Lover's Betrayal: Misfits of the Lore Series (16 page)

For a moment, I thought there was a chance I could make you happy, but that’s not possible. I actually had dreams of us reconciling. You looking at me with love in your eyes. There was a moment where the past was dead and there was hope we could start anew. Yet the moment passed and all that was left was the reality of the present that we can’t escape. I know seeing me hurts you. I wish things could be different. I don’t understand why seeing you gives me such pleasure and seeing me causes you so much pain. I know the problem is me. My presence hurts you and my children. I want to relieve all of your pain. I owe you all that. I’m trying, Lucian. I will make things right for all of you. I love you all so much and I would do anything to give you a sense of peace -- and if that means me leaving, then I shall leave.

I want so badly for things to be different, but I know it can’t happen. My mother told me long ago that I would only cause pain and she was right. All I can say is that I’m sorry. I’m sorry you were forced to be mated to me. Sorry that I could not offer you more. Sorry that I brought only pain to your life. Sorry that I still exist. Sorry that I didn’t free you sooner. I’m just sorry. I promise you that I will soon make things right.

With all my love,

Olivia

“Save your love, Olivia. He will never accept it. He may still want your body, but his heart has no place for you. Let me take the pain away.” Olivia could not ignore that voice in her head pointing out the realities she wanted to escape.

Olivia prepared a special cocktail. Mixing another leaf into a goblet of blood, she drank the entire cup and fell into a deep slumber.

IV

It was nearly dawn, but Lucian was too restless to welcome sleep. Although he was angry at Olivia for not being up front with him from the beginning, he was more annoyed at himself for the overwhelming feeling of possessiveness when he saw her talking to Liam. He could see the desire in that man’s eyes for his Livy. He could not help but recall how Daughton Gaspard looked at Olivia when he would visit his parents’ estate.

The man would watch her as if no one else was in the room. He had that same look of desire as Liam. As much as Lucian wanted to claim her as his, he could not reveal the truth of their relationship.

Time. It was never the right time to tell his parents, make them understand that Olivia was his mate. They would never accept his marriage to the daughter of their servants. They had already chosen the ideal bride for him—perfect in their minds. She was aristocratic, noble, classy, attractive, but she was not Olivia. It was Olivia who set his body ablaze with flames of desire. It was Olivia’s violet eyes that he dreamed about every night. It was her soft voice that comforted him when he was lost and alone. It was her kindness and generosity that made him a better man. It was her leaving him that destroyed the man he had hoped to be.

He struggled to understand why she would abandon him, abandon their love. He could not believe that she would choose a louse like Gaspard over him. He would have given her the world if she had stayed. He pleaded with her not to walk away. He offered to give up everything for her—his family, his title, his money, everything for the love of this woman, but she coldly left him beaten and bruised. The young optimistic man he was died that night and reawakened a cold, ruthless politician. He became the man his parents wanted him to be.

Losing Olivia left a void in his life that nothing could replace. He wanted to die rather than exist in a world where she belonged to another, but he did not have the strength to leave when a part of his heart still hoped that she would come back. As the years went by and Olivia stayed away, his desire to endure strengthened. He wanted to prove to her that he could survive without her, just as she managed to survive without him. He would not be weak and needy and lost any longer. He focused solely on his work, ensuring his spot as head of the Council. He needed to make something out of his life. He would overcome his deepest pain and prove to Olivia that she made the wrong choice.

Lucian wanted so much to hate her and for many years he did, but as soon as he saw those violet eyes looking up at him the way she used to, all those feelings he fought to bury resurfaced. Not only did his body crave hers, but his heart reached out for the piece that would complete it. His entire being craved Olivia and this time, he did not think he would have the strength to survive the loss of her again.

Just like that, those old feelings of jealousy returned. He didn’t want to feel that way again. So many times he lost control at the thought of Olivia with Daughton. Nightmares of those two sharing the intimacy he had experienced with her blinded him with a rage that unleashed the worst of his temper. Even now he could picture her beautiful and round with Daughton’s children growing inside of her. He could hear her laughter, see her touching Daughton and loving him. The thought sickened him again as he fought back the nausea.

