by Mina Carter
She bit her lower lip nervously. Matt actually had nothing to do with her taking the ring off, but she didn't want to hurt his feelings. He had done so much for her over the past year, and she was thankful to have him in her life. So she just nodded and smiled.
A big grin appeared on his face. "I won't keep you any longer from your girl time. I'll talk to you tomorrow, Jane."
"Okay. Goodnight, Matt."
"Goodnight, Jane."
Jane closed the door, breathing a sigh of relief. She didn't know why she felt the need to keep Sebastian a secret, but she knew how jealous Matt could get.
* * *
While Jane was at the door trying to get rid of Matt, Sebastian glanced at the photographs perched on the mantle. Jane looked happy in all of the photos. Then he stared at the man beside her in the pictures who was making her happy. It was hard to tell if the pictures were new or old and which twin was in the pictures. "Is that Matt?" he asked when she entered the room.
"No. That is Jack, Matt's twin brother."
"Ah." He nodded. He stared at the wedding picture in the center of the mantle, and he felt his heart constrict. She looked so happy and so in love. He closed his eyes a moment and tightened his hands into fists. He should have been there for her at the hospital. He had already lost precious years with her, but he vowed not to miss any more time.
Jane moved to the couch and sat down. "Could I ask you some questions? I feel like I know nothing about you," she confessed.
He turned to her and said, "Sure." He was eager to get close to her once again. And if she needed to get to know him better, he was all for it. "What do you want to know?" he asked.
"Something. Anything." She thought for a moment. "Where do you work?"
"You could say I'm an entrepreneur." He had amassed his fortune over the past couple of centuries. Money wasn't something he would ever have too little of.
"Where are you from?"
He considered the question. "I grew up in New York City, but that was a long time ago." Lifetimes ago, he silently thought. "I have traveled all over the world."
"How old are you?"
He could never tell her his true age, so he gave her the age he was when he was created. "Twenty-eight. How old are you?" he asked.
Jane stared down at her hands in her lap. "I don't know."
He could sense her sadness, and it made him sad. "You mentioned before that you had severe brain trauma and that was the reason for your fainting spell. Is that why you don't know how old you are?"
"It's why I don't know a lot of things." She hesitated. "It's why I don't know anything really," she corrected. "I don't even know my real name. My name was Jane Doe before I became Mrs. Jane Walker."
He sat down beside her on the couch. "So you don't remember anything about your past?"
She shook her head. "No. I woke up in a hospital bed two years ago, and I remembered absolutely nothing before that day. They said that I was basically left for dead in the woods. I went through a lot of therapy and a lot of pain to be where I'm at today."
His heart ached for her. She had been through all of that alone, and he hadn't been able to help her. He reached over and took her hands into his. "I'm sorry that you had to go through that," he said sincerely.
She stared into his eyes. Her thoughts echoed into his mind. She was thinking of him kissing her.
He stared at her full lips, and his eyes drifted down to her neck. Her jugular vein throbbed as the blood coursed through her veins. It had been a while since he had fed, and his instincts were telling him to rip open her neck and feed on her. And soon the sound of her blood was the only thing he could hear. Sebastian closed his eyes quickly and stood. "I'm sorry. I have to go. I forgot I have an early appointment in the morning."
"Oh," she said with disappointment dripping from her tone. "Well, thank you for coming over."
He walked to the door, unable to look at her. "Thank you for inviting me."
"Bye," Jane said as he walked out the door.
Sebastian crossed the yard swiftly. His head pounded with such intensity, he feared it would explode. It was hard for him to control himself around her. It was in his nature to crave her blood, and the craving was like a toothache that wouldn't stop throbbing.
His mouth watered as he remembered the taste of her blood from years ago. She had such a unique taste that he would never forget. He forced his legs to keep walking and not turn around.
