Page 14 of Love Bites And So Do I (Eternity Falls #1)

Chapter Ten

LUCIEN

The blood in my glass was older than most of the town’s residents and spiced with something dark and floral I couldn’t quite name. I drank it anyway. Slowly. Thoughtfully. Like it might have answers I hadn’t yet uncovered.

It didn’t.

My office was quiet, save for the low pulse of jazz bleeding up through the floorboards.

Elias was running the floor tonight, which meant The Veil would remain standing.

I should’ve been reviewing schedules, going over inventory, analyzing the quarterly projections I hadn’t touched in two days.

But instead, I was hiding and replaying every detail of that dreadful café lunch.

It hadn’t gone the way I’d intended. I took pride in my strategic abilities. But today, something had slipped. I’d gone in expecting a negotiation ending in a happy resolution. Instead, I’d pissed her off.

She was right—I had expected her to accept my offer. Be grateful for it, even. A way out of this mess her ex-mate had landed her in.

Clearly, I’d miscalculated.

Especially when I’d spoken his name.

I’d known it the moment the air shifted.

The moment her smile had vanished, and something colder had settled in its place.

I truly hadn’t meant to provoke her. And certainly not in front of the others.

I’d meant to take control of the conversation again, but also, to prove I was nothing like her ex-mate.

I exhaled slowly, running a thumb along the stem of my glass.

Isadora wasn’t supposed to matter. A vampiress in her position should’ve been easy to discredit and run out of town.

Except, from the first moment we’d met, everything had gone wrong.

And I couldn’t seem to get a grip on this situation.

Not only did I keep pissing her off, but I couldn’t stop thinking about her.

Gods, the way she smelled, the way she looked…

Even the way she stood up to me. I truly did want to solve this situation amicably, for both parties.

It was why I’d offered to buy the bar in the first place.

But I’d failed.

I never failed, and I certainly never lost control.

Until her.

Eternity Falls functioned on unspoken rules established and reinforced over the generations.

The Crimson Veil wasn’t merely a lounge—it was the beating heart of the hierarchy.

People felt seen and important when I allowed them through my doors.

They came here in search of power and to align themselves with the strongest names in town.

And soon, there would be a competing heartbeat.

Two blocks away, Isadora’s bar sat dormant—for now .

But with Thorne’s aid, it wouldn’t be long before they reopened the doors.

They would breathe life back into the building—of that I had no doubt.

I saw the spark in Isadora. And that spark would undoubtedly spread to her new business.

It would draw attention. Customers who groveled to get through my doors would start rethinking their options. And once they did…

Well, power bled easily in this town. And it would shift to her.

I’d tried to handle it. Thought I could buy her out, end it cleanly, without needing to make a mess of her. It would’ve worked on anyone else.

But she wasn’t just anyone.

She didn’t want survival. She wanted ownership and control. Not the illusion of it, but the real thing. I understood that. Intimately.

And I… I didn’t want to be the one who stripped it from her.

There had to be another way.

I had tried to play this differently, but in doing so, I’d exposed my flank, and she’d drawn blood.

Now the town would talk. They would whisper about the St. Germain heir offering a buyout—and Isadora’s refusal.

They would laugh when they discussed how Miss Laurent walked out with her chin held high while I sat at the table, too surprised to retaliate.

By now, my mother and father would know. Not from Juliette or Evangeline—our sibling loyalty ran much deeper than that—but from the dozens of mouths who’d witnessed it firsthand and wouldn’t waste a breath keeping it quiet.

I couldn’t let that happen again.

There was still time to correct the course. To reclaim the narrative before it spun out of my control.

I just needed a new plan.

Before I could figure out what exactly that would entail, two soft knocks echoed at the door.

“Enter,” I called.

The door opened, and Juliette stepped inside. She shut the door behind her and marched toward me, her posture tense. Readying herself for a fight, I supposed.

“You offered her a buyout,” she said at last.

I didn’t answer immediately. Just swirled the blood in my glass and watched the way it caught the light.

“Why?” she demanded when I didn’t speak.

“I’ve made offers before.”

“Oh, really? When was the last time?” Juliette challenged. “I’ve been working at your side for years. I’ve never seen you offer to buy someone out. Why bother, when you can destroy them and keep the money?”

“Perhaps I’m evolving.”

“I don’t buy it,” she said immediately. “This isn’t like you. What’s going on, Lucien?”

My silence said more than I intended.

It would’ve been easier if Isadora was the spoiled heiress I’d expected. But she wasn’t. In fact, she was the furthest thing from that. She’d walked into this town, bruised by scandal, but still held her head high. I admired her for that.

“Do you like her or something?” Juliette pressed.

I just took a sip of my drink. But apparently, that was answer enough because my sister’s smile faltered.

After a moment, she let out a quiet laugh. “Gods, you do like her. That’s it, isn’t it?”

Juliette stared at me like she’d just stumbled into a parallel dimension where up was down and I’d joined a poetry club.

“You actually like her,” she repeated, slower this time, like saying it aloud would force the pieces to make sense. “You’re not just…entertained. Or curious. You’re interested.”

