Page 21 of Filthy Rich Vampires: For Eternity

A lump knotted my throat, but I managed a nod. Maybe someday I would be ready to recall the memories of where I’d been and what I’d done, but right now, they were too raw and painful. Plus, there were other things to worry about. “Your mom seems different.”

“She does.” He took a deep breath and released me before striding over to a chest of drawers. Opening one, he fished in it for a moment before producing a nightgown. He passed it to me and opened another drawer. “Ginerva was taller than you, but not much.”

I slipped it over my head, catching a whiff of gardenia and sweet vanilla lingering on the silk. The nightgown was the deep, blue-black of a moonless night and it glided over my skin with a soft caress. A strange sense of peace settled over me as I slid the straps over my shoulders. It was a little too big for me but beautifully made, its neckline trimmed with delicate lace and the phases of the moon embroidered across its bodice.

Julian stepped away, shaking out a pair of silk pajama pants. He seemed strangely comfortable here—like he knew the place.

“She had a very well-stocked wardrobe,” I commented lightly even though something about the words felt heavy.

“She kept a lot of lovers,” he explained. My heart stuttered at the soft swooshing sound as Julian stepped into the pajama pants.

Lovers. It wasn’t just that he knew that, but he also knew she kept clothing for them. I tried to ignore the pressure swelling inside me.

“This is lovely. She was really into moons, huh?” I said absently. Moonlight flickered in through an open window and played over the features of his face. The grim set of his jaw was visible. Barefoot and bare-chested, he tied the pants with his back to me, and I watched his muscles shift and flex. His hair shone like polished onyx in the pale light. Each slight movement made my heart beat faster until I couldn’t contain the question I hadn’t dared to think. “Were you her lover?”

He paused, his shoulders rigid and set. His head turned, catching the shadows. “Yes. A long time ago.”

“Oh.” I couldn’t think of anything else to say.

“Thea.” Apology coated his voice.

I shook my head. “I’m sorry. It’s none of my business.”

It really wasn’t. Julian had been alive for centuries before I’d met him. He’d been with other women. Hell, he’d even slept with Jacqueline once. But there was something about this that needled me.

“My mother sent me to the court,” he said, reaching for me. “It was a dark time, and when Ginerva set her sights on me—”

“You don’t have to tell me.” I wasn’t sure I wanted to hear this. Maybe it was standing in her room, wearing her clothes, that made this worse than knowing he’d taken others to bed.

“I was young, and she was very powerful,” he continued. He set his hands on my hips and pulled me gently to him.

“And beautiful?” I guessed.

“In her way.” His eyes were haunted, and I wondered if he was seeing her now. Did I pale in comparison to her? He must have heard the thought, because he said, “No. She was nothing like you.”

“You don’t have to do that,” I stopped him. “You don’t have to spare my feelings.”

Julian lifted a hand to my cheek, guiding my face up to meet his eyes. “I’m not. It was a fling. It meant nothing to me and little to her. She moved on to someone else soon after I left the court.”

“Why did your mother send you here?” Had Sabine been angling for the throne even then? Was that she was so upset with me now?

He shook his head in response to my unspoken questions. “No. She thought of it as an homage—a tribute—to send her son to serve Le Regine. The Queens were still powerful then, and my mother had a soft spot for them.”

“How did you serve them?”

“They called me il flagello,” he said quietly, and I recalled hearing it earlier. “The Scourge. I was their enforcer.”

“So, you...”

He nodded, watching my face carefully.

“And your mom sent you to be an assassin?” I said flatly.

“It was a different time.”

“Yeah, parenting requires less weaponry today.”

He grinned, relaxing a little, and lowered his mouth to kiss me. “I don’t know about that.”

---