Epilogue: The Dark Duet (21 page)

“Is this the part where I get angry and
threaten to teach you a lesson?” I asked calmly. Livvie practically vibrated
with excitement.

“Yes.” She
shivered.

“When do you leave for work?”

“I have a few hours.” She sounded
breathy.

“Well then.” I caressed her face so I
could watch the way she closed her eyes to savor my touch. With my other hand,
I grabbed a fistful of hair and pulled. “Let’s go teach you some manners.”

***

“Remind me again. Why are we spending our
romantic evening with Claudia and Rubio? If romance is what you’re after, it
seems counterproductive to have other people in attendance.” I’d forgotten my
shoes in my hotel room and we were forced to go and retrieve them. The clock in
my dash display reminded me we were supposed to pick up the other couple in an
hour.

“
Because
,
Best Boyfriend in the World, it’ll be fun. Also, Rubi really wanted to take
Claudia somewhere nice. He’s been saving up since Christmas.
Can Fabes
is supposed to have amazing food. I
still don’t know how you managed to make reservations. How
did
you get reservations anyway? It was pretty short notice.”
Livvie checked her lipstick in the visor mirror for the third time. I think she
just liked the way her lips looked in red. So did I.

“It was short notice because you didn’t
tell me I was supposed to plan something. Valentine’s Day? I’ve heard of it,
but I had no idea people actually participated in such… sentimentality. Don’t
they get enough of that during Thanksgiving and Christmas?” I put my blinker on
and moved to the passing lane to get around someone in what appeared to be a
golf cart.
Fuel-efficient cars. Bleh!

“Changing the subject, James. I’m on to
your tactics.” Livvie glared. A smile played on her lips.

“I went down to the restaurant in
person and charmed the hostess. She was very amenable.” I grinned. Livvie’s
smile turned sour. “You asked.” I shrugged.

“I didn’t ask you to flirt with another
girl.”

“I didn’t say I flirted. I said I was
charming. I simply explained that I was a cad who’d made the grievous mistake
of not acquiring reservations to take my beautiful girlfriend and her entourage
to dinner on the most romantic day of the year. I told her I’d be lost without
you and that anything she could do to help me keep your favor would be worthy
of my deepest gratitude. Then I tipped her a day’s wages.” I kept my eyes
forward, though I knew my expression remained smug.

“Asshole,” Livvie said. She grabbed my
hand and put it in both of hers, squeezing.

“Idiot,” I countered. “As if anyone
else could hold my attention.” I squeezed her hand in return.

“I got you a present,” she said.

“Kitten,” I admonished. “We already
exchanged gifts.” I’d given her pearls. She’d gifted me with the sight of her
in a red cape and heels high enough to nearly put us at eye level. It had been
a very short but enjoyable chase. No one could run in those things. I forbid
her to wear them outside the house.

“Relax. It’s no big deal.” She opened
her purse and took out a box of candy. I laughed.

“It looks
open.”

“I ate most of them,” she said.

“You are so strange sometimes, Pet.”

“Method to my madness, Sexy. Open your
hand.” I complied and she put the heart-shaped candies in my palm. When I
looked at them, I felt as though someone had squeezed my heart. All the candies
read “Be Mine.”

“I’m already yours, Pet. And you’re mine.”
Stuffing my mouth full of candy hearts
may have lessened the romance of the moment, but Livvie didn’t seem to mind.

“Yes, yours,” she said. She kissed my
cheek.

I felt in my heart the affirmation of
what I had come to suspect was true for some time. What she really meant was:
I love you
.

After retrieving my shoes and picking
up Claudia and Rubio (I have never been comfortable with calling that man Rubi),
we arrived at the restaurant with ten minutes to spare. I felt the slightest
bit awkward as we approached the hostess. She was the same woman from the week
before and she smiled warmly. However, I didn’t miss the way her eyebrow lifted
as she saw the young crowd I’d brought with me. I could never be ashamed of
Livvie, but traveling with three younger people made me feel… old. There had
been a time when it wouldn’t have bothered me because I had no idea of my age. Regardless,
the hostess greeted us warmly.

