Page 35 of Vampire's Breath

I eschewed the tea and placed a Danish on a small plate to take to the table. I cleared my throat as I sat, folding the napkin from the table over my lap, and poured myself a glass of water from the pitcher. “What are you having?” I lifted my chin, wondering what his typical morning meal in this place would be.

He slid into his seat, having followed me back to the table. “A full Irish breakfast. It seemed fitting for the morning.” He gazed off past me as though another thought was on his mind, one he didn’t want to share.

As he finished, Dani walked through the door carrying a tray.

Lorcan moved with measured proficiency, gathering the papers before him and tucking them into a dark leather portfolio on the table. He looked like a man moving from muscle memory, and his being surrounded by what I assumed was work was routine. I glimpsed a Celtic heart topped with antlers and a seal’s head embossed on the front as he closed the folder. It was stunning—and very formal.

“Lorcan,” Dani said as she set a plate with a silver cover in front of Lorcan, followed by a small bowl of butter. She removed the cover to reveal bacon, eggs, two kinds of sausage, tomatoes, and bread.

“Thank you.” He barely glanced at her, his smile focused on the food. He took a large bite of the bread and made a slight sound. “They don’t make soda bread like this in Australia.”

Dani laughed. “They don’t normally make it this way in England either, but you know your brother.”

The blond woman turned to me. “Can I get you anything, Briar?”

My eyes widened as I looked at Lorcan’s plate. There was no way I could eat all that. Not this morning. “Can I have scrambled eggs and toast with avocados, please?”

“Certainly. I’ll be back with that shortly.” She walked from the room, more poised than anyone I had ever seen.

Lorcan’s eyes shot up, and he hastened to swallow another mouthful. “And she wants coffee, Dani. Strong, I suppose.” He laughed as though he had heard something funny.

I tilted my head, not hearing a sound. There was no way he could have heard anything Dani said. She was too far away.

My chest tightened as I thought about this house that Lorcan so obviously belonged in. “Can I ask you a question?”

“Hmm?” He cocked a brow as he took another bite, this time of the dark sausage.

“What are you doing in your little house in Byron Bay if this is what you grew up with?”

The air stilled around us as he pushed his food around his plate, his shoulders tensing. I half expected him to laugh it off and say nothing.

He cleared his throat, tracing random designs on his plate with his fork. The utensil clattered when he dropped it, causing me to jump as it broke the silence.

He paused, grabbing his teacup, the drink absorbing all his focus. He brought it to his lips but hesitated just before he took a sip. “There are things about my family that are not easily explained. And…” He stared at the cup before speaking faster. “Ididn’t grow up here. I grew up in Ireland.” He finished bringing the cup to his lips, his gaze refusing to meet mine.

He had spoken with such finality. Still, I wanted to know more. “Where in Ireland?” I asked, my voice low. I toyed with the silverware in front of me to escape from looking at his subtle frown and glassy eyes.

He pressed his lips together. “I grew up at Dún Na Farraige near Waterford. It is the Irish residence of the Marquess.”

The name rang through the room like it was a mystic place, conjuring images of windswept cliffs and stone walls. It was hard to reconcile the man whose beach home appeared so simple with the one sitting in front of me: a man with roots in such grandeur who fitted into this world without a twinge of unease. “But…”

He set his cup into the saucer and pushed his food plate back from the table’s edge, leaning forward on his folded arms. “My family still owns most of the property that belonged to the Marquess. That is the basis of Dún Na Farraige Estates.” His tone contained a mix of pride and bitterness.

“Wow.” I toyed with my glass, unsure of what else to say. This existence wasn’t what he portrayed back in Australia. The sheer scale of it was staggering—a world so far removed from the quiet, earthy life I imagined for him. And to imagine I didn’t want to take his money for the garden.

His eyes met mine and held them. “Briar, I don’t want you to get the wrong idea. Once we’re done here, I want nothing to do with my family. I’m not a part of this world anymore.” Although his words were firm, he couldn’t quite suppress the sadness in them.

“What world are you a part of?” I asked.

His voice was steady, but his gaze flickered away as though the truth behind his words wasn’t as simple as he made it sound. “My home now is in Byron Bay, and I’m living the life Iwant.” His voice carried the resolve of someone who had chosen freedom over comfort.

Thoughts skittered through my mind, but mostly, I realized he was here for me. He would not have returned here had I not agreed to get on that plane with Cormac. My heart twisted, and I took a deep breath, trying to reconcile the image of Lorcan and his simple life in Byron Bay with the magnificence of his ancestry. But what did I know about his life in Byron Bay? “If your family owns all the Marquess’s properties, what happened to the title of Marquess? Who holds it now?”

Lorcan’s eyes darkened, and he hunched over his plate, studying it intently. His jaw tightened. “That’s not something I want to discuss.”

His tone was clipped, and the walls he’d built around this part of his life became almost palpable. Part of me wanted to retreat, but I needed to know. “Does it have anything to do with Lady Isobel?” I didn’t want to provoke him, but I couldn’t keep the question inside. An inexplicable fear crept up my chest that somehow my ancestor had brought his to ruin with her madness.

“The title of Marquess…” Lorcan’s lips pressed into a thin line, his eyes glued to the door, every muscle in his arms tense.

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