“You say intelligent as though it were an accusation,” Viktor mused. It mattered little to him what the Conclave’s lackey thought of Cassandra.
“I don’t trust her,” the human stated simply.
Viktor nodded as though he understood the man’s concern. “Has she given you any reason for suspicion?”
Anthony spread his hands. “Her timing. Forgive me, Viktor, I’m sure you’ve already thought of this, but it seems strange that she comes into contact with you when the city is overrun with Minions.”
“Anything else?” Viktor kept his tone even, as though he were considering the information he’d been given. In reality, it was absurd. If Anthony had the power to taste Cassandra’s blood, he would have known immediately nothing that dark lurked in her soul. The darkness inside of her had nothing to do with the Minions she’d seen in her dreams. She suffered because a part of her was missing, an important part she would not be able to deny forever.
“I want you to be very careful,” Anthony warned. “I’m warning you, as a member of the Conclave, but also as someone who knows you well. I don’t think you’ve got your head on right where this woman is concerned.”
“Perhaps not.” Tonight was not the night to ask for Anthony’s help in the matter. He had already soured himself against Cassandra. “Thank you, I will think about what you have told me.”
He waited until Anthony excused himself, then turned back to his computer screen. The spreadsheet that had been open when the human had entered had merely been a cover. When he minimized the window, the screen filled with website after website, all detailing some manner of reincarnation belief. Just seeing the words on the screen was enough to draw a cold sweat onto his brow. Could he truly be considering it?
Though he made a good effort at reading the words, their meanings evaporated the instant he read them, replaced by the memory of Melina’s smile, her kind eyes, her soft body beneath his hands. Did he want Cassandra, or did he want Cassandra to be Melina? If the two of them stood before him to choose, he did not know which choice he would make, and that troubled him.
If Melina had been there, she would know the answer. She had always been able to say the right thing, to reassure him of his choices. She’d had total confidence in him, even when he’d had none. That had been her downfall.
Perhaps it will be Cassandra’s, as well.
No, he would not let that happen. This time, he knew what he faced. He knew how to protect her. Not against himself, but when the time came, Anthony would do his duty. Perhaps it wasn’t fair to want Cassandra when his time was so short. If she fell in love with him only to have to release him, what would that do to her?
That was too presumptuous. Cassandra was with him because she was in danger, not because of some romantic entanglement.
Impulsively, he picked up his phone and hit number one on his speed dial. “Anthony, I wish to have dinner with Cassandra. A proper dinner. Set it up.” He disconnected the call before the man could argue with him. He didn’t need anyone else trying to convince him that further exploring the feelings he’d already grown for Cassandra was a terrible idea.
He was already trying hard enough to convince himself.
Chapter Six
Cassandra had received her invitation to dinner rather informally. Anthony had mumbled something about it when he’d come by her room with an overnight bag. Her overnight bag. Packed full of her clothes.
“How did you get these?” she had asked, holding up a pair of jeans.
Anthony had straightened his tie and told her, “I took the liberty of entering your home and taking a look through your wardrobe.”
Hours later, Cassandra was still bristling over the invasion to her privacy. She was used to rich, powerful men doing whatever they wanted, but she hadn’t pegged Viktor for one of those types. She went to the dining room at seven with every intention to tell him exactly where he could stick his home-invading little messenger boy.
When she entered the room, Viktor wasn’t there. The table had been set with immaculate white china and gleaming silver. Cassandra wondered what a vampire needed dishes for, and if he’d had them before he’d decided to have dinner with her. His place was set only with a glass and a black linen napkin, and the stark reminder of what Viktor was disturbed her. She had to tell him the truth tonight, no matter what occurred. If he rejected her, then what had she lost? A vampire who had messed up her life.
