"What do you think, Stefan?"
He sighed heavily. "Are you sure you want to know what I am thinking?"
"Of course. You know more about this vampire stuff than I do."
"I think your father is much more dangerous than I originally thought. We must be on our guard at all times. He will view you as a valuable tool in his arsenal." Stefan's face hardened as he spoke. "Do not meet him alone. Ever."
"What are we going to do?"
Stefan wrapped his arms around me, pulling me against the coolness of his hard chest. "We go about our lives as normal. We are heading back to Indonesia in two days to prepare to come back here to live. I can better keep my eye on what he is planning if I am closer to the Council members."
I had unwittingly dragged him deeper into the ‘vampire bullshit' he despised so much. How much more was it going to take until he said enough was enough and left?
"I will never leave you, Josephine. These are minor details, remember?" I pulled back slightly and observed his face. I could see his mind moving quickly, making calculations and playing out scenarios in his mind. He was planning strategy, engaging in a complicated game of mental Chess. I wouldn't want to be a pawn in a game that he played.
He toyed with the necklace he had given me for a moment before meeting my eyes. A roguish smile softened his face. "You would never be a pawn. You would be my Queen."
"Sweet talker. Don't try to seduce me with your sexy talk." I slapped at his chest playfully.
"I speak only the truth." He kissed me softly before gently moving me off of his lap. "I need to talk to Lukas."
He stalked across the room and pulled open the door, the muscles in his back stretching as he moved.
"Stefan?" I mentally called to him.
He turned to face me with one hand on the door, his face filled with curiosity as he stared back at me.
"Thank you. For keeping me safe. For loving me. For risking your life."
A grin broke over his devastingly handsome face. "Ah, I would do anything for you, vackra. I will be back in a bit."
He waggled his eyebrows and shut the door behind him. I fell back against the couch, covering my face with my hands as my mind tried to absorb all of the information I'd learned.
Things just became extremely serious and potentially dangerous.
Chapter 4 - There's a Time to Run
With our time ticking down in New York before we started our journey back to Bali, I found myself in a melancholy sort of mood. As much as I loved the green lushness of Indonesia, I'd seen another side of Stefan here in New York. He seemed more alive and relaxed since we'd been here. Maybe it was the anonymity of the city, the ability to fade into the obscurity of a crowd of people. As I pictured him swaggering through my thoughts, I inwardly laughed. Stefan always stood out; his inhuman beauty and grace always drew attention to him wherever we went. It was hard to ignore the longing stares and feel the lust that followed him, as normal and natural as breathing.
Stefan had left early in the morning to attend to errands and business issues. With my mind still reeling from Nigel's confession and his information from my mother, I'd wandered out to peruse the numerous art galleries within walking distance of our apartment.
I was standing in front of a painting, admiring the abstract shapes and bright splashes of color. Shades of red and blue tangled together and it was fascinating. Lost in the patterns, I jumped as a voice pulled me out of my musings.
"It is a beautiful painting."
I froze in place and my throat went dry. Kian. My father stood beside me and Stefan's words rang out in my head like an alarm bell. Do not meet him alone. Ever.
Keeping my eyes locked on the painting, I shoved my hands into the back pockets of my jeans. "Yes it is."
Walking to the next painting, I did my best to hide my growing discomfort. Kian strolled behind me and stopped at my side again. He brushed the arms of his expensive, Italian suit and adjusted his tie before slightly rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet.
I was quickly losing my patience at the way he was following along behind me, like we were a happy little family and this was a fun little outing. "Is there something you want from me, Kian?
"I'm just a father that is attempting to get to know his only daughter, my dear."
Right. Grimacing, I clenched my teeth together. "I think you gave up that right a long time ago."
"As I said before, I had no choice. I could not raise an infant in a house filled with vampires. I was abandoned and devastated when your mother left," Kian said. He attempted to arrange his features into a look of sorrow, yet it was obvious there was no real emotion behind his expression. It made his words sound even more hollow to me.
