Dalton, Tymber - Love and Brimstone [Brimstone Vampires 1] (Siren Publishing Classic) Read Free

outside and watched Taz circling the driveway as she tried to master finessing the clutch. The car finally jerked to a stop in front of the door. “Did you see me?” she squealed, running up to him and hugging him.
    “Yes.” He laughed. “You were great.”
    Eric’s expression clouded. He walked over to Tim, and before Eric could say anything, Tim looked at him.
    “You’re a good dad, Eric,” Tim murmured as he fixed him with his gaze.
    Eric’s expression went blank. Taz was too busy calling her friends about her driving lesson to notice what was going on.
    “You’re a great dad, Eric. She loves you very, very much. You are doing a wonderful job raising your daughter.” After sixteen years, now was not the time for Eric to get jealous and decide he wanted to finally start carrying out his fatherly duties and spending more quality time with Taz. Tim had worked too hard with her to establish her self-control to have Eric and his reckless ways ruin it all.
    Tim let him go. Eric blinked and smiled at him. “Did you see her?”
    He nodded. “I’m so glad you were able to return for this. It means the world to her.”
    “Yeah, well, you know. She’s a chip off the old block, huh?”
    Tim nodded. “You’ll be home all week, I take it?”
    He nodded. “I want to spend some time with her, out in the garage.”
    “She’ll love that. Anything in particular you want for dinner…”

    * * * *

    “She’s beautiful,” Bianca whispered.
    Tim nodded. “She resembles you both very much.”
    They have no idea how much.
    Eric sat on Tim’s other side, puffed up and proud. “That’s my baby,” he said. Taz walked across the stage, accepted her diploma, and waved at them. Tim waved back, trying to juggle the video and still cameras at the same time.
    Bianca looked like she had a horrible thought and put her hand on Robertson’s arm. “You’re not going to…you won’t leave just because she’s graduating, will you?” she whispered.
    He smiled. “No, Bianca. You’re stuck with me for a while longer, I imagine.”
    She sounded relived. “Thank goodness. I mean, she’s got college, and I’ve got movies coming up, and we still need you…”

    * * * *

    The blue lights flashed in her rearview mirror. Tim looked at her as she pulled over. “I told you not to speed, young lady.” She was twenty and drove like her father—balls out.
    The CHiP walked up to her window and pulled off his sunglasses. She flashed him a smile, and in two minutes, they were on their way.
    Sans ticket.
    All she’d done was be polite and talk. The officer never even asked for her license.
    Tim finally found his voice. “That was…amazing.”
    She shrugged. “I haven’t had a ticket, but I get pulled over all the time. They just give me a warning and…uh, I guess I never told you that, huh?”
    He shook his head, taking mental notes. She was so strong. Thank God he’d trained her well early on. He’d never caught her being cruel, and he was sure she wasn’t aware she was doing anything special.
    She was just being nice. And polite.

    * * * *

    They sat at the kitchen table. Taz’s face looked red and puffy. A nearly empty box of tissues sat before her. Tim poured her another drink. Usually he discouraged her from imbibing, but tonight she needed it.
    So did he.
    “I can’t believe it,” she whispered. “I just can’t.”
    Tim kept the cell phone next to him, waiting for news. As soon as had been notified, he’d locked himself in his office and made a frantic series of phone calls, which started an avalanche of activity behind the scenes the likes of which Anastazia didn’t need to know.
    He patted her on the hand. “Keep faith, dear. There are a lot of people looking for them.”
    “And I was supposed to go, too! But I just had so much to do with exams and stuff.”
    “It’s okay, Taz.”
    She started crying again.
    He had to keep it together for her sake. He prayed her parents would be found safely, but he didn’t