Lover's Betrayal: Misfits of the Lore Series

by Hopkins, J. E.

  The half hour was almost up and she was running out of people to ask. As she looked around some more, she saw a man from across the room staring directly at her. His eyes were silver and his hair dark as midnight. He wore an unbuttoned white shirt and tight black leather pants. He had a certain lethal quality about him. There was no denying his beauty. She was drawn to him. She started walking in his direction as if compelled.

  She stood in front of him, looking directly into those eyes, which were like mirrors. “Who are you?” she asked the stranger.

  “I’m Liam,” he drawled in a sexy voice with a hint of an English accent.

  “What are you?” Olivia inquired further. She could sense an unsettling power in this man.

  “What I am is of no concern to you, but what I know is.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “You and your friends have been interrogating patrons of my club about a dead fey.”

  Olivia knew she should be afraid of this stranger. His voice was harsh, but somehow melodic as well. She felt calm even though her brain was trying to tell her to flee. “We didn’t mean to cause any problems. We’re trying to find out what happened to this woman. We just want to solve her murder.”

  “I already spoke to the authorities about this. Granted, I told them nothing, but they didn’t amuse me the way you do. As I’m a kind man, I’ll tell you what I probably should have told them. This fey was a newbie and very eager to learn the dark side. She was attracted to danger. She pursued this vampire who reeked of danger and violence. That was like a drug to her. She wanted more and more of it. She pursued the vamp until he gave in and finally he took her to one of the private rooms in the lower basement. Two hours later, he returned alone and left. An hour later, another patron found her dead in the hall.”

  “Do you have security cameras in these private rooms?”

  “Not then, but we do now. We originally thought that privacy was best for our patrons. We didn’t anticipate this kind of violence. We probably should have, considering we’re dealing with all types of immortals -- but sex should be about pleasure, not violence. I know now that some monsters can’t differentiate between the two.”

  “Can you tell me anything about the vampire that you saw with the fey?” Olivia asked hesitantly.

  “He’s a mean bastard who likes to get into fights. I’ve had him thrown out of here several times. I should have banned him from this place, but he’s a well-paying customer and I’m a little greedy.”

  Olivia feared this man was describing Kaden, but part of her hoped it could be another vampire and this information could help clear Kaden. “Do you know what this vampire looked like?”

  “Yeah. He reminded me of you, except he lacked your amazing eyes. I’ve never seen eyes such a remarkable shade of violet. At times, they even darken to a sexier indigo.” Liam was transfixed by Olivia’s eyes, but then seeing her concerned expression, he focused on the vampire that resembled her. “His eyes were like a forest green. As your eyes are gentle, his eyes were dangerous, but he possessed your unique beauty. He was the darker side of you.”

  Olivia’s heart sank. Could he really be describing Kaden, or was he just messing with her? She didn’t know if she could trust this stranger. There was something rather unnerving about him.

  She knew she should tell Lucian what Liam had said just in case he was speaking the truth, but there was no doubt that Lucian would just accept this as another sign of Kaden’s guilt. She did not want him to abandon this investigation thinking he had all the proof he needed, especially based off the description given by this mysterious man. There was still more evidence to uncover. There had to be.

  Olivia thanked Liam for his time. She reached to shake his hand but he made no motion to grab it. “I would love to shake your hand, but if I did, we’d end up in one of those private rooms and I don’t think that man staring at us across the way would be too pleased about that.”

  Olivia saw Lucian standing by the door with Corinne and Lorenzo, watching her closely. “Well, I’m sure I could control myself around you. You may be attractive, but it would take more than a handshake for me to end up in your bed. If you’re arrogant enough to believe otherwise, then that’s your mistake.”

  “It’s not arrogance, my dear. It’s knowledge. You see, I can sense that you’re not fully mated, and therefore you’re vulnerable to me. You don’t have the power to resist my touch.”

  Olivia was stunned that he knew she was not fully mated, but she refused to let him see he was getting under her skin. “Do you feed all women this line, or am I the lucky one?”

  “You’re the lucky one because I’m telling you the truth now rather than taking you to bed and having you regret it later. I would like to think I would overwhelm you with pleasure to such a degree that you could never regret us, but I know that’s not the case. You would lose your mate and hate yourself for falling prey to me.”

  “Believe me, I’m not that easy to seduce, and that man over there is the only man whose bed I would consider occupying.”

  “Are you challenging me, princess? I can make it so that you let me take you right here, right now with your man watching. Do not challenge what you don’t understand.”

  Olivia did not want to admit it, but this man was making her nervous. She still did not believe his claims of seduction, but something inside her told her to back down and not push him any further.

  “This has been entertaining, Liam. Thanks for your time.”

  “If he ever hurts you, then come back to me and let me offer you pleasure.”

  “How chivalrous of you.”

  Liam smiled and she walked away to join Lucian and the others.

  “Who’s the hottie in the leather?” Corinne asked.

  “He’s the owner of the club.”

  “Did he have any information about the fey?” Lucian asked in his no-nonsense tone.

