16. A Brother’s Appetite
Chapter 16
A Brother’s Appetite
“… I t means, Heart,” he said, and I took a quick breath in surprise, responding the only way I knew how without giving away my feelings.
“Oh,” I said in a small whisper, my own heart hammering faster within my chest. Every minute I was here felt more dangerous than the one before it because I knew I was falling for this man. A man I knew so very little about. Well, there was only one way of changing that. I could either run from the potential heartache, or I could spend each day with him hoping that it never came.
Once more, the waiter appeared and Victor spoke Greek to him, ordering our food and only stopping long enough to ask me what wine I liked.
“I don’t have that much experience in wine,” I answered honestly, despite feeling embarrassed by the admission.
“Then let’s change that,” he said, grinning because, clearly, the lack of my culinary expertise didn’t put him off. Then he once more started speaking in Greek, ordering what I imagined was from his extensive knowledge of the drink.
“Is Greek your favorite thing to eat?” I asked once the waiter had left with our order and, for some reason, his eyes grew heated as he looked at my neckline.
“No… it’s not,” he replied and, Christ, I thought I would start panting with the way he looked at me. It was like I was the only one he wanted on the menu tonight. The true meal he wanted to gorge himself on.
The thought had me thinking back to the Vampire I was still obsessing about. Something that should have been impossible in sight of this man. How could I still be thinking about the man who I only knew as Mr. Erebus, the Vampire who sank his fangs into me, when here was Victor, playing the perfect gentleman and bestowing his undivided attention on me? It didn’t seem logical at all, but facts were facts, and I couldn’t deny the truth of how I felt.
It was a dangerous fantasy indeed to want them both.
“Although, I do confess, it is a comfort my brother and I enjoy, as it often takes us back to our roots,” Victor said, replying to my question while my head was in the dirty, double duo clouds.
“I feel like that when eating a Philly cheesesteak, but you can’t beat the ones from back home,” I said, my mouth watering at just the thought of the iconic meal Pennsylvania was known for.
“Do you go back often?” he asked, and I nearly choked on my water. He merely waved off my apology before I answered.
“No, never.”
“Bad memories?” he guessed, and because it made me uncomfortable to talk about it, I just told him,
“Something like that.”
When he didn’t speak, I knew it was because he was waiting for me to give him more. So, I released a heavy sigh.
“No point going back when there is nothing to go back to.” I shrugged.
“Someone once told me that you can’t ever reach what’s in front of you if you can’t first let go of what is behind.”
My eyes widened at this because it was like his gift, always knowing what to say.
“Smart man,” I said, not only referring to this someone he spoke of.
“He was, it is just unfortunate that it didn’t stay that way,” he replied solemnly, and I would have asked him about it had the waiter not chosen that moment to bring us our drinks.
“Is that champagne?” I asked after the cork was popped.
“It is… why? Do you not like it?”
I blushed at this and decided to be honest.
“I don’t know, I have never had it before.”
The waiter filled our glasses, and I took hold of my own and watched as the golden bubbles fizzled to the top in long, mesmerizing streams.
“Then I am honored that your first time will be with me,” he replied, lifting his glass and making me do the same. Once again, he knew exactly what to say. Then I took a sip, and my eyes widened the second the flavor burst across my tongue.
“Is it to your liking?” he asked, and when I started nodding eagerly, he chuckled. His easy grin was one I was getting addicted to seeing.
“It’s delicious.”
Again, for some reason his eyes gave me their intense attention before he agreed, “It is indeed.”
I cleared my throat and tried not to squirm under his penetrating gaze, and instead asked,
“So, you are a restaurant owner, who knows self-defense… anything else I need to know?”
His answer surprised me.
“Oh, there are many things you need to know, Nessa, but let’s walk first before we can swim.”
I laughed nervously and said, “Isn’t the saying, to walk before you can run?”
“Ah, but there will be no running for you, little Firefly,” he replied and even though it was said in a teasing tone, I couldn’t help but question if there was an element of truth behind the words.
After all, he had forced me on this date as, let’s just say, the guy didn’t exactly know how to take the hint. No, he most definitely seemed like the type of man that knew what he wanted and simply took it. Making me unable to stop questioning, was that what he was doing with me?
Was he taking what he wanted?