Once inside his own house, it only took an instant for him to unlock the basement door and run down the stairs. He flung open the refrigerator and pulled out a bag of blood. With his fangs bared, he tore into the plastic and drank the red substance hastily. His hunger for Jane slowly subsided with every swallow of somebody else's B positive blood.
When the bag was completely empty, he tossed it into the garbage. He would have to be careful with Jane and not allow his hunger to take over. He had never hurt her in the past, and he would never think of hurting her in the future.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
JANE TRUDGED THROUGH the day at work. She had been disappointed to see Sebastian's car in front of his house that morning. So much for the early appointment, she thought as she cleaned the front windows of the store.
The dinner replayed over and over in her head. They were having a great time, or so she thought. They were talking. They were dancing. And then suddenly he just left. Perhaps it was the visit from Matt in the middle of the evening that spoiled the mood.
She sprayed some more Windex and vigorously scrubbed the windows. Cleaning was her stress reliever, and she felt like she was under a lot of stress lately. "Maybe he just doesn't like me," she decided.
Ashley had been listening to the replay of the date all morning. She looked up from the front counter and said, "Maybe he just doesn't like girls."
Jane furrowed her brows. That thought hadn't crossed her mind. "You really think so?"
"Well, he didn't come on to me. That's a big sign," Ashley joked.
Jane rolled her eyes. "Very funny, Ash!"
"Maybe he just wants to take things slow," she offered.
"Yeah. Maybe," Jane said, but she wasn't so sure.
* * *
Jane walked home. Her conversation with Ashley didn't help with the numerous doubts already in her mind. When she grew closer to the housing development, she could see Matt's police car parked near the curb in front of Sebastian's home.
Panic ran through her, and she picked up her pace and followed Sebastian's voice coming from the back patio. Fearing the worst, she breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Matt and Sebastian sitting on the patio chairs. Matt looked up and smiled. "Hey, Jane."
"Hi. I saw your car and thought maybe something was wrong."
He shook his head. "No, there's nothing wrong. Just a friendly chat. Trying to get to know your neighbor a little better."
Jane glanced at Sebastian. He seemed less than amused by the so-called friendly chat.
"I'm glad you're here," Matt said to Jane. "I'm having an intimate dinner affair at my home tomorrow. It's sort of a housewarming party now that I'm completely moved in. Please say you'll be there."
Matt had been transitioning into the foreclosed house for the past few months, and she was anxious to see it. Jane nodded. "Sure."
Then Matt turned to Sebastian. "I would love for you to join us." Jane noted how Matt had said the word us like it implied they were a couple.
Sebastian smiled, but the smile didn't touch his eyes. "Wouldn't miss it," he said, glancing at Jane.
Jane fidgeted, uncomfortably. The two men in her life in the same room for a few hours would be even more awkward than a chat on the back patio, and she dreaded the idea of it.
Matt stood. "I can pick you up around four, Jane."
Sebastian cut in quickly by saying, "I could bring Jane since we will both be going."
Matt looked to Jane. "Would that be all right?"
She hesitated because she had a feeling Matt wanted her to say
no, but she found herself saying, "Yes."
"All right. Well, I will see you two tomorrow evening then. Say around five o'clock." Matt gave Jane one last look before he walked towards his police car.
When his car pulled away, Sebastian asked, "Would you like a glass of wine?"
Jane nodded. After that tension-filled conversation, she needed a drink; and she couldn't turn down his extremely expensive and vintage wine.
A few minutes later, Sebastian returned from the kitchen with two glasses of wine. Jane took one glass and took a sip. It tasted divine. "You are a connoisseur when it comes to wine," she said.
Sebastian took a seat and motioned for her to sit, which she did. "Nah," he said. "I just know the older it is, the better it is." He gave her a wink.
Jane laughed. "Well, that is a great technique to use."
"I think so."
They chatted until the sun began to set. Reluctantly, Jane said, "I guess I should go home."
He stood from his chair. "I'll see you tomorrow evening, Jane."
