Soph renewed her dating of Marco with an enthusiastic fervour. When they weren't cuddled up in some eclectic European restaurant, they were texting each other. Marco didn't question her lack of communication after their last date some weeks back and for that she was grateful. She didn't know what excuse she'd give him otherwise: "Oh hey Marco, I got roofied by my coven which resulted in an addiction to vampire blood, which I had to be saved from by a billionaire vampire whom I've slept with more times than you but yeah, glad to be back!"

It was perhaps a few weeks after Eli and Cole had left that Soph received a knock on the door. She'd been texting Marco, as usual, and the intrusion gave her pause. Her doorman hadn't called her at all to say someone was coming, and, heart thumping unevenly, she wondered for a moment if Eli had come to visit. He was the only one who was able to get up to her apartment without anyone knowing. The only one except...

"Soph, Baby!" Zita cawed when she opened the door.

"Mum," Soph said, dumbfounded. She glanced down at the suitcases at her mother's feet. "You... staying a while?"

"Oh," Zita waved a dismissive hand, then stooped to pick up her cases. "I saw a bit of cash going into the account and thought I'd come visit and see how you are."

Figures, Soph thought as she stepped aside to let her mother through. Zita owned the apartment that her daughter lived in, and Soph paid part of the mortgage into Zita's account. If Eli and Cole had mistaken how much Soph actually paid, then of course Zita would get curious about the extra money and come home from whatever nomadic adventures she'd been on.

"Planning on staying a while?" Soph asked again as she watched Zita take her cases into the bedroom. Whenever Zita stayed, Soph gave up her bed to her and slept on the lounge. Thankfully, Zita rarely stayed more than a few days, but then, Soph had never seen her bring this many suitcases with her.

"Don't know, Baby," Zita called from the bedroom. "It's been a while since we've caught up. Oh, and Diego will be staying too. I've been really looking forward to you meeting him. And I thought I might introduce him to Ma while I'm in the city."

"Diego," Soph repeated hollowly. Another knock sounded on the door and Soph opened it slowly. On the other side stood a man who could only be the 'Diego' that Zita had spoken of. He had golden, sun-kissed skin and a wide bun of dreadlocks atop his head. He had bright blue eyes and Soph could definitely see the attraction her mother had to him. Diego looked like he was her age.

"Sophia!" he greeted with an accent she couldn't quite place. He had a grubby backpack on his shoulder and as she let him in, he swung it to the ground, dumping it unceremoniously by the lounge. "Very pretty apartment," he observed. He went to the kitchen and opened her fridge. He pulled out the orange juice and waved it at her. "Can I have some?"

"Be my guest," Soph muttered where she still stood by the door. She moved forward slowly to reach for her phone on the lounge. Zita emerged from the bedroom and came over to Soph with a smile.

"My baby," she said, touched Soph's face. Soph couldn't help but smile back. Zita looked like her, only twenty years older and with wilder hair. Though she didn't spend much time around the family, she looked more a witch than any of them. She had a youthfulness about her, a true free spirit, tied to no one and no place. She was free to come and go as she wished. Sometimes Soph wished she'd inherited her mother's confidence to have no ties at all. "My baby," Zita repeated. "It's been too long. Should we have dinner tonight?"

Soph was almost tempted. Almost. She glanced over Zita's shoulder to where Diego was drinking juice from the bottle. She stifled a cringe and shook her head. "I can't tonight. I've got plans already."

"Ah," Zita said with a disappointed smile. "I suppose that's my own fault for not calling ahead. Another night, then."

Soph nodded and as Zita turned away, she looked down at her phone and started to type a text to Marco.

- Mum and her new boy toy have rocked into town. Need saving with dinner plans tonight! x

- Of course I'll save you! Come to my place, I'll cook you some pizza.

***

"I can't believe you made this garlic bread yourself," Soph groaned, taking another bite of the cheesy goodness. "It's amazing."

Marco smiled at her from the island counter of his Braxton townhouse kitchen where he poured them both another glass of red wine. "Consider it my speciality," he informed her. He came around the island and hopped on the stool beside her, handing her a wine. On the countertop between them was a pair of used plates and three slices of leftover pizza.

"Thanks for saving me tonight," Soph said, and not for the first time that night. She raised her glass in a salute to him then took a sip.

"You don't get along with your mother?" Marco queried. He placed his hand over hers where it rested on the countertop and his fingers drew smooth lines over hers.

