Chapter 18 Arabella #4
“That’s a lie and you know it. You love what we are. You love never growing old, always being the most beautiful woman in the room, and getting to pull out all your vintage clothes once they become fashionable again.” He pauses. “And you love to dance.”
I snort. “I haven’t danced since my theatre was taken from me.”
“That doesn’t mean you don’t love it. What about at Zen and Tonic?” A note of something like awe enters Gideon’s voice.
“I was doing a favour for Beth.”
Gideon holds up a finger. “You love your friends.”
I huff. This is becoming rather too personal for my liking. “My friends are the most ludicrous, most annoying—”
“And yet, you chose them. Winnie tells me you’re at book club every week.
You may huff and puff like a big bad wolf, but you’re the one they count on.
” He leans back in his chair, folding his arms behind his head, and smirks at me with that same self-satisfied look that drew me to him one hundred and fifty years ago. “And you love fighting with me.”
“I do not.”
“You do. Admit it. You may be throwing darts at my face, but you’re the one who put my picture on the target. No one goes to so much effort to hate someone who means nothing to them.” Gideon grins.
My fingers curl into fists. I’m going to wipe that grin off his face. How dare he make up such a ridiculous story?
“You’re absurd.”
That infuriating grin makes his eyes sparkle. “You’re the same Arabella. The music never left you.”
Yes, it did. The music left me because you took it away.
I want to find a way to hurt him, to level things between us. Because if I’m the same Arabella, then he’s the same Gideon – that warm, life-loving human boy who made me see the world as more than a cruel, harsh place to be endured.
I can’t give him an inch. We’re each as strong-willed as the other, and for some unknown reason, he seems to believe I’ll give us another chance.
Gideon leans over, his hand brushing my thigh in the exact spot where he knelt for me, all those years ago.
Now he’s a vampire, his skin should be cool, like mine. But everywhere he touches is fire.
For all he says that we’re the same as we were back then, we’re not.
I’m no longer a sex worker scrabbling to make a life for myself.
He’s no longer human. No longer forbidden.
“You don’t know how many times over the years I’ve thought of things I’d like to do with you,” he murmurs. “Or to you. When this movie came out, all I could see when I closed my eyes was you lying on that huge, ridiculous bed of yours in your gold corset…”
His voice chokes.
I shake my head. I don’t want to remember that corset, that night. The night I let Gideon Blake into my heart and he betrayed me.
He moves closer, his breath caressing my cheeks. “Haven’t you thought of me over the last century?”
“Only when I took out the rubbish.”
He is always so expressive, the complete opposite of me. I never want people to see how I feel. My emotions are secrets to be hidden away. Except for all those times when I let slip around him.
Not this time.
I was weak for Gideon Blake once before. I don’t make the same mistake twice.
“I did think about all the different ways I might separate your head from your body,” I add.
“That’s a permanent solution to a rather handsome problem.” Gideon rubs his chin. “I remember you saying something different last time we were alone together. You said—”
“We’re not talking about the past.” I don’t want to know what I said. I especially don’t want to know why Gideon remembers what I said to him over one hundred and fifty years ago. “Either watch the film in silence or leave me in peace.”
Gideon leans back in his chair. I watch out of the corner of my eye as he brings the glass to his lips and takes a languid sip, as if he isn’t bothered by my indifference. I want to bother him. I want my words to sting, yet he seems completely content to silently watch this movie.
I try to focus on the storyline, but I keep being drawn back to the man beside me.
What has he been doing since he left me in Paris?
How did he end up in Argleton, of all places? How did he become one of the most innovative property developers in the Upyr world? And how did he do it all without me knowing about him?
How did he end up an Upyr?
He was human when we had our liaison. A vampire can scent another of our kind. Besides, he’d been out during the day. That was how he arranged—
Stop thinking about it.
I try to focus on the film, but curiosity gnaws at me. I pinch the flame of the cherry candle between my fingers, savouring the slight sting of pain.
“When did you become an Upyr?”
“I thought we weren’t talking about the past?” He raises an eyebrow.
“We’re not talking about our past. But this—” I gesture at the general Gideon-ness of him. “—happened after you were with me.”
“Lucien Vega made me an offer I couldn’t refuse.” Gideon’s voice darkens. Ah, so Gideon Blake isn’t immune to secrets. “What about you? You never did tell me how you became an Upyr in possession of a necklace worn by Queen Cleopatra herself.”
I lean across the table and overturn the candle. He yelps as crimson wax drips down his face, hardening on his cool skin to create eldritch dribbles. I pick up my handbag and Gideon’s car keys and leave without a word.
He doesn’t get that piece of me.
Not until he’s earned it.
And he’ll never earn that secret.