Chapter 11
Chapter
Eleven
On Wednesday, they headed to visit Marcus and Carina.
Titus parked at the front of a home several blocks away from his own.
She could walk or run there to visit Carina in the future.
She shook her head sadly. Would she ever be safe enough to move around the city on her own?
She definitely didn’t want to be used against Titus.
Enzo would jump at the opportunity to leverage her as a pawn.
“Are you ready to have some fun with Carina?” Titus asked her.
“Yes, Daddy. Thank you for bringing me. What are you going to do while I’m playing?”
“Marcus and I will come up with something to occupy our time,” he said with a strange grin. She didn’t have a clue what that expression meant. Maybe she’d missed an inside joke?
Carina dashed outside, followed by Marcus, grabbing Alessia’s attention. Alessia reached for the handle and froze when Titus growled, “No way, Little mate. I will come open your door.”
She leaned back in her seat dramatically. “No one’s going to grab me here.”
“You don’t know that. Daddy’s in charge of the doors.”
“Fine.” She glared at him as he slowly exited and wandered around the car. Titus called a greeting to the two who waited on the porch, and they responded eagerly. Alessia noticed Marcus held Carina’s hand securely. Maybe all Daddies were super protective.
She bounced out of the car when Titus finally opened the door. He held her hand and escorted her up the stairs. “Hi, Carina. Marcus,” she greeted them. “Your home is lovely.”
“Thank you, Alessia. We’re glad you came to visit,” Marcus said, releasing his grip on Carina.
Carina almost danced with excitement on the top step. When Carina reached her, she gave Alessia a quick hug before linking their arms together. “Just wait. Mine is the best room. Come on. Let’s go.”
Eager to see the other Little’s nursery, Alessia walked quickly by her friend’s side. “Thank you for inviting me.”
“Of course. We have to stick together. I’m crossing my fingers the other guys locate their mates. So far, Nightfall is a pretty good matchmaker.”
“It is for us! Who else is looking for their special someone?”
“A few fortunate vampires in the clan have mates. Most do not. Donovan, Bram, Darius, and Alaric are among my clan members who haven’t found their perfect match.
Did you know that’s why Alaric had Nightfall built?
He wanted to increase the clan’s contact with possible mates.
Attract them like flies to honey. Or in this case, booze, handsome guys, and music. ”
“Really. That’s pretty crafty,” Alessia said.
“It is. My bets on Bram to find his mate next,” Carina told her.
“Bram’s the computer guy, right?” Alessia asked as they reached the top of the interior stairs.
“Yes. He’s scary good at uncovering information online. Donovan is the DJ. He’s in charge of social media as well. Darius deals with money. I work with him now.”
“You do? Like an accountant?” Alessia asked. “That’s so neat. I wish I had an impressive skill like that.”
“Balancing the books isn’t too hard if you like math.”
“That’s a huge if!”
“Many people don’t get along with numbers,” Carina sympathized and pointed at a door decorated with colorful pictures. “This is my room.”
“Did you color these?” Alessia asked, running her finger over the edge of a beautiful princess with raven hair and blue eyes.
“I did. We can color if you’d like. Maybe your Daddy would let you decorate a door at your house.”
“I’m sure he would. Titus is very kind to me.”
“He enjoys seeing you happy. Good Daddies do. Fair warning—they can be sticklers for things like following the rules and their directions,” Carina told her.
“My gosh! Your Daddy has rules too?” Alessia loved spending time with her new friend. Carina didn’t have a filter and shared everything. After being isolated for so long, Alessia treasured having someone so cheerful and welcoming in her life.
“I think Daddies are born with a set of do’s and don’ts engrained in them. Come in. Let’s have some fun.”
Carina pushed open the door and led the way inside.
Alessia stood on the colorful carpet and checked out the room.
She couldn’t figure out what to look at first. Besides the artwork scattered around, the room looked like a nursery for an adult—rocking chair, crib, changing table.
Her gaze lingered on that piece of furniture.
What happened there? Alessia forced herself to turn back to Carina.
“Wow! This is amazing. You must love this space.” Of course, she adored her nursery more, but this room was pretty and fun. The nursery matched Carina’s personality perfectly.
Alessia walked forward to study the jigsaw pieces scattered on the table. She picked one up and snapped part of the blue sky into place.
“How did you do that? Sit down. Help me with this puzzle. It’s so hard,” Carina demanded.
“Oh! I should have asked first.”
“No way. You have puzzle vision! Let’s work on it.”
