don’t have to worry about the sun. It’s a myth, more of the misinformation out there. But no amount of sun will tan our alabaster skin. The babies have their own furniture shaded by huge umbrellas and guarded by Hades the incarnation of Peter Pan’s Nanna. The yacht doesn’t have a pool on board but when we dock in warmer waters we will take advantage of the swimming.
“Everyone in our room just now, proves our earlier conversation, ma petite,” Sebastian whispers.
“I know, I was thinking the same thing. Let’s talk about it later,” I say glancing at Helena who is staring at us intently.
It will break her heart if we move out. Raising Liam and Andrew will help. They are so newly bitten that they take a lot of care and time. If Bast and I could find a place across the street or next door, it would truly be perfect. The Blvediks’ home would be my choice. It has an indoor pool and is authentically Art Deco Style, my favorite. The mansion we share with our family is Italian Baroque and beautiful but Art Deco is more me. It is also smaller, which is perfect for Sebastian and me. The Blvediks are an old couple and don’t have any children. We might be able to talk them into selling for the right price. I am going to keep my fingers crossed.
I look over and smile at Sebastian and he takes my hand. He looks like he has been doing some calculating in his own head.
I whisper, “The Blvediks’?”
His chiseled face softens into a grin and he nods. He must be thinking the same thing I am. Excellent.
“I am going to call my lawyer at the next port, cherie,” he whispers back.
I smile and then sigh, laying back against my chair to relax in the sunlight. I feel like a huge weight has been taken off my shoulders. I didn’t realize how much this has been bothering me.
So many of our plans, and our life, have been in limbo as we follow Manda’s trail. Other than the wedding plans – which have been mostly subterfuge – thoughts of moving are the first time I’ve really considered our future life together. Someday. I feel the fury at Zoe’s cruelty flare to full flame. I know Hannah and I have to tell Aidan about the vamp fights soon. I’m not sure how to approach it. Maybe at the wedding. It will give me a chance to question King Basilio. I’m not sure he’ll talk to me but I have nothing to lose by trying.
Helena gives us that look again. With our heightened senses, she can probably hear everything Sebastian and I just said. She is definitely sharp enough to put it all together. I feel like a bug under a magnifying glass. She stares. Finally, she comes over to us.
“Both of you come with me. Now, please,” she says.
Sebastian and I look at each other. Helena never talks like this unless she is upset. She leads us along the deck, the farthest we can go without alerting everyone else. This way we can talk and they can’t hear us.
“I’ll have a martini, a strawberry daiquiri for her and a cognac for the gentleman, please,” Helena tells the bartender.
We sit down at the bar and Sebastian takes my hand. Helena waits until we get our drinks. The suspense is killing me.
“Well, I knew it would happen one day. I have to admit, it is getting to be a tight squeeze at home,” she says, with a sigh.
“You’re not sad?” I ask.
“Of course I am. But not as broken hearted as you might think. You are thinking of the Blvediks’ house?”
“Yes,” we both answer.
“You won’t be able to buy it. They don’t own it and the owner won’t sell it to you.”
“Why not? Who owns it? I am sure with enough money we can negotiate something?” Sebastian says.
“Nope.”
Helena takes a drink of her martini and grins mischievously at us.
“I bought the house sixty-five years ago just