On the other hand, she would also lose a vampire who had saved her life, who had vowed to protect her no matter what the cost. A man who was attracted to her, not to some façade she’d created to impress him. Somehow, he’d seen that she was damaged and, unbelievably, that seemed to make him like her more. At best, losing Viktor’s trust would mean losing the only person who seemed to know what was happening to her, and the only person who could save her. At worst, it would mean turning her back on the only person who’d made her believe she had a chance at happiness.
“You look sad.” Viktor had entered the room so quietly she hadn’t known he was there. He pulled out her chair and motioned for her to sit. “I apologize for my lateness. I lost track of the time.”
“That’s a pretty lame excuse in your own house.”
“Anthony tried to hire someone to cook for you, but no one was available at this late notice. I hope take-out will suffice.” Viktor took his seat and unfolded his napkin, while Anthony appeared, as if summoned by the mention of his name, with a plastic grocery bag filled with Styrofoam containers.
“Maybe Anthony could have just picked up some pots and pans from my kitchen. You know, while he was rummaging through my stuff.” She scooted her own chair in. “Unless he can’t cook. He could have at least brought the paper plates and saved himself the dishwashing. They were on top of the microwave, didn’t you see them?”
“Mr. Novotny doesn’t entertain dinner guests that often. He wanted a chance to use his wedding china.” Anthony dropped this bombshell smoothly while he unpacked the cartons. “I hope you like Indian food.”
“I love it. Did you get the menu off my fucking refrigerator?” she snapped in reply at the same time that Viktor said, “Thank you, Anthony, we can manage from here.”
Waiting in silence for the assistant to leave, Cassie fumed. Viktor was married? Of course he was. 4-1-2 had plenty of married clients who didn’t want to risk an indiscreet mistress. And who was she to get her nose out of joint? She’d come here on assignment, not as a date, and his marital status hadn’t exactly mattered when she’d been cowering from monsters in an alley. Still, she couldn’t keep the hurt out of her tone when she asked, “So, let me guess. You stay here while she gets the mansion in Connecticut, right? Only get together for important functions? Is she a vampire too?”
“No, not at all.” He looked down as he smoothed his napkin over his lap. “She’s dead. For quite a long time now.”
If Cassie had needed any more convincing that she was a horrible person, this would have done the trick. “I’m sorry. I can’t believe I said that, I’m so stupid. Of course, she might have been…deceased or divorced or…”
Viktor shook his head and didn’t look at her. “It is fine. Anyone would have inferred the same from Anthony’s statement. I think, perhaps, that is why he made it.”
“Still, I’m sorry.” The chair beneath her seemed suddenly uncomfortable, and the scents from the cooling take-out containers seemed much less appetizing.
“It was a long time ago.” He glanced up at her, a hard, indecipherable set to his eyes. “Please, eat. You must be hungry. I know that my home is not set up for a human’s comfort. I will try to have that corrected.”
The subject of his wife was closed, apparently. Cassandra couldn’t think of the last time she’d put her foot in her mouth so badly. She did as he asked and scooped portions of saffron rice and something delicious with lamb and curry onto her plate. “I wonder why Anthony brought this, if the smell of food bothers you so much. Maybe he should have brought a baloney
sandwich.”
“I think he did it to show he is not pleased with me.” Viktor chuckled. “I would fire him, if he was not such a good assistant.”
“He’s not just an assistant, though, is he?” She took a bite and pretended not to be concerned with his answer. “Assistants don’t just break into someone’s house and go through their shit.”
“He didn’t break in.” Viktor looked up. “He used your key. And I did not send him. He went of his own accord. He seems to think you have…sinister motives, where I am concerned.”
“You’re a vampire, but he thinks I’m sinister.” She narrowed her eyes. “I’m sure that’s exactly what happened. You didn’t send him to spy on me.”
Viktor’s look of confusion seemed genuine. She had to give him credit for his acting skills, but at the end of the day, he was just like every other rich asshole in New York.
“You didn’t send him to look into my private life? To dig up stuff from my past?” She pushed her chair back and stood. “I appreciate you saving my life, but I can’t deal with this. I have to go.”
