Choices (The Forever series, Book Four) (6 page)

"Not just because of Lance," Sebastian says
mysteriously and now I am thoroughly lost but none of them are bringing forth
any more information so I just drop it.

"Seb, walk me out?" Grace says and with a quick
kiss to CK's cheek and a wave at me they disappear down stairs.

I round on him then and he has that innocent look in place
that means anything but. Huffing at him in exasperation I really do drop it, as
it isn't important. Being with him is what is important so much to his surprise
I pull him to me and kiss him. He picks me up and pushes me against the wall,
hands going under the t-shirt. I undo his jeans and pull him free and he pushes
himself into me with a soft grunt.

"Oh for fuck's sake, will you two give it a rest,"
Sebastian snaps as he walks in on us. "If I have to hear you--or see you
for that matter--fucking again I am just going to have to join in."

We ignore him, lost in each other and not caring that he is
there. We finish together at the same time, moaning into each other’s mouths,
as we never break our kiss.

"I'm hungry," I murmur and he obligingly tilts his
head and I drop my fangs and feed from him.

"Jesus. Now I'm horny and hungry," Sebastian
informs us as he comes and stands next to us. "Time to share."

"Sorry, Sebastian. No can do. Her husband has
rules," he says, anything but apologetic as he snickers and we tumble back
into his bedroom with a loud slam to the door. Our laughter resounding through
the apartment, as we start all over again.

A girl could get used to happy CK.

I awake some time later, alone, to the sound of my buzzing
phone. I pick it up noting it is also alone and check the screen. It's Cole.

"Hey baby," I murmur huskily.

"Hey. Everything okay?" he asks.

"Yes, it's good."

"Oh, good," he says, surprised, obviously
expecting a long diatribe on my misery.

"Yes, we have sorted out our issues," I say but
then remember Devon and my happy drops a thousand notches. "Erm, but I do
have something else to tell you."

"Oh? What?" he asks warily.

"Devon's left me," I say and choke back a sob.

"What do you mean left you?" he asks, concerned.
"Gone back to L.A.?"

"Well yes he has gone back to L.A., but to get away
from me," I say miserably.

"Get away from you? What did you do to him?" he
asks and I am slightly insulted that he thinks I did something on purpose to
him.

"Nothing," I snap. "This is just our way. I
did tell you that charges always leave their sires."

"But you also said they come back. He'll be back soon.
He's probably just in a snit over something. Don't worry about it, my
love," he says reassuringly.

"I don't know. He sounded pretty resolute. He doesn't
want to see or speak to me but please don't let that stop you from bonding with
him. Just try and avoid mentioning this situation and me, when you talk to him.
Okay?"

"Okay," he says but I don't think he actually,
truly realizes how devastating this news is to me. I change the subject briskly.

"How are things up there?"

"Wet," he grouses and I chuckle. "I miss
you."

"I miss you too baby. I'll come up on Friday this
weekend okay? It's only a couple of days away."

"Good," he sounds happy with that.

"Are you feeding regularly?"

"Yes ma'am," he says in a southern drawl and I
giggle. "Dawn is great."

Great eh?

"Oh, really?" I ask slyly.

"Liv!" he says, scandalized. "Not like that.
You know I only want you," he whispers.

"I know," I say, this bone of contention grating
on me unfairly. He'll learn one day.

"Well, I need to get back to the set. I just wanted to
ring you to tell you I love you."

"I love you too, baby. I'll see you soon."

"Bye," and he hangs up.

I take this opportunity to flick through my phone to check
my emails. I have over a hundred so just check the VIP inbox, a few from Scott,
one from CK, and one from Devon. My heart drops as it is just a message about
work. I go back to the one from CK. It is that photo from his phone with a
quick one liner: "So beautiful in that expensive dress. Xoxo."

I beam so widely, I think my face is going to split apart. I
save it and set it as my lock screen.

I climb off the bed and pull on CK's t-shirt again and go
off in search of him, changing his contact details back to CK now that we are
friends again. I find him and Sebastian in the open plan kitchen again.

Again they stop talking as they see me and I am starting to
get a bit annoyed but I don't give them the satisfaction of showing it.
Hoisting myself up onto the counter I smile at CK and show him my phone.
"Where did you get this from? I don't remember it being taken." A
true statement.

"A friend of mine took it and sent it to me," he
replies after a soft kiss to my mouth.

Sebastian grabs my phone off me and peers at the picture,
"Very nice. Very photogenic, and yet there are hardly any photos of you,
Constantine."

