The Vampire's Fake Fiancée (Nocturne Falls Book 5) Read Online Free Page A

he’d wanted and what he actually wanted were two different things.
    He might not have been enough man to keep her at his side all those years ago, but time away from her had taught him that he could do just fine without her. Perhaps not as happy or as content as he would have liked. Maybe even a little bit lonely, but he’d managed.
    Time had also taught him he didn’t need to be at her side to keep the promise he’d made. Not so long as he defined taking care of her by financial standards, which is all she’d allowed these past centuries.
    He shook his head, flush with the power of his new realization. “You’re assuming I haven’t moved on.”
    She laughed and waved a hand at him. “Come now, Sebby. You still carry a torch for me. You know it. I know it. Let’s stop playing games and get on with our life.”
    His anger breached the boundaries of common sense. He stood and glared down at her. “For your information, I have not only gotten over you, but I am involved with someone else.”
    Her smile disappeared. “You’re not serious.”
    “I bloody well am.”
    Her mouth tightened into a little knot of disbelief. “If you’re trying to get me to fawn all over you and tell you how much I missed you, fine, but let’s not pretend that—”
    “Are you calling me a liar?” He was lying, of course, but falsehoods were not something to which he’d ever been disposed so she had no reason to doubt him.
    She crossed her arms and the twinkle of a challenge danced in her eyes. “You expect me to believe you’ve found another woman who is as equally enthralled with you as you are with her? A woman who can bear your moods? Who doesn’t weep with boredom when you go off on your academic tangents? Sebby, I grew to love you despite those things. Our match, arranged as it was, worked because you are a good man, as loyal as a hunting dog and as predictable as the chimes for dinner, not because you kept me entertained. But I’ve always been a resourceful woman and capable of doing that for myself. Why do you think we hosted so many balls and dinners and house parties?”
    And there was the side of Evangeline he’d come to despise. The cutting, cruel woman who could tear him down faster than she could look at him. That side of her had been evident even in their early years of marriage, but he’d chalked it up to her youth and unhappiness at the arranged marriage.
    His time away from her had helped him see some truths, but it had done little to thicken his skin. Her words hurt, even after all these years. Perhaps in some part because he knew they were true. The pain pushed his lie to new heights. “My fiancée thinks none of those things. She adores me.”
    She blinked. “You’re engaged?”
    Bloody hell. He’d said fiancée. There was no retreating now. He lifted his chin. “Yes. Happily.”
    She snorted in disbelief.
    Red edged his vision and logical thought gave way to spontaneous reaction. “Come to dinner at my house and see for yourself. Tomorrow at seven. That’s safely after sundown.”
    “Seven it is, then.”
    Something dark sparked in her eyes but he ignored it. “I’ll send Greaves with the details.”
    He stormed out before she could say another word. He was fuming. He’d expected her to be petulant and egotistical. That’s who Evangeline was. A spoiled, willful child of a woman. But for her to carry on like she was his last hope for companionship—and that he should be grateful for her willingness to return to his life? Her nerve was astonishing, even for Evangeline.
    She had no appreciation for what he’d been doing for her all these years. The way he’d watched over her to the best of his abilities and taken care of her financial needs without question, to say nothing about turning a blind eye to her disloyal ways. He could have sent someone to gather proof of her affairs and used it to dissolve their relationship in the eyes of the council, but he hadn’t. He’d clung to the promise