I don't know why I was so surprised that he left. For him to stay would have meant something, and that wasn't the case anymore. That is, if it had ever been the case at all. But I didn't like the feeling that came over me when he walked out the door. A sweeping feeling of disgust, as though I'd been whirled back into the late nineteenth century, where men hid me away in their parlors while making love to their wives, then stealing away to take me to bed afterward. I hated that feeling. And it hadn't changed with any amount of time passing.

No, being the other woman wasn't something I enjoyed.

Not even to him.

When the door closed I allowed my eyes to do the same, running a hand up and over my eyes as though to smooth composure back to my face. It worked better than I'd expected, and even the uneasiness his touch had brought about faded into near insignificance as quickly as it had come.

Maybe I wasn't as bad about all of this as I'd feared I was.

Or maybe I was just lying to myself again.

It didn't matter, because now he was gone again. I couldn't even smell him in the room anymore…it was almost as though he'd never been there. But the memory of his touch bruised my skin and the taste of his lips tormented my own…so I knew that wasn't the case. No amount of wishing was going to change that.

I couldn't stay here anymore, and I realized that even more clearly when I reached for my purse. It was easiest to just leave, to leave and go and not come or look back. That was the only way I'd ever get past what I was feeling.

What was I feeling, though? I didn't even know that anymore. I was just too confused.

And I was talking to myself. Which, of course, was a very bad idea.

My purse made a welcome weight on my arm and I closed the door to my room firmly behind me. I didn't look back, because looking back indicated I might actually be coming back…and that wasn't something I'd be able to do anymore. Not after this. He had looked at me differently tonight, and all I had seen in his eyes was a primal desire for something he knew how to satiate elsewhere. Not for me, not for anyone in particular…just for the raw, simplistic thing we all craved, even when we didn't admit it.

I didn't look back at anything else in the mansion as I left. There was, after all, nothing to look back on.

Without a second thought, however, I did make use of one of the cars he kept in abundant supply in the garages outside. After all, I had to get to the Haven somehow, and what better way to be rid of me than through his own car service? I doubted he'd mind, but I hoped he would. It was a small fraction of what he deserved for the way he'd been making me feel.

When did I start blaming him for this? It was easier, I knew that, but when did I really start throwing all the blame onto the image of him I carried in my mind? The first time he looked at her, the voice in my head purred, and for once I could agree with it. I hadn't swayed from him, not then, but now…now I couldn't sit by any longer. I was tired of watching him romance a mortal without looking back.

The Haven filled my vision as I stepped from the car, and I said goodnight to Billy as I walked up the stairs to the entrance. Brief, formal greetings were exchanged and I took a moment to speak a few words to Brianna, who caught me by the arm as I approached the stairs to my office.

"Miss Langtry, Mr. Luna called while you were out." Brianna's voice was hushed, that of a co-conspirator. My eyes widened fractionally with her words, but I gave no indication I was anything other than slightly surprised.

"Did he leave a message?" I asked, tilting my head to regard her.

Brianna shook her head. "No, he only asked if you were in tonight. I told him you were out for the evening…but I didn't say where you'd gone. I didn't think you'd want him to know."

But he had known. Somehow, he'd known where to find me.

Hadn't he?

No. I forced the ridiculous, romantic notion from my mind even as I finished the thought. The idea of Julian somehow knowing where I'd be and then going there…that was the sort of silly prattle young mortal girls indulged in before falling asleep at night. It didn't happen, not in this world, and certainly not in the realm we created between us. Love and romance didn't exist, only sensuality and seduction. And those were actions as devoid of emotion as any other could be. We practiced the masquerades of love…didn't we?

Did we?

"Thank you, Brianna." I forced myself from my thoughts to say goodnight and ascend the stairs, tired of thinking the way I had been. I didn't like it any more then than I had before, and it certainly wasn't accomplishing anything.

Lost in these thoughts momentarily I rested my hand on the door to my office, pushing it open…

…and froze.

The door was unlocked.

Unlocked, when it hadn't been when I left.

Were I to have a heart, I knew it would have been accelerating at a frightening rate. I felt a familiar, heated sensation wash through my body and knew my eyes were likely an unusual shade of their normal color. Fingernails curling into my palm I took a moment to brace myself for whatever might be on the other side of the door. Because I knew I had locked it, the way I did every night, and the only reason for it to be unlocked was if someone else had forced entry inside.

Never mind that no one would ever get past the bouncers and staff to get up these stairs. Never mind that not even Brianna had the audacity to come in here without my personal invitation. Against all of those possible odds, someone had been. I had no idea who, but someone had.

Closing my eyes for a brief instant I braced myself before pushing the door open. My eyes moved swiftly about the room in search of anything that was out of place, anything that had been moved a fraction of an inch.

But there was nothing, and my mind refused to accept it. I didn't understand how my door could have been unlocked when I had locked it myself, and how nothing could be missing when the only purpose of breaking into someone's office would be to take something.

Still not understanding, I made a thorough search of my papers and receipts, continuing to find everything in proper order. Nothing was missing in the office, and a further search of my bedroom revealed the same. No matter how many times I checked the same things, they were still just as I left them. Even the door to my wardrobe stood a crack open as I'd left it, and my perfume bottle was still in its same precise place on my vanity.

Letting myself sink onto my bed I ran a hand through my hair in search of comprehension. It made no sense, but it was exactly as it appeared. And I knew I hadn't forgotten to lock the door, because it was simply something I'd never do.

At the moment, I was too exhausted to think on it any longer. If nothing was missing, then it was all right. I'd just change the locks in the morning and take the master key away from the guard to ensure this didn't happen again. There were more difficult tasks in the world, and I didn't need to make this one worse by obsessing over it.

Satisfied with my conclusion I removed my shoes and stripped away my dress, taking care to put everything in its proper place before pulling my nightgown over my head. The satin was a cool comfort against my skin and I relaxed into the sensation before removing the pins from my hair, allowing it to fall loose around my shoulders.

Clicking the light off at my bedside table I slid beneath the familiar covers, curling beneath them in a way reminiscent of my childhood. In the days of Jersey, as much as I was loath to admit it, things were more simplistic. At least now I could sleep, or rest, or simply push everything on my mind out of it and away.

It could all wait until tomorrow…