by Tina Folsom
If she confessed everything now, would he forgive her? She had to try. “Lorenzo, there’s something I need to say …” She paused, not knowing how to go on.
“Bianca, before you say anything else, I need to explain one thing to you. It’s about what you overheard that night. About Elle.”
At the mention of that name, Bianca remembered his friend’s words about a betrayal. An uneasy feeling rose from her stomach. “Yes?”
Lorenzo rolled to his side and let his head flop onto the pillow beside her. Then he pulled her into the curve of his body, cradling her against him. His breath was at her ear when he finally spoke. “I loved a woman once. She was human, and her name was Elle.” He sighed. “I trusted her, and I believed that she loved me. And maybe she did. But her love wasn’t strong enough.”
“What happened?”
“She betrayed me. When I confessed to her what I was, she pretended that she didn’t mind, that she could live with it. I should have seen it. She’d hidden her feelings in plain sight. One night, I awoke to find her bending over me with a stake. She almost killed me.”
A heavy gasp escaped her as tears formed in her eyes.
“Oh, Lorenzo, I’m so sorry.” She realized then that he wouldn’t be able to forgive another betrayal. “What happened?”
“I had to wipe her memory of any knowledge of me. But it was too much for her mind to take. She became insane and died soon after.”
Bianca’s heart stuttered to a halt. Having felt how he’d projected his own feelings into her mind, the knowledge that he could wipe away memories didn’t surprise her as much as it should have. Yet, there was something else that didn’t make sense to her. “But, I don’t understand. How could she not have accepted you? Why would she forgo the kind of pleasure your bite brings? Why would—”
“I never took her blood. She didn’t allow it. At the time I thought if I was patient, maybe she would change her mind. But sometimes we just don’t want to see what’s in plain view. She didn’t love me.”
A sob escaped her.
“You, my love, are the only woman who’s ever freely offered her blood to me. And for that, I cherish you even more.”
His words choked her, because she knew she didn’t deserve his adoration. She’d deceived him just as Elle had, and while Bianca had no intention of ever hurting him, she knew if he found out about her past, he would feel the same kind of betrayal that he had gone through with Elle. She couldn’t stop the next sob from freeing itself from her throat.
Lorenzo stroked over her cheek. “You weep for my heartbreak, my love? There’s no need for it anymore. My heart is mended now. I’ve given it to you, and I can’t imagine a more worthy woman to keep it safe for me.”
As her tears flowed freely, Lorenzo’s hands caressed her and lulled her into sleep and the comfort she didn’t deserve.
***
Lorenzo leaned back in the armchair in Nico’s rooms and stared into the fire.
“Then why don’t you tell her that you know about her past?” Nico asked and took a seat next to him, stretching his long legs toward the fire.
“Things have been so perfect the last couple of days, I don’t want to upset the status quo.”
“And what is the status quo?” his friend asked pointedly.
“I told you already. She knows about me now. And she accepts me as I am. Hell, every day and every night, she offers me her blood. Freely, without restraints. I can’t tell her that I’ve been looking into her background. What must she think?”
Nico smirked. “That you’re a cautious man? Who has reasons to be cautious, if I may add. Surely, she can’t fault you for that. She showed up in your home, unannounced and—”
“Which reminds me,” Lorenzo interrupted, “what was my housewarming present to be if it wasn’t Bianca?”
“Ah, that!” Nico grinned. “We were planning on organizing an orgy for you, with exotic belly dancers fresh from the Orient, but seeing that you’re so infatuated with this woman, I suppose we shall purchase a piece of furniture instead.”
“Much appreciated.” The thought of an orgy had no appeal for him at all. Not when he knew that Bianca was warming his bed.
“Now, to get back to my point: she’s the one who deceived you, yet you’re the one feeling guilty for investigating her background. Why do I think that’s odd?” Nico made a near comical face, underscoring his sarcasm.
“Because you’re an unfeeling ass, Nico! If you understood women at all, you’d see clearly that I’m in a quandary here. How am I going to show her that her past has no bearing on my feelings for her when I don’t want to let her know that I already know?”
With his hands, Nico made circles in the air. “As you so eloquently stated, that is a quandary. And you’re quite sure, you’re not willing to admit to your little indiscretion about inquiring into her past?”
Lorenzo shot him an annoyed glare, and Nico instantly threw up his hands.
“Very well then. And since I do know women a little, thank you very much, I have a suggestion.”
Lorenzo edged forward on his chair. “Let me have it.”
“I haven’t met a woman yet who won’t forgive a little sin like yours as long as the reward is big enough.”
“Reward?”
Nico nodded. Then his gaze swept to his left hand, his right index finger pointing at the forth finger of it. “Yes, reward. And don’t tell me the thought hasn’t crossed your mind yet.”
Indeed, the thought had crossed his mind.
Chapter Nineteen
Bianca tossed and turned. Vaguely, she registered that at some time during the wee hours before sunrise, Lorenzo had returned from visiting a friend and joined her in bed. He slept soundly now, but her own sleep was agitated. Her dreams tormented her.
