CHAPTER ONE | Present Time

CHAPTER ONE

Present Time

VINCENT MORETTI LEANED against the edge of the window and stared across the castle grounds. It looked like it could snow, but it rarely snowed in Rome. And certainly not in early December.

December.

It was the topic of discussion going on behind him which he was trying to ignore, because for fuck’s sakes, vampires weren’t religious and most certainly did not celebrate their traditions, except his brother had gone and mated a damn human, so guess who wanted a fucking Christmas tree?

And not just a tree.

If Willow Moretti had her way, the whole castle would look like goddamn Macy’s in December.

And November.

And October.

Not that he shopped at Macy’s.

“I think it’s a lovely idea,” Kate said.

Groan.

“Especially with baby Moretti due in the coming weeks,” she continued.

Vincent turned to glance at his mate. God, she was gorgeous. On any given day, she was as graceful as all the queens he’d met in his long, eternal life, but she wasn’t just any queen.

She was his.

Vincent had met Kate just before he’d inherited the Moretti throne. Now she sat on one of the red sofas with a belly so round and full she could be Santa Claus.

Not that he would say that out loud; he’d be eaten alive by any number—if not all—of the new females in their family. An extended family. Once upon a time, it had just been his parents, Brayden, and him. Then just the two of them. Now, he had Kate, Brayden had mated Willow, and her Best Friend Forever—or some shit like that—Brianna had mated Craig, the commander of the Royal Army.

Craig was an extension of their family, and one of the biggest males in the race. While Brianna was a tiny little thing, Vincent had soon figured out if the fiery redhead could handle Craig, she was going to have no problem saying a thing or two when she felt there was any injustice at hand.

Even if it meant confronting the king.

Which he totally respected, though would never let on. As king, you had to be a powerful leader. Always. Still, he was never tested more than when these three females got together and decided they wanted something.

Like Christmas.

“Yes! Then we can buy each other gifts and put them under the tree to open on Christmas Day,” Brianna said, cheering Willow on. “It’s the one human tradition I was sad to lose.”

Losing their humanity was a recent occurrence for both new females. Willow had mated with Brayden eight months ago and had fortunately chosen to turn into a vampire. If she hadn’t, who knows what would have happened. Brayden was the most powerful alpha in the race, and going rogue after being rejected by his mate would have been devastating for them all.

Yet, he’d given Willow the choice.

And they all knew why.

Their father, Frances Moretti, had turned their mother before telling her what he was. When Guiliana Moretti had finally forgiven him, Frances had promised her they would depart this world after a thousand years.

It got worse.

They had asked the two princes to take their heads off on the fated anniversary.

It wasn’t Vincent’s favorite day of his life.

But Vincent had one fond memory from that fated day. After they’d watched their parents’ bodies float away under the rising sun, he’d retired to his quarters. Kate had knocked on his door. Even back then, when he’d had no idea she was his mate, Kate had been the one he needed. They had talked for hours, and she had calmed him.

Now, one hundred and thirty years into his reign and despite her allegiance with these cunning former human females, Kate was the only one he could let his guard down around. His mate. It’s true he was extremely close with his brother, but even around Brayden he was still a king and leader. With Kate, he could just be a male.

“See? It’s a great idea,” Willow announced. “I’ll order the decorations.”

Vincent groaned and ran a hand across his chin.

He heard his father’s words in his ears: Pick your battles, son.

Vincent looked over at Brayden, who was sitting on the arm of a chair rubbing an invisible stain off his pants. His eyes darted to the other side of the room where Craig leaned against a pillar and appeared to be having a manicure emergency by the way he was focusing on his fingernails.

Pussies.

So it was up to him, then.

Vincent walked over and poked at the roaring fire as the three females continued making plans to turn his castle into a winter fucking wonderland.

“Vincent. What do you think, darling?” Kate asked.

I think I’d rather poke my eyes out than wander the halls of my castle draped in stupid glittery balls.

“Compulsory mistletoe on all the doorways,” Brianna cheered.

Craig looked up. “No,” he growled.

All three females rolled their eyes.

“No one is going to try to kiss me, babe. They all know they’d lose a limb.”

Craig smirked. “Good.”

Vincent laughed.

“Bray?” Willow asked.

The prince crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes.

Vincent didn’t envy the guy.

While all three of their mates were strong-minded, Willow was the most dominant and demanding. And it was because of that the two had mated. No wallflower could mate with such a powerful male.

“It’s Vincent’s decision,” Brayden said. “If he approves it, then the decorations cannot interfere with security, so you’ll need to work with one of Craig’s guys.”

Vincent wasn’t surprised his brother had deferred to him. It was why they were such an effective team; Brayden had no desire to be king and respected his authority. Or in this instance, needed someone to pass the buck.

“No, totally. We can do that, right, Bri?” Willow asked.