He grunts, "I try to keep a low profile, unlike the lot
of you." He turns his back to me and leans against me and I open my legs
to pull him closer, leaning my arms across his shoulders. "How on earth
you intend to move into the next life is beyond me. You will all have to go and
live in a cave for fifty years. Well, except you," he says over his
shoulder at me. I pull my face at him.

"I wouldn't mind going to live on a mountain somewhere.
As long as it had cell reception," I say and he snickers at me.

"This is an old photo," Sebastian says, wiggling
his left hand about to indicate my hand bare of wedding rings. "We need an
updated one. Smile!" he chirps as he takes our photo and holding my phone
up to show us he says, "Now that one I do like. You should put it on
Twitter, captioned ‘Me with my sire after a night of sex and mayhem.’"

I snicker at him; I think I could like this man. I hope he
sticks around long enough for us to get to know each other. In a sibling way,
just to be clear. "I don't have a Twitter account," I say.

He looks shocked, "You don't? How about Facebook?"

I shake my head.

"Christ, how do you live in this world and not social
network?"

"Oh, well I'll just ask my high school friends to
follow me shall I?" I snap at him and he rolls his eyes at me.

"Did you even go to high school?"

"Yes, actually. Devon and I went back in the ‘80s. I
had to go so I could go to Harvard."

"Oh Jesus, I remember that. Your Madonna phase,"
CK chuckles.

"Hey, every woman in the world had a Madonna phase at
that time," I say, affronted.

"True story," Sebastian says, all the while
tapping into my phone.

"Erm, excuse me? That is quite the invasion of
privacy," I snap at him, somewhat hypocritically, as I see what he is
doing.

"Oh please, I'm not interested in corporate secrets or
your lewd affairs," he scoffs. "I was merely sending it to our sire
so that he had a copy as well.” He throws me my phone back and I stare at it
like it has grown a head.

"You searched through my photos?" I ask him in
disbelief as I see my wallpaper picture is one of me and Cole, one that he
would have had to go searching for.

"Well, I didn't think it appropriate to use the one of
you and our sire, given your marital status. Better to use your actual husband
instead of the substitute."

I gulp at his use of
that
word.

"Substitute?" CK looks highly insulted and glares
at Sebastian, after a wary look at me knowing my issue with that. Sebastian
just chuckles in response.

"You may be the first but I will still beat you down if
you don't remember your manners," CK threatens.

First? First? His first charge? Holy shit. Kept that quiet,
didn’t you, you infuriating beast. But then think I really should search
through all these records in my head so I don't get any more surprises.

"Oh calm yourself," he says in that offhand way I
am getting familiar with. "What would you call yourself?"

CK and I look at each other in surprise at this question.
"That is a good question, my love," I say. "What would you call
yourself?"

He glares at me and straightens his suit jacket cuffs.
"I will not dignify that with an answer," he says huffily and I smile
at him until he smiles back.

Sebastian comes to sit next to me on the kitchen counter and
says, "Take our picture."

"Sure," I say and smile at him and oblige as we
lean into each other and smile at the camera. Okay, I realize at this point
that there is some possible transference going on with my feelings over Devon
spilling out onto his stranger, my sibling who I met a few hours ago. But I do
like him. He is fun and clever and clearly has a good handle on our sire, which
I find most amusing, as the only other person in the world to stand up to him,
is me.

"Send it to me," he says, as he approves of the
photo.

"You do it, I don’t know your details," I say as I
hand him my phone.

He taps into it as I lean casually on his shoulder. I see
out of the corner of my eye that CK is watching us bonding with an unreadable
expression, which intrigues me.

“There, I saved my contact details,” he says as he hands me
my phone back.

I stare at it. "Seriously? You listed yourself as “my
bro”? Are you crazy? For starters I am English, I don't speak like that and
secondly ‘bro'? That is just creepy," I say and shudder, remembering Lance.

"Hm, agreed. Especially as I most definitely want to
take you to my bed," he leers at me as CK looks furious. "Although I
don't claim to have the stamina of our sire here, I am sure I can please you
almost as well," he adds as I flush at his clear knowledge of having heard
and seen us. I change his details to “Seb” and he nods approvingly.

"Well as fascinating as this is," CK says
sarcastically, "I have a meeting and as I wasn't expecting company, they
are coming here."