She smiled. "Goodnight."
"Goodnight."
* * *
Sebastian watched Jane walk across the lawn to her house. Once she was safely inside, he scooped up the wine glasses and walked into his kitchen. The little meeting with Matt had left a bitter taste in his mouth. Matt had asked way too many questions, and the chat seemed more like an interrogation.
He set one of the glasses down and held the other up near his face. He stared at the lipstick marks on the side of Jane's glass. He closed his eyes as he could remember the way her lips had tasted those many years ago. He so desperately wanted to tell her the truth, to tell her…everything.
His hand tightened around the glass as he thought about the dinner party invitation to Matt's house. Sebastian had been reading his mind, and Matt had not expected nor wanted Sebastian to say yes to the invitation. But knowing Matt's true intent, there was no way he wouldn't have accepted the invite. Matt was planning a surprise for Jane --- a surprise Sebastian didn't know if she would like.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
IT WAS AROUND four o'clock when Jane finished getting ready. Her long dark hair was curled at the ends, and she had pulled half of it up and away from her face. She stared into the full-length mirror to check over her outfit one last time. She had decided to wear a little black dress with red-soled black pumps. In her closet, she retrieved a small black sequined clutch that matched, and she stuffed all of her essentials from her other purse into it.
She glanced at the clock before retreating down the stairs and out the door. Sebastian was leaning against his Ferrari. Jane stumbled in her step as he looked up at her. He looked brutally handsome in a casual black suit. The white shirt underneath was unbuttoned partway, and she could see his muscular chest beneath it.
He walked around the car and opened the passenger's side door for her. "Jane, you look incredible," he said.
"Thank you, Sebastian. You clean up pretty well yourself," she said with a wink.
He smiled a smile that made her heart skip a beat.
Once she was inside, he closed her door. She watched him climb into the driver's side. He stared at her for a few seconds before starting the engine. Jane grinned. "This is a really nice car," she commented.
"Buckle up, and I'll show you how it handles."
Jane did as he said. The car pulled away from the curb, and she was exhilarated by the way Sebastian handled the vehicle as they sped down the road. Jane gave him directions to Matt's house. "There should be a driveway coming up on the right," she said.
The car made the turn and started uphill on a long, paved driveway. The house slowly came into view, and it was much more than a house --- it was a mansion. Matt had told her about the size of the house and land, but she was still amazed.
"I didn't realize the cops' salaries in this town were that padded," Sebastian muttered.
"Well, Matt told me he dabbles in the stock market."
"Ah," he said, as if that explained a lot.
As Sebastian pulled the car among the other dozen or so other vehicles, Jane recognized some of the cars as belonging to Matt's family. Her brow furrowed. She wondered why Matt would want to invite Sebastian to a family gathering.
Sebastian turned to her. "Anything wrong?" he asked.
She shook her head. "No. It's nothing."
He killed the engine, and both of them exited the car. Don, Matt's uncle, came barreling over. "Jane, how are you?" he asked.
"Great, Don. How are you?"
"Oh, you know how it is. Same old shit, different day," he joked. He glanced at Sebastian's car, and a long whistle escaped his lips. "Is that a new Ferrari Spider?" he asked.
"It is," Sebastian said.
As Don and Sebastian talked cars, Jane stared up at the mansion, admiring its grandeur. "Wow," she remarked. The gothic-style mansion was three stories and externally structured with granite and stone. The front of the home donned numerous large windows, which no doubt overlooked the impressive scenery of the countryside.
"Jane," Matt called, walking towards her.
"Hi, Matt. I can't believe how beautiful this place is!"
He smiled widely and put his arm around her shoulder. "Come. I want to give you the grand tour." He glanced over his shoulder. "Care to tag along, Sebastian?"
"Sure." Sebastian begrudgingly followed them.