“Oh, for sure. We’ll just need to get those smaller reindeer family displays for outside. You know the one, Willow, with—”

Wait, what?

“Wait a fucking minute!” Vincent finally snapped. “ If I approve this, and I’m not saying I will, there will be boundaries on top of the security rules Bray has rightly mentioned.”

When everyone just stared at him like he was that fucking Scrooge duck guy, he lifted a finger into the air. “One,” he began, not giving a shit about their pouty faces. “This isn’t Disney-fucking-land. If you want to put a decorated tree in the foyer or in one of our family living areas, that’s fine. Do gifts or whatever. But I’m not having this placed decked out like an amusement park.”

Craig nodded his agreement.

Brianna opened her mouth, thought about it, then closed her lips.

Willow...not so much.

“I mean, that would look naff.”

Vincent’s eyes narrowed. “Naff?”

“Yeah, like some random tree shoved in a room. There needs to be a theme,” she stated.

“Not really,” Vincent replied, lifting a brow.

The two of them began a stare off.

“Okay,” Brayden interrupted. He was fast becoming an expert in breaking up debates between Willow and him. “Let’s see what the females propose and then we can review it. How about that?”

By the look of all the fish mouthing and eye darting, Vincent figured the females weren’t on board with his idea.

“Christmas is now,” Brianna restated, pointing out the obvious. As if they couldn’t tell by her seasonal sweater. Vincent would put money on Craig not complaining about the tight, short, red number, even if it had weird Santa hat patterns on it.

“We need to get decorating now ,” she complained.

“I’m sure we’ll all survive without tinsel,” Vincent said, rolling his eyes.

“Alright!” Kate spoke firmly, attempting to stand up abruptly and losing her balance. She was weeks away from her due date and moving around was difficult. All of them rushed to assist, but Willow reached her first.

Kate pointed a finger at him. “You. Don’t be rude. We’re celebrating the holidays for the girls. End of story. We will decorate, but ladies, please ensure security is not compromised.”

He would never admit it to anyone, but Vincent loved it when Kate got all queenly.

Fuck, it was sexy.

His eyes burned, and he adjusted his pants as she walked toward him.

“Now, if everyone doesn’t mind, I am going to lie down.” Kate planted a kiss on his lips, and he grinned. “Play nice,” she whispered.

He grinned wider.

“I’ll be in to see you later,” Vincent said, his hand on her hip and wishing there was no one in the room so he could lift her dress, spread her legs, and hear her scream his name.

Again.

Earlier in the day, he’d had her legs wrapped around his head while he pleasured them both. Pregnancy, it turned out, was quite the aphrodisiac.

“So no reindeer?” he heard Brianna ask as his eyes followed Kate as she walked out of the room. From behind, her long blonde hair flowed down her back in waves. Aside from the way she now walked, you could hardly tell she was pregnant; that is, until she turned, then there was no guessing.

The castle was abuzz with baby talk and staff taking bets on whether it would be a boy or a girl. A new prince or princess being born was a big deal. Despite Willow becoming a princess when she mated Brayden, there had never been a pureblood Moretti princess in history.

Vincent was excited, but recently, he’d been having private freak-outs about becoming a father. Frances Moretti had been an incredible father to him and the prince, so he had no reason to question his ability, but it was still a big deal. He may be a king, but he wasn’t a perfect male.

The world they were bringing their child into was a changed one. Now, humans knew about them. Or they had, until they’d taken a page from the human playbook and spun PR like a pro, influencing the masses on social media—aka manipulating them—to believe the breaking news was fake news.

It had worked well so far.

However, the proof provided to the US president, where the leak had happened, had been enough to force Vincent to face the situation head-on and speak with President Adler. Together, along with dozens of world leaders or their representatives, they had formed a top-secret global operation called Operation Daylight. It provided a confidential space for them to share information about their race with high-level officials so they could eventually integrate the knowledge of their existence into the human psyche without everyone losing the damn plot, or in other words, freaking the fuck out and creating a war between the two races.

No one wanted that. Not the Moretti royal family nor the world leaders.

So yeah, Vincent had a few things on his plate; become a father, keep his race safe, and decide what to do with the rebels in the Moretti prison—especially the leader, Stefano Russo—the latter of which, he’d decided, could wait until after the baby was born. That asshole wasn’t going anywhere.

So if these females wanted a few Christmas trees, they could have them. Maybe this was the reprieve he was looking for. Something about taking lives, even of those who had wronged him and their race, didn’t feel right when they were bringing a new life into the world.

Vincent would do what was needed. But not in the same breath.

He wanted to separate the two things as far as he damn well could. Shedding blood when his son or daughter was about to be born seemed...revolting.

So, it looked like the Morettis were having their first Vampire Christmas.

“Oh, there will be reindeer,” Willow replied, nodding.

Like fuck.