  Olivia wanted to tell him everything, but she feared how he would respond. Liam did not tell her anything new, so why bring it up again? she rationalized. “He really couldn’t offer much useful information.”

  Lucian watched her intensely and Olivia fought to maintain her unsteady nerves. “Well, I guess we might as well leave. It’s getting late anyway. I need to do some more research and figure out where we should go from here.”

  “I’m staying,” Corinne said. “I can dematerialize back when I’m ready.”

  Lorenzo growled beside her. “I’m staying too, then.”

  Corinne sighed and headed toward the dance floor. Lorenzo watched her closely from the back, making sure no one got too close.

  “Let’s go, then,” Lucian suggested as he opened the door for Olivia.

  The drive back to Julian’s was deathly silent. Olivia’s head was still spinning from that odd conversation with Liam. Lucian was obviously tense, as he held the steering wheel so tightly that it looked like he would rip it off at any moment.

  Lucian pulled up in front of Julian’s house. They sat there in silence until Lucian finally turned to her. “I know there’s something you’re not telling me, Liv. You don’t have to hide your attraction for the club owner. I have no claim over you.”

  Olivia was stunned that he thought she wanted Liam, and hurt that he did not feel he had a claim to her anymore, as if this was confirmation that they were no longer connected. “I have no interest in Liam.”

  “Liam. Is that his name?”

  “Yes, but that means nothing. We just talked for a few moments…”

  “It was more than a few moments. According to you, he had no information -- so what did you talk to him about for so long?”

  Olivia did not know how to respond.

  “Look, Liv, if he was just flirting with you then that’s your business and not mine. I have no right to pry. I just need to know that you’re telling me the entire truth about what he said to you regarding the murdered fey. I need to be able to trust you -- and I’m sorry, but I still struggle to believe in you. Let me
know that I can trust you again, Olivia.”

  Olivia knew that her only chance for happiness with Lucian had to start with honesty. Secrets and lies destroyed them before. There was no way they could come back from that again. “He told me that the fey flirted with a vampire and pursued him. He finally acquiesced and they left together to go to one of the private rooms in the basement of the club. Two hours later, the vampire returned alone and the fey was discovered dead an hour after that. He also said that the vampire looked like me, but with green eyes.”

  Lucian sat there quietly, thinking about what Olivia said. Although she initially withheld information from him, she finally came clean. He could understand why she wanted to keep it to herself as it incriminated Kaden even more, but she agreed to work with him to discover the truth whether or not it was the truth she wanted to hear. He could not work with her if there would be lies between them.

  “You should have told me this when I first asked you, but your initial reaction was to lie to me again. I’m glad you finally told me the truth, but Liv, I don’t understand why you lie to me so easily. Why you break promises to me. I don’t know what’s real with you. I look back to when we were kids and I struggle to understand what was the truth between us and what was the lie. Was any of it real, or were you just pretending? Are you capable of honesty?”

  “Lucian, please. My feelings for you were never a lie. Everything I have ever done was because of my love for you. I know you don’t believe that, but it’s true. I wish I could prove it to you. I know you can’t trust my words. I wish you could trust my heart. You used to know it so well.” Olivia hated that resigned look on Lucian’s face. As if he had completely given up on her, given up on them.

  “I thought I did, but now I think that was just an illusion. I don’t think I ever knew you. I spent my entire childhood with you, revealing every part of myself to you and thinking you were doing the same. Now I look at you and see a stranger.”

  Olivia did not stop the tears that flowed from her eyes. “I don’t recognize myself anymore either. I can’t expect you to know me when I don’t know me anymore. I’m so sorry, Lucian, for so much. I know it’s not enough, but I am. I hope one day that you can find it in your heart to forgive me.”

  Lucian wished he could tell her that he forgave her just to remove that pain from her eyes, but it would be a lie. That was not what either of them needed now. “Thanks for finally telling me the truth about your conversation with Liam. Now it’s getting late and I have work to do. Good night, Livy.”

  Olivia sat there for a moment longer, but then she got out of the car and Lucian sped off, leaving her there in the darkness alone again.

  She entered Julian’s empty house and decided to relax with a long hot bath. She should eat something, but her stomach revolted at the idea. She searched her luggage for her journal. It had been weeks since she last wrote in it, but seeing Lucian again stirred her desire to express her feelings for him in words. She had hundreds of these journals that she used to write letters to Lucian. This was her only comfort—her only way to talk to him without seeing the simmering disdain in his eyes.

  May 2, 2010

  My Dearest Lucian,

  I can’t tell you how happy it made me to see you again. For the first time in a long time, I felt my heart beat. A sign of life when I otherwise thought mine had ended. You allowed me to feel something good again. That moment of happiness I owe to you. All my happiness I owe to you.

  For a moment, I thought there was a chance I could make you happy, but that’s not possible. I actually had dreams of us reconciling. You looking at me with love in your eyes. There was a moment where the past was dead and there was hope we could start anew. Yet the moment passed and all that was left was the reality of the present that we can’t escape. I know seeing me hurts you. I wish things could be different. I don’t understand why seeing you gives me such pleasure and seeing me causes you so much pain. I know the problem is me. My presence hurts you and my children. I want to relieve all of your pain. I owe you all that. I’m trying, Lucian. I will make things right for all of you. I love you all so much and I would do anything to give you a sense of peace -- and if that means me leaving, then I shall leave.