Now the images were flooding him--that bastard touching his mate and taking what was his. Lucian tried to relax his breathing and regain some of the control that was slipping away. He wanted to destroy something, just the way his heart had been demolished, but he was older now and he realized that what was done could never be undone. Nothing could change the past. He had to focus on the present and the life he was building for himself—a life that shortly would not include Olivia Gaspard. He would be free of her again.

Daughton Gaspard was no longer an issue and Lucian knew he needed to end this obsession with him. There would be no revenge for him. Although that feeling left him cold, there was no other option. Gaspard was dead and Lucian would not have the satisfaction of that man’s blood on his hands.

He was glad someone finally ended Gaspard’s life, but he wished it could have been him. How he fantasized about all the ways he would have killed Daughton Gaspard! The only reason he did not was Olivia. She chose Daughton over him and bore his children. As much as he hated that man and hated Olivia for leaving him, he could not hurt her by destroying her family. Behind all his hatred for her, he still loved her and felt that need to protect her. That need created from that dreaded mating bond.

He spent so many days and nights cursing this mating bond, wishing for a way to undo it. After spending so many years learning to cope and survive without his other half, hours with her left him feeling more connected to her than ever.

He needed to concentrate on something, anything other than this nagging feeling in his gut. He decided to focus on Kaden’s case and the best place to begin was with the subject.

Lucian drove to the secure storage facility that he and his men were using temporarily as containment for Kaden. The facility was owned by a nephew of one of the vampires on the Council. The basement included a very secure 8x8 cell guarded by three of Lucian’s security team.

Through the small window in the door, Lucian could see that a very aggravated Kaden was chained to the wall. Part of Lucian enjoyed seeing Gaspard’s son caged like the beast he was, but Lucian could not help but feel guilt for the part of him that recognized that this man was also Olivia’s child.

“Are you going to stand out there forever, or face me like a man?” Kaden yelled through the cell.

That was a gentle reminder that there could be no softness where this man was concerned. Kaden might look like Olivia, but he certainly did not inherit her personality.

Lucian opened the cell and faced Kaden. For years he wondered about Olivia’s children. The boys that should have been his, but could never be. Both boys took after her in looks, but darkness hovered around Kaden. At times, it seemed to consume him.

“Does my mother know that you have me chained to the wall like an animal?”

“She knows we brought you to a secure location,” Lucian responded calmly, not wanting to reveal his inner concern that Olivia would despise him for this.

“I didn’t think you were brave enough to tell her this part,” Kaden taunted. “She trusted you and this is how you repay her.”

“I did not lie to her.”

“Of course not. You just tell her the part she wants to hear and disregard the rest. I know that game, Lucian. I played it my whole life. It works very well with my mother. She trusts too easily and hurts too deeply when she’s let down. It’s amazing how the people that love her most keep letting her down. Starting with you.”

Lucian sat down in the one chair across from where Kaden stood. He did not want to discuss his relationship with Olivia with her son. “I’m here to talk about the reason you’re chained to the wall. I need to question you about the murders.”

“Can I call you Luc, or should I call you stepdaddy? What’s appropriate for my mommy’s boyfriend or ex-boyfriend or mate?” Kaden teased.

Lucian was not amused. “My relationship with your mother is none of your business. For the record, I don’t care what you call me, but you better tell me the truth. It’s your life on the line. If you want to play games with it, that’s your choice. I’m not going to stop you from self-destructing. I could not care less about what happens to you. I have enough evidence to end you and I’ll do so. Don’t think my relationship with your mother will protect you. Right now, you’re running out of time and you’re wasting mine. Either tell me what I want to know, or I’ll go get some sleep. Your choice.”

“Ok, stepdaddy. I’ll make this easy for you. I didn’t butcher these women. It’s not my style.”

