Chapter 54
The Billionaire and the P.I.
Author's note: I thought it was time to understand a little more about what had drawn Josef and Mick together initially. Now that Mick is going to recover (at least we think he is) Josef has time to reflect…
Intro Song: A Satisfied Mind, Jeff Buckley
Josef Kostan sat in his favorite leather chair, the worn burgundy leather perfectly broken in as far as he was concerned. His feet were crossed atop the matching ottoman. He was sequestered in the Temecula library, his personal hideout – and woe to anyone who bothered him there unless it was a matter of life or death. He'd taken the advice – pestering was more like it – of Beth, Simone, and even Gabrielle, and called it a morning, but he wasn't quite ready for the freezer. Not yet.
Two glasses were balanced carefully on the solid granite and mahogany side table by his left hand. One contained nutrition, the other his own vineyard blend, the two liquids hard to tell apart in the firelight, which was the room's only illumination. The billionaire stared at the flames as if they held some universal truth that could explain, or at least help sort out, all that had happened over the last several days. Without taking his eyes off the fire, he reached for one of the glasses, not particularly caring which one he ended up with. Taking a long swallow, he smiled as the fine AB-negative flowed smoothly down his throat. The smile died away, however, as he processed the events that had occurred. His best friend had nearly been killed – certainly, he had come as close to death as it was possible for a vampire to do, and still survive. Those who had orchestrated the attack clearly understood that he was a vampire. Since there had been no other provocation that he could identify, it appeared that someone - or something - was bent on a path of destruction for his kind. And if what had happened to Mick were any indication, they were dangerous as hell. Then there was another issue entirely…
Gabrielle Sinclair had kissed him. Or did I kiss her?
He'd certainly done far more titillating and outrageous things with other females. But he'd always found kissing to be disturbingly intimate, which is why he didn't do it with just anyone. His issue was the inhaling of the other person's emotions as readily as her scent, with connecting so intimately...Even during his relatively brief stint as a human, Josef had avoided such entanglements as much as possible. Light, breezy, fun, no commitments. That was his style. Just enough contact to counteract the loneliness, drive it back into the recesses of his brain where it belonged.
Kostan had been with a lot of women… a lot of women. Some men might brag that they'd lost count – but he literally had. Even so, he never became jaded with sex - or life's many other pleasures - thanks both to lessons from his sire, and those he'd learned on his own. As he saw it, the problem with most vampires was their tendency to overindulge. It was understandable. Vampires had the means, inclination and time to do so. Humans could not grasp what it meant to pass eternity. But then, neither can a lot of us. Sooner or later, a surprising number of vampires became ensnared by boredom, greed, entitlement, depravity... Like Lola, he thought sadly. That loss still hurt.
In his world view, nothing really lasted forever. The odds were just far more in the favor of vampires - with the proper moderation, discretion, restraint... and luck, don't forget about luck. Even after four centuries of living, he was still stunned by how many vampires wasted their existences, never accomplishing anything of note or worth. There was no excuse for beings as long-lived as they were to squander such opportunity. He didn't think he had forever, though. Just almost forever…
Take money, for example. Just saving ten bucks a day, over a few centuries, would make any one of them millionaires even without interest - let alone those like him who made concentrated efforts to achieve wealth – and the power that went along with it. Wealth was power - and power was security. Though he gave the impression of being a carefree playboy, it was just one of his carefully constructed masks, one which allowed him to move freely between vampire and human society – and one that Mick had seen through, even when he was first turned.
Kostan had first encountered St. John not long after moving to Los Angeles and his initial reaction was that the young man was not cut out to be a vampire. He'd told Coraline as much. And dammit, I was right! To be fair, with a psycho like Coraline as both sire and wife, Josef knew Mick didn't stand a chance. He hadn't fully realized just how crazy she was, though, until he'd learned that his friend's turning had been forced, without consent. Hell, without even any prior knowledge that vampires existed. He still remembered the rage he'd felt when he discovered that, a rare emotion for him at the time. What she had done went against every rule of their kind. At the time, he'd wondered where the hell her brother, Lance, was and why hadn't he kept some measure of control over her?
The whole thing had offended him. He was someone who had fully embraced being a vampire from the very beginning. He was proud of what – and who – he was and would never choose to go back to being just human. He, himself, took siring seriously, and each vampire he'd created had been very aware, very prepared, well-transitioned... and well-chosen. He didn't speak of his progeny often - he wasn't the clingy parental type - but he took pride in his contributions to the vampire nation. They had all gone well. Except Sara. That didn't work out great for you, did it? Or for Sara…
But Coraline - selfish, impulsive, manipulative, vicious Coraline - had no business bringing anyone into undead existence Her low threshold for boredom, combined with a petulant nature, ensured that any sire role she played would be doomed. What she'd done to Mick, however, wasn't just the casual carelessness of a self-centered sire. It constituted, in his eyes, a mortal sin, and, as such, warranted supreme punishment. He had seriously considered slitting her beautiful throat himself, but it was not his place. She was a DuVall, and no one dared correct - let alone kill - a member of that august clan without very specific permission. He liked his head on his body, thank you very much, and intended to keep it that way.