Something brushed her shoulder, and Viktor stood before her. She shrieked and took a step back.
“I will not harm you!” he said quickly, his face a mask of despair. “Please, I would never hurt you.”
She swallowed her fear, but her ears still roared with the terror coursing through her veins. “You’ll just break into my house, hypnotize me, send someone to spy on me? How is that not hurting me?”
“I did not ask Anthony to do that. I knew he had suspicions about you, but I never expected him to do something so drastic,” Viktor stated firmly. “I have already promised not to use tricks of the mind to control you. I do not wish for anything between us to be forced.”
“You might say that now, but I know your type.” A note of hysteria crept into her voice. “You have all the money in the world, so you think you can make everyone put up with your bullshit. You can’t buy me. I don’t care if I am a prostitute, you can’t buy me.”
“I do not wish to buy you.” He stepped forward and reached a hand toward her. “Cassandra, there is a deep wound inside of you. Right now, my only wish is to know why.”
“You want to know why?” He’d probably already seen the contents of his lackey’s manila folder. This was just the test, to see if she would be honest with him. If she failed, maybe she could go home, back to real life. But that wasn’t what she wanted. No matter how she might try to convince Viktor that she didn’t want him, no matter how she might try to convince herself, she didn’t want him to think she was a liar or a spy or whatever his assistant alleged. Viktor was the only person she had trusted in a long time, and she wanted to have his trust in return. “I killed my best friend.”
The silence while she waited for him to reject her…it was the most terrible silence she’d ever felt.
His whole being seemed to slump. The light of concern in his eyes dimmed, his shoulders slouched. This was it. This was when he realized what a monster she was.
“It was in college.” She hurried to fill the time until he ordered her out of his house. “I was at a party, drinking too much, doing drugs. Emily had been drinking too, but she didn’t touch any of that other stuff. She didn’t even know. I thought I was okay to drive.”
“You drove, with your friend in the car?” Viktor asked slowly.
“I knew it was wrong.” She took a shuddering breath. “I knew it was dangerous, and I did it anyway. The next thing I knew, I was on the side of the road and they were…they had to cut her body out of the car.”
He opened his mouth to speak, and suddenly Cassie didn’t want to hear him lecture her or yell at her. Usually, she thought there was nothing a person could say to make her feel worse about what had happened than she already did. But hearing him denounce her was, for reasons she couldn’t discern, unthinkable. “I know what I did then was wrong. But that doesn’t mean I’m trying to…I thought you had a fetish, and Julie needed someone to cover you. No matter what Anthony says, I’m not here to hurt you.”
“I never thought you were.” Viktor’s voice was practically a whisper. “What has happened to you…it is a wound to the soul, and it will scar, but it can heal.”
She shook her head. “Really? Because it doesn’t feel like it ever will. And when Anthony accused me of trying to steal your humanity or turn you into a Minion or whatever it was he thought I was doing, it actually took me a minute to realize that he was wrong. Every day, I live with the consequences of being a monster.”
He touched her face, his fingers feather light as they brushed her skin. “I have killed. In my first days as a vampire, the thirst overwhelmed me, and I could not help myself. Do you see a monster when you look at me?”
A shiver ran down her spine. Vampires were monsters. Every Halloween, all those scary movies. There was no way to get around the fact that he was a monster. But from where she stood, he looked like a man. A man who was lonely, in pain. A man who thought more of her than she did herself.
“You don’t understand. It’s not the same as it is for you. You’re a vampire. You’re supposed to be a monster. I’m not. I was just supposed to be a regular person.”
“I had no aspiration to be a monster. I was supposed to be a regular person too and die a regular death.” He dropped his hand, clasping both in front of his body in a silent plea. Finally, he spoke again. “There is nothing you can say that will make me think any less of you, Cassandra. I have lived too long not to have learned that the past shapes a person, but it does not mar them forever.”
