“I don’t care how much money you have. You don’t send someone a half-million-dollar present just because.”
“Mine broke,” I reminded him, but even I knew my reasoning was lame.
Tanner poked at the dress in my lap, and I passed it to him. He held it up and whistled. “And this?”
“For our date tonight,” I said weakly.
“So, you’re going.” It wasn’t a question. We both looked at the cello and then the dress. I was going.
Julian had given me no choice.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
JULIAN
I arrived at Thea’s apartment shortly before nine. Despite receiving confirmation from the delivery company, I’d had no word from her about the packages I’d sent. I assumed she was pleased. Then again, she had a tendency to surprise me. I wasn’t certain if she would be grateful or furious over the cello–or, for that matter, the dress. Given that I’d only known her for twenty-four hours, it shouldn’t bother me as much as it did. But something about Thea demanded my attention. She was an itch I couldn’t scratch. In my nine hundred years on this earth, I’d never met a woman like her.
“Wait here,” I ordered the chauffeur as he pulled to the curb. “I’ll only be a minute.”
“Yes, sir.”
I left the limousine idling in front of her building. When I had asked her to dinner, I’d failed to mention that dinner would be taking place amongst vampire society. There was hardly a day between now and this time next year where there weren’t some bloody engagements penciled on my calendar.
I smoothed the jacket of my tuxedo as I walked inside, wondering why there was no buzzer or extra security for her apartment building. It was yet another reason that she wasn’t safe here. The thief I’d nearly drained to death last night could have easily broken into where she was sleeping.
White-hot anger burned inside me at the thought, my brain already beginning to form a plan to deal with the unacceptable situation.
I knocked, and the door opened almost immediately. But it wasn’t Thea standing on the other side. The woman gawked at me for a second, her head tilting up like she was getting a panoramic look at me.
She was attractive for a human, with rich, olive-toned skin and a mass of glossy black hair piled on top of her head. She moved infinitesimally, giving me a glimpse of dancer’s tights beneath her robe.
“I’m here to pick up Thea,” I told her when she failed to muster a greeting.
She blinked dreamily and then shook her head as if she was clearing out fuzz. “You must be Julian,” she said, emphasizing my name in a way that told me that she had heard about me. “I’m Olivia, her roommate.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
Olivia took one final look at me, sighed, and gestured for me to come inside. “Let me go get her.”
I took a few steps into the cluttered living room while Olivia skipped off to get her friend. It was amazing to think that three living beings lived here. Not because the proof of it wasn’t scattered all over the room–books, clothes, dirty dishes–but because it was hard to see how they had enough space. Human residences always felt a bit like cages to me. But this was worse than normal. Did Thea feel trapped in this world, or was it all she ever knew?
Turning to take it all in without the presence of Thea to distract me, I spotted a violet-colored cello case sitting on the kitchen counter. I crossed to look at it and found it open. The Grancino was the only acceptable option I could get so quickly in San Francisco. I hadn’t even seen the instrument, only the bill, when I signed off on the banking transfer. It was beautiful–not as lovely as the Stradivarius I’d asked Celia to track down–but a true work of art. Standing in the tiny apartment in the poorly secured building, it occurred to me that if any of the drug addicts that roamed the street outside knew what was sitting here, Thea wouldn’t be safe. Why hadn’t that occurred to me?
It wasn’t enough to get Thea the cello. I needed to get her a new place to live. Or at least, some security cameras, a security system, and some bars for her windows.
A gentle cough interrupted my thoughts, and I turned to find Olivia had returned. “She’ll be out in a minute.”
I’d attended enough Royal balls and courts and galas in my time to know when a lady was being presented. This time was a little different, though. Usually, a courtier read out a formal name instead of someone in their pajamas.
But as soon as Thea appeared next to her, I realized that it didn’t matter where I was standing or who had advised me of her arrival. She was more beautiful than any woman–human, familiar, or vampire–that had ever entered a room before.
Her auburn hair hung loosely, sweeping over her shoulders in loose coils. As she walked into the living room, the light caught its red highlights, which were complemented by the deep emerald green of her dress. Its fabric hugged her curves, showcasing her full, shapely hips and the tempting swell of her breasts. An ivory leg slipped past a slit that ended at the apex of her thigh. I had compelled a shopkeeper to open her store early in Union Square when I saw it in the window and then compelled a nearby tailor to hem it to an appropriate length–all before most of the city had woken for the day. It fit her like it had been made for her, and I couldn’t look away.
Thea clasped her hands together, glancing between me and the cello. “I hope...” she paused as if struggling with what to say. She turned to Oliva who shot her a pointed look. “I mean, thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” I swallowed. What had I done? The lie I’d told my mother was getting out of hand. How was I supposed to pass Thea off as my girlfriend without giving in to temptation? I couldn’t touch her, but seeing her like this, how the fuck was I supposed to resist?
“Shall we?”
Her eyes swept over my tuxedo–an Armani I’d picked up at the same time as her dress. Thea’s teeth sank into her lower lip, sending a spike of testosterone straight to my dick. I was in trouble. “I guess.”
I sensed her hesitation, although I didn’t quite understand it. She had consented to spend this evening with me. “Unless you’re having second thoughts,” I said, sounding as stiff as it felt in my trousers. “If you’d prefer I leave–”
“No,” she said quickly. “I just…where are we going?” She adjusted the strap of her dress, anxious energy rolling off her.
I held out a hand, noticing the curious expression on Olivia’s face when she saw the black silk glove I wore. “I’ll tell you in the car.”
Thea nodded, but she didn’t take my hand. Instead, she turned and hugged her roommate, whispering something she thought I couldn’t hear. Someday I would inform her that vampires had excellent hearing. Tonight, I found myself wondering what she meant by her words.
Turning, she accepted my hand, and we moved to the door.
“Have fun!” Olivia called after us. “Should I stay up..?”
I bit back a laugh at Thea’s horror-stricken reaction.
“We’ll be late,” I answered for her. Let her roommate decide what that meant.
Thea continued to chew on her lip as I led her down the stairs, making my slight erection harder by the second. If she wasn’t careful, I was going to do something we’d both regret.