Internally rolling my eyes, I had to bite my tongue. This little story he spun sounded rehearsed and contrived. I think he enjoyed the romanticism of being the martyr in his warped version of the truth. Turning to face him, I crinkled my nose in disgust. "I know you mean well but I can't do this with you. I can't pretend to care about you when I don't have it in me to do it. If you knew anything about me at all you'd understand."
He reached out to stroke my arm. "Give it time, Josephine. You will come to love me."
Laughing bitterly, I shook my head. "You just don't get it, do you? There is no gray area with me. I either like you or I don't. I may have to tolerate you because of who and what you are, but that's all it will ever be. You'll never be my father, Kian. The only father I knew died four years ago."
I watched as anger crept across his face, only to morph into a more tranquil expression. "You wound me with your words. You have not given me the opportunity to prove to you that I care."
"Kian, I don't want you to prove anything to me. I want to be happy, to know that someone puts me ahead of an agenda. I need someone to love me, not for who I am and not for what I can do," I said passionately, realizing I had just described how Stefan felt about me. Despite standing in the gallery with my father, a warm feeling of love settled over my chest, enveloping me like a blanket.
Kian only clasped his hands behind his back. He seemed to notice my change in moods and he studied my face intently. "You are thinking about Stefan. He treats you this way?"
Smiling softly, I reached to absently rub the necklace he had given me. "I don't tell him enough, but yes. He loves me more that I can ever explain to you. And I love him more than I ever thought possible. If I had to, I'd kill to protect him."
I meant every word I said. If it came down to keeping Stefan safe or losing him, there wasn't much I wouldn't do.
His vivid green eyes widened. "Those are strong words."
Shrugging, I tossed my reddish-blond waves over my shoulder. "I guess they are. But if you've ever truly loved someone, that's how you feel."
Zipping my leather jacket, I crossed my arms under my chest. "Goodbye, Kian. I'm going to ask you nicely to not follow me again."
I turned on my heel and started to walk away from him when I felt his hand on my elbow, pulling me back to him. My eyes dropped to his hand before looking up to meet his unyielding stare.
"Little girl, you have no idea how to function in the world you are now part of. There are rules, ways in which you behave. You will not disrespect me."
"Disrespect you? I don't even like you. Whose fault is it that I know nothing about what I am? I found out less than a week ago I'm not even fully human," I hissed. "Now take your fucking hands off of me."
His hand flinched away like I burned him, his mouth twisting into a sneer. He leaned so close that I could feel his cold breath on my face. "You are so much like your mother. Willful and determined. Those two traits will either save you or destroy you."
Thoughts of my mother drifted through my mind. She'd stood up to him, but at what cost? "Is that a threat, Kian? If I don't bow down to you, what are you going to do? Threaten me?" I questioned. Turning my head slightly to the side, I appraised him with contempt. "You seem to be the type. Smooth on the outside, covering up the ugly inside. If you can't control me, what happens next?"
Kian glanced around the gallery uneasily, smoothing his hand over his neatly styled bright copper hair. "I think you have me all wrong, my dear. Perhaps we got off on the wrong foot."
It was almost comical to watch him back pedal, seeing his obvious regret that he had shown the side of him that he tried to keep hidden away. He was scrambling, trying to salvage what was left of our relationship and his crumbling fa?ade.
"Wrong answer. I think I have you figured out, Kian. You're a megalomaniac that just revealed how truly disturbed you are. I'm finished with this conversation, Kian." I backed away from him, my heels clicking on the concrete floor of the gallery. When I pushed through the gallery doors, I walked calmly to the end of the block before breaking into a sprint, running two city blocks in my high-heeled boots. When I saw our apartment building I almost cried in relief. The doorman opened the door for me and I rushed past him, hurrying for the elevator while pulling out my cell phone. Quickly dialing the number, I didn't offer any greeting, just a breathless request.