NYX
I couldn't remove my eyes from her as she ate. Rex didn't know just how beautiful she was. That bastard fiancé of hers must be blind and stupid to cheat on someone like her. What exactly was he looking for that she didn't have? She had the brain, the beauty, and even the body. If she could hold my attention like this, she was something.
'Bloody vampire,' she cursed me in her mind. 'Why must you stare? You would have thought he hadn't seen a woman in his life.'
I smiled at that.
I love listening to her thoughts. It was just fresh and unhinged. Most of the time, she forgot that I could hear her thoughts and just thought about whatever she wanted.
I took a sip of my coffee so that I wouldn't comment on her thoughts. She hated it whenever I listened to her, even though she was the one who was practically broadcasting everything.
After breakfast, the maids cleared the table, and we left for my office.
When we got to the car, she looked around with a frown. "Where's the driver?"
"Driver?" I frowned. "I'm driving."
She blinked. "Wait, you can drive?" She asked, awed at the realisation. Her eyes were wide, as if the mere thought of me riding a car was incomprehensible.
"Why? Do you think all I could do was run?" I raised a brow, amused at her curiosity. There was just so much she didn't know about me.
Wait until she realises I don't sleep in coffins unless I need to sleep for a long time. And by a long time, I meant years. And then the sun-and-garlic part? Movies just fed lies to the humans, who gobbled it up greedily.
"So, you don't get scorched by the sun?"
"Isn't that an obvious question?" I looked up at the sun. "I'm still standing, right? I've not melted or turned to glitter." I opened the door for her.
"So, all those were myths?"
"Now you know." I closed the door the moment she got into the car and walked around to the driver's side. I got in and started putting on my seatbelt as she did the same.
"There is just so much we don't know about vampires," she murmured.
"You can write a book about us, then," I suggested, as I started the car. "I can provide you with accurate information about my species, and you write it down. We can share the revenue generated from it 70/30."
She raised a brow. "70/30? Who takes the 70?"
"Me, of course. I brought the idea."
"And?" She frowned. "I'll be the one writing it! I get to take the highest. All you did was bring the idea. If I write it, I'll take the 70, and you take the 30."
I shook my head. "That's not how it works, Bǎobèi. As the one who brought the idea, I get to keep the 70 while you keep the 30."
"Oh, that's how it works?" She folded her arms as she narrowed her eyes in that way that made my undead heart do something like a somersault. "Let me guess, you were the one who invented the 'finder's fee' term?"
I lifted my shoulders in a shrug. "I did. I even invented compound interest."
She snorted. It was undignified but adorable, and I wanted to hear it again. "You did not invent compound interest."
"Can you prove I didn't?"
"Can you prove you did?"
I tapped my temple with one finger. "I have the receipts. Mental ones."
She laughed. "You're ridiculous. You know that does count as evidence?"
"It does. It's everlasting evidence," I corrected. "Which brings us back to my very generous 70/30 offer."
"Your highway robbery offer, you mean?" She turned in her seat to face me fully. "How about this: I write the book, you fact-check, and we go 60/40?"
"65/35."
"60/40, and you get to pick the title."
"Deal," I said instantly, maybe too instantly because her eyes narrowed again.
"What was the title going to be?"
"'Sexy Immortal Billionaires: A Comprehensive Guide.'" I kept my face perfectly straight. "Working subtitle: They Don't Sleep in Coffins, But They'll Coffin Your Heart."
She scoffed. "You—no. Absolutely not. We're calling it something respectable and dignified."
I raised a brow. "What about 'The Bloody Truth: Dispelling Myths Through Sarcasm?'"
"Better," she admitted grudgingly. "But still no."
"'Bite Me: A Vampire's Tell-All?'"
"You're enjoying this."
"Immensely." I glanced at her, and our eyes met for just a second before I had to look back at the road. I didn't even know why I was suddenly feeling nervous. "You know, Bǎobèi, most people would be terrified of me by now."
I still didn't understand how she could be so calm with me after everything. She didn't even seem that fazed when I drank her blood. You would have thought she lived with vampires all her life.
Even at that...
All my subjects feared me. I doubt any of them would be comfortable sitting in a car and arguing without me, without being scared of losing their heads.
She smiled. "I guess I'm not like most people." She leaned back in the seat and closed her eyes. "You could say I have seen the worst and decided you weren't that bad." She smiled sadly.
I knew what she was thinking about at the moment, and that made me determined to make sure that bastard Kevin gets what was coming for him.
"Are you really serious about the book?" I asked, changing the topic so she wouldn't be depressed. I liked it more when she was happy.
"Weren't you?" She frowned. "I was serious about it."
I wasn't. I was joking with her. I didn't even know she took it seriously. "Then let's freaking write that book."
I didn't care at that moment if it sold or not. What I knew was I would buy millions of copies and share it with the freaking world to keep a smile on her face.
"Yeah." She smiled. "Let's write that book."