CHAPTER TEN | Present Time

CHAPTER TEN

Present Time

“I DON’T WANT YOU TO do anything tonight,” Vincent instructed.

He pulled on a jacket and held up a couple of ties, trying to decide on a color. He didn’t really give a fuck, so he tossed one onto the bench, selecting the red one.

It was a powerful choice.

His blue suit was more welcoming than black, but still spoke of strength.

Okay, so perhaps he gave some fucks.

“Once we’ve greeted our guests, I want you to come back here and put your feet up until dinner, alright?”

Vincent watched Kate rub the side of her stomach as she lay among the one hundred and fifty thousand pillows on their enormous bed, or so it felt like when he tried to get into the damn bed each day.

“Vince, do you think this child of ours is going to come early?” Kate asked him for the hundredth time in two days. He was beginning to wonder if she was doing that instinctual mom thing. He doubted she was aware just how many times she’d asked him, so he was now doubling down on the protective mate and daddy thing.

In other words, he wasn’t taking any chances on their safety. The last thing they needed was the queen going into labor while they had a bunch of fucking humans in the castle.

Bray, he telepathed the prince.

Yup.

Make sure Willow stays with Kate tonight.

What’s up?

Just a precaution.

Fuck off. I need more information.

Vincent stared at his reflection in the mirror and rolled his eyes. Although, he was being unfair. Brayden was in charge of the security for the royal family—even though he was a royal himself—and his comment would have sent warning bells through the warrior’s brain.

There is a chance the queen is close to going into labor. Today, next week. I don’t fucking know. I don’t want her alone from now on.

Roger that. Leave it to me.

No doubt all the females would be on a roster within the next ten minutes, and Kate would want to strangle him. She was a very independent female, but that was too bad. The protection of her and their baby was his priority.

Nothing else mattered.

Well, that wasn’t true.

The throne and the protection of the race was always there fighting for first place. It had nearly come between them once, in the beginning, and he would never let that happen again.

Every single day it was a fine line he balanced, but it was worth it. She was worth it.

“Maybe, my love,” he answered. “But we’re prepared. You have bought enough teddy bears and diapers, so we are ready.”

She rolled her eyes at him and laughed. “Get over the bears already.”

“Well, at least they’re not bloody reindeers,” he fake growled.

“You love them.” Kate grinned.

“I do not love them, but I will tolerate them. Just don’t tell that girl.”

“Brianna.”

“I know.” He winked at her.

“I know you know,” she said and laughed.

“Promise me you will rest while I host our guests until dinner,” Vincent requested, leaning over her and propping an arm on the headboard.

Kate gazed up at him, a sexy twinkle in her eye.

“Behave,” he gruffly said with a smirk.

“I will. Honestly, my energy is waning so quickly these days that your wish is granted, my darling.” She accepted his lingering kiss. “Help me to my feet.”

Vincent scooped her up and placed his mate on her feet, kissing her forehead.

TEN MINUTES LATER, Vincent was standing in Santa Central, also known as the entrance to his damn castle, with Kate by his side. Around him were the most powerful warriors of the race: Brayden, Craig, and the SLCs.

He heard the crunch of tires and turned to watch dozens of black bulletproof vehicles drive down the long driveway.

“The eagle has landed,” Craig said.

Vincent glanced at the commander and raised a brow.

“What? I’ve always wanted to say that,” Craig replied, shrugging with a nearly imperceptible smirk.

Brayden snorted.

All of them had comms shoved in their ears, and Vincent could see the others talking to their teams, who were scattered in and around the castle.

Kate moved a tiny inch closer to him, and he casually moved his arm behind her, placing it into the small of her back. Immediately, he sensed her relax. In the last few weeks, her body language had changed. She wanted his protection, his presence, more than ever. They’d never spoken of it directly, but that was the thing when you’d been mated for so long: words weren’t always required. He felt her need, and he wanted to provide for her.

She was his world.

And soon, a little mini vampire would come along and probably steal all their hearts.

Fuck, he really wanted it to be a male.

Having two females running around with a big piece of his heart might be more than he could take. He’d already had nightmares of his little princess falling in love with one of the male warriors and him accidentally beheading him. He’d even woken up grinning.

