“My arrogance did? Of all things? How does that work?” he asked, brows arched, a little bemused. He almost made a joke about his good looks, or any number of qualities that could have drawn her attention, but he silenced them, focused instead on watching her face, as if he might read the answer from it there without betraying how interested he was in the answer. A smile tugged at his lips. “Appreciate it.” A little too heartfelt, a little too fond, fuck, but it was too late to take back and, well, Luke didn’t regret the sincerity.
His own wine sat in front of him, mostly ignored for a few moments, but the shift in her expression and the shift in tone was reason for him to take a drink, too. “Doubt anyone lives a life how they expect to live it,” he pointed out, an unspoken question at the end. Is this what she imagined? A date at a place they only knew because they had broken into it? Luke didn’t consider romance as something in the cards for him, nor did he consider anyone important to be a permanent fixture in his life, but here she was, sitting in front of him, someone he couldn’t quite imagine living without anymore. She spoke, and he nodded his head in agreement, a little slowly. “I know you are, I know what I’m getting into, and, well, if we’re putting our cards on the table…” He trailed off, head tilted. They had spoken about it before, about his life seemed to be heading on an one way track ending in heartbreak, and he didn’t relish bringing it up. Wouldn’t, in fact, and continued on a different track. “I know what you are, and I know who you are. My double life is a lot less eventful than yours, but I’ve got one. Feels fake. Both of my lives, actually, none of them feel real. But with you? I feel real with you.” Real, and like someone who was capable of reaching for something he hadn’t ever thought he deserved. It was at once too open, and very freeing to admit that what he felt for her went beyond the casual. Luke drank again, for a moment to think, and then the drink was sat aside, ignored, and his eyes fixed on hers. A boring life with him, and that was more than he thought he’d ever have. “What do you want? This life, I’m exhausted of it, yeah, but you… I don’t want to decide for you, too. That’s not fair, and you deserve to have a choice.”
“Oh babe...” Dark hues narrowed in on him as she stared intently at Luke. There was actually a lot of things she liked...if not loved about him. While she was known for not having a heart, he only saw the side of her that was only reserved for him. “If it helps I have a list of things about you, but that should be spoken behind closed doors.” It’s not that she’s shy about it, it was more so something that was personal and not fit for the setting. And so, she smiled at his appreciation and nodded, “Anytime.” Swirling her glass around, she eyed the crimson liquid and listened. He had a point, while many had expectations of what they want, it was obvious too that things sometimes don’t go their way. It’s why the saying goes: expect the unexpected and their relationship was just that. She didn’t come to Lethe to find love or a companion, she came here on an agenda, a lengthy kill list and a means for more fortune. However, she was beginning to think differently all cause of the man before her and the certain relationships she’d built from Ruslan to Reyna and Dru.
“Real.” she repeated softly as she looked away. Placing her glass down, she sat up straight and clasped her hands together before resting them on the table. The more he spoke, the more Emira’s lips widened as she finally let out a genuine smile and fixating her gaze on him. “I don’t know what I want.” she finally admitted. “Being a part of this coven and an assassin...it’s all I know. Although Ruslan keeps telling me I’m more than all this, it’s not something I can stray away from. It’s easier said than done.” She was bound to the coven in more ways than anyone knew, especially when her sire gave her life. “But...” Her voice trailed off as she felt herself relax in his company and it suddenly hit her that for once, she was being completely true and honest to herself when it came to someone else. “I want to have a life with you, even if it means leaving all this behind at some point. I like what we have and I like being with you...For starters you’re hot, but that’s already a given...You make me laugh and underneath your attractive arrogance, you’re absolutely patient with me and you know what to say and do when I’m not myself.” She paused as she realized she was spewing out her feelings for him and so she pressed her lips into a thin line, taking a moment to see if all of this was worth even saying. “If this is what love is, then I love you and I don’t see myself being and feeling like this with anyone else. I honestly wasn’t going to admit all this but...” She picked up her glass and took another sip a she shrugged. “Who knows what tomorrow or the future holds. I might end up getting what’s coming for me...but I truly am grateful to have crossed paths with you in all my immortal years of living. I like how we turned out, so you’re not so bad Sokolov.”