Alessia grinned at her and pulled out a chair. Immediately, she picked up another piece and added it to the picture. “I see where they all fit together. I like that term, puzzle vision—like I have some fancy skill.”
“It’s an amazing talent. You must have done a bunch of jigsaws to become an expert.”
“No, not really. I have an app on my phone. I play that sometimes when I don’t have a lot to do. When I lived at home, my brother preferred I remain out of sight,” Alessia confided.
“You had to stay in your room? That’s awful. I’d go crazy.”
“I ventured away from the house, but when I was on the grounds, I made myself scarce. I guess I got used to it. What was your life like before you met Marcus?” Alessia asked.
“I had an apartment, and I had a horrible job. Now I get to live here with Marcus, and I work at Nightfall with Donovan.”
“You sound happy,” Alessia said.
“I am. Marcus takes excellent care of me. Titus is a wild man at Nightfall. Do you enjoy spending time with him?”
Alessia’s heart beat faster as she remembered Titus’s antics at Nightfall. He was an amazing entertainer. “A lot of women at Nightfall would like to snare Titus. He’s superhot. I can’t believe he’s interested in me.”
“Why not? You’ve got that Italian princess thing going with the dark, flowing hair and yummy skin. I bet you tan easily. I burn to a crisp,” Carina said with disgust, looking at her forearm. “And now? I have no idea. Do vampires get golden brown?”
Alessia seized on the subject Carina had mentioned. “Could I ask you some questions about being a vampire?”
“I don’t know what I can share and what you need to ask Titus about,” Carina answered carefully.
“Oh! Sorry. I don’t want to put you in an awkward situation.”
“No need to apologize. Why don’t you share your questions, and I’ll answer if I can?”
“Okay, but only if you promise to clue me in when you’re uncomfortable.”
“You got it, Alessia. I promise always to tell you the truth.”
“Thank you.” Carina was incredible. Alessia smiled at her friend and gathered herself for a moment as she decided what to bring up first. “Why did you let Marcus turn you?”
“Because I love him and want to spend as much time with him as possible. If I were human, Marcus would have stayed with me until I died of old age. I can’t imagine how hard that would be for someone to stand by as the mate they’ve waited hundreds of years to find aged and passed away.
A human life is a mere blink of their eyes. ”
Alessia rubbed away the tears that filled her eyes as she listened intently to Carina. “That would be so sad.”
“Sad for them, yes. I’ll be honest, I was selfish as well.
If our mating wasn’t strong, being trapped with a man for potentially centuries would be unbearable.
Think of someone who had a small habit that drove you nuts after two hours.
Imagine how you would hate that annoyance after two hundred years. ”
“I hadn’t considered that. I don’t think Titus does anything I don’t like.”
“For me, seeing women flirt with Marcus is a challenge. He’s so handsome and powerful. Ladies flock to him. I understand that. He’s hot,” Carina said. “I had to decide whether I could accept that Marcus had nothing to do with other women’s actions.”
“Like all the ladies who swarm Titus’s area when he’s making drinks,” Alessia said, adapting Carina’s example to her relationship.
“Titus isn’t leading them on. He’s simply being himself.
Titus doesn’t care about them. I swear he doesn’t even notice them, pulling their tops down and leaning forward to showcase their boobs. His attention is always on me.”
Carina nodded. “That’s so true. Titus doesn’t look at anyone else. Even if you’re not around. Maybe that lack of interest happens because they have mates now? Don’t get me wrong, I’m ecstatic Marcus is oblivious to others.”
Alessia nodded and fitted several puzzle pieces into place. Titus only concocted drinks for mates. They mattered more any other women.
“Titus is much more people-oriented. He flirts with his customers, but check out his eyes. He’s never really concentrating on them. Especially now. His gaze focuses on you,” Carina said.
Warmth gathered inside her. She’d noticed Titus’s attention always returned to her after talking to a bar patron ordering a drink.
He didn’t hide how much he cared about her.
Having someone treat her as if she was important was a definite change from the last several years.
Maybe she wouldn’t have noticed she needed the reassurance that someone valued her if her life hadn’t been so undervalued since her father died.
“Thanks, Carina. Do you have any regrets?”
“Not a single one.”
“How many vampires work at Nightfall? Is everyone a vampire?” Alessia asked.
Carina smiled at her and shook her head. “I’m going to pass on answering those. That might be valuable to someone wishing to assess Nightfall’s vulnerabilities.”