"Well we can take a hint," Sebastian says and
leaps off the counter. I follow suit with more grace and go in search of my
dress. Finding it draped over a chair in CK's bedroom I put it over my arm,
preferring to stay just in his t-shirt and slip my heels on. Fluffing out my
hair I stroll back into the sitting room and CK's eyes light up as he sees my
sexy attire but then growls as Sebastian whistles at me. "Now I would sack
off any meeting if she were mine," he says to CK who looks like he is
going to stake him. I glow under the praise and stalk over to Constantine to
placate him, "Don't pout, my love. I will be back soon and you can dress
me up however you like." His eyes fill with desire and he drops his mouth
to mine, pulling me into him tightly.

"I will take you up on that," he murmurs.

"Come
la mia regina
," Sebastian says.
"I will go down with you."

I nod at him. "I have work to do but ring me later when
you are finished here," I say quietly.

He watches as Sebastian and I exit the apartment the old
fashioned way and I punch the elevator button.

"So the first, huh?" I say to him with a sidelong
glance.

Taken a bit by surprise, he says, "Yes. He didn't tell
you?"

"He tells me nothing," I say grimly.
"Although in all fairness, it is in my head but there is so much to sift
through it hurts."

"In your head?" he asks as we step into the
elevator.

"Long story. I'll tell you sometime. So you are as old
as he is?" I ask, bringing the conversation back around.

He nods. "2760 next month. Are you impressed?" he
says slyly as the doors open for my floor.

I step out and turn back around as he holds the door open.
"Mildly," I say with an air of nonchalance. "I hope you stay
awhile. It would be nice to get to know you better."

He raises his eyebrows at my sincerity and inclines his
head, "I would like that very much. I will stay as long you like." He
grins at me and lets go of the elevator and the doors close. I turn on my heel
and head into my apartment to shower and change.

Pulling on my coat and doing up the buttons and belt, Scott
and I leave the apartment for the New York Office located a short walk away. I
slip my phone into my pocket and Scott takes my briefcase from me.

"Are you okay?" he asks hesitantly and I glare at
him.

"Just fine," I say.

He nods, not believing me for a second.

We stop for coffee at the cart on the corner and I order a
black coffee.

"I'll have the same. And she's buying," a serious
monotone comes from behind me and for a split second I freeze before I
nonchalantly turn around and say, "
You
have some serious stalker
issues."

His grey eyes twinkle momentarily but close off again as he
stares at me flatly. "I could say the same for you. This is my city. Last
time I saw you, you were headed for Los Angeles."

"Your city? Last I checked it was a free country,"
I reply. We take our beverages and step away from the cart. I glance at Scott
and tilt my head and he nods and focuses his gaze on Cade.

Cade gives me a scathing look and says, "But clearly
not your country."

I glare back at him. How dare he, I have been in America twice
as long as he has been alive. Not being able to say that though I try for the
subtler, "That's some assumption coming from someone who doesn't even know
my name."

"Well?" he says.

"Well what?" I snap.

"What is your name?"

"My name, Mr. Cade, is Liv," I say haughtily with
every ounce of English I can muster into my accent.

"Just Cade," he says.

"Like just Cher?" I mock and catching him off
guard he smiles briefly. "As much as I would love to stand on this corner
and chat all day, I have work to get to," I say.

"I'll walk with you,” he responds. “Which way are you
going?"

Catching me by surprise now, I point and start walking,
leaving Scott to follow in our wake.

"So what are you doing in New York?" he asks
casually.

"Working."

"So you said," he says dryly. "What do you
work at?"

"Real Estate. Mostly."

"Mostly?"

"I have investments all over the place but my actual
job is in property. You?"

"Me?"

"What do you work at?" I ask impatiently.

"I am in the business of finding things," he says
mysteriously and I don't like his tone.

"That sounds…interesting."

"It can be."

I stop walking and point behind him, "This is my
stop."

He turns around and takes in the massive skyscraper.
"You work here?"

"I own here," I say proudly and take delight in
surprising him.

"You own it? That's quite impressive for one
so…young." He turns back around at his last word, his gaze burning
intensely into mine.

I narrow my eyes at him. "Well, I should go. Busy
afternoon."

"Of course. I won't keep you. Until we meet again,
Liv."

I incline my head and say, "Cade."

I watch him as he goes back the way we came and say to
Scott, "Well? Is he who we think he is?"