"Oh, we get on fine." Soph waved dismissively with her wineglass, almost spilling the red liquid over the rim. "It's the revolving door of boyfriends that get on my nerves. That and I can't stand listening to them fuck in my bed when they stay." she shuddered and Marco laughed sympathetically.

"Well, you're welcome to stay here tonight if you like." he set his glass down and leaned forward to kiss her. She could taste wine, and the pepperoni from the pizza on his lips. She raised her hand to catch the front of his shirt, pulling him forward off his stool and between her legs. With her consent, his kiss deepened and his arms came around her, lifting her shirt to touch the skin of her back. She set her glass on the counter and wrapped her legs around his waist, pinning him against her. He groaned against her lips, breaking the kiss for only a moment to pull her shirt over her head.

They remained poised in this position for only a few moments, then Marco broke free of her hold, pulled her from the stool and over to his grey suede lounge. He sat back on it first - pulling his shirt off as he did - and Soph straddled him, kissing him again as she worked on his belt buckle.

"So I guess you're staying?" Marco gasped, grasping her ass and grinding her down against him.

Soph groaned, gripping his shoulders. "I guess I am."

***

- Are you up to anything today?

- Not a lot. Just avoiding the train wreck that is Diego. Can you believe my mother wants to introduce him to Nona???

Soph was sitting in one of her favourite cafes down the street from her apartment. Diego and his complete disregard for her space and belongings drove her out of her home each morning and she wasn't game to return until the evening. Instead, she dedicated her time to searching for a new job. Eli had introduced her to several spectacular business people at the Sincere opening and she was now writing emails to each of them to see if they could use her in their businesses.

- Will you come and meet me at Railway Park? There's someone I'd like you to meet.

- Sounds ominous.

Still, Soph packed up her laptop and things, paid for her coffee and headed out the door. Meeting Marco and his friend at the park would at least waste some time while she waited for some replies to her job emails. She hadn't realised how much spare time a jobless, previous vamp-blood addict could have on their hands. She wondered if Eli still occasionally glanced across the street to the Paxus building where she'd previously worked. Did he wonder how she was going? He hadn't been in contact since rehabilitating her and she'd been too scared to message him, though she had started and abandoned many a text.

The thoughts of Eli didn't come unbidden; she often had him on her mind, wondering what he was doing and if he thought of her too. She remembered that kiss on the balcony, where the storm raging around them seemed to intensify for those few brief moments and at the same time couldn't touch them at all and held her resolve not to get in touch.

The walk to the park was about half an hour, and Soph found Marco sitting at a bench by a pond. In the distance, trains rattled past on their tracks.

"Hi," she said, dumping her handbag on the bench and leaning down to kiss him.

"Hi," he smiled and patted the space beside him. Soph sat, looking around the park. There was a group of kids playing soccer nearby, with their parents watching from other benches or picnic mats, but she couldn't see anyone who might be with Marco.

"Where's your friend?"

"Things have been going well for us lately," Marco said, ignoring her question. She turned her head to meet his eyes. "Wouldn't you agree?"

"Of course." things had been going well for them. Since the night she'd stayed at Marco's, they'd caught up often, almost every second day.

"And you'd consider that we're quite serious now. Neither of us are seeing anyone else."

That gave Soph pause. No, she hadn't seen Eli since rekindling her romance with Marco, but they'd never talked about becoming exclusive before this. Was he just assuming that she hadn't been with anyone else since they'd met? Surely he'd seen the gossip mags and news clips about her and Eli and had formed some conclusions...

Anyway, her thoughts were trailing. Marco was effectively asking her to be in a formal relationship with him. To be his girlfriend. Her heart raced. Is that what she wanted? Marco had been good to her. He'd kept her company while she couldn't stand being around her mother and Diego, he hadn't questioned her absence and her loss of job. He'd kept her mind off her addiction to vampire blood. And probably most importantly, Nona liked him. Time spent with her grandmother had been far less combative since she'd started dating Marco.

But Eli... she pushed the thought away roughly. Eli was a vampire, a celebrity and he was dangerous. His life was dangerous. He was a fantasy that needed to stay in the back of her head until it faded with time.

"Yes," she said breathlessly. He smiled and squeezed her hand before looking towards the group of kids playing soccer.

"Jacob!" he called. One boy with curly brown hair and hazel eyes extracted himself from the group and ran over.

"Yeah?" he asked when he reached them. He was sweaty and out of breath.

"Jake, this is Soph," Marco introduced. "Soph, this is Jacob, my son."