Page 99 of Pervade London
My eyes shot to James to let him know I wanted him to see the pain he was causing Xavier…causing us both.
Xavier strolled in and handed me my violin. “I want to hear the music you played the day we met.”
The same music I’d played in the Underground when he’d been lying in a ball on the cold tile because of something Ballad had done to him. I thought it best not to voice that thought, though, and gave him a smile and a nod instead.
“I’ll play for you, too, James, if you wish.”
“I would like that,” he said softly.
The tension crackled around me as a prelude to the pain. The hours that followed would have me seeing these two men through a different lens. Knowing what they once were to each other, sharing glimpses of their past together, witnessing silent words spoken with smiles and knowing looks. I could already see the scorching history that sizzled between them.
Playing my Strad meant I could convey the agony that inflamed my soul in a waywords had failed to do. My heart was breaking, and nothing could be done about it.
I gave James a challenging look. “Oh, that other offer still stands…if you’re man enough to accept it.”
He smirked. “The question is Emily, are you prepared for the consequences if I do?”
How do I punish a man who has devastated my life?
Take away what he wants more than anything.
So it began like this…
I was directed to one of the castle’s many bedrooms, where I freshened up after grabbing a quick shower. I put on my bra and panties and nothing else. Damn the cold. This was my war and I was ready to fight.
Then I placed two chairs in the middle of the grand ballroom for my audience of two. I planned to invite them to attend their own personal concert with me as the main act—performing in nothing but my underwear.
Let James admire the curves he’d never touch, lust after my beaded nipples pushing through this skimpy bra. He may have tasted me but that was where our intimacy began and ended.
Next, I’d bewitch him with ethereal notes flowing from my Stradivarius—played by a vixen whose talent was going to blow him away.
Maybe James would even notice Xavier, the tortured man sitting beside him, who was about to lose the love of his life.
And, of course, I’d play for Xavier,to stir a need so powerful he wouldn’t be able to contemplate ever being parted from me again.
To taunt James’ desolate heart, I began with Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons,” beginning with “Winter.” I looked over to see the blackness in his eyes fade to grey as the notes flowed and resounded ethereally.
This was my voice…my unique form of expression. My violin was a living, breathing entity that was in touch with each emotion surging through me.
Starting out, my Strad seemed moody from having been separated from me, but now, as though offering forgiveness, it came alive in my hands—the strings bounding with joy.
I transitioned into Niccolò Paganini’s “Caprice No. 24 in A Minor” and caught that ghost of a smile on Xavier’s face as he recognized the piece from when we first met—the memories of that day still vivid.
His beautiful face drew me to him even now—the way he earned his place in the room beside James, the way his expression shared his admiration for me.
Both of us were balanced precariously on the verge of unbearable heartbreak.
Lowering the violin, I paused to read Xavier’s reaction.
“Not that I don’t appreciate the view,” he said, “but aren’t you cold?”
I ignored that. “Why did you ask me to play ‘Caprice’?”
Xavier looked wistful. “It takes me back to when we first met.”
“You were homeless,” I reasoned. “How can that be a happy memory?”
He sat up straight. “Because I met you.”