Yeah, that would just be a nightmare, alright.

Best it be a little male. Another little king.

In truth, he didn’t know of any female Morettis being born in their bloodline. Kate, however, had not come to that realization yet, and when Brayden had nearly opened his big trap one day, he’d quickly shut it for him.

Vincent wasn’t convinced they couldn’t or didn’t, more that it just hadn’t happened, him being an expert in the matter.

So fine, he didn’t actually know, but he was guessing. With such low breeding numbers, he genuinely believed it was possible.

The vehicles pulled in front of them, and members of Operation Daylight began to descend like they were in a movie premier of Men in Black . Secret service guys did their thing as, one by one, some of the most powerful humans on the planet walked into Vincent’s castle.

His home.

Vincent could smell their fear, and so could every vampire around him. However, he respected their courage to be here, and saw it as a testament to the work they’d all done in building trust.

“James.” He shook the president of the United States’s hand. “Welcome. This is my mate, Kate Moretti.”

“Kate. Lovely to see you. We met at the gala last year.”

“Yes, I remember. Lovely to see you again,” Kate greeted, accepting his handshake. “Please, say hello to Marie for me.”

“I will. She sent Christmas wishes.” James smiled.

Vincent had forgotten the charity gala they had attended; last year felt like an eternity ago, after all they had gone through since. He recalled Kate and the First Lady had gotten along very well, as she did with most people she met, which had included many of the First Ladies over the years.

One by one they greeted their guests, who were then directed by Seraphina into a nearby room they had set up for the cocktail hour.

Refreshments were handed out, and everyone made small talk. Vincent watched as nervous human eyes darted around the room. If they were expecting coffins and bats, they would be sorely disappointed. The human and Moretti security teams hovered around the periphery of the room, and he knew, the outside of the castle. He left that to the commander and prince to look after. The guests were his business.

Vincent led Kate to the front of the room after a time, and nodded at the prince. He and Willow made their way to stand beside them.

“Should’ve worn my tiara,” Willow muttered.

“Tonight, sexy.” Brayden grinned, patting her ass.

Vincent glared at them, and they smiled at each other.

Newly mated idiots.

“Welcome to Casa Moretti, Roma ,” he said, his voice reaching all corners of the room. “I will admit, I never envisaged this day. I suspect my father and his father would be shocked to see so many humans standing within our walls.”

Everyone bobbed their heads.

“However, this is an important day for us all. Trust is important, essential , in all relationships. We have much to share with you, and I suspect you will be rather bored with what you learn. There are no spooky bat caves...”

“Ah, that’s Batman,” Brayden muttered.

He ignored the prince. “...or sparkly vampires here.”

A few sniggers broke out.

“Tonight, we have opened our home to you so we can break down the superstitions and horror born from Hollywood about our race, to build a solid platform where we can safely, without worldwide panic and hysteria, become visible to humans.”

Cue the murmurs of agreement and nodding heads.

“I’ve said this to you all before, and I will say it again. We have lived among you since forever. We pose no harm. And just like you, we wish to live our lives, love our families, and thrive.”

He held, for a moment, the eyes of the most notable members in the room.

There was no need to remind them they were surrounded by predators. Deep within their human nature was the animalistic knowledge of who was the deadliest. And it was that which made Vincent the most nervous. Humans were physically inferior to vampires. It was his job to make sure none of them felt threatened so they didn’t take any actions that would harm his race.

Time was something not on his side. Time would allow humans to plan and organize to eradicate them, unless he was smart and made this work. He had to. All they wanted was, as he’d said, to continue living in harmony will all the species on this planet. Now that some humans knew about them, it was going to be a complex and long journey to ensure his race could do that.

Or war.

And he really fucking didn’t want that. Not with his child coming into the world.

“I’ve introduced you to my mate, Kate. Now, let me introduce you to the prince, Brayden Moretti, and his mate, Willow. Our first princess. Although”—he glanced at Kate’s bump—“there could be another one very soon.”

Short polite laughs filled the room.

