Dominic

Clocksworth sat as usual in the armchair in front of the open fireplace, and I couldn't help but be irritated by the old fossils' rigid routines and enormous egos. Clock and Anthony should retire and let the younger vampires take over. 

 "Is Bel around?" 

 He raised an eyebrow in surprise and glanced back at me, "I thought you were going to relax in Paris for a few days." 

 "How the hell do you relax when you're married to a self-absorbed idiot who thinks he has the whole world in his hands?!" I snapped, throwing the nearest vase against the wall with a crash.  

Clock remained calmly seated in the chair, studying the shards scattered across the floor. "I know you left this life behind for a reason, Nic; Bel has shared some things, and he didn't want to involve you from the start." 

 "But then everything went to hell, and you needed someone who wouldn't hesitate to kill when necessary? Is that it?" I spat, fixing my eyes on him. 

 He slowly rose and took a few steps toward me; after a moment's hesitation, he placed his hands on my shoulders and gave a rather sad smile. "But then everything went to hell," he sighed, "and we need friends we can trust." 

 With a deep sigh, I closed my eyes and leaned my forehead against his to draw in some of the strength he radiated. "All I wanted was to give Magnus his life back, and now I'm married to a damned Prince who wants to take over the whole damn world because he misses his old life."

 "Or because he wants to give it to you?" 

 "Hardly." 

 Clocksworth chuckled and placed a comforting hand on my neck. "The greatest thing in life is love," he teased, but his voice was full of warmth, "and honestly, kid, I've never seen Anthony this happy before." 

 "He's also fucking stubborn," I sighed, sinking down into one of the armchairs to stare into the dancing flames. "Sometimes it feels like he doesn't understand how the modern world works."  

Clock settled back into the armchair and shrugged. "He lived hidden in the castle for many years." 

 "Hidden?" I asked, surprised. "From whom?"

 "He has enemies like everyone else."

 "What kind of enemy?" 

 "Vampires who are older than him," he explained without going into depth about who they were or why they wanted Anthony. 

 "So he's being hunted?" Clock nodded. "Hopefully, they still think he's dead." 

 It struck my heart. "We should have stayed in New Orleans." 

 Clock nodded. "I must admit I'm envious, Nico; you succeeded in something I've tried, several times, to start over and live a normal life." 

 I shook my head and ran my fingers through my hair. "Why didn't say anything?" 

 "Because I didn't want to worry you," a low voice said behind me, and I turned around with a sigh. 

"I told you I didn't want to see you." I muttered sourly, turning back to the flames. 

 "You asked me to leave the room, which I did," he stated dryly, slowly walking toward the decanter of cognac to pour himself a glass. 

 "You chose to live in Paris," I groaned, "and now everyone knows you're back." 

 "That was my plan," he replied with a nod, studying the amber drink in his glass. I hastily got up from the armchair and didn't even notice Conor stepping inside the room to study us. 

"And when the fuck were you going to tell me your plans?" I barked at him. 

 "In du time," he replied coldly, taking no notice of the others in the room. 

 The coldness in him and his total emotional facade made it burn within me. Where was he? The vampire I married, the one who stood before me on our wedding day and assured me I was his everything; who'd sworn that nothing but our happiness meant anything to him.

 "Did you plan to take back France from the beginning?" I whispered, struggling not to smash the rest of the furnishings in the room. 

 "The thought has crossed my mind a couple of times," he admitted. 

 "So you never wanted to stay in New Orleans? You wanted to go home from the start?" 

 "Dominic," he sighed, looking into my eyes, "France is my heritage."

"You're insane," I snapped, pushing him in the chest. "You wouldn't even be alive if it weren't for me, yet you make plans without me!" I stared into his empty eyes with a breaking heart and sorrow in my chest. "You say you love me, but you treat me like I don't know a damn thing. Like you're so damn powerful and can handle everything, but tell me, darling," I said with bitterness seeping into my voice, "what have you accomplished all these years that the rest of us couldn't do without you?"

I heard Clocksworth mutter behind me, and I felt the tension in the room rise. I suspected both he and Conor were ready to step in. But what they didn't know was that Anthony would never hurt me; he loved me. But did I love him?

