Page 48 of Vampires of Eden

“I apologize for dumping this on you,” I say instead, wiping my face with my sweatshirt sleeve again. “You hate me as it is. Now I’m whining about my stupid purebred problems.”

“I’ve never said that I hated you. Did I not come out here of my own volition? You don’t need to apologize.”

“It feels like I should, though.” I glance over at his sharp profile, which is like the face of a half-moon and similar in color. His pale, almond-shaped eyes. He obviously has his own things to worry about. Shame on me for burdening him with my bullshit. “Anyway, thank you for not making fun of me.”

He surprises me when he turns and meets my gaze head on. Serious. “I wouldn’t.” Slowly, his lips quirk up in a sly smile. “Not about this, anyway.”

CHAPTER 12

Alexander

The woods surrounding Kathryn and Roland’s house are dark by the time I’m sitting in my car and getting ready to drive back to the estate. After I finished talking to Daniel and pulled myself together, we went in and got a lot of work done.

It felt good, actually.

The physical labor, our conversation. All of it.

I haven’t checked my phone since I got here, so I pull it out of my pocket and glance at it as the car warms up. There are two messages from Raphael.

[Sebastian’s head servant is requesting a visit on his behalf tomorrow for lunch.]

[Do you feel like being bothered?]

“Fuck no,” I say aloud in the insulated silence. As far as I know, there’s nothing on my schedule tomorrow. I’d prefer to keep it that way, but I’ve already blown Sebastian off a couple times since the poker game where I bluffed Ashwin out of two-hundred grand. I should probablyplay nice.

[You can tell him yes.]

[Thanks, Raph. I’m on my way back now.]

I toss my phone onto the passenger seat and am about to shift the car into drive, but pause when I see Daniel coming out of the house and down the steps in his ugly orange parka. As he passes my headlights, he waves. Mechanically, I wave back, watching as he goes to the vineyard van.

I can’t believe I cried in front of him today. What the hell is wrong with me? Without question, that talk is going to come back to bite me later. I wonder if I’ll see it as a headline withinThe Central Eden Newsover the next couple of days:Purebred Prince Cries like a Baby at Country House.

Despite all that, as I drive slowly down the lane to make my way back to the main road, I’m glad I came here today. Somehow, my head and chest feel less cluttered, as if I was finally able to purge some important but muddled thoughts that I’d been harboring for months.

Raphael was right in insisting that I come here, but I won’t tell him as much.

The next morning, I wake up feeling somewhat invigorated. Not heavy nor depressed. I feed Buffy, clean out her litter boxes, then give her a good brush down. The sun is bright again today, so I go for a long run around the gardens and woods of our property, then do some light lifting in the gym.

By the time Sebastian arrives for lunch, I feel fairly stable and ready to entertain. Although, with Sebastian, one can never be too prepared.

He arrives in a wool cape that’s a rich, deep blue. When he swings it from around his shoulders, he’s fashionably layered in a jumper with a bold floral pattern and perfectly coordinatedslacks. The diamond stud in his ear sparkles against his flawless brown skin.

“Hello Aleksey.” He greets me with an air kiss on my left cheek, then my right, like always.

“Hey Sebastian, we’ll have lunch in the sun room today. Follow me?”

“Of course. Thank you for finally having me—and on such short notice.”

Sebastian is a year younger than me and already bonded with his mate, Piper. It was an arranged courtship, but unlike my situation with Oliver, neither of them had a say in the pairing. Their parents made the choice without any input from either Sebastian nor Piper.

Miraculously, it turned out well. They instantly clicked. Sebastian once told me that he’d never met anyone who fully and simply accepted who he was until Piper. And he offers Piper the same unconditional refuge.

Lunch starts smoothly with the normal niceties. I ask about Piper and we take turns getting updates about each other’s parents. His mother, Lady Audrey Ellis, sits on the Royal Governing Board with my father and me. Since she has no plans to retire, Sebastian doesn’t need to attend the meetings. One day, he’ll be on the board with me, along with our friend Nadya once her mother decides to retire.

As we eat, we rehash the poker game a few weeks ago. Apparently, Ashwin is still very upset about it.

Good.