Scenes from her time in Florence flitted across her mind, reminding her of what she didn’t want to go back to. Pictures of her former lovers mingled with those of the suitors her father had entertained, laughing at her now that she was a fallen woman. All of Venice knew. She found herself on the streets, her dress torn, walking across Piazza San Marco barefoot and with not a lira to her name. The people she passed turned away from her. But their whispered words carried to her nevertheless.
A whore.
Her lover found out and tossed her out on the street where she belongs.
She lied to him.
It’s an open secret.
All for a treasure that was hidden in plain view.
Bathed in sweat, Bianca woke with a start. Her chest heaved with the effort to breathe. She glanced at Lorenzo, hoping she hadn’t talked in her sleep. But he was sound asleep, the reflection of the flames from the low fire dancing on his skin.
As quietly as she could, she slid out of bed and walked to the sideboard which held a pitcher of water. She poured herself a glass and gulped it down, trying to cool her heated body.
She couldn’t go on like this. She had to tell him about her past and why she was here. Maybe he would forgive her for her deception. If he truly loved her the way he showed her every time he drank her blood, maybe he could find it in his heart to forgive her.
Bianca took a tentative step toward the bed. The fire behind her threw bizarre shadows over Lorenzo’s body and the headboard behind him. As she walked closer, the shadows shifted and moved, pulling her gaze to the intricate carving on the wooden headboard. She stared at it, her eyes suddenly focusing in on the delicate workmanship.
Her heart stopped when she saw it. There, in large carved letters it was written: Tesoro. Treasure. Her feet carried her to the edge of the bed, but there was no mistake. The carving said treasure.
Bianca crawled onto the bed, careful not to disturb Lorenzo, and kneeled in front of the carving, letting her hands run over the letters. She’d felt them before when Lorenzo had tied her up, but she’d never paid them much attention. But now that she knew what they spelled out, she pressed against each letter, holding her breath. The last letter gave way and depre
ssed. An instant later, a section of the carving not larger than a book sprang open like a little door.
Behind it was a dark space. This was where her father’s treasure had to be hidden.
Excitement coursed through her as she reached her hand inside, unable to see its contents for lack of proper lighting. Her fingertips brushed against a piece of paper. She pulled it from the small cave and held it up so the light from the fireplace fell onto it.
Disappointment swept over her when she looked at it closely: underneath a symbol of a cross with three horizontal waves, all that was written was a list of names. No treasure map, no instructions on where the real treasure was buried. She tossed the useless item onto the pillow next to her and reached into the hidden compartment once more.
Her hand encountered a small item made of metal. She pulled it out and perused it. It was a ring. But it wasn’t shiny nor did it hold a large precious stone. Instead, the ring was rather ugly, its black stone carrying the same symbol she had noticed on the paper she’d found. This wasn’t any treasure! It was a near worthless piece of jewelry, which didn’t even please her eye.
There had to be something else in the treasure trove. Could this really be all her father had left her? Had he sold the remainder and gambled the money away?
Disheartened, Bianca reached into the dark compartment and swept her hand systematically from left to right and top to bottom when her palm encountered a stick. She wrapped her hand around its smooth surface and brought it out into the light.
Her heartbeat doubled as she looked at the item that her hand gripped tightly: a stake! She was holding a wooden stake. A gasp escaped her. Had her father hunted vampires? Had he killed men like Lorenzo?
But she had no chance to think on it further, a movement to her left entering her vision. As she turned her head, Lorenzo vaulted himself onto her and wrestled her onto her back, his strong arms gripping her wrists and pressing them against the mattress to both sides of her head. At the same time he straddled her, pinning her to the bed so she was unable to move.
When she caught the look on his face, she shrieked. His eyes were glaring red, and his fangs were extended. He growled low and dark.
“You too? How could you?” Disbelief carried in his voice. “You devious bitch! I trusted you!”
She knew what it must look like, and knowing what his former lover had done, she could only too easily understand his anger. “Lorenzo! Please, don’t hurt me! Please, I didn’t—”
He flashed his fangs at her and snarled. “You tried to kill me!” Then he threw his head back. “And to think that I loved you! What an idiot I am!”
“No, no!” she pleaded. “I didn’t try to hurt you.”
He let out a bitter laugh. “Oh, no? The stake in your hand says otherwise.” He wrung the offending item from her palm and tossed it off the bed.
“I found it! It’s not mine. It was with the treasure!” Bianca closed her eyes, willing away the tears that threatened to burst to the surface. He wouldn’t believe her tears. Her only chance at making him believe her was to tell him the truth, all of it, every ugly detail.
“What treasure?”
She swallowed hard before she opened her eyes again. His gaze was as angry as before, yet she’d never thought him more beautiful. And she would lose him now. Once he knew of her past, he would toss her out onto the street. At least she would be alive, even though she couldn’t imagine living without Lorenzo. He’d come to mean everything to her in the last few days.
“My father, he told me of a treasure he’d hidden in this house. He said it was worth more than the house itself.”
Lorenzo huffed, but said nothing.
“I came back to find it so that I could finally start a new life. I’m not a lady. I’m not the gently bred daughter of a Venice merchant anymore. You deserve to know what I did. I’ve deceived you. I’ve hidden my shame, and I’m sorry. But when my father tried to marry me off to some old man I hated, I had to run. I had to escape.”
