Charlotte Sanguinite POV:
A choked guffaw bubbles out of my mouth. The sheer absurdity of her words makes me want to both laugh and cry, at the same time.
It helps.
I press the heel of my palm against my forehead, a small, humorless smile playing on my lips now. Sometimes I feel like a broken ship drifting on a vast ocean, with no anchor. I’m just floating, trying to find a place to land.
I get to my feet and open the door.
Shelby’s worried face is the first thing I see.
“I drove him out!” she says fiercely. Told him to take his attitude with him. If he bothers you again, I’ll give you some pepper spray to use on him.”
“Thanks, Shelby, but he’s not my boyfriend.”
“He’s not?” She
Robert Montgomery POV:Adam narrows his eyes at me. “Should I take that as a warning?”My lips curve humorlessly. “In our world, Charlotte is as weak as a human. Perhaps even weaker. I forced my way into her life. And I plan to stay. She’s mine now.”My friend looks at me thoughtfully. “You’ve got it quite bad, don’t you?”When I don’t bother answering him, he sighs. “I trust you, Robert. And I trust your judgment. Your girl has nothing to fear from me or my pack. Besides, Cynthia was pretty worried about you, so she’s going to be relieved things have worked out. However, I would advise you not to let your guard down too quickly.”I nod. He’s not wrong. I cannot let myself make eve
Robert Montgomery POV:The look of shock and guilt on Charlotte’s face confirms my suspicion.Beruth Sanguinite may have erased Charlotte from his clan’s history, but he couldn’t erase her from the memories of the people who once knew her. Harry, as my assistant, was tasked with looking up Charlotte’s past. He couldn’t find anything at first, but talking to a few vampires with whom the pack is still on somewhat decent terms revealed a lot.Charlotte Beaumont was once Charlotte Sanguinite, the oldest daughter of one of the most notorious vampire clan leaders. When Harry brought me that information this evening, I felt a variety of emotions: shock, betrayal, hurt, and anger.It was hard to reconcile the gentle Charlotte with the greedy, ambitious,
Charlotte Sanguinite POV:It’s the wetness of my cheek that makes me stir.Groaning, I opened my eyes and saw Robert’s face. For a brief moment, I felt confused and dizzy. And then, I register the pain. Along with the pain come the memories of what happened.I tried to sit up, but Robert held me down. “Easy. Not yet. You’re in no condition to move.”“I have to—I have to see the damage.”“Don’t worry about it.” He strokes my hair. “I’ve taken care of it." You need to rest.”“Arabella?”“Gone. "I didn’t kill her.” Robert’s eyes harden as he tells me that. I let out a sigh of relief, and he gave me a strange look. “She wa
Charlotte Sanguinite POV:“You,” I breathe, rooted in place out of fear and shock.The last time I saw Arabella, she was sneering at me, a kind of viciousness in her eyes that no ten-year-old should have. When it came to her appearance, Arabella inherited our father’s dark looks, her skin a beautiful olive shade, her eyes a sharp green, and her hair black as a raven’s, falling to her waistline like a waterfall. As a child, she was cute, but as an adult, she’s gorgeous. Her cheekbones are sharp, her eyes almost catlike. She has lost all her chubbiness, her figure slims like a model’s.Compared to her, I look like a frumpy maid, with my hair in disarray, my curvy figure, and the bags under my eyes.I see the way my sister looks at me, her ey
Charlotte Sanguinite POV:“And you said…?”“I said no.” I blinked several times. “He and I, we’re from very different worlds. It’s not going to work.”Clearing my throat, I began walking back to the cupcake display, my heartbeat unsteady. Jazz trails after me. “So what if he’s some crazy rich guy? He’s clearly head over heels for you! That’s gotta count for something.”I opened the display and started setting up the cupcakes. “I want a simple, peaceful life, Jazz. Robert Montgomery is the furthest thing from that kind of person.”“He seems peaceful enough.” Jazz leans over the glass display case, watching me. “Besides, if a man looked at me like he was just looking at you,
Charlotte Sanguinite POV:Ever since my night with Robert, my dreams have returned with a vengeance. I’ve tried to ignore them. I’ve tried everything I possibly could not to let them affect my daily life, but that’s easier said than done. The problem is that the man I always saw in my dreams—the faceless man who doted on me, who loved me, who made me feel special and important and everything else in between—now has a face.He has Robert’s face.And somehow, it hurts even more.Angie left that day with a warning, telling me to be careful. She was certain Robert was not done with me. But I knew he was. He had to be. Why else would he avoid me like that? And even though I kept telling myself that this was for the best, it didn’t negate