“I didn’t say that.”

“You didn’t have to,” she said. “Lucien, do you know what you’re doing?

She isn’t some bored socialite looking for a good time that won’t extend beyond the morning.

This is a Laurent, and a disgraced one, no less.

I mean, she just broke her mate bond. That’s a lot of personal baggage.

Not to mention, she’s drowning in scandal and debt, and dragging it all behind her like a train. ”

All of which I already knew.

Juliette stared at me, clearly befuddled. “How deep does this interest of yours go?”

Again, I didn’t respond. Because I didn’t have an answer to that. I was still trying to figure most of this out for myself.

“Okay. Clearly, you’re interested in more than a one-night stand. You offered to set her up with a comfortable life…” Juliette said, pacing the length of my office. She let out a slow breath, then whirled on her heel and faced me. “Are you in love with her?”

“I’ve spoken with her all of twice,” I said to my sister. It wasn’t a denial, per se. But she was asking questions I didn’t have answers to.

“When she initially turned you down, you offered more money,” Juliette said. “Like it was pocket change. Gods, Lucien.”

I leaned against the edge of my desk, glass in hand, and watched my sister. I should have guessed I wouldn’t be able to hide everything from her. She’d studied me for far too long. “It was a strategic offer.”

“It was personal ,” she argued. “And don’t insult either of us by pretending otherwise.” Juliette sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. “Okay, we can manage this. Come up with a story that makes sense. Maybe we pitch this as a ploy to throw her off and confuse her. Maybe?—”

“You’re overreacting,” I told her.

Juliette barked out a sharp laugh. “Overreacting? Lucien, you’ve spent the last two hundred years cultivating your image.

People claw to get through your doors because they believe being near you means something.

But now you’re bending the rules for her.

People will see that. They’ll sense weakness.

And once that starts…everything else will follow. ”

I drained the last of my glass and set it down with a quiet clink. “I offered her a way out, Juliette. That’s all. And she told me no.”

“So, that’s the end of this, then?” Juliette asked. “No more sentimental offers?”

“I’m not sentimental.”

“No?” Her eyes narrowed. “Then why don’t you just destroy her?”

I didn’t answer. Because truthfully, I couldn’t do that to her.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought,” she said. She stared at me a few moments longer, then strode to my side and nudged me. “My big brother. In love.”

“Juliette,” I growled. “I am not?—”

A sharp knock interrupted the moment.

“Come in,” I said, grateful for the reprieve.

Elias entered with a tablet tucked under one arm and a folder held in his hand. He gave Juliette a brief nod before turning to me.

“Apologies for the interruption. The floor’s steady, the reserves are stocked, and the banshee singer only demanded one break tonight, so that’s a win.” He tapped his tablet and began rattling off numbers.

“Now is not the time—” Juliette started.

But I held up a hand. “Continue, Elias.”

He flicked a glance between the two of us, clearly sensing the tension.

But after a moment, he continued. “Guest count is at capacity, bloodwine projections are tracking slightly above average, and the wait list is two hours long. I’ve already had three minor meltdowns from entitled fledglings, which I consider a personal record. ”

“Thank you,” I said.

His attention dropped to the slim black folder. He hesitated, then stepped forward and offered it to me without a word.

I took it and began scanning the contents.

“What is that?” Juliette asked.

“A dossier,” I said, eyes still on the page. “Isadora’s background, her history, her former assets. As well as her family tree and their legal settlements.” I flipped the page. “And this here is her ex-mate’s history, including his fraudulent business, and their current relationship status.”

“You’re investigating her?” Juliette demanded, her tone that of disgust.

“I prefer to call it research,” I murmured, turning to the next page.

I reached the end of the summary and closed the folder with a quiet snap.

The dossier confirmed a great deal—especially her visceral reaction to me using her ex-mate’s name today.

She’d severed the mate bond less than a month ago, after a hundred years together.

Thinking about everything Trystan had done to Isadora made my blood boil.

To think of committing yourself to someone for a century, only to turn around and betray them in every way conceivable.

In my eyes, he deserved far worse than Isadora had done.

“You realize what you’re doing is disturbing, right? You’re bordering on obsession, Lucien. This isn’t like you.”

My sister was both right and wrong. I did obsess, especially when it came to business matters. But I didn’t obsess over women. Until now, at least.

“She doesn’t even like you,” Juliette said, incredulous. “She wants nothing to do with you.”

“I know.”

“Then why?—”

Elias interrupted her by clearing his throat. We both turned. He stood at the window, his tablet lowered, his finger pointing at something beyond the glass.

“Lucien,” he said. “You need to see this.”

I crossed the room in three steps and followed his gaze out into the darkening skyline.

Elias pointed at the Luminara Clock Tower, which instead of the violet purple it’d glowed for the last few nights, now pulsed a deep crimson.

A color that hadn’t bled from the tower in nearly a century.

Juliette stepped up beside me. Her voice was quiet when she asked, “What does red mean again?”

I raised my glass and drained the last of it in one long, measured sip, the blood hitting my tongue like ash. Then I set the glass down with care.

“It means danger,” was all I said.