Lucian despised the “stepdaddy” reference, but he would not allow Kaden to know he was getting under his skin. Lucian had all the power and he had to make sure Kaden did not get the upper hand. “What’s your style? You have certainly killed your fair share of people. Do you like killing the helpless females, or just anyone who looks at you the wrong way?”

“Trying to get me to admit past crimes, stepdaddy? I’m not falling for that trick.”

“Let’s talk about your current crimes, stepson.” Lucian could match Kaden’s acerbic tone. He would not allow Kaden the satisfaction of knowing how much he was grating on Lucian’s rattled nerves.

“What current crimes? I told you that I didn’t kill those women. I get that you don’t believe me. I also understand why. You hate my father. He stole her from you. I hated him as well, more than you can imagine. I understand how you feel. Hell, that’s the one thing you and I have in common, but you need to accept that I’m not him.”

“From where I’m standing, you’re just like him. You take what’s not yours, you hurt others for your own pleasure, and you have no remorse for your actions. You probably should have been named Daughton Jr.”

Kaden lunged forward, but the chains prevented him from getting close to Lucian. He tried to release his power, but to no avail.

“It won’t work, Kaden. Those chains are charmed. They mute your power so you can’t blow me up. I’m sure that disappoints you.”

“You know what’s disappointing? My mother’s taste in men -- or rather, her bad luck. I can’t believe she ended up mated to a son of a bitch like you. First my father, then a pompous prick like you.”

Lucian could not hide his surprise. “What did she tell you about us?”

“I know all about what a self-righteous jerk you are and how you gave up on her when you should have fought for her. I know that you’re a worthless coward. I know that you didn’t really love her; otherwise you would have fought the heavens to get her away from my father. No man that truly loved her would have ever allowed her to suffer at my father’s hands. My mother wasted her whole life loving a man too weak to love her the way she deserved. This time, my friend, I will protect her from you. I won’t let you break her again.”

Lucian was not concerned with Kaden’s threat, but rather, with the implication of what Olivia suffered at the hands of Daughton Gaspard. “What do you mean about how she suffered at his hands? Did he hurt her?”

“Not as much as you did. He hurt her, but you broke her.”

“You don’t know anything about my relationship with your mother,” Lucian defended, biting back his temptation to pummel Kaden.

“I know that my mother loved you too much and we all suffered because of it. I know that you don’t deserve her. I know that I will get free of this place and the first thing I’ll do is remove your pretty little head from your body and bury your remains next to my darling father. That’s where you belong. That’s my special place for those that try to destroy my mother. So, stepdaddy, instead of worrying about my past crimes, you should worry about what I’ve planned for the future -- because that involves me ridding my mother of you once and for all.”

Lucian stood up and walked toward the door. Before he left, he turned back to say, “Make sure you leave room for your own remains in that grave. It looks like the only person hurting your mother these days is you.”

“Dinner is ready, boys,” Olivia smiled from the door as a fifteen-year-old Kaden grabbed the hand of his five-year-old brother Julian and led him to the dining room table.

“Everything is perfect,” Lucian said as he strolled to Olivia’s side and kissed her. The boys groaned with disapproval at the display of affection, but Lucian just kissed her longer. Eventually he pulled away so that they could catch their breath.

“Do you guys have to do that all the time?” Kaden inquired. “It’s kind of disgusting.”

Lucian could not help but laugh. “Trust me, son, one day you will find a woman that you adore as much as I adore your mother and you’ll proudly kiss her just like that. Believe me, nothing will ever feel as good as kissing the woman you love.”

“Yuck. Kissing is nasty,” Julian complained.

“You won’t always feel that way, Julian. Now, let’s eat this delicious food your mother worked so hard to prepare.”

“Yes, Papa,” both boys agreed. As they ate dinner, the boys told their parents about their adventures for the day and Kaden admitted to some mischievous, but rather harmless behavior that Lucian and Olivia could not help but find amusing. Kaden could not resist that little devil on his shoulder that made him tease and pull pranks on others. As long as no one got hurt, everyone allowed Kaden to embrace his playful side.