Page 39 of Sunshine and the Vamp

Theo Montgomery had been the black sheep of the Royal Family since he’d been old enough to legally buy alcohol. Continuously getting into political scrapes and scandals, he’d been a thorn in his brother’s side for too long. I’d been approached to make the guy ‘disappear’. At the time, the Morozovs had been climbing the ladder of the criminal underworld and that hit had gained us some notoriety. So the fact that Theo was in my entrance hall begged the question: where the fuck had he been all this time, and how did he end up finding Lucia and Remy at some shady motel?

“Who would have sent this to you?” Benjamin asked, interrupting my thoughts.

Another question I didn’t have an answer for. “I don’t know.”

“What are you going to do with him?”

I had to dispose of the body, but did that mean I had to expose Remy and Lucia? Someone had gone to a lot of trouble to frame them and send me all the evidence. If I publicly exposed Lucia and Remy, a divide would appear between the Three Families. They’d broken the rules and would have to be punished. It would undo many decades of hard work, stability and prosperity in the city. If I exposed the fact that Remy had seemingly killed a human, and a royal one at that, we’d be fucked.

“For now, I’ll have him stored in the morgue.”

Benjamin snorted. “Of course you have a morgue.”

“Don’t all mafia mansions?”

His gaze snapped to mine and there was a spark of confusion in those green orbs. “Wait, did you just make a joke?”

I shook my head. Maybe I was too old for this. Too old and too out of touch. “Let me take you to your room. It’s late and I’m sure you’re tired.”

Benjamin’s jaw tightened as he pinched his lips. “Sure. What’s on the cards for tomorrow? Light torture and another interrogation?”

I sighed. I wondered how long he was going to be mad at me for. I still needed to figure out why that bothered me so much. I didn’t say anything back to him, just held my arm out towards the stairs and hoped he didn’t fight me. Although, I wouldn’t mind throwing him over my shoulder.

I wasn’t so lucky. With a harrumph and a little stomp of his foot, Benjamin headed up the stairs. His eyes roamed everywhere as he followed me, perhaps I could give him a tour of the place later. It was a large place and full of interesting things. All my history intertwining with the original family that owned it. I’d lived for nearly 500 years and today was the first time I’d ever wanted to walk someone through my past. Not even the man I’d thought would have been mine forever, had made me feel that.

We came to a stop outside the room I’d allocated for Benjamin’s use and I was on the cusp of making up an excuse to keep him with me a little longer.

“You’ll find all your things in here.”

He scowled at me, his eyes darkening to a deep mossy green. “Of course I will. What about my cat?”

“He’s in there too. Just keep him away from Vlad.”

“Is he allergic?”

A smile tugged at the corner of my mouth. “Not exactly.”

I watched him for a moment, not wanting to say good night. The silence extended between us but it wasn’t strained, it was just… there.

“Damyr, I—” He huffed a breath and looked at his feet. When he met my gaze again, there was a determination in his eyes. “I know I’m new to this world of yours, but you can’t keep me here against my will.”

“Are you saying you’re going to escape?”

“If I have to.”

I stepped closer, using my height to loom over him. “Benjamin, let me make one thing clear. There is no escape. You’ve put yourself here by trying to be a good man. I could have killed you, but I didn’t—”

“Lucky fucking me,” he hissed. “Way to go on not committing murder, Damyr.”

“Oh, Benjamin,” I said with a harsh laugh. “The sooner you realise that life has no meaning in this world unless you have something to barter it for, the sooner you’ll understand how easy murder is.”

“And what do I have of value for you to keep me alive?”

I ran my finger along his jaw. “Right now, you have my attention, and that’s a dangerous thing in deed.”

He slapped my hand away, turned on his heel and slammed the door in my face. The lock clicked, but that wasn’t going to keep me out if I wanted to get in. But I’d allow him his privacy, even though my fingers were splintering the doorframe with the effort of staying on this side of the door.

“Good night, Benjamin,” I called through the door.

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