“
Señor
Cole.” She pointed us in the direction
of our waiter, who greeted us with a smile and asked us to follow him.

“Your last name is Cole? Like
Sophia’s?” Claudia sounded incredulous.

“Strange coincidence,” I said.

Claudia shrugged and it made her look
younger, despite the very adult cocktail dress she was wearing.

“I guess if you
ever get married you won’t argue about whether or not Sophia will change her
name.”

“Claudia,” Livvie hissed.

The waiter averted his gaze with a
tight-lipped smile as he ushered us into our seats. I helped Livvie out of her
coat and pulled out her chair (six months prior I couldn’t open a door). Rubio,
upon witnessing my impeccable boyfriend skills, assisted Claudia. The ladies
seemed to appreciate it very much.

“I will give you a moment to go over
the menu while I check your coats.” The waiter walked away with the coats. I
watched him speak to the hostess and surmised she was supposed to check our
coats when we arrived. I hoped I didn’t get her into any trouble. Then again,
she should have done her job.

“Thank you for inviting us,” Rubio said
to me. He is ever the gentleman, and I often wonder how Claudia has managed to
keep him. Then I am reminded of me and Livvie. Stranger things have happened.

“Thank you for helping me choose the
restaurant. I’m not overly familiar with the area.” I winked and Rubio
repressed a smile. The concierge at my hotel had told me about the restaurant,
but there was no harm in helping Rubio impress his date.

“Rubi is so modest.” Claudia turned to
her boyfriend. “You never told me you helped plan this.” She kissed him on the
cheek. Rubio blushed (poor bastard).

“It was… a
surprise.”

Livvie’s hand squeezed my thigh.

“Aww, you guys
are so sweet you’re going to make me puke.” She and I laughed at the other
couple’s discomfort. Did they have any idea whom they were out to dinner with?

Claudia composed herself quickly.

“Like you guys
are any better. You’re always undressing each other with your eyes. I’m
surprised you even left the house.”

“A man has to eat,” I said. “Also, I
undress her with more than my eyes. Sometimes I use my teeth.” Livvie blushed to
her roots while the rest of us laughed.

“I’m just glad she finally met someone.
Rubi and I were trying to set her up for a while. We thought she might be gay
and ashamed to tell us. I even told her about kissing my friend Bettany so she
would come out, but she never did.” Claudia has a tendency to impart too much
information, but when it comes to Livvie, I often enjoy what she has to say.

“You don’t
have
a friend named Bettany,” Livvie said. She sounded put-out, but
it was all for show.

“You didn’t know that,” said Claudia.
“I was just trying to let you know I was okay with you being gay.”

“But I’m not gay!” Livvie said with
mock exasperation. She covered her face when the waiter chose that exact moment
to return to our table.

Though I was sure he had overheard, the
waiter kept a professional demeanor. We all managed to compose ourselves enough
to order dinner and wine. Livvie thought Europe was “awesome” for no other
reason than a person could drink legally drink at age eighteen. Of course, if
you could reach the bar they’d serve you.

“You know, if you ever want to
experiment with a woman—under my close guidance, of course—I’d be alright with
it.” I smiled cheekily toward Livvie and lifted a brow for good measure.

Livvie shook her head.

“I bet you
would.” Her hand cupped my balls beneath the table. Her eyes widened as she
felt the stirring of my arousal. “Later,” she whispered. I wondered if she
meant she’d please me later, or if I’d get to see her kiss and touch another
woman later. Either way—lucky me.

The rest of dinner went on in the same
jovial fashion. Claudia and Livvie took care of most of the conversation. I
preferred it that way, and Rubio seemed to as well. Livvie was witty and
Claudia so uncouth that one couldn’t help but be amused by the pair of them.
The sprite and her boyfriend were growing on me—like a fungus.