He had worried that Mick would eventually snap and kill her himself, which was, of course, just what he had eventually done when Coraline pushed him over the edge by kidnapping the then-four-year-old Beth, and implying that she should be turned so that they could be… What was it Mick has told him that she had said? One big, happy family... Turning a child, how twisted was that? Any vampire court would have found Coraline's murder justified after that little escapade. However, even if warranted, murdering one's sire was not looked upon kindly within the vampire community, especially when one's sire was of a royal bloodline.
Thankfully, his noble but confused friend hadn't accomplished what he had set out to do - which probably explained why none of her aristocratic coterie had tried to kill him, though the elder vampire was still at a loss to explain the lack of retribution for the attempt itself... What was undeniable was that each man, in his own way, had been grieving when they met. The pain, loss, and terror that had emanated from Mick had elicited what was for Josef, an unusual response. At the time, he'd thought it was pity. Later, he came to realize it was acknowledging a kindred spirit, someone as lost as he himself felt at the time, someone who could be a true friend through the long, often lonely, years of being a vampire.
The decision to pry Mick from Coraline's grip had been surprisingly easy. All that was left to determine was the method. What he could not force, he'd opted to finesse. He'd leveraged their prior meeting in New York decades before to gain Coraline's trust. He'd put up with her, given her a sympathetic ear...although he had to work hard to hide his disdain of her pedestrian complaints about her husband. How the hell was the poor man supposed to act, you nutty bitch? To this day, it amazed him at how he had kept a straight face as she recited her petty concerns while somehow managing to sidestep, gloss over, or even deny her own egregious transgressions... like rape-turning the poor bastard in the first place. Boy, had she had a rash of explanations for that one! It had been all he could do to keep from attacking her as he listened to her rationalizations for what she'd done to Mick. If I'd been human, it would have taken years off my life... But one thing the billionaire had always enjoyed was playing the long game.
It all soon paid off soon enough. Slowly, but with increasing frequency, Coraline allowed her pet out of her sight, released to his trusted custody. Little by little, Josef undid her treacherous teachings and taught Mick what it really meant to be a vampire. He had instructed the confused young man on how he could live without causing undue harm, and how to feed without killing - critical information that Coraline had not seen fit to share with her husband. Josef could only speculate on her motives there, but his suspicion was that she was just crafty enough to realize that the more Mick hated himself, hated what he now was, the more he would isolate himself...and feel forced to turn to her.
The young vampire had been pitifully grateful to hear that mindless hunting was not necessary or even acceptable to most vampires, and was, in fact, viewed as potentially harmful to the greater community. Still, Mick's self-loathing had made him a tricky pupil in the beginning. For a long time, it was a dance of one step forward and two steps back... over and over again. Finally, however, he'd allowed Josef to introduce him to the community as a vampire in his own right, and not just Coraline's mate.
The worst of Mick's depression had gradually lifted, and he'd begun to accept Josef's philosophy that being a vampire was something that he could choose to put to good, positive and productive use. He was still damaged goods - probably always would be, given what Coraline had done to him - but he became more independent, confident, and stable. Kostan remembered the day Mick had told him that he wanted to work, to be his own man again. It was then Josef knew that his tortured friend had finally turned a corner and he took great pride in that. Hell, if he was being honest, he'd probably been more Mick's sire than Coraline even before he turned him. Re-turned, Kostan. Re-turned…
The younger vampire's desire to help others, to somehow offset the damage he'd done when he didn't know better, coupled with his sharp, rational mind, natural instincts, and innate ability to solve puzzles, had led the young vampire to choose his vocation of private investigator. It had been a boon for the vampire community because it allowed Mick to interact with human law enforcement with relative ease - and keep watch for strange or odd cases that could implicate vampires. And that happened way more often that Josef liked.
The paperwork and records needed to mask his immortal identity and construct a human one that could stand up to the scrutiny an occupation as a private investigator would generate, had to be handled carefully. Josef had attended to it personally to make sure it wasn't botched. At least, that was the reason he had given, taking great satisfaction from watching his protégé begin to thrive. Sure, it took Mick a couple more decades to stand on his own two feet and finally end things with the witch - thanks in no small part to the aforementioned nut job's kidnapping of a certain tow-headed little girl...
Josef doubted that Beth truly knew the extent of her own significance, even now. She had indeed been the tipping point for his best friend, the proverbial final straw in Mick's marital saga. All the craziness aside, harming a child just to indulge her fantasy of getting them back together, finally broke Coraline's spell on Mick.