None of these men gave a shit about his unborn child, this wasn’t a baby shower, but Vincent was nothing if not a strategist. He wanted them to see they were a family, with partners and brothers and babies. Just like them.

“Brayden is captain of the Royal Army and will be leading your tour today.”

Heads nodded as he watched them take in the enormous vampire beside him. At six foot four, Brayden was the biggest vampire in the race. Craig was an inch shorter and slightly broader, but there was no doubting Brayden’s one hundred percent alpha status.

That, and he held within him the Moretti blood.

“Welcome to our humble abode.” Brayden grinned.

Vincent wasn’t fooled by the prince’s charming approach. He could crush every single one of these humans with his bare hands on his own, but he was a Moretti, and it was his job, and in his blood, to protect their race.

“We’ve collaborated with your security teams to ensure your safe arrival, but now that you are within the walls of the castle, there is limited access. I can appreciate how uncomfortable that may be for some of you, but you have both the king’s and my assurances that your safety is a priority for us.”

Vincent nodded to his guests to emphasize the prince’s point because he was right. Anything less than their safe departure from the property would be unacceptable.

“Please follow my team’s instructions and directions, and stay on the tour trail. You don’t want to”—he cleared his throat—“bump into a wandering vampire.”

Vincent’s eyes darted to Craig, who was rubbing his cheek, doing a crap job at hiding his smirk.

Goddamn idiots. They were trying to scare the fucking humans.

“Stick to the tour and everything will be...dandy.”

“And you won’t get lost. This place is huge!” Willow interjected, grinning, and received a few sniggers for her efforts.

Thank you, Willow. Words he never thought he’d think.

“The princess is right; this is a large property,” Vincent said, moving to wrap up the speeches. “We’ll finish the tour with a grand dinner and have you back in your hotels by two in the morning. Let’s begin, shall we?”

He clapped his hands together and people began to shuffle about. He shot Brayden a what look, and received a what look in return.

With a hand in the small of Kate’s back, he led her toward the entrance.

The guests were being handed flyers and split into separate groups. One by one, they headed out and began their tour.

Willow seemed to be thriving in her princess role, chatting with some of the most powerful people on Earth. Brayden would be keeping an eye on her despite the fact she was now a vampire. No male liked their mate being close to other men, regardless of how insane their logic was.

Kate leaned into him, and he pressed his hand into her back.

They were keeping things simple tonight. They’d view the primary areas of the castle, including the living areas, the kitchen, and their training areas. The entire purpose was to show them vampires were just as normal as humans, who ate, slept, watched crap TV, and lifted weights—albeit much fucking heavier and reinforced—just like they did.

Hell, they even took a crap, just like humans. That was not in the tour.

At the end, they would show them a twenty-minute video on the history of the Moretti family, (some of) their properties and assets, the structure of the Royal Army, and the rebellion. Vincent couldn’t be with all the teams, but he would be on hand for the video presentation and questions afterward.

Vincent moved Kate into his arms and kissed her forehead. “Let’s get you back to the royal wing.”

“Brianna is going to stay with the queen,” Craig informed him, stepping over to them and tilting his head toward the crowd. “Willow wanted to do the princess thing.”

Vincent glanced at Kate once more, and she nodded at him. Her easy agreement to the babysitting arrangement spoke volumes. One look at Craig and his intense stare at the queen told him the big guy was also concerned. They locked eyes and no words were required. They were both on high alert.

“I’m here!” came the bright voice of the redhead. “Come on, mama. I’m taking you up to rest. Hi and bye, sexy vampire.”

Craig scooped his mate around the waist and planted a kiss on her lips. “Take care of the queen.”

“I will,” Brianna replied, patting the big guy’s pecs.

Those two needed a permanent room.

“I want to know immediately if something happens, understand?” Vincent softly told the queen. She nodded and lifted her head for his kiss, which he delivered. Then Vincent watched as the two females slipped out the rear door.

“Bri will let us know if anything happens,” Craig reassured him, reading his mind. “Immediately. For now, let’s get this over with.”

“Thank you,” Vincent said, slapping the big vampire on the back and leading them out of the room.

Any moment now, he would be a father.

Fucking hell.