“Now and forever.”
Chapter 21
The Clue is in the Luggage
I walked out of the Bible Lands Museum where my friend Yosef worked and had been helping me with my research. Although, I certainly didn’t expect when I walked in there this morning that I would be leaving hours later with Lucius’ hand refusing to let go of mine. He had also taken my bag from me, making me suck in a breath at the contact when his arm brushed across my breasts. If he noticed, he didn’t comment but then again, his eyes did brighten a moment, burning amber.
But now, with the way his hand gripped mine in what felt like an unyielding hold, it was as if he was worried that if he let go, then I would bolt, and he would only end up having to chase me. Which, in front of a load of tourists, wouldn’t have been a good idea, not unless we wanted the police involved. But then what was I thinking, as this idea only crossed my mind for a second, because it was foolish to think that by screaming for help right now might have given me another head start. Because Lucius was the master at manipulating mortal minds, so it would have been pointless. He could have just created a wall of people to surround me before calmly walking up to me and throwing me over his shoulder and no one would have batted an eyelid.
Damn Vampire King!
So, instead, I stormed from the glass fronted building and started walking towards where my car was parked across the road. A plan that ended the moment Lucius pulled on my hand, stopping me. I looked back up at him, now seeing him with his sunglasses on and I swear my heart raced. But then with the smirk he granted me, it was obvious that he knew my heartbeat had kicked up a beat. Bloody hell, but could he look any sexier! Gods, if the sight hadn’t been so hot to look at, then I would have hated him for it!
“My car is over there,” he informed me, and I looked towards the chauffeur driven car parked where it shouldn’t be and said,
“Good for you, it’s a good sign you’re aging well when you can remember things like that,” I said sarcastically making him chuckle, before he started to lead me over to it.
“I can’t leave my car,” I told him, trying to pull back. Something that was useless clearly, as he looked towards the parking area and told me,
“We can get it later.”
“Or we could just arrange where to meet and I will take my car and you take yours and I will see you there?” I asked in a hopeful tone making him pull his glasses down enough so he could look at me over them, his unimpressed look speaking for itself.
“I will take that as a no, then?” I commented awkwardly.
“It’s nice to see that your powers of observation are still up to par, Love…as you can take that as a, Hell no,” he said before gripping my hand tighter and pulling me towards his car. So, with my bag over his shoulder and my hand wrapped tightly in his, I had little choice but to go where he wanted me to go. Especially seeing as most of my new life was in that bag he had hold of.
I had been staying in a small apartment only ten minutes’ drive from here, picking it for that reason. Because coming here had always been in my plans as no one knew about Yosef. He was a friend that I sometimes reached out to if anything particularly interesting came into my sector at the museum, one that I knew he could help with. A job, I had to ask myself often if I would ever get to do again. Of course, the museum had given me time off, but I doubted they had been planning on it being three months!
The thought was a depressing one, as that job had been my whole life. A life that, from the looks of things, just got even more complicated.
But Yosef had merely thought I was on a sabbatical, due to a personal historical discovery I was funding with the help of investors. He worked in gallery three of the museum, one that was called symbolic communication, and housed seals used in trade and commerce, being one of the earliest examples of communication and featuring over 6,500 years of glyptic art. He also oversaw works in gallery four which was literate voices, the story of writing. A field of expertise which naturally leant itself as useful considering what I faced.
The history was all based on the development of writing and a gallery of chronicles showcasing the development of written communication from its earliest forms: cuneiform, hieroglyphic and alphabetic writing. So basically, the box in a nutshell. Of course, having the symbols pretty much memorized by now helped in this, seeing as I had thrown the box back in Lucius’ face in my moment of trying to make a point.
So, Yosef had pulled a few strings and they ended up welcoming me to carry out my research with the promise that the museum would benefit from any discoveries I made. I now wondered if that included the angry Vamp King who was currently opening the door to the parked car and nodding down at it expectantly. Well, he was old, so it’s not like he wouldn’t fit in, I thought sarcastically as I folded myself inside. He soon followed and it quickly became apparent that Lucius didn’t intend on giving me much space and he sat in a way that he was touching me. Which made this car feel as though it was getting smaller by the second.
“So, the deal is we go somewhere, we sit, and we talk and that’s it…right?” I said which he ignored and told the driver,
“Back to the hotel.” This made me mutter,
“Or I could just get ignored and you make all the decisions,” I muttered mockingly, making him finally respond,
“Now that sounds like a good plan.” I rolled my eyes at the window this time and ignored him.
“Relax, there is a restaurant at the hotel where we can sit and talk, besides, I need to retrieve my phone from my room.” I looked down at the pockets on his shorts in a questioning way,
“It needed charging,” he informed me, as if this mattered but it made me laugh,
“What’s funny about that?”
“Only that it is probably the most human thing I have ever heard you say.” He scoffed before removing his glasses and hooking the arm of them in the neck of his T-shirt, so they hung there.
“So, this hotel of yours, this isn’t the part where you left out that it was in Germany or Portland, Maine…right?” I asked because I felt strangely as if I needed to speak. He granted me a grin before saying,
“It’s the Notre Dame of Jerusalem Centre.” Of course, I knew of it naturally as it was a beautiful building, with a lot of history.
“Waldorf Astoria all booked up?” I asked making him grant me a wry look before telling me,
“I have investments in the hotel.” I scoffed a murmured,
“Of course, you do.” But this wasn’t what struck me,
“So, the Notre Dame huh…? Well, that’s close then,” I commented quietly, wondering if he was staying there because of how close it was.
“Seven minutes from the museum and ten minutes from your apartment,” he told me, and I released a deep heavy sigh, making him chuckle.
“I didn’t have a hope, did I?” I asked in a deflated tone making him pick up my hand, and raise it to his lips to kiss as he told me,
“No, you didn’t, but if it helps, you gave it a good try, sweetheart.” I yanked my hand from his and mumbled,
“Patronizing, condescending, arrogant…” he laughed before turning to me and saying,
“You can’t say that I didn’t warn you.”