  I want so badly for things to be different, but I know it can’t happen. My mother told me long ago that I would only cause pain and she was right. All I can say is that I’m sorry. I’m sorry you were forced to be mated to me. Sorry that I could not offer you more. Sorry that I brought only pain to your life. Sorry that I still exist. Sorry that I didn’t free you sooner. I’m just sorry. I promise you that I will soon make things right.

  With all my love,

  Olivia

  “Save your love, Olivia. He will never accept it. He may still want your body, but his heart has no place for you. Let me take the pain away.” Olivia could not ignore that voice in her head pointing out the realities she wanted to escape.

  Olivia prepared a special cocktail. Mixing another leaf into a goblet of blood, she drank the entire cup and fell into a deep slumber.

  IV

  It was nearly dawn, but Lucian was too restless to welcome sleep. Although he was angry at Olivia for not being up front with him from the beginning, he was more annoyed at himself for the overwhelming feeling of possessiveness when he saw her talking to Liam. He could see the desire in that man’s eyes for his Livy. He could not help but recall how Daughton Gaspard looked at Olivia when he would visit his parents’ estate.

  The man would watch her as if no one else was in the room. He had that same look of desire as Liam. As much as Lucian wanted to claim her as his, he could not reveal the truth of their relationship.

  Time. It was never the right time to tell his parents, make them understand that Olivia was his mate. They would never accept his marriage to the daughter of their servants. They had already chosen the ideal bride for him—perfect in their minds. She was aristocratic, noble, classy, attractive, but she was not Olivia. It was Olivia who set his body ablaze with flames of desire. It was Olivia’s violet eyes that he dreamed about every night. It was her soft voice that comforted him when he was lost and alone. It was her kindness and generosity that made him a better man. It was her leaving him that destroyed the man he had hoped to be.

  He struggled to understand why she would abandon him, abandon their love. He could not believe that she would choose a louse like Gaspard over him. He would have given her the world if she had stayed. He pleaded with her not to walk away. He offered to give up everything for her—his family, his title, his money, everything for the love of this woman, but she coldly left him beaten and bruised. The young optimistic man he was died that night and reawakened a cold, ruthless politician. He became the man his parents wanted him to be.

  Losing Olivia left a void in his life that nothing could replace. He wanted to die rather than exist in a world where she belonged to another, but he did not have the strength to leave when a part of his heart still hoped that she would come back. As the years went by and Olivia stayed away, his desire to endure strengthened. He wanted to prove to her that he could survive without her, just as she managed to survive without him. He would not be weak and needy and lost any longer. He focused solely on his work, ensuring his spot as head of the Council. He needed to make something out of his life. He would overcome his deepest pain and prove to Olivia that she made the wrong choice.

  Lucian wanted so much to hate her and for many years he did, but as soon as he saw those violet eyes looking up at him the way she used to, all those feelings he fought to bury resurfaced. Not only did his body crave hers, but his heart reached out for the piece that would complete it. His entire being craved Olivia and this time, he did not think he would have the strength to survive the loss of her again.

  Just like that, those old feelings of jealousy returned. He didn’t want to feel that way again. So many times he lost control at the thought of Olivia with Daughton. Nightmares of those two sharing the intimacy he had experienced with her b
linded him with a rage that unleashed the worst of his temper. Even now he could picture her beautiful and round with Daughton’s children growing inside of her. He could hear her laughter, see her touching Daughton and loving him. The thought sickened him again as he fought back the nausea.

  Now the images were flooding him--that bastard touching his mate and taking what was his. Lucian tried to relax his breathing and regain some of the control that was slipping away. He wanted to destroy something, just the way his heart had been demolished, but he was older now and he realized that what was done could never be undone. Nothing could change the past. He had to focus on the present and the life he was building for himself—a life that shortly would not include Olivia Gaspard. He would be free of her again.

  Daughton Gaspard was no longer an issue and Lucian knew he needed to end this obsession with him. There would be no revenge for him. Although that feeling left him cold, there was no other option. Gaspard was dead and Lucian would not have the satisfaction of that man’s blood on his hands.

  He was glad someone finally ended Gaspard’s life, but he wished it could have been him. How he fantasized about all the ways he would have killed Daughton Gaspard! The only reason he did not was Olivia. She chose Daughton over him and bore his children. As much as he hated that man and hated Olivia for leaving him, he could not hurt her by destroying her family. Behind all his hatred for her, he still loved her and felt that need to protect her. That need created from that dreaded mating bond.

  He spent so many days and nights cursing this mating bond, wishing for a way to undo it. After spending so many years learning to cope and survive without his other half, hours with her left him feeling more connected to her than ever.

  He needed to concentrate on something, anything other than this nagging feeling in his gut. He decided to focus on Kaden’s case and the best place to begin was with the subject.