He let the boys run the casino most days.
He accepted the fact that he couldn't go on being the big boss forever.
Besides, any time he had, he wanted to spend with Olivia.
There was definitely something different about her. Something that made him want to care and be there for her. Something that was absolutely entrancing.
He was leaning back against the arm of the couch, one leg outstretched across the cushions with Olivia settled into the space between. They'd had a nice meal and were chatting about various topics of life when James suddenly asked her how long it had been since she'd been to the beach.
"Oh… goodness." She tried to think back but couldn't really recall. "It's been a long while. What makes you ask?"
"I have some down time now. I thought having a nice weekend by the sea would be just what we both need. Get away for a while. What do you think?"
She hesitated, looking down at their intertwined fingers resting on her thigh. "I don't know…"
He pouted. "Why not?"
"Well for one thing, my figure isn't what it used to be. I don't really think I should be prancing around on anybody's beach."
"Maybe it isn't what it used to be, but I happen to love the way you look now. I don't think you should be shy. You're beautiful."
She snorted and he put his fingers under her chin, gently turning her face to look at him.
"You are. And if I have to tell you every hour of every day until you believe me, I will." He kissed her gently. "And then I'll tell you every day after that… for as long as you'll have me."
"That's an awfully long time," she smiled.
"I should hope so," he grinned. He ducked his head to kiss her again. "Besides, I've already pictured you in a swimsuit, lying in the comfortable shade of an umbrella while I kiss every inch of you I can reach." He bit his lip. "You wouldn't want to dash my hopes, would you?"
She chuckled. "Incorrigible."
He laughed softly and wrapped his arms tighter around her.
"I still don't think the other beach goers would particularly care to see an old lady in a swimming costume, but… I'll think about it."
"Oh, please. You're not that old."
She smiled a sad smile and leaned her head against his shoulder.
"Dear boy… I'm older than you could ever hope to be."
"Oi… I'm not that reckless." He chuckled. "I'm careful… some of the time…"
She raised an eyebrow and gave a small snort.
He laughed softly. "Alright, fine. I get a little carried away from time to time. But with no family, I never really had a reason to be cautious. I didn't have you…" he stroked the back of her hand with his thumb. "But I do now. So I promise… from now on, I will do my very best to come home to you."
"In one piece, please," she said with a smirk. She'd seen some of the older scars from bullets and knives, and a few that looked recent. Too recent for her liking.
He giggled. "Alright. I think I can manage that. And then once the boys are running things and I'm off duty for good, I just have to make it to what- seventy to beat your record? Challenge accepted." He smirked.
She blinked. "Seventy?"
"What… too high?"
"Not nearly high enough…" she answered quietly. He felt her tense and rubbed her shoulder to relax her.
"What then? Or is your way of telling me I'm not supposed to ask a lady her age?" he chuckled.
"James…" she started slowly. "How old do you think I am? Honestly."
"Well seventy was my guess… but erm… seventy-five then?"
"Not quite…" she sat up and stood uneasily. She began to pace the floor, fidgeting with her fingers and muttering something to herself that he couldn't quite make out.
He sat up, frowning as he watched her, wondering why she was suddenly so nervous.
"Seventy-eight."
"Keep going…" she prompted in a shaky whisper.
"You can't be more than eighty."
She stopped in the middle of the floor, turning to face him.
"How much would it bother you if I said I was?"
He gawped for a moment before shaking his head. "I… I don't know. I don't think it would matter. I've told you before, the age difference doesn't bother me. I fell in love with you for the person you are inside. It's just a number. It doesn't matter." He stood and walked over to her, taking her hands in his, trying his best to calm her but it seemed the closer he got to her, the more nervous she got. "Olli, you're worrying me. What's wrong?"
"I was afraid this would happen…" she whispered.
A tear ran down her cheek and he wiped it away with his thumb.
"Please don't cry… just tell me what's bothering you." He thought for a second. "If it's about whatever makes you cry sometimes, it'll be alright. We'll fix it, whatever it is."
He tried to pull her closer but she resisted, pushing against his chest.
