Page 185 of Filthy Rich Vampires: For Eternity

That was a very good question. One I wasn’t sure she wanted me to answer. Hell, one I wasn’t sure I wanted to answer. I stepped to her side, keeping enough distance that there was no risk of touching her, of stoking that smoldering flame between us. “I like your company.”

Maybe it was too honest of an answer, but it was better than admitting I couldn’t stay away. No matter how hard I tried—and I was fucking trying.

She snorted but still didn’t look at me. “Try again.”

I couldn’t come up with a safe response, so I switched tactics. “Why are you out here? The party is in there.”

“I’ve never been one for parties,” she admitted. Her grip tightened on the stone railing. “And Thea doesn’t need me to protect her.” She continued to watch the bridge as flurries began to fall around us. “So many tourists, even with the weather.”

“Humans love Venice.” I glanced at her bare shoulders again. “Are you cold?”

She shook her head. “I’m not that fragile.”

Were we still talking about the weather?”

“Why do they love it?”

It took me a second to realize we were back to talking about the tourists. “Venice is beautiful. There are few cities like it in the world.” I shrugged. “A human once told me that without the cars and traffic, it feels like a place where magic could exist. Maybe they can sense the truth.”

Even humans had a little magic in their blood, after all.

“I guess I wouldn’t know about other places.”

I didn’t miss the bitter current in her words. I could almost taste it in my own mouth. “Would you ever leave?”

“I try not to ask myself that. It’s... easier.”

Easier because she couldn’t leave. “What if Thea left?”

Her head finally whipped my direction. “She’s leaving again?”

“No!” I’d fucked that up. “It was just hypothetical.”

“My service is bound to the throne itself. I cannot leave the city.”

“That...sucks.”

Her lips curved slightly. Not quite a smile, but close. “Yes, it does. But if I could leave... I would.”

Somehow I knew that because whether either of us liked to admit or not, we were similar. “I’ve never been able to stay in one place too long. I guess I’m always searching for something.”

“Sounds nice.”

I swiveled and leaned against the railing. “Sometimes.”

“And the other times?”

I stared past her, not daring to utter the truth—to admit what I’d realized since coming here.

Lonely.

It was fucking lonely.

Even with my crew around me.

“What are you searching for?” she asked.

“I don’t know.”

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