* * *
After the tour of the mansion, the three of them returned to the vast dining hall. Margaret was smiling from ear to ear as she approached Jane and swept her into her arms. "Hello, my dear. How are you?"
"I'm fine. How are you?"
"Good." She glanced from Jane and then to her son. "You gave her a tour?"
Matt nodded.
Margaret turned her attention back to Jane. "It's lovely, isn't it?"
"Yes, very," Jane remarked.
Margaret reached over and pinched Matt's cheek playfully. "I can't wait to see it filled with my grandchildren." Then she winked at Jane.
Jane flushed. Why had Margaret winked at her when she talked about Matt having children?
Margaret glanced up at Sebastian. "I don't believe we've met."
"No, we haven't," he said. "Sebastian Alexander."
"Sebastian is Jane's neighbor," Matt said quickly.
"I see," Margaret said slowly. She had a telltale look in her eyes, and Jane knew in that instant that Matt had told his mother all about Sebastian, and Jane presumed it was nothing good. "Well, I need to freshen up, and I could just get lost in this house. Show me where one of the four bathrooms is, please," Margaret said, pulling Matt along with her.
Jane glanced up at Sebastian, and he had a serious look on his face. She had a terrible feeling creeping up on her, and she didn't know why.
"Is everything all right?" he asked her, whispering the question.
She pondered the question. "I just have a bad feeling about all of this."
"You're not the only one," he said so softly she wasn't sure she was supposed to hear it.
They walked into the dining hall and over to the massive oak table that seated twenty. There were small place cards with names in front of every chair. Jane found her name beside Matt's card. Matt was at the head of the table, and she was to his left. She watched Sebastian continue around the table looking for his name. He stopped, obviously finding his. She frowned. His chair was on the opposite side of the table and a few chairs down. She had been hoping that they would have been sitting together. Her instincts told her that Matt had arranged the seating placement, and he was purposefully trying to keep her and Sebastian apart.
Sebastian walked back to her and said sarcastically, "How convenient."
Jane smiled up at him. "I'll feign an illness," she said dramatically, "and then we'll leave early."
He looked up as Matt approached them. "You might not have to feign anything," he muttered.
Before she could say anything else to Sebastian, Matt said, "Dinner is being served in a
few minutes. You two can take your seats."
Jane nodded. Matt was trying to keep her apart from Sebastian in any way possible. She could see that now. She sat down in her seat and felt awkward as Sebastian walked away, leaving her alone with Matt.
Matt politely pushed Jane's chair in and then sat down. He reached over and placed his hand over Jane's. "So you like the house?" he asked.
"Yes. It's really beautiful."
Matt smiled. "Good. That's all that matters."
Jane wanted to ask him what he meant, but the room quickly filled with people finding their seats. Margaret sat on the other side of Jane, and other members of the family filled the other empty seats.
Within a few minutes, a staff of people all in white began to bring the first course, a cream soup. The soup was delectable, and the table was full of conversation about who the caterer was.
Course after course was served, the next one better than the last, and Jane found herself glancing at Sebastian as the food was served. He would very gracefully take a small bite and then begin the meticulous task of moving things around his plate to make it look like he had eaten more than he actually had. At least it's not only my cooking he doesn't like, Jane thought to herself. She wondered why Sebastian would agree to a dinner party if he didn't like to eat solid foods.
Sebastian glanced up at her and smiled weakly. His eyes were so striking, she had a hard time turning away as Matt asked her, "How are you enjoying the food, Jane?"
"Everything is delicious," she replied.
Matt grinned in satisfaction.
After everyone was done eating, Matt tapped a knife to his crystal goblet to gain everyone's attention. After the chatter died down, he said, "I just wanted to, first of all, thank everyone for coming." He slowly stood. "Now on to the more important reason you are here." He swallowed hard and stared down at Jane. "As you all know, Jane first came into our lives as my brother's wife."
Jane shifted uncomfortably in her seat and plastered a fake smile on her face as all the attention turned to her.
