a moment or two. She’d found it difficult to eat food lately. Nothing tasted good, and often, she felt as if she might get sick when she put solid food in her stomach. The scent of meat particularly offended her. She feared it had something to do with the vampire attack on her and her torn throat. Of course Lea thought a large jungle cat had attacked her as most people did. She touched her throat and immediately felt the throb of the mark Zacarias had put on her. Without thinking, her fingertips brushed a caress over the spot.
    “Does it hurt?” Lea asked. “Your throat?”
    Marguarita shook her head. It didn’t hurt anymore, but it was still difficult to accept that she couldn’t speak. Lea had stayed her friend. Esteban had always acted as if he was courting her—until the accident. He continued to come around, but he was careful not to flirt too much with her anymore. She realized he didn’t want her to get the wrong idea. Without a voice, she wasn’t up to his standards. Perhaps that was judging him harshly, but she had always known he wasn’t seriously courting her.
    Lea impulsively leaned across the table and put her hand over Marguarita’s. “We’re such a pair. Me with nowhere to go and you with a torn throat.”
    Marguarita smiled at her. She raised her teacup and took another sip.
    “I don’t suppose Julio would have tea with us?” Lea ventured, trying to lighten the mood. “Maybe you could find a secret love potion and slip it to him.”
    Marguarita smiled and shook her head.
    Ask him to show you the horses. Get him talking about them. He loves the horses. I’ve never seen you ride. Do you know how?
    “I hired this man to teach me, but he never shows up. I love to watch you ride, and when I’m on a horse I feel so free. I love the wind in my face and the way the horse moves, flowing across the ground. I know I could live here, even without my brother. I don’t spend much out of my trust fund, Esteban blows through his portion every month, but I could buy property here and be happy.”
    There’s no city life here, Lea. It can be lonely for a woman.
    Lea sighed and stroked her finger down her bruised cheek. “It can be lonely in the middle of a crowd, Marguarita. I just don’t feel I fit anywhere. Not until I came here. I know I seem sort of prissy to you, but I’m a hard worker. I can learn. I just want to find peace.”
    Why do you travel with Esteban when you know he’s involved in illegal activity?
    “He’s all I have. We have the family business and I could go back and work there, but my uncle is the only one alive that’s family other than Esteban. I didn’t even know him before my parents were killed in a small plane crash. He’s older and very rigid. Esteban can’t stand the sight of him and unfortunately, my uncle lets him know at every opportunity that he’s a spoiled rich kid. That just seems to egg Esteban on. I was hoping if I was with him, he’d stop doing such dangerous things.”
    Is he hooked on drugs?
    Lea bit at her lower lip. “He uses cocaine. At first it was recreational, and I tried not to get upset about it. Really everyone we knew used it. But Esteban can’t go a day without it now. I’ve tried to talk to him about it, but he says I don’t know how to have fun. He thinks I’m a workaholic. I used to work for my parents. Esteban was rather spoiled by my father and dad encouraged him to be a playboy.”
    He must have taken your parents’ death very hard.
    Lea nodded. “I think that’s what made him so vulnerable to DS. He started doing more drugs and partying hard. He jumps out of airplanes, skis very hazardous mountains, anything that’s dangerous, he does it. No matter what I say to him, I can’t stop him.” She rubbed her temples as if she had a headache. “I can’t keep following him around the world trying to keep him alive. He won’t listen to me.”
    I’m sorry, Lea. I wish there was something I could do to help.
    Lea sent her a small smile. “I appreciate your listening. It’s been a long time since I felt like I had a real friend I