Embrace the Night

Page 131



She pouted prettily. "Do I have to want something? It's been decades since we last met, cara mia. I just wanted to see how you are."

"I'm fine. Go away."

"Don't be rude, Gianni." She walked around the Hall, running her fingertips over the ancient tapestries, pausing at a narrow window to gaze into the courtyard below.

"Why are you here?" she asked without turning around. "Who are you hiding from?" "I'm not hiding from anyone," Gabriel replied. Except Sara. Except myself.
Antonina glanced at him over her shoulder. "You cannot lie to me, Gianni."

She stared deep into his eyes, and even from across the room, he felt the heat, the power, of her gaze. A thousand years she had walked the earth. He knew of no vampire older, or more powerful, than Antonina Insenna.

"Have you fallen in love again, Giovanni? Is that why you have buried yourself in this dreary castle?"

She had always been the most perceptive of women, Gabriel thought bleakly. There was no point in lying to her, yet he could not bring himself to admit the truth.

"When I buried Rosalia, I vowed never to love again," he replied curtly.

"You once loved me," Antonina said. "Remember? Ah, those long summer nights we spent together, cara—"

"Don't call me that!"

Antonina lifted a delicate black brow. "Did she hurt you, Gianni? Is that why you've come here, to lick your wounds?" She moved toward him, her footsteps so light she seemed to float across the floor. "Come out with me, Gianni," she crooned, her dark eyes shining with the lust for blood. "Let us hunt together."

Slowly, Gabriel shook his head. "Go away, Nina," he said wearily. "I don't want you." She drew herself up to her full height, her expression regal, haughty.

"You wanted me once, Giovanni Ognibene. Can you deny that it was good between us?" A knowing smile teased her lips. "I see that you remember the nights we spent together. In all these years, mon amour, Ihave not found another lover to compare with you."

He stared at her, hating her because what she said was true. They had been good together. She had loved him with the passion and strength and endurance that only a vampire could possess. She had been insatiable, hungry for his touch, and he had delighted in it. At the time, he had thought it was because he was a superb lover. He knew now that, even as a mortal, she would have been insatiable, forever lusting for more.

Eager to put some distance between them, he walked to the fireplace and rested his hand on the mantel. "You haven't told me why you're here."