Chapter 1 #2
He cut me a quick glance. “Only if they’re where they’re not supposed to be.”
I nodded. That made sense because no one should be back here but me or one of Nic’s other guys. I swept my gaze up the side of the house. I’d expected something small—a hole in the wall—but this was…almost palatial.
“What was Nic thinking?” I murmured.
Kyle shrugged, the movement visible in my peripheral vision. “That he’s the king?”
I nodded. Well, yeah. That made sense too.
The house was huge. It had a painted red exterior, and there was a balcony on the second story at the front, the pretty filigree wrought iron almost framing the upper floor-to-ceiling windows.
And although the house was narrow, it stretched a long way back, and a bridge from the second story led over a courtyard just visible through a second, decorative gate—more wrought iron.
“Where does that go?” I pointed to the bridge, a feature I hadn’t expected to see.
“Guest rooms.” Kyle’s reply was nearly lost as he opened his door and climbed from the car. He popped the trunk and lifted out my small suitcase as I joined him.
Warm, damp air surrounded me, pressing against my skin like an overenthusiastic hug.
“The Neutral Zone is just down there.” He indicated back out of the gate before I returned my scrutiny to the house.
It stood alone, the largest on the street, although it was nothing like the home Francois and his father had shared on the very outskirts of the city during their reign here.
The mere thought of them sent the whisper of a shiver straight down my spine, and I gave in to the answering shudder as I took my case from Kyle.
“Someone step on your grave?” For the first time in a long time, Kyle lifted an amused eyebrow.
I grinned in response. “Something like that, although I don’t intend to make New Orleans my grave.”
His answering silence was almost ominous as he walked toward the house.
Behind us, the gate rolled shut, obliterating the view of the street, and caging us in, the filigree decoration much denser and more secure on the outer gate, like it was a prettiness designed to give only the air of frivolity when it was actually all business.
“Okay,” Kyle said as he stepped into the kitchen of the house.
Everywhere smelled of fresh paint. “Nic had it decorated for you, and the furnishings are new. I’ve got some crap in one of the guestrooms, but you can choose where you sleep.
I suggest the main house. There’s a big master wing if you turn left at the top of the stairs. ”
If I knew Kyle, he only had the barest of essentials with him, and he would have chosen the most basic room.
I glanced around, missing my home in Baton Rouge.
Hell, I missed Nic’s home in Baton Rouge, his club La Petite Mort, and I even missed the damn cell where Nic had taken me before he gave me this reprieve.
Homesickness gnawed a small pit in my stomach, but then a loud jangling echoed through the home.
“What the hell was that?”
Again, Kyle’s face registered faint amusement. “Doorbell, dude, and we ain’t got no Baldwin to answer it yet.”
I glanced at him when he mentioned Nic’s butler and shrugged. “You expecting anyone?”
But he was already busy, opening the fridge to peruse the bags of blood inside. I shrugged again and walked in the direction where I expected to find the front door, and the jangling noise sounded a second time.
“All right, all right. I’m coming,” I muttered. I’d only just arrived and had more pressing matters for my attention than an impatient unwanted guest.
I swung the door open to find Jason standing on the front step, grinning. The homesickness that had been creeping over me immediately began to wane.
“Sebastian,” Jason said. “Got any extra rooms? I could have stayed with the wolves, but the smell of wet dog gets a bit stifling after a while.” He grinned wider, and I stepped back to allow him in.
“How are things going with the wolves and the power share?” I asked. Nic had explained a little of the deal he’d made with Conri, but Jason was his man for keeping the peace between the wolves and the vampires in New Orleans due to his friendship with Conri’s beta, Simon. “Anything I need to know?”
Jason shook his head. “Just the usual teething crap, you know? They’re all pups, really.
Too excitable when they have something new.
I have no idea how Conri keeps them all in line.
Bet he’s watching me trying to wrangle the liaison shit and laughing.
He’s busy concentrating on the business angle of his and Nic’s deal.
” His smile faded to a grimace before returning.
He glanced up at where the stairs led to the second floor.
“What do you think of the place? Nic thought you needed a base close to the club and also something befitting someone of your family.”
I nodded. “Yeah, I haven’t really looked around yet, but it seems pretty nice.”