I also couldn’t help the way that thought made me feel, along with every time he called me Firefly. Ironic really, considering it felt as if my belly was full of them whenever he touched me.
A little after this the courses started to come out. With each one, he explained to me its origins, showing me he was obviously passionate about his homeland.
“These are called Dolma, which translates as stuffed in Turkish.”
“Turkish? But I thought we were eating Greek?” I asked, referring to the delicious mixture of rice and meat wrapped in some kind of boiled leaf.
“It is a common dish where I am from, in fact, in Ancient Greek cuisine, fig leaves were stuffed with sweetened cheese or lard, flour, milk, and egg before being cooked in honey water, but they were called Thrion,” he told me, and I was both fascinated and surprised by him having such knowledge on the topic.
To look at him, I wouldn’t have thought he would have such an interest in historic recipes, but more like someone who watched the stock market and was all about crunching the numbers. Which was why I couldn’t help but ask,
“How do you know that?”
He shrugged his large shoulders and said, “My mother used to make them.” This before then casually taking a drink of his wine.
“She doesn’t anymore?” I asked in between bites.
His jawline hardened and I wasn’t surprised when he told me,
“No, not anymore. Not for a long time now.”
Of course, I knew what that meant, but neither of us wanted to say the word deceased.
“Well, they are delicious,” I told him, hoping to break the sadness and once again, I was reward with his grin.
“I am glad you like them.”
“Although if this means I have to make you a Philly Cheesesteak then I am afraid you might be left disappointed.”
His smile never left him as he asked, “Why is that?”
“I am not the best cook and could pretty much burn boiling water.”
He laughed and before I knew it, he rose from his seat and moved it, so it was next to mine. I was shocked he did this and I looked around the rest of the restaurant to check no one was staring at us. Thankfully, they weren’t. It was almost like they knew that they shouldn’t.
“I can teach you, if you’d like?” he asked, shocking me further.
“You know how to cook?”
“You seem surprised,” was his answer.
Quite honestly, I wasn’t just surprised but I was astounded because now I just had images of him bare foot in the kitchen, wearing jeans and nothing else but an apron, whisking up a treat. It was a great image.
No, it was a fucking great image.
“Well, it keeps happening around you because you constantly surprise me.”
He leaned in close, until he was stroking the hair back from my ear so he could put his lips there instead, whispering a sweet promise.
“Then let’s hope one of them leaves you breathless, for I can’t wait to get you alone, so as I may surprise you further.”
I sucked in a quick breath and instead of saying something just as sensual back, I did what I always did… I went with humor as a coping mechanism.
“Why? Are you gonna pull a rabbit out your pants?”
He suddenly threw his head back and laughed, so much so, that this time people did look. But they did so in a way that acted like they were utterly stunned. As if they knew this man and had never experienced the emotion before.
“Fuck, but I adore how you make me laugh,” he admitted.
I couldn’t help blushing crimson, especially when he put an arm to the back of my chair, and at the same time he put his nose to my cheek and breathed me in deep.
“Better than if I could cook?” I asked, needing something to say, but his response completely flipped me inside out because it was totally confirmation that I was indeed…
Falling in love with this man.
“Fuck cooking… I want the girl that can make me laugh.”
After this, two things happened. The first was that it became apparent that he was content to spend the rest of our meal sitting next to me. And the other was that he couldn’t seem to stop touching me. The way he tucked my hair behind my ear when I was telling him some mundane thing, looking at me like I was reciting poetry or ancient proverbs. Or how when we were in between courses, he would hold my hand, running his fingers along the inside of my wrist just like he had done the night before.
In fact, I found myself wishing time would slow down or just stop altogether because I could have sat there with him all night. The attention on me was intense to say the least, but it was also like a drug I was quickly becoming addicted to. I had never once felt like this. I had never been made to feel like what I said actually mattered, but Victor hung on every word I said.
Now he was either the best damn actor in the world, or he was the man I was hoping for him to be… genuine. Because I couldn’t help but question if not… then what was his end game? It wasn’t like my ex because clearly, I had no money for him to steal. I wasn’t a supermodel or some eye candy to be seen on his arm for the night. I was just me, and he made me feel for the first time that was more than enough.
That it was all he wanted.
