Free The Plume: The Second Anthology by Ella Ardent

glittering.
“Well, I didn’t calm him down. He’s furious. How was I supposed to
know that they knew each other?”
    “She did say as much.” The Count’s tone was
neutral which just annoyed Athena all over again.
    “Everyone lies in this place! It’s part of
the game for many of them. How was I supposed to know that she was
trying to manipulate him?” She took another swig of champagne,
barely tasting it. “Why does everything with Rex have to be so
complicated?”
    The Count raised his eyebrows. “Because Rex
adores control, even more than you do. I thought you’d have
realized that by now.”
    “Why? Because we’re partners? That doesn’t
mean I can read his mind.”
    “You’ve been more than business partners.
That intimacy might have given you more insight into his
character.”
    “You can’t have expected otherwise when you
sent him to me. Rex is sexy. Of course we became
intimate.”
    “Sex is one thing. I didn’t think you’d be so
foolish as to fall in love with him.”
    “You just don’t like him.”
    “I find him difficult. Principled, competent,
but difficult.”
    “It sounds as if you resent the relationship
I’ve had with Rex.”
    He gave her a look of pity. “It sounds as if
you’re in love with a man who doesn’t love you in return.” He
sipped, his gaze locked upon her. “Rex doesn’t love anybody except
himself. Haven’t you realized that? He only loves his creations
because they mirror himself.”
    “He didn’t create me...”
    The Count leaned closer. “I know that and you
know that, but I doubt that Rex knows that.”
    Athena put down her glass. “I wouldn’t even
know Rex if it wasn’t for you. You can’t resent our relationship
when you sent him to me.”
    The Count sipped his champagne, apparently
unruffled. “True. That would be unreasonable.” He flicked her a
look. “Unless, of course, I felt protective of you.”
    Athena laughed. “That’s just as unreasonable
a suggestion. I know you don’t care about me.”
    His eyes narrowed, but he said nothing.
    “Why did you send Rex to me,
then?”
    “Because you needed help with your
inheritance, and your grandmother had forbidden me to see you any
more. I couldn’t do it, you didn’t know where to look for help, so
I found someone else to help you.” The Count was bitter, to
Athena’s surprise, and there was a rare heat in his words. “You
probably didn’t even think you needed help.”
    Athena didn’t answer that because it was
true. All the same, she wasn’t fooled by the Count’s assertion. “I
don’t believe you were afraid of my grandmother, not matter how
opinionated she was in real life.” She picked up her glass again.
“You’ve never listened to anyone, living or dead.”
    The Count’s eyes flashed. “I’m glad you have
everything worked out so clearly.” He drained his glass and set it
down, hard. “If you’ll excuse me, I’ll just leave you to cry over
Rex.” He pivoted and marched down the hall to the bar, his heels
loud on the tile.
    Athena blinked. It was as if she’d hurt his
feelings. All these years, she’d been sure the Count didn’t even
have feelings.
    Had he really tried to take care of her, when
she’d thought he was just getting rid of her? What had her
grandmother said to him? Athena finished her champagne, considering
that maybe things weren’t quite the way she’d always thought they
were.
    She locked up and went looking for the Count,
but he was nowhere to be found. Amanda said he’d left the Plume,
but Rafe said he hadn’t called for a limo. The Count didn’t answer
his cell phone or his hotel room phone.
    It was as if he’d disappeared into the
ether.
    Again.
    She tried to contact him all that day and
into the next, with no success.
    The Count didn’t come back to the Plume.
    Athena had wanted to get rid of him ever
since his arrival, so she wasn’t amused to find herself missing the
Count one more time.
    Not when she’d sworn she’d never do