But really, the house was the lowest priority item on my agenda.
I’d been to The Neutral Zone, and I agreed with Nic’s description of it.
It was like stepping directly into a whore’s rotting pussy.
God alone knew what Francois had been thinking with all the red and black decoration—although perhaps his madness at the hands of his dead man’s blood addiction probably had a lot to do with that. More than any of us actually knew.
The restaurant and club needed to be a space people wanted to come to.
Somewhere modern. Somewhere genuinely sought after, where membership meant something.
Exclusivity, perhaps. As I considered the possibilities, unexpected excitement fizzed in my chest. I’d always wanted to be successful, to prove myself…
This just might have been the opportunity I’d been waiting for.
“Come on.” I turned to Jason. “I was just about to take my shit upstairs and find a bedroom. You might as well do the same.”
The morning sun came streaming in, rudely waking me as I groaned and rolled over, burying my face in the soft pillow.
That was different—the softness rather than lumpiness and the smell of new paint that I could taste in the back of my throat.
Then I huffed and flung myself onto my back, throwing my arm over my face to cover my eyes against the sunlight I hadn’t managed to prevent from streaming through the windows with the dainty little curtains.
“Sebastian!” My name rang through the hallway outside like Kyle had forgotten which one of us was the prince.
I shook my head—there was no way in hell he even cared which of us was royal.
“We need to get to the club.”
Huffing again, I clambered from my bed. “Coming. Give me ten.” Before joining him downstairs, I introduced myself to the shower and dressed.
He handed me some sort of foil-wrapped breakfast blood bag. Food in disguise…Perfect. “Let’s go. We’re walking so you can get a better knowledge of your local area.”
I nodded. “Okay.”
The walk was quite scenic, but I was glad when it ended. It was as if I’d just stepped out of the shower all over again as a mixture of sweat and humidity clung to me.
We reached the club and I looked up at the exterior.
It was on a busy street, but nothing called for customers to come in.
The sight before me was quite unwelcoming, It was as neglected as Francois’s home, with the paintwork chipped and peeling.
Decay was evident even here. The Ricard rule had clearly been on its knees for a long time before Nic made his move.
“We need to close it,” I said, certainty tinging in my tone. “For a proper renovation job, we need the building quiet and empty.” I couldn’t half-ass this. It needed to be done correctly.
Kyle nodded without argument and slipped his phone from his pocket before wandering away to have his conversation. After he slid his phone away again, he returned to me. “Contractors are on their way.”
“Do you have anything else you’d rather be doing?
Or that you need to do?” I all but made a shooing motion with my hand.
It wasn’t that I wasn’t grateful for his help and ability to handle the situation, but…
Hell, I wasn’t fucking grateful at all. I wanted to do it myself, without any reliance on anyone else at all.
I didn’t need Kyle liaising with contractors on my behalf. They needed to know I was the new prince in town and that I’d be the one making the decisions.
He looked at me thoughtfully for a moment, his eyes narrowed. Then he nodded. “Yeah, I try to check in with Jason and Temple fairly regularly. See what the general feeling is among the New Orleans vampires and the wolf shifters. Maybe I’ll go do that.”
I nodded too. “Let me know what they say.”
Kyle was already gone before I even finished my statement, his silent feet carrying him down the busy street and away from me. I barely saw him as he wove himself into the crowd then disappeared from view entirely.
I drew a deep breath and looked over the front of The Neutral Zone again. The Z hung crooked, almost tempting me to reach up and rip it off entirely, but I could discuss all the changes with the contractors when they arrived.
“So, a month, then?” Shit, that was a long time. I’d wanted to steam in here and fix things so fast that Nic would wonder why he hadn’t sent me earlier.
The man nodded and made another note in his book. “Yeah, I’d say so.”
If anyone else had used that tone, I wouldn’t have believed him, but I recognized these guys as the ones Ben always contracted. Their work was impeccable, and I’d never known them to run late on any of the projects he’d managed for Nic.
I appreciated Ben sending them my way—it gave me an instant advantage in impressing my brother, if nothing else. Even if my ultimate plans would be delayed by a month.
“And you said you’d begin tomorrow?” I confirmed.
The foreman opened his mouth to answer, but before he could, the front door burst open, and a young brunette woman rushed inside.