After dinner and an attempt at dancing
(I am
not
a good dancer), I returned
Claudia and Rubio home. Rubio, being the gentleman that he is, tried to slip
his share of dinner into my pocket, but I wouldn’t allow it.

“Buy her something expensive. Nothing
makes a woman more agreeable in the bedroom,” I said with a grin.

“I’m already agreeable,” retorted
Claudia. “Rubi may seem quiet, but you know what they say about the quiet
ones.”

Rubi laughed even as he blushed.

“She’s drunk. I
better take her inside.”

“Yes! Take me!” Claudia pulled Rubio
toward her and mauled his face with her mouth. It went on so long I decided to
drive off. I saw Rubio wave as he kept kissing.

Livvie was stretched out in the
passenger seat. She was blissfully drunk, and by the way she was rubbing
herself, I knew I’d have my own hands full once we got home.

“Is there anything you need from your
apartment? I’d rather stay at the hotel tonight.” I stroked her with one hand
whenever I wasn’t shifting.

“Why?” she asked dreamily.

“All of my things are in my hotel room.
Your apartment is closer to where we are. We may as well stop and get your
things if you need something,” I said. I hated sleeping without Livvie. The
nightmares were significantly diminished when she was next to me.

“But I want you. I don’t want to wait,”
she whined. She was very intoxicated, and part of me suspected there would be
no sex for me that night.

“I want you, too. It’s a pity we live
so far apart. Claudia and Rubio don’t have that problem.”

Livvie suddenly seemed very sober, if
you didn’t take her huge eyes into consideration.

“Are you… do
you want to move into my apartment?”

“No,” I said definitively.

“Oh.” She seemed at once relieved and
disappointed. She turned away and stared out the window for a few minutes,
then, angrily, “Why not?”

“Because your apartment is small.”

“Oh.” Confusion.

I sighed.

“I’m asking you
to move in with me, Sophia. I’ll leave the hotel, you’ll leave your apartment,
and we’ll buy a place that’s
ours
.”
Silence filled the vehicle for what felt like endless hours.

“Okay,” she said simply.

“Okay?” I asked, incredulous. What sort
of response was that?

“Okay,” she repeated and put her hand
in mine.

“Okay,” I said.

The void was overflowing.

We moved into our new flat in April.
Though I thought otherwise, Livvie insisted it was the perfect birthday gift to
move into our new home on her birthday. She’d insisted her birthday was just the
leverage she would need to coerce her friends into helping her move her things.
She didn’t want movers, she said. It made her feel awkward enough that I had
purchased our home and put it in her name. I insisted it was better than
putting it in the name of someone who didn’t legally exist. She agreed but
couldn’t abide by making strangers move her.

For my part, I was something akin to
excited. It seems wrong for a man to be “excited”; it sounds too much like an
emotion for a school girl. I’d wanted to buy the house outright, but I thought
that might be suspicious if the FBI decided to poke around. Instead, I had
Livvie remove the amount of the down payment from her fund and put it in a safe
deposit box. I then used that sum of cash to pay the bank.

Eventually, I was going to have to
enlist the help of some former acquaintances to keep up appearances where
Livvie’s new lifestyle was concerned. The FBI couldn’t necessarily touch us in
Spain, but it was best not to provoke attention by living outside the means they
knew Livvie was capable of. For better or worse, I didn’t tell Livvie about my
plans involving illicit activity. I was becoming a very well-behaved boyfriend,
but I was still me.

We’d purchased an enormous property
that had been vacant for some time. Livvie and I had a good laugh over the number
of windows. There was hardly a dark corner to be found, and light flooded every
nook and cranny. I thought it very apropos. We’d spent enough time in the dark.
However, because there were
some
things
I liked to do with Livvie that should never see the light of day, I made sure
the bedrooms had drapes.