I Want You to Want Me Read Online Free PDF Page B

less noble purposes—and frankly, Erika Todd meant nothing to him—just another mortal. And there were billions of them. He grimaced as a group of loud, obnoxious ones passed him, wearing green, purple and gold plastic beads and silly hats.
    Unfortunately what he’d learned from Erika Todd was useless anyway.
    Then he paused. Or maybe it wasn’t.
    She did know this Vittorio, object of Orabella’s obsession. Not well, but she did know him. Maksim had seen a couple of uneventful encounters with the vampire. He supposed the cell phone incident from last night had been sort of eventful, but aside from being mildly amusing, it was of no import to him.
    But this Erika was interested in Vittorio, which was bound to be an issue for Orabella. He considered that for a moment…it might be good information to know for the future. So he wouldn’t dismiss Erika totally.
    Not to mention, he didn’t know for sure if Vittorio wasn’t somehow involved in Ellina’s disappearance. It seemed like a long shot, but at this point he had to take long shots. He’d been searching for her for two months. Someone had to know something.
    Maksim shifted to get out of the sun. Damn, he hated the heat. Ellina had loved this city, which surprised him. Decadence, sin, overindulgence—which this city had in abundance—that was his shtick, not his half-sister’s. Ellina wasn’t so easily tempted. So what had drawn her here?
    He shifted again, resisting the urge to tug at his T-shirt, which sweat had glued to his body. Certainly not the oppressive heat. He grimaced. Or the smell. Why had Ellina come here?
    There were no answers yet. But he felt like he was on the right track. At least with Orabella. She was definitely up to something.
    And she did know Ellina, he’d found correspondence from Orabella to his sister. Innocuous missives, but upon meeting Orabella he’d known she was far from harmless.
    But thus far instead of getting answers, he was just finding more questions. What was Orabella up to? Who was this Vittorio, and why was Maksim’s petulant little lover so obsessed with him? Oh, Maksim was fully aware that Orabella was the one obsessed despite her claims otherwise.
    Maksim wondered what he should report back to Orabella tonight. He wasn’t stupid or conceited enough to believe that Orabella was just using him for his body. Well, he was conceited enough—but definitely not stupid. She wanted him for other reasons, reasons beyond tailing Vittorio.
    He, on the other hand, suspected she was conceited, or at the very least self-absorbed enough, that she wouldn’t discover he was using her too. He just had to keep up the game of being her smitten lover. A game he enjoyed in its deceit.
    She wasn’t the only one who excelled at using her lovers. But, if her motives for following Vittorio didn’t yield any answers about Ellina, he didn’t want her little mystery interfering with his own quest for answers.
    The truth about Ellina was out there somewhere.
    Maksim smiled to himself. How very Fox Mulder-ish of him.
    He pushed away from the wall, whistling the theme to The X Files as he headed down the street to find some air-conditioning and a cold beer.
     
    This was so ridiculous. Erika paced at the bottom of the stairs that led to the second-floor apartment. She hadn’t even made it up them yet.
    Okay, she had managed to walk up to the first landing, but once she got there, she’d turned around and headed right back down. There was something even more pathetic about that than just standing here.
    Philippe couldn’t be right about this. Or he was misunderstanding his own reading. Yes, Vittorio did fit all the specifics that the psychic had told her. Except the whole attraction thing, which seemed to be the key part of the prediction.
    She placed a hand on the banister of the stairs that went straight, turned at a narrow landing, and disappeared overhead. And beyond those hidden steps was Vittorio.
    She released the banister and fiddled