For the first time since we met, I saw who he really was. I saw the Prince who had captured Belmont and driven Lumiere to madness. I saw the man who forced his best friend to do all his dirty work. I saw the man who couldn't stand to lose and would even sacrifice his greatest love to get what he wanted.

Anthony's eyes narrowed as he stood there, stiff and unmoving, holding my gaze. "I'm here to solve a problem, Dominic," he said coldly, "with or without your help."

I nodded a few times before I tore off my wedding ring and threw it at his chest before leaving the room with shaking legs.

"What happened, Nic?" Belmont's hand gently brushed over my shoulder.

I stood with my back to him in the room I had once lived in. Now it was filled with his and Conor's things, and I immediately felt like the third wheel again.

"I thought I knew him," I muttered, wiping away the tears rolling down my cheeks with my shirt sleeve.

"Everyone changes when they go home. My dad always picked up his old accent when we went back to grandpa's," he babbled on, trying to comfort me.

It helped—not the words, but his presence. "He's found his true self, you mean?" Belmont didn't answer, but I knew he was thinking the same thing. "How could I be so naive?!"

A pair of arms wrapped around my waist, and his chin soon rested on my shoulder. The warmth from his body seeped through the fabric of my clothes, and I leaned back slightly to get a few millimeters closer to him. He felt so familiar, so safe, and so ordinary.

"I don't know; maybe he was himself with you?" he murmured in my ear. "Only you know, what does your heart say?"

I was silent for a while, letting the tears flow down my cheeks. "That I needed someone, and he was there."

"He might still be there, Nic; maybe you shouldn't give up after just one fight?"

Then I heard it—the tone in his voice and how he wished this was the end. I had seen the looks from the very first moment; he feared Anthony. He was terrified in his presence, and it had all been an act from Bel's side. For my sake, because he wanted me to be happy.

"But?" I asked cautiously, looking down. 

 "But I get that you're angry; the whole thing reminds me of Lumiere, and Theo when he left me." He sighed. "But maybe it's just me being bitter." 

 "They're all idiots who've lived alone for far too long," I muttered, turning around to hug him. 

 "Do you think we'll end up the same way?" 

 I shook my head. "We won't live that long, Bel." 

 I felt him stiffen in my arms and gasp, "What the hell, Nic, why are you saying that?" 

 "Because during our years as vampires, we've never had a single calm moment, Bel; it's always war. We have silver-bullet guns aimed at us in every damn corner," I sighed heavily and hugged him tighter. "I don't laugh anymore, Bel." 

 I felt his fingers moving through my hair and how he took a deep breath to inhale its scent, a pleasant shiver spreading through my body as his fingertips brushed my scalp. "I miss listening to Masson's idiotic babbling in the kitchen in the morning, and seeing your sleepy smile when I make scrambled eggs for us," I continued, turning my head slightly so my lips brushed against the skin of his neck. 

 He gasped but showed no signs of wanting me to stop, so I let my lips move a bit higher and kissed the spot beneath his ear that always made him moan; today was no exception. 

 "I miss your laughter," he whispered, letting his hands slip under my shirt. His touch made my whole body react, and I closed my eyes as he suddenly surprised me by quickly pulling off his shirt, and then he yanked off mine almost desperately, pressing himself against me. 

"I miss the time when life wasn't so damn complicated, when everything was about silly things," I continued hoarsely, surprised by his lips kissing away my drying tears along my cheeks. 

 "Hey," he whispered finally, making me open my eyes to look into his. "Take a break from all those thoughts," he said with a smile as he backed me toward the bed in the middle of the room.

 "Belmont," I replied with a hesitant voice, "are you sure that—" but I didn't get to finish before he pushed me down onto the bed and straddled my hips, covering my bare chest with soft kisses. 

 Belmont's eager fingers easily unbuckled my jeans, and I couldn't do anything but stare at him. What the hell was happening? What were we doing? But the little hesitation I felt vanished as soon as his bare body pressed against mine, and I felt just how much he wanted this too. 

 "I've missed you so damn much," he whispered with a smile that made all other thoughts disappear as quickly as they came. I pressed my lips against his in a long, deep kiss that I knew was just the beginning of something we should never have started. But right now, I didn't care about the consequences; I had everything I wanted in this moment. I had Belmont in my arms.