He hesitates. When I mentioned that Scott is intuitive to
the point of it being a supernatural thing, turns out he
is
a
supernatural thing. He is an Empath. He reads people. Their feelings, emotions,
thoughts. Always rumbling just underneath the surface, his true ability came
about the first time he saw me after I was named Queen of the Underworld.
Needless to say it was quite the shock for all of us--most especially him--and
he learned quite a bit about me and mine before I threw up some mental blocks.
It's quite exhausting being around both him and Lincoln, who also has this
annoying ability with regard to me. Being two different species of the
Underworld, their Powers work on different frequencies, and different blocks
are required to stop them from entering my head. However, he has focused his
gift now so he can use it when he wants to instead of all the time. Not that I
don't trust him, but I have too many secrets--for example, all the Vampire
records--that he is not privy to. So I keep my blocks up around him.

"Is he the Hunter? Does he know what we are?" I
press.

"I'm afraid I can't tell. He’s blocked," Scott
says, highly annoyed.

Crap. That is not good news. That more or less confirms that
Nico’s information is correct. Sighing, I turn and enter the building, suddenly
ravenous. I haven't fed on human blood for two days now, as I keep missing my
Feeder.

I must let my blocks slip a little as Scott says to me
quietly as we step into the elevator, "I asked Simone to come again after
work. I'll send her upstairs if you aren't at home."

I smile gratefully and say, "Thank you." As much
as I love feeding from my sire, Vampire blood just doesn't sustain me for very
long these days. Not even his. I long for the times when I could go months at a
time without human blood but since turning Cole last year and then this whole
Queen malarkey, which saps my energy like a leech, I have to feed every day.

The rest of the afternoon goes quickly. We decided when we
came to New York that we would run a complete audit on the offices here. Having
both me and Devon out in Los Angeles, the eye has been taken off the ball
somewhat and it needed a good kick up the arse. It's tiring work though and I
could really use Devon's financial wizardry right about now but he has
abandoned me so I am left to do this on my own. Not that I'm not capable. I can
do it with my eyes closed but he can do it with his eyes closed and his hands
tied behind his back and at twice the speed.

Oh, Dev. Why did you leave me? Why couldn't you just stay
and we could have sorted it out? I drop my head onto my desk and contemplate
ringing him but I know he won't pick up. I know this because I have already
rung him seven times without any joy.

"Liv?" Scott says from the doorway.

I sit upright, "Yes?"

"Time to go. You don't want to be late for…" he
says and points up even though we are nowhere near the apartment. It's like
pointing at God, I think ruefully, remembering Devon's quite astute God complex
comment to my sire last year. Being the creator of our kind I suppose the
precedent has been set.

I stand and slip my coat back on, sliding my phone into my
pocket. I don't need a coat as I don't feel the cold but it would look rather
unusual to be wondering around the streets of Manhattan in just a sleeveless
dress at the end of January. It's all about blending in.

"It's started raining," Scott says and hands me an
umbrella.

"Great," I mutter. I am not a fan of rain. Bad
things always happen when it starts raining.

Exiting the building onto the dark sidewalk, I open my
umbrella and step out into the downpour. Scott, helpful as ever, takes my
briefcase from me again and I shove my other hand in my pocket.

"If you insist on walking to work in a New York winter,
surely you should wear better shoes," Cade's voice comes from behind me. I
turn to glare at him and then down at my already wet Louboutins.

"We have to stop meeting like this or I am really going
to consider getting a restraining order," I snap at him. Bad things, I
tell you, damn rain.

He chuckles as he steps under my umbrella. I grimace at his
cheek but start walking anyway, wondering what to do about him. "There is
nothing wrong with my footwear," I grumble more to myself than him.

"Oh I quite agree, in dry conditions."

"What do you want? I am in kind of a rush."

Before he can answer my phone buzzes in my pocket and being
frightfully rude but not caring, I answer it.

"Yes, my love?"

"Who is that man you are walking with?" CK snaps
down the phone at me.

I stop dead in my tracks causing Cade to walk out from under
the umbrella into the rain before he realizes that I have stopped. I turn and
look over my shoulder in suspicion but see no one spying on me. Well, I suppose
I shouldn't really expect to see someone overtly spying on me. That would kind
of defeat the purpose.

"A friend," I snap back as I start walking again,
to which Cade's eyebrows go skyward. "Call off your guard dog, I will see
you in a minute," I say and hang up on him and pocket my phone.

"Two things strike me as odd about that phone
call," he says conversationally.

"Nothing should strike you as odd as eavesdropping is
incredibly rude."

He ignores my remark and continues, "One, that your
husband has someone covertly watching you and two, that you called me a
‘friend.'"

"He's not my husband. He is an overbearing control
freak," I mutter, livid beyond belief that CK has someone watching me. How
long has that been going on? "And trust me, you don't want me telling him
you are a stalker," I add with a pointed look.

