He didn’t look like he thought it was nothing. “What did you think?”
Clearly, he wasn’t going to let it go. I sighed. “It’s so stupid, really. I was on the trail behind my house, and I thought somebody was hiding in the trees, watching me. I heard my name being whispered, or so I thought.”
His flinty stare revealed nothing, and the silence was making me nervous. I was sure I sounded completely crazy.
“I thought I was being chased. Then, I saw a rattlesnake right after and fell off the trail when I panicked. Hence the scratches,” I babbled, tugging down the sides of my skirt. “I got myself so worked up that I was halfway convinced somebody had snuck into the bathroom and drew a smiley face on the mirror after I fell asleep in the tub. Ridiculous, I know.”
His eyes narrowed. “Why didn’t you say something when we spoke? I would have come to your aid.”
“Because it was embarrassing.”
“Oliva, never be embarrassed to ask me for help. At minimum, I could have sent someone to guard your home.”
Easy as pie, like he had guards available at his beck and call. Yet another perk of being obscenely wealthy. I shrugged. “I’m still not sure anyone was actually out there.”
“You’re also not sure there wasn’t,” he countered. He paused, as if considering how to phrase his next statement. “I don’t want to frighten you, Olivia, but have you considered that someone might be stalking you?”
“Who’d want to stalk me?” I asked, and, for the first time, my mind went to Nick. Though he’d been a nuisance on the phone, I hadn’t considered until then that he might have expanded his efforts to accosting me in the flesh. He was undeniably an asshole, but he wouldn’t dothat. Would he?
“You’re aware that a few Dignitary decoys have gone missing, aren’t you? Most recently, Penelope, who I personally met.”
“You knew her?”
“Only through decoying, and I only met her once,” he said, shaking his head. “You may have been told this, but you look like her. You’re far more beautiful, of course, but the resemblance is there.”
“Of course,” I said sassily, trying to lighten the mood.
He wasn’t keen to drop the subject, it seemed. “My point is that it isn’t unheard of for decoys to go missing from Dignitary. My own . . .” He cleared his throat. “I was romantically involved with a decoy many years back, which you might know.”
“I may have heard that, yes.” I didn’t say more, fearing Robert might get angry if I divulged that it was Michael who’d told me.
“Her name was Raquel. We dated for two years before I asked her to be my bride, though I knew from the first night we met that she was the woman I wanted to spend eternity with. Raquel was the only woman who made me remember what it was like to feel human. She was an actress and a free spirit. She loved medespitemy money and immortality, not because of it.”
My old friend jealousy was back. “I see. What happened to her?” Of course, Michael had already told me a little about her disappearance, but I wanted to hear it straight from Robert. “And please tell me to shut it if I’m getting too personal. None of this is my business, I know, and I’d like to avoid upsetting you just to satisfy my own curiosity.”
He waved away my concern. “She vanished the night we got engaged. We were swimming in the ocean, but she left on her own to go ashore and remove a piece of jewelry. When she didn’t return, I began to fear that she had reentered the water without me noticing, that maybe she’d drowned or had been taken by a shark. Humans are so fragile. Virtually everything in nature can kill you.” He paused, his silvery eyes darkening. “However, when I checked the shoreline, there was only a set of wet footprints leading away from the water and none coming back. Nothing was missing, either. Her dress and shoes were where she had left them, and her diamond bracelet sat where she’d taken it off. I never saw her again, and her body was never found. She was just . . . gone.”
My skin broke out in gooseflesh. “That’s awful. I’m so sorry,” I said, placing my hand over his. My pulse quickened when he laced his fingers through mine. “What do you think happened to her?”
“I honestly don’t know. I like to believe she was scared off by my proposal, that she ran away to lead a happier life elsewhere as a mortal. I even hired a private investigator to search for her, to no avail.”
“Seems like you did everything you could,” I said gently. All these years later, and he still wasn’t over her—or at least what had happened. That much was clear.
“There’s more. Prior to her disappearance, Raquel told me that she thought somebody was watching her. She’d also mentioned a couple times that she’d been followed. She tended to be melodramatic, so I dismissed her concerns. I said it wasn’t a wonder she felt watched, with her being an actress.” He hung his head guiltily. “It’s the biggest regret I have, not taking her worries to heart. I’ll never forgive myself for that.”
“There’s no way that you could have known what was going to happen, Robert.”
“I wasn’t a thoughtful man back then, and I’ve been trying to atone for it ever since. I couldn’t bare it if another woman got hurt because of me.”
Could that be why Robert was hesitant to make a move on me, because of what had happened to Raquel? I imagined the subsequent humiliation he’d faced while being accused of her murder hadn’t been fun, either. You’d think he’d have gotten over it by now, but maybe a hundred years, give or take, was a drop in the bucket to someone who was going to live until the end of time. “But you don’t know if it was because of you, do you?”
“I honestly don’t know. I’ve spent years torturing myself over thewhy. Could she have been harmed because of my business tactics? Perhaps. You don’t become as wealthy as I am without making a few enemies along the way. I’m still aggressive with Bramson Enterprises, but back then I was downright merciless.” He looked into my eyes. “Regardless, you can understand my concern for you. Raquel disappeared a long time ago, but that wasn’t the case with Penelope.”
WasI being obtuse about a potential stalker? There’d only been the incident on the trail, the smiley face on the mirror, and a few strange calls, things that could easily be explained by an overactive imagination, an artistic roommate, and telemarketers. And don’t forget Nick, though I couldn’t see why he’d hide some of his stalkerish behavior from me and not all off it. Also, other than bill collectors—though hiding in the bushes to scare me would take an extra-crazy kind of job dedication—I couldn’t think of anyone who’d be after me. I hadn’t told a human soul about my job at Dignitary, so vampires looking to silence me could be ruled out as well.
I asked, “Do you think the decoy disappearances are linked, even though they are so far apart from one another?"
“I’m not sure what I believe, Olivia.” Taking my hand, he added, “But I can be sure about this: I’d be devastated if anything were to happen to you.”