She closed her eyes and allowed a tear to escape. “To survive I became a courtesan. I’m no better than a common whore.”
“Bianca—”
“No! Don’t say anything now. Hear me out. I tried to escape my lot. When my father died, I came back to find the treasure he’d spoken to me about so many years ago. But then Signore Mancini told me that the house had already been sold. I let myself in, hoping the new owner wouldn’t move in until the next week. By that time I would have been gone with my treasure. But then you came that night—”
“You weren’t at the house hoping to seduce me so you could stay and snag yourself a rich husband?”
She shook her head. “No! Of course not. All I wanted was to search for my father’s treasure and leave to start a new life where nobody knew me.”
Lorenzo eased his grip on her wrists. “Go on.”
“You know the rest.”
“No. Tell me why you stayed and allowed me to seduce you into my bed.”
She averted her eyes, feeling embarrassment sweep over her at the memory of their intimacies. “At first, I stayed merely to continue my search. But then—”
“Then?” His eyes were back to their normal color now, and his fangs had retreated too.
“I stayed because I didn’t want to leave you. I felt something I’d never felt before.”
***
Lorenzo’s heartbeat slowed as his anger started to slowly dissipate. “If you have feelings for me, then why did you try to kill me?”
“I didn’t. I found the stake. There.” She pointed past him toward the head of the bed. “It was with the treasure.” She gave an unladylike snort. “And what treasure it was: a stupid ring and a piece of paper. Worthless! Now I have nothing.”
Lorenzo turned to look behind him and saw the opening in the headboard. A secret hiding place and cleverly done at that. He’d never noticed it, not that he’d given the piece of furniture more than a cursory glance before. Every time he’d been in this room, his entire attention had been lavished on Bianca, and he’d never really taken in any details about his surroundings.
As he was about to turn back to Bianca, his gaze fell onto the pillow. The black onyx ring contrasted against the white linen.
“Hell!” he cursed and picked up the evil item, snapping his head back to her. “This was the ring you found?”
She nodded.
“Do you realize what this is?”
“It’s just a worthless ring. It’s not even a diamond.” The disappointment in her voice told him that she really had no idea what she’d stumbled upon.
“This, my sweet, is the ring of a Guardian.”
She gave him the most confused look he’d ever seen her wear. “It’s ugly.”
He suddenly felt compelled to smile. “That it is. It appears your father was a Guardian, a member of the secret society that hunts our kind.”
Bianca gasped. “He hunted vampires?”
“It appears that way.”
“I don’t understand. Then where’s the treasure he spoke of? Was he just telling me tales to entertain me as a child?”
Lorenzo held the ring in front of her face. “This is a treasure. Was this all you found?”
“There was a piece of paper too, with names.”
“Names?” Lorenzo spun around to pick up the sheet of paper he’d ignored earlier and looked at it now. As his eyes ran over the long list of names, his head spun. The list could only mean that those named were Guardians.
He looked down at Bianca, realizing that he still held her captive between his thighs. “This is the real treasure. The list. The names.”
“Worth more than this house?”
He nodded.
“That’s what my father always claimed. He said if he sold the treasure to the right people, he would be a rich man.”
“He was right. Any vampire in this city would pay a vast sum of money to get his hands on this list. Knowing these names, we can finally defend ourselves and know our enemies.
”
“So you believe me now that I didn’t want to kill you?” she asked, her voice resigned now. Why did she not join in his joy?
“Yes, my sweet, I believe you.” He lifted himself off her and pulled her up to sit.
“Then I should pack my things and leave.”
Lorenzo’s heart stopped. “Leave?”
“Yes. You do understand that I can’t stay here any longer. You know my secret now. You know what I am. A whore. Not worthy to be your mistress anymore.” She moved to slide off the bed, but he snatched her arm and pulled her back.
“You’re right. You can’t be my mistress anymore. It wouldn’t be right.” Then he leaned toward the nightstand where he reached for the little box he’d placed there upon his return home. He opened it and took out the item it contained and turned back to Bianca.
“I wouldn’t want the woman I love to merely be my mistress.” Then he took her hand and slid the brilliant ruby ring onto her finger. “Be my wife.”
A gasp came from Bianca’s mouth, but no words came out even when she opened her lips and worked her throat. Her eyes went wide as saucers, and tears stood at their rim. Her gaze darted from the ring on her finger back to his face, and still she didn’t say anything.
“Bianca, please say something. Don’t keep me in suspense. I need to know your answer. You know I love you. You’ve seen my heart, you’ve felt the depth of my commitment to you, now please tell me you want me as your husband.”
Suddenly her hands came around his neck, and she pulled him to her.
“Is that a yes?” he asked.
She nodded, a sob escaping her. “Yes.”
His heart felt like bursting as he pulled her into his arms and kissed her passionately. But there was a tiny twinge of guilt inside him that he couldn’t suppress. Separating his lips from hers, he inhaled deeply before he spoke.
“Bianca, my love, I have to make a confession.”
Her eyelids rose, and her gaze collided with his. “Yes?”