Josef finished off the contents of his blood-filled glass, as he thought back to his friend's crazy obsession with a particular kidnapping case. He'd known that it had involved Mick's twisted now-ex-wife – and a kid. But it hadn't been enough for his friend to rescue the child and return her to her very grateful mother. No, in true Mick the Saint fashion, he had watched over her, cared for her in his own abstract way, operating within the strict boundaries his damaged psyche dictated, until the little girl became a woman - an unexpectedly lovely one. His best friend had not been immediately forthcoming that on-line reporter Beth Turner was that child. Only after Beth had accidentally stumbled upon Mick's immortal identity, did the vampire even mention that tidbit to Kostan.
Turner certainly did look fetching during the BuzzWire broadcasts that he had caught. Those images, however, did not do her justice. They couldn't capture the intelligence, spirit and humor that were so much a part of her charm. From Mick's first mention of meeting her – again, as it turned out – Josef could tell that his friend was smitten. The night the P.I. had actually said something good about his ex-wife pretty much confirmed for him that his friend had strong feelings for Beth. It was just like Mick to fixate on Coraline when he was finally edging closer to a healthy relationship. Mick was like a man hanging on to a sharp rock in the middle of a raging river - too afraid to take a chance and grab the hand reaching to save him, all the while being torn to shreds by the very thing he wouldn't let go of.
The strength of the bond Mick felt with Beth became obvious to him when his friend at last brought her to Kostan's office. Josef had done an obvious double take when he laid eyes on the reporter – and it had caused his friend to give him a serious 'back off' look. That possessiveness was a sure sign of desire in a vampire - and something he'd not seen from the P.I. before. When Mick eventually confided that he was in love with Beth, Josef hadn't been surprised. Hell, everyone already knew that except Mick. "Damn blockhead," he muttered, taking another sip, this time of the remaining wine. Damn, that's good. Fuck me, how am I going to replace Dave?!
Fast-forward to the present. Officially together for only a few weeks, this woman was literally willing to bleed for Mick, to slice her own flesh and feed him, in order to save his life. If that wasn't love... well, then, love didn't exist.
Josef sighed to himself. Love. That emotion hadn't been particularly kind to him. 350 years to find it, less than a year to lose it. Having had that time with Sara - and having lost it - made him fiercely protective of Mick and Beth. He was truly happy for his friend. As much shit as Mick had gone through, the man was due some measure of happiness.
As for him, he'd pretty much given up. In fact, he'd resigned himself to his ultimate aloneness... to the point where he didn't even realize he was no longer looking for someone. When it came to his love life and intimate indulgences, Josef Kostan was what was popularly referred to as a "player." He never misrepresented himself to anyone - every girl knew what was up going in. And bless them, every one of them seemed to have a good time. Women loved being his freshies, as well they should. He pampered them, compensated them amply, treated them very well - and if anyone had had enough, fine. There was a waiting list of young, beautiful replacements, eager to fill any open slots. He was king of his own court, humans and vampires alike vying for his attention, approval or assistance.
So how the hell had one smart, slender attorney from the Valley gotten to him?
Sure, Simone was beautiful - but for him, that was a given. Yes, she was highly educated and accomplished. But so were many of the royals, scientists, academics, and myriad other groups of women he'd dabbled in. What can I say, I'm a sucker for smart, gorgeous women. Simone had already proven herself as a lawyer, and, with her amazingly intuitive understanding of his nature, she'd quickly become his favorite. Never jealous of his freshies, content and secure in her own position with him, Simone was a rare joy. There was no need to hide any aspect of himself from her – she knew all about him and didn't appear to be bothered in the slightest. She knew... she knew and didn't care....
He'd uttered those words about Sara. Simone could not be more different than his doomed love, yet, the attraction was the strongest he'd felt since Sara. It was both undeniable - and confusing. And maybe that is what perplexed him the most about her. Even offering her up to Mick for a quick sip that night in his penthouse hadn't fazed her. She just accepted it as she had everything else. In fact, she seemed to enjoy it. He grinned. The girl did have just the right amount of kink.
Still, she was more than a pretty face with a healthy... appetite. She was intelligent, industrious, ingenious, and a real bulldog once she latched on to something. Her level-headedness and tenaciousness in acquiring Mick's desperately needed medications, not to mention her ability to manage Kostan himself, were notable and rare traits, as was her peculiar lack of jealousy - at least, so far.
If she didn't mind freshies, then why was he suddenly afraid of her finding out that he and Gabrielle had kissed? Because this wasn't a freshie – this was different. Josef groaned out loud and kicked the ottoman in frustration, sending it skidding off the exquisite Oriental rug and across the polished dark oak floor beyond until it crashed into the far wall. The deep unrest in his gut caused by that unsettling feeling was a foreign sensation - and one he quite disliked. Josef Kostan answered to no one. Okay, maybe occasionally to a certain mother hen younger vampire, but that was different. That was really by choice.
A final sip of wine emptied the crystal goblet - and ended his introspection. Despite his attempts to dismiss her importance, he could not deny that Simone was something special. Perhaps more special than he was ready for her to be.
End song: Confused, Lenny Kravitz (unreleased but you can find it on YouTube. Great song, really fits the moment…)