He grins at my comment. He seems a lot more relaxed now,
more forthcoming. I wonder if it is because he knows about me and his glee is
in response to him plotting my demise.

"Not your husband? He is awfully jealous then for just
your lover. But there again, I suppose if I dropped millions of dollars on a
ring like that I would want to make sure my investment was well taken care
of," he says slyly and I gape at him.

"Excuse me?" I say, furious now at him for being
so presumptuous. "How dare you make presumptions about my life and the
people in it."

"I don't make presumptions. I state facts," he
says mildly and just to piss him off I close the umbrella in a fit of temper
leaving us both to get soaking wet. I don't mind getting wet. I don't like rain
because of its bad mojo, but he will now be wet, cold, and uncomfortable until
he gets home. And hopefully he will also catch a cold. Also, we are now almost
outside my apartment building and I will be inside and dry in a matter of
minutes.

He scowls at me as he pulls the collar of his coat up and
hunches his shoulders. "Your little display of temper has confirmed my
statements as accurate," he says.

"What is it to you who I spend my time with and
why?" I say, unable to outright deny that he has in fact pretty much
nailed it. With a few minor adjustments, of course.

"I like to know about the people I get involved
with," he glowers at me.

"Involved? We are not involved in any way whatsoever and
neither shall we be."

"Don't be so sure. You haven't seen the last of
me," he says as he turns, shoving his hands in his pockets. “Oh and by the
way Mrs. O’Dell,” he adds over his shoulder, “I counted three guard dogs,” and
with that he turns again and heads off into the rain.

Mrs. O'Dell? I never told him my last name. Sure, it
probably wouldn't be hard to connect the dots with a spot of Internet searching
but something in the way he said it makes me think he knew all along and he
sought me out from the beginning.

"Still nothing?" I ask Scott who is standing
smugly underneath his own umbrella nice and dry. Okay, he isn't smug, I am just
projecting.

"Nope. Sorry," he shrugs and I stomp off into the
apartment building with a swift nod to Jerry, the doorman.

Flaming mad I barge into CK's penthouse. "Hello,
Nico," I say before anyone has even looked up at me.

"Liv," he says warily. Yes I knew he had to be
hovering around here somewhere. Constantine wouldn't trust anyone else but
Nico’s men to watch me.

I must look an absolute mess, soaking wet and dripping onto
the probably madly expensive rug but I don't care. I am mad as a snake and I
want both of them to know it. Well, all three of them, as Sebastian is also
staring at me with caution.

"Aefre," CK sidles over to kiss me, which I let
him, as I know he is trying to placate me. "You are dripping on my very
expensive rug. Go and get yourself dry." I glare at him and taking my
phone out of my wet pocket I throw it at him and I spin in a circle and in
seconds I am dry and changed into sweats and a vest with my hair neatly pinned
up. He hands me my phone back and I slip it into my back pocket.

"Who wants to start?" I bark at them as Sebastian
stares at me in wonder.

"Christ. That's a neat trick," he says. "What
a time saver."

I smile prettily at him. I'm not mad with him, just these
two silent creatures standing in front of me.

"Liv," Nico says, unsurprisingly speaking on
behalf of his Master. "We are just watching out for you."

"Aww, that's sweet hunny," I smarm at him and his
eyebrows skyrocket as I have never spoken to him in quite that way before.
"But you do know I can take care of myself, yes?"

CK narrows his eyes at me as I continue, "In fact, I
could kick the arse off anyone who tried to hurt me."

"Yes, we are aware of your arse kicking capabilities,
my dear," CK interjects. "However, with Cade still unaccounted for,
we can't be too careful."

"He is no longer unaccounted for," I say. "In
fact he is very much accounted for, the jerk that he is," I say to three stunned
faces.

"What?" CK snaps at me. "You've seen him
again?"

"Twice. Once on my way to work and once on my way
back."

"That was Cade you were walking with?" he is
thunderous as he bellows at me. "For fuck's sake Liv, have you lost your
senses?"

"No, my senses are quite intact, Constantine," I
say, emphasizing his name to show I am annoyed he called me Liv. "I didn't
seek him out, he just turned up. Again."

"If he is the Hunter, he is dangerous, Aefre," he
says darkly. "I don't want him anywhere near you."

"I am pretty sure he is, and I am too if you remember
rightly. Unfortunately he seems quite taken with me so we will have to play
this out."

"What do you mean taken with you?" he asks
suspiciously, and jealously, I note with humor.

"He made it quite clear that I was going to see him
again and that we were going to get involved."