"No… don't. Believe me, you won't want to after I say what I have to say."
His confusion grew. She'd never pushed him away before. Just the opposite. She loved being in his arms.
"What's wrong? Talk to me."
"I…" she took a deep breath and closed her eyes, causing more tears to slip down her cheeks. "I'm not who… what you think I am."
"What are you talking about?"
She couldn't help the quiet sob that left her lips. "Please just try to remember that it was never my intention to hurt you. I meant every word of love I've ever said to you."
"Olivia… please tell me what you're on about. You're really worrying me now."
She looked into his eyes and gently cupped his face. She pulled him down gently and more tears ran down her cheeks as she kissed him for what would most likely be the last time.
She pulled away and shakily inhaled, leaning her forehead against his for a moment.
"Olli…"
She looked into his eyes and slowly backed away from him.
"I'm sorry," she whispered. "I'm so sorry."
He watched in confusion as she backed away, toward the large french windows, the wine colored curtains blowing gently about her as the breeze drifted through.
He noticed the breeze seemed to pick up just slightly and before he could ask what was happening, his jaw dropped at the sight in front of him.
The moonlight seemed to flood into the room, surrounding her in an ethereal glow. Her hair almost gave off light of its own as the gentle beams illuminated it. And her face…
He let out a shaky breath as he saw the changes begin.
Her ears pointed just slightly and her eyes shone an icy blue, even brighter than usual. But they were different somehow… sharper. Piercing. They almost seemed to glow.
He watched in awe as her very clothing began to transform itself.
The gray sweater she'd been wearing thinned out as the woolen fabric transformed into pure silk, clinging to her torso to form a fitted bodice; corseted from the look of it. He looked down and saw her trousers were no longer there either, but in their place was a floor length skirt in the same silvery gray. A black, beaded choker appeared around her neck, very intricately put together with multiple strands of beads and small metal pieces with inlaid jewels.
The glow that surrounded her slowly faded away, the breeze subsided, and the curtains fluttered down once more to hang peacefully by the large double doors.
She looked up to meet his eyes, their piercing blue color not doing anything to assuage his fear.
"Please don't be frightened of me… I'm still me… I'm just-"
"Just what?" he asked, a harsh edge to his voice. He backed away several feet. "What the hell are you?!"
"A… vampire," she admitted softly.
He let out a harsh breath as if he'd been kicked in the stomach. He leaned against the back of the couch for support as his legs suddenly felt very weak. He knew there was something different about her, but… he never guessed…
He just stood staring at her for a moment, shaking his head.
"This isn't real. It can't be. Tell me this is a joke."
She looked at him, shaking her head slowly. "I'm afraid not. I did want to tell you before, it's just that…"
"So what is this? Is this your big reveal before you kill me or something?"
His hands shook with a combination of anger and fear.
"No! I could never harm you! You must know that."
"Why not just get it over with? Why the theatrics? I would have preferred to die in the knowledge that, out of everything, at the very least my relationship wasn't a con."
"It wasn't!" she protested. She took a step closer, wanting nothing more than to be in his arms again, assuring him that everything would be alright. But she knew it wouldn't. Not this time.
"Oh no? Then would you care to tell me what the fuck we've been doing here? You wanna tell me where the woman I fell in love with went? You… I don't even know what you are! You're a fucking- a vampire?! You're something out of a fucking science fiction novel, for Christ sake! And you somehow didn't think that would be an important piece of information?!"
"I wanted to tell you so many times…"
"Then why didn't you?! Why did you lie?"
Her lip trembled as she tried not to cry. "Because I knew you'd react this way."
He scoffed. "As opposed to what, might I ask? I just… find out my girlfriend's a mythical creature and we just go back to watching evening telly like nothing happened and everything's normal?! You lied to me! You let me believe I was in love with someone who… god, I don't even know if you're real or not!"
He pushed away from the couch and began pacing the floor, no longer so concerned about her killing him. Rage had completely taken over his brain and she knew it. They stayed silent for a few moments, the only sounds in the room being his shaky breathing and the sound of his shoes pacing the wood flooring. Tears slipped down her cheeks unbidden and she took a deep breath, trying one last ditch effort to explain her actions.
