Chapter 3

Josephine walked out of the bathroom and moved slowly to stand in the center of the room. She was putting on a short white gown with collar and a black heel and then she stared at Lucas. She noticed his eyes on her body and saw him brought his finger to his lips before standing from the chair. He moved towards the standing mirror and stretched his hand forward.

“Come here,” he ordered and Josephine went stiff before moving her feet towards him sluggishly.

When she reached his side, he grabbed her arm and made her stand in front of the mirror properly, her heart jumping at the same time at the sudden pull. Josephine stared at her reflection in the mirror and shifted her eyes to look at the vampire behind her. Their eyes met and she quickly looked away.

“Your face doesn’t look so bad without makeup,” he said in his deep voice and Josephine felt his breath on her skin. Cold shiver ran down her spine immediately and she tried to steady her breathing.

“I’m not used to wearing makeup on my face,” Josephine said and she heard him hum in response.

He stepped away from her and walked to the front of the drawer before pulling the second one and she saw him brought out a parcel before handing it to her.

Josephine stared at him before looking at the parcel he handed to her and she opened it. Her eyes lit almost immediately as she stared at the diamond earrings and chain. She no doubt knew that it was expensive and rare which only the rich can afford and she was about to touch it when she heard the devil’s voice;

“Do you think you can afford that?”

The excitement in her eyes disappeared almost immediately and her face was replaced with a frown. She turned her body to stand face to face with him and she saw a grin on his face which annoyed her.

“You don’t have to flaunt how rich you are. And did you give me this just to insult me?” she asked with slight irritation in her voice.

“I just wanted to know if you love it and I already got my answer,” he said and the frown on Josephine’s face deepened.

“I never said I love it.”

“You didn’t, but your expression said it. You expression was that of a little girl who was about to receive a chocolate,” he said and grinned even wider.

Josephine sent him a glare and then reminded him, “Didn’t you say you have somewhere important to go?”

“I don’t have a memory loss so you don’t have to remind me,” and with that, he took the parcel from her hand and closed it.

Josephine’s eyes lower to look at the parcel as if not wanting to let it go and Lucas used his finger to raise her head up to look him in the eyes.

“I am going to gift it to someone today as it’s her birthday,” he said and lowered his hand.

“I didn’t ask, so you don’t have to tell me about it,” Josephine said, still feeling irritated that he did that to her.

“I was only making sure that you don’t get jealous. It’s hard to tell what your reaction is right now and with the way you keep glaring at me,” he said with a click of his tongue and Josephine scoffed.

“Time to go,” he said and turned around before heading towards the door and Josephine followed him like an obedient servant.

They got to the corridor and Josephine stared at his back while also glaring at him and she was about to take the first flight of stairs when she lost her footing due to lack of concentration and she saw herself going down. But before she her body could hit the ground, Lucas caught her in time and he saw how her eyes widen due to the shock.

Josephine’s heart beat loudly in her chest, not only because of the almost fall, but also because her body now leaned on the vampire’s body with her hands on his shoulder while his hand was on her waist to prevent her from falling. She stared into his green eyes and if she were to be honest with herself, she found this devil to be alluring. Not that she didn’t have a crush on him in the past, but that was when she had not met him at close range and was not aware of who he really was. The fact that he was a vampire still baffles her as she had never in her life thought that people like that exists.

“I would love to stay like this too but I don’t have such time right now,” he said and Josephine snapped out of her thoughts immediately.

She moved away from him and the glare on her face returned. She felt more embarrassed right now because of how clumsy she behaved.

“The way your cheeks are burning so bright, they could fry a bun on it,” Lucas teased and then he said, “You should stop glaring and watch your steps before you fall. Not that I mind anyway. I would love to see you trip again so I can be the hero who catches you in time.”

A smirk appeared on his lips and at that moment, Josephine felt like smacking his head. She knows that he was trying to get a reaction from her but she would not let him have one. Instead, she straightened her dress and stared ahead of her before descending the stairs.

A small smile crept on Lucas lips as he watch her and he ran his tongue across his fang before descending the stairs.

When they got to the bar, Josephine saw a guy behind the counter with a white cap, wiping the counter table and she could only guess that he was a bartender.

The guy raised his eyes to look at Josephine briefly before looking at Lucas with a smile.

“I’m off Nick. You should come over some time,” Lucas said.

“If I get bored,” Josephine heard the guy say. “Who is she?” he asked.

“A pitiful soul,” came his response and Josephine clenched her teeth.

“Ah, I see,” Nicholas said with a smile.

“Don’t get too drunk,” Lucas said to him before stepping out of the bar with Josephine and she felt that he was not talking about just alcohol.

Now she feels that not everyone around her was human and she was even starting to doubt Maya. At the thought of Maya, her countenance suddenly changed and was replaced with sadness. What she had going on with her since the moment she awoke has not given her the chance to think much about the incident of last night which some part of her was glad because she didn’t want to think much about it. All she wants was just to forget about all that happened and if possible, not have any memory of Brian and Maya and that they never existed.

As if noticing the sad aura that came from her, Lucas walked over to the passenger door of his black SUV and opened it for her, acting like the gentleman he wasn’t, but Josephine got in absentmindedly and didn’t even notice the car she was in or the fact that Lucas held the door for her.

He closed the door and walked over to the other side and was about to open the door when he suddenly moved his eyes to look at his driver who stood there, staring at the direction of where Josephine earlier stood, with his mouth slightly opened.

“Should I get the door myself, Sullivan?” Lucas words snapped the driver out of his thoughts and he hurried to open the door for him.

He had been taken by surprise when he saw his master open the door for the lady whose face doesn’t look familiar to him and he thought she was one of his mistress. That was something he hardly saw his master do as he would just leave them to get in on their own. It had made him wonder if the lady had used some kind of magic spell on him, knowing fully well that his master was a vampire.

Lucas got into the car and leaned his back and Sullivan shut the door before getting into the driver’s seat and he started to drive. As he drove, he would look at the mirror to look at the lady his master brought. He knows that she was just another one of his playthings and would soon discard her but he wanted to make sure that his master was safe at the same time.

As if noticing him staring at the mirror too much, Lucas said with irritation in his voice, “It seems like you forgot the meaning of privacy, or do you want me to lecture you now?”

“I’m sorry master,” Sullivan quickly apologized, knowing that his master had caught him and he focus his eyes on the road.

Lucas turned his head to look at Josephine who sat quietly in the car beside him. Since the time she walked into his bar barefooted, with her eyes sunken, he felt her distress and somehow, it had bothered him. She didn’t know she had walked into a bar where he was entertaining his vampire friends and the base for all the drinks is blood. But fortunately for her, he had considered her and given her something other than blood but with a heavy dose. He had prevented his friends from taking a bite from her and had taken her into a room to spend the night before he thinks of what to do to her later on. He would have compelled her to forget about everything she saw and not even remember walking into the bar but he decided to try something different this time.