She closed her eyes, ashamed to feel a hot tear escape and roll down her cheek. “Don’t do this.”
“Do what?” His voice held all the helplessness of a man who saw pain and didn’t know how to fix it.
“Don’t try to make me feel better when I don’t deserve to.” She shook her head, dislodging more tears, but she wouldn’t open her eyes. “Don’t try to save me.”
She felt his nearness as he closed the gap between them. “You are worth saving.”
His fingers lifted her chin, and she opened her eyes to stare into his. The molten gray pools burned with a new intensity, and she couldn’t pull her gaze away. But this was no hypnotic trick. What passed between them was pure need.
She didn’t plead for him to make her pain go, or to help her forget the horrible memories, the nightmares, the blood and the pain. His arms strong around her, he leaned his head down and captured her lips.
The kiss should have brought the monsters to her, but their claws and shrieks receded under the cold touch of his mouth. She parted her lips, welcoming him to stroke her tongue with his. His arms tightened around her, then he released her abruptly.
“No,” he said, all but wiping his mouth in his disgust. “I cannot treat you this way.”
“How?” she demanded angrily. “I don’t understand what any of this has to do with me. I don’t know why, but the only person I feel safe with on this entire planet is you.”
“Then it is not right to take advantage of you in this position.” He turned as if to go, and she stopped him with a hand on his arm.
“I don’t care. It’s not taking advantage. I want this.” She couldn’t find the words for further pleas, so she rose on tiptoe and pressed a kiss to his cold cheek. He turned to face her, a thousand conflicting emotions etched into his expression, a thousand denials poised to burst from him. None of them could overcome the one urge Cassandra knew he felt, because she felt it too, and it was too powerful to deny.
With an almost inhuman growl, he lifted her into his arms, kissing her with a passion she hadn’t thought someone so controlled would have been capable of feeling. He carried her to his bedroom and kicked the door shut with a reverberating slam. The moment he set her on her feet, her hands smoothed over his chest, into his jacket. He shrugged it off, his hands returning to dive greedily into her hair. Their lips met again as she divested him of his tie and went to work on the buttons of his shirt. He push
ed her hands away and gripped the front of his shirt, pulling it open, sending buttons flying. Cassandra gasped against his mouth, then broke their contact to let him pull her shirt over her head. He ran his hands down her back, deftly popping the clasp of her bra before he grabbed her butt and pulled her hips flush against him.
Through her jeans, Cassandra felt the substantial hardness of him and gooseflesh peppered her skin in anticipation. The memory of what she had seen the night before sent new awareness flooding through her veins. She let her mind linger on the image of Viktor’s body, the crisp lines of his muscled abdomen flexing as he had pounded into a man. All that tight skin and hard body belonged to her tonight, and she shivered, remembering how powerfully aroused she had been just looking at him. Now, she didn’t have to just look. She ran her greedy fingers over his chest inside his open shirt. His skin was cold and smooth, slightly warm over the place where his heart would be. She looked up, questioning, and he closed his hand over hers, pressing her palm flat as he kissed her again. The gesture, so unexpectedly tender in the moment, took her breath away. When he looked at her, she realized with a shock he saw her and not some fantasy woman. He saw her, yet his eyes lingered on her in adoration.
She stepped back and let the black lace of her bra fall forward, the straps sliding down her arms. His breathing audibly quickened at the sight of her exposed flesh, and he leaned down to take one hard nipple into his mouth. Cassandra’s head fell back and his hand immediately caught her at the small of her back, supporting her as his mouth teased her sensitive breast mercilessly.
He jerked the duvet from the bed and pushed her gently back, and she landed with a bounce on the soft mattress. She laughed, and in the next second she stopped laughing, because his hands were on her thighs, urging them apart. He knelt on the carpet and lowered his face to the bend of her knee, looking up at her with a hot, hungry gaze. Would he bite her? Did she want him to?
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