"I never wanted to lie. I wanted to tell you every day. But I've never felt like this with anyone in all my years. I just… I didn't want that to be taken away."
He kept pacing the floor but remained silent, allowing her to continue.
"Maybe it was selfish of me, but I can't change the past. I'm sorry I lied to you. I kept it from you because I didn't want to break your heart… or mine. But this doesn't change my feelings for you. I've always loved you and I always will. Beneath all this, I'm still the person you fell in love with. I'm just not exactly… normal." She sighed. "But it was foolish of me to think this could end other way. I don't really know what else I can say other than I'm sorry and I… I shouldn't have wasted your time."
He turned to face her. "Wasted my time? Do you realize how long I've been waiting for someone like you? I was actually trying to find the balls to ask you to marry me! Glad I held off on that one…" he scoffed and resumed his pacing.
She stood in shock at his confession. She didn't doubt he loved her but… marriage? She never thought he would make that big of a commitment.
He huffed and paced for another few seconds. "It was all a lie. Everything… you lied to me."
"I had no choice."
"You had a choice! You bloody well did. You could have chosen to tell me the truth! Maybe I wasn't the most moral person in the world. Maybe I should have taken more time away from the guns to spend with you, but I think I deserved a bit more than this! I thought the whole point of this was that out of everyone, at the very least we weren't conning each other. I deserved to know the truth about something like that!"
He turned on his heel and walked over to the mini bar to pour himself a large scotch.
She stayed silent for a few seconds.
"Would you honestly have given us a chance if you did?"
He stopped and fell silent. He gently put the glass back down onto the table and let out a trembling breath.
His back was turned to her now, but he could hear her shoes on the hardwood floor as she took a few steps closer to him.
"Can you honestly stand there and tell me that you would have been able to look past it? This… monster that you think I am. Could you really have looked past it all to find it in your heart to love me… to give us a fighting chance… knowing what I was?"
He said nothing, just hung his head and ran a hand over his face.
"I didn't want to lie, but if I'd told you the truth from the beginning, you wouldn't have bothered to ring back that day. You'd have either thought I was a mad old spinster woman or you'd have been so frightened of me you wouldn't have let me near you. I don't usually allow myself to fall in love with humans for that very reason, but… when I was with you… I felt…" she shrugged, searching for the right words. "…indescribably happy. It's a long, dreary life when you haven't got anyone but yourself. I was tired of going it alone. And then we met and… we got on so well. You made my life feel less empty. I wasn't just aimlessly wandering anymore. I had a purpose. And I know you felt that with me too. I couldn't stand to lose you that early on without ever finding out what might have become of us. So I thought it was best that I kept the other side of me hidden. Not forever. Just until I trusted you enough to show you… until you trusted me enough to know that I'd never harm you."
He shifted in his stance, but still didn't speak. His lip quivered, even as his grip around the tumbler tightened.
"The one thing I never lied about was my feelings for you. Whether or not you choose to believe it, I do love you. And I am sorry it had to end this way. It would be foolish of me to ask forgiveness, so I won't bother. My only hope is that you find someone who makes you as happy as you've made me."
He stayed silent, still not able to bring himself to look at her. He closed his eyes and leaned his head against the wall, part of him hoping that this would have all been a dream.
"I'll never forget our time together."
He could hear her footsteps again, retreating toward the windows again.
Her voice broke as she whispered a final "Goodbye."
He felt the breeze through the french windows pick up again, the curtains whipping in the wind.
Then nothing.
Just silence.
He chanced a glance over his shoulder.
She was gone.
He turned around, the tumbler still grasped tightly though his fingers quivered. He slowly moved into the place where she had been and stood on the balcony, looking out into the night sky.
There was no sign of her anywhere.
The moonlight seemed to wrap itself around him, surrounding him in a glow. One last hug.
The tumbler crashed to the floor, the amber liquid pooling around the shattered pieces.
He sank to the ground with a quiet sob of her name as he realized that he was, once more, alone.