But the self-doubt in my mind had me unable to stop myself from asking… what was the catch? What was the dark secret he kept? And if so, just how scary were those skeletons in his closet? Because he seemed too damn perfect to be single, to want to be with someone like me.
Of course, if I had said that in front of Stacey, she would have wanted to slap some sense into me. But a lifetime of mental abuse from those who were supposed to love you was hard to get past. Like a beaten dog expected to trust its new owner. It took time to forget and sometimes you just never did.
So, the main question was… could I trust Victor?
Unfortunately, my answer to this came just after our plates were taken away once our main meal had been consumed. The answer not being the one I wanted, but being more of the indirect deadly kind!
An older gentleman was walking across the restaurant being shown to his seat, with whom I would have assumed was his wife. The couple stopped and recognized my date, calling him not by the name of Victor, but of someone else.
A name that had my blood freezing as if felt as if my heart had turned to ice.
“Mr. Erebus, nice to see you out this evening.”
My body must have given me away, because I stiffened next to him to the point that I felt his hand land on my thigh as he too was preventing me from escaping. Because what were the fucking chances of him having the same name as the Vampire!?
Fucking zero, that’s what!
I suddenly felt my safe little world unraveling, even as I was still scrambling to hold myself together, asking how this had happened… why this had happened?
I couldn’t think.
I had no answers and as he made tense small talk with the man, internally I was crapping myself. His hand felt like a fucking anvil for the weight of it on my leg. As if it were a cage trying to consume me. I knew right then and there that I needed to leave. I needed to escape at all costs. So, using the man who was speaking to him as a lifeline, hoping he would try anything in front of witnesses, I suddenly blurted out,
“Excuse me a moment, but I need to use the restroom.”
I couldn’t tell if my voice was steady or not, but in my mind it felt as if I had screamed. His hand tightened on my leg a moment but one look at my eyes must have told him something. Perhaps it was the tears I could feel filling them, or it was the panic and fear he could no doubt feel coming off me in waves. Whatever it was, it was enough for him to remove his hand. The second he did, I was up out of my chair like someone had fired a gun.
A gun I knew he still had in his possession from last night. Did he have it on him now? Would he shoot me down should I try to run? I had to take my chances because, clearly, he had plans for me. I just didn’t want to wait around and find out what they were. So, I excused myself again, muttering my words as if I were speaking through mud. I felt like I was about to suffocate in my need to get away.
One of the waitresses looked at me and pointed to the back, before she caught my face, her own frown forming in question as I could feel the first of my tears fall. I swiped at them angrily, glancing behind me just in case he was following. But I was surprised to see he calmly remained seated, the man he had been speaking with now gone. The look on his face wasn’t one I could read but I knew it wasn’t anger in his gaze like I would have thought.
Was it pity?
Disappointment that the charade was over so soon? That the game was at an abrupt end? I told myself I didn’t care. I told myself all that mattered now was getting back to my mundane life, one where Vampires didn’t exist. But wait, what was he doing now? Who was he calling on the phone in his hand?
It didn’t matter.
Nothing else mattered. So, I quickened my steps and instead of going to the toilet I walked right through the door that said staff only. The smell of once delicious food now made my stomach churn as it sat in my body like an overstuffed bag of lies. A chef shouted something at me, waving his spatula, but I ignored him and kept going. I just needed a back door. One I knew they must have. All these places did.
I kept running until there it was, past an office and a storeroom. I cursed myself when I realized that I had left my bag in the car. Shit, I couldn’t worry about that now. It wasn’t like I had anything with my address on in there.
Just my phone, money, bank cards… all things I could replace. But as for my life, well, that I couldn’t replace. Which was why I practically burst from the door and into an alleyway, filling my lungs the second I did. My heart burst with fear as the door slammed shut behind me. A fear that soon had good reason not to yet leave me.
Not as soon as I realized that I wasn’t alone.
“Why hello, Peaches.”
My head snapped up the second I heard his voice, to find him leaning casually against the wall opposite.
“Oh shit, no, no, no!” I shouted, before backing up and turning just in time to see the door I had just erupted from now opening. And this time a new predator emerged as Victor stood there, looking more masterful than I had ever seen him. Every shred of amusement and ease was now replaced by the face of someone in complete control.
Then he spoke, and the truth of my dark and deadly situation truly came to light.
“I guess it’s time for your plan, Brother.”