Vampire Debt - Supernatural Battle (Vampire Towers #2) - Kelly St. Clare Page 0,58
was in other places.
I squeezed my eyes shut. “Lies, lies, everywhere. In my closet. In my hair.”
His lust speared me. Yeah, he hadn’t missed my ladyboner one single bit.
“Why are you taking me to the beach, Kyros? Are you still trying to get at my money? Because that ship sailed, well and truly. I’m not sure who had that bung idea in the first place, but you guys were never getting a whiff of my inheritance.”
I waved at Georgia, the head gardener, who stared at Kyros open-mouthed. Dang it. Hoped to get away unseen but for Daniel.
“My father had the idea,” Kyros said quietly as we left the gates behind.
“Angelica told you that Basilia Le Spyre walked into Live Right looking for a job, so you passed on the good news to Daddy?” I asked, bitterness creeping in.
Kyros lowered me onto the hood of his black car, and I sat, legs dangling. He rested on the bonnet next to me.
“I was with my father when Angelica called to report. I then orchestrated our first meeting and made the decision to hire you from there. After the roll that night, it was decided I would pursue an acquaintance with you.”
I rolled my eyes. “For goodness’ sake, don’t tiptoe around it. You were ordered to seduce me to access my money, estate, and connections. That’s where I’m confused though. Were we meant to marry so what’s mine would become yours? Or was I just going to hand it all over on a silver platter when your magic dick bedazzled me?”
His lips twitched.
With my eyes, I dared him to laugh.
Kyros pushed off the car. “Would you believe me if I said I disagreed completely with the plan and was merely going through the motions to appease my father until it was clear seducing you wouldn’t work?”
I hopped off the hood, walking to the passenger seat. “I believe you because I can feel your emotions. Not for any other reason.”
Though that wasn’t strictly true. Kyros had always given the impression he was forcing himself to be in my company—that he both did and didn’t want to be around me.
Guess I knew why now.
Kyros held open the passenger door.
“So you didn’t like the thought of lowering yourself to pursue a human?” I asked, sliding onto the pristine leather in my dripping swimsuit.
Kyros slipped into the driver’s seat a moment later, gunning the engine. “Would it offend you if I said yes?”
I shrugged a shoulder. “No.” I’d rather be disliked for being human than something intrinsic.
“That sentiment lasted up until you opened your mouth the first time. There are humans, then there are humans. After we had dinner, I was mostly irritated at being under my father’s thumb.”
We both knew he didn’t take orders well. I guess most alphas didn’t.
Kyros directed us past the estates at a sedate pace. I stared out the window until he interrupted the silence. “Just before the second blood exchange, I recognised the trap I was in.”
I let him feel my curiosity rather than asking aloud.
“I wanted you,” he replied. “Except if you’d found out the truth, you’d leave. That you might not discover the subterfuge didn’t sit well with me either. Neither did the fact you wouldn’t tell me who you really were of your own volition.”
A knot of anger coiled in my stomach. “You had so many chances to tell me, Kyros.”
“The thought has kept me up many a morning.”
Good.
We turned onto the freeway, heading toward the theme park. Lyall Bay glistened beyond it.
“Thank you for explaining,” I said, remembering my reason for being here.
“Thank you, but no thank you?” he murmured. No accusation filled his voice.
“Essentially. You had a shot. To say that you blew it is a gross understatement. I’ll move on and you need to come to terms with that.”
“No man can make you feel like I can.”
Don’t I know it.
I studied the ticking of his jaw muscle. “You assume sexual pleasure is vitally important to me. After what I’ve been through at the hands of Vissimo, I crave safety and security. You can’t fulfil either.”
A wall of shock descended upon me, none of it mine.
He pulled off the freeway, taking the ramp for Lyall Bay. Not a speck of his disbelief showed outwardly as we continued driving, but the emotion ran rampant through him.
That was news to him? I’d never been beaten up so much as during the last seven weeks.
Kyros was silent until we parked next to a beachside restaurant.