Darkly Deceived (Darkly Devoted Series, Book 2)

Chapter 3 - A One-Night Stand

Vivienne wasn't sure how she ended up with Julian's hand up her shirt in the town car outside his apartment that night. In the back of her mind, she knew it was probably the worst idea of all time. First, she was engaged to Daniel. Second, it was Julian, a man that just about the entire world knew to be a scoundrel. The worst part of it all was that for the first time since the night of the masquerade, she was enjoying herself and felt truly understood.

"Do you want to come upstairs?" Julian finally asked as he sat up and ran his fingers through his bronze-brown hair. He smiled impishly at her and tried to straighten the collar of his blazer. He looked like a runway model imitating an artfully messy bed hair look. Julian, he was always so handsome, so alluring, such an affront to her better judgment.

"I shouldn't," Vivienne said as she struggled to tuck her t-shirt back into her pants. "I felt nothing for you, you know. We're just friends."

"That's all right," Julian answered as he tried to ease his arm around her waist. Vivienne marveled at how hard and muscular he was, especially when she was used to seeing Daniel's lanky form in her bed. "Come up; we'll have a drink and talk. Like friends."

"Like friends. Just to talk," Vivienne stressed as she allowed him to lead her out of the town car. It was late and getting dark. She reluctantly followed him into his glitzy midtown apartment complex. Like most new money city dwellers, he liked his buildings full of floor-to-ceiling windows with floating light fixtures and white leather. Vivienne didn't know what she was doing as she allowed him to lead her into the elevator and to head up to the ear-popping top floors steadily.

Julian's apartment was enormous, a penthouse in its own right. Unlike Blake, he didn't have any live-in servants. Vivienne guessed whatever happened in his American Psycho extracurricular activities was better off without witnesses. Julian eagerly threw off his Balmain jacket and ran into his modern kitchen.

"How do you like your whiskey, princess?"

"I don't want a drink," Vivienne said.

"Yes, you do. By entering my apartment, you consent to a drink." Julian brought her a cup of honey-colored liquid. Vivienne took a sip; it burned going down her throat. She put the cup down on the glass coffee table and sat down.

"So, tell me," Julian said as he took a seat on the couch next to her. "Why are you marrying this loser? Is it just rebound?"

Vivienne chuckled and took another sip of the strong liquor. She had withheld all her feelings for so long. Somehow, it felt good to be with a friend who truly understood her, that she could be honest with.

"I am just lonely," Vivienne said as she stared out his window into the lights of the city at dusk. She wondered how many of his victims looked out into that very view and breathed their last before he drained them of their blood. "I probably shouldn't go through with this. But if I don't, what will I do? I feel like I don't have any family or friends anymore. No one understands what I went through, least of all Allison. At least Daniel keeps me company."

"Why don't you wait for someone better to come along?" Julian asked. "I can keep you company, love." He slipped a hand on her knee, but Vivienne moved out of his grasp. She took another sip of the drink.

"You have been a comfort to me, that is true," Vivienne finally admitted. "In you, I have the last reminder of my time with Blake."

"I would never try to replace him," Julian said earnestly. "I would have never let you go. Neither heaven nor hell could stand between us."

Vivienne has to smile at that. He was handsome, that was true. He had the face of an angel and the body of a Greek god. Julian slowly slid an arm around her shoulders and gave her a warm squeeze.