A big portrait adorned the wall opposite the desk. It was what Dev Quinn wanted to see when he glanced up from whatever he was doing. I moved to it, studying it carefully. It was a family portrait, though one unlike any I’d seen before. A bright smiling redhead sat in a field of green grass. She sat between two men, smiling at the camera. I recognized the vampire, Daniel, and the man I’d just met. They were all dressed in white, making a stunning contrast to the deep green of the grass. Each man had a boy in his lap. They were twins and I recognized Lee, though Rhys seemed to have his father’s green eyes. Lee’s eyes were unique. A small, toothless baby girl was in the woman’s arm, her baby hands outstretched toward Daniel. She had a cap of red hair and was her mother’s mini me. Happiness. It was the only word to describe that picture. I felt my eyes prick with tears at the thought that I would never have anything as good as that picture.
I turned quickly as the door opened and took a deep breath. My vampire escort was here.
Chapter Nine
“They make a beautiful family,” a soft, accented voice said from the doorway. He was backlit from the blue light coming from the club and I only saw his silhouette.
I turned quickly, hoping he wouldn’t catch me crying. “Yes, they are lovely.”
One minute he was behind me and the next, he was right in front of me, his hand cupping my jaw. His thumb gently rubbed across my cheek, sweeping away the tear caught there. I should have backed away, but I was too surprised to move. Vampires are fast.
“Did Devinshea make you cry?” the vampire asked with a melodic accent. Italian, I realized as I recognized the man from last night. “He can be rude, though not usually with a woman. Should I talk to him?”
“Marcus Vorenus.” His name came out as a breathy revelation.
In the dim light of the office, I saw a smile break over the vampire’s face. It tugged his lips up and caused his dark eyes to crinkle appealingly. It took him from a gorgeous work of art to something far more dangerous. He was simply a handsome, approachable man when he smiled.
“You’re the girl from the club.” He looked me over with appreciative eyes.
“I am. Sorry about the other night.”
He stepped back and dropped his hand, wariness taking over. “You came to look for me?”
“No.” I wished I could lie to him. “I’m a private investigator. I’m here on a murder case. Mr. Quinn kind of became my new client. He said I needed an escort, so I suppose he picked you. I wasn’t stalking you or anything. I was staking the place out and you happened to be there.”
He leaned back against the desk. “An investigator? Very interesting. You must be a good investigator since you already know my name. Why don’t you tell me yours?”
“Kelsey Atwood.” I wondered if the universe was having fun kicking the shit out of me. I’d just gotten dumped by one guy out of my league. Now I stood alone in a room with another too-beautiful-for-me man and I was determined not make an idiot of myself over this one.
“Kelsey. An interesting name for an interesting girl,” the vampire said. “It used to be a surname. Old English, I believe.”
“I have no idea,” I admitted. “My mom liked the sound of it. Are you really two thousand years old?”
I would guess he wasn’t older than thirty-five. His head moved ever so slightly, an aristocratic gesture in the negative. “Not quite. If you include the twenty-two years I walked the plane as a human, I have one thousand nine hundred and fifty-nine years.”
The enormity of that number really hit me.
“Tell me, Kelsey.” His mouth turned down as he stared back at me. “Give me the first thought you had when I told you how old I am.”
“I thought that was a lot of time for regrets.”
He was in my space again, though he didn’t actually touch me. “Almost all humans have a different reaction. They say how much I must have seen and how amazing it must be to never have to die.”
“I guess it says something about me.” I wished I’d given him a less than honest answer. “I think about what you must have lost along the way. How many people you would have cared for only to have them die on you. I wondered if you shut down after a while and you don’t care anymore or if it was important enough to keep some edge of humanity so you let yourself ache. I don’t think I’d want to be immortal.”
“I do a bit of both. I choose who I ache for carefully, but I never want to be so distant that I can’t feel passion and love. It’s the only reason to walk the earth.” He didn’t touch me, but I could feel his presence. “Do you belong to the demon, little Kelsey?”