“Few humans meet Alaric. He prefers the shadows and is solitary.”
“Does he have a mate?”
“Not yet. Alaric conceived of the idea to create Nightfall. If we couldn’t find our mates, maybe the allure of the club would bring them to us. His plan definitely worked for us.”
She smiled at him. “I’m really glad it did.”
“Me too, Little girl.” Marcus looked past her to check the clock. It was almost six. She hadn’t gotten enough rest after the late night, but she’d never fall back to sleep after their conversation. A good long nap was in store for her later. “Saturday is for pancakes, right?”
Her tummy growled ferociously. “Can you make fangs this time?”
“I even have strawberry syrup,” Marcus shared.
“Yummy blood! Let’s go.”
Chapter
Eighteen
Marcus hadn’t wanted to leave Carina at the mansion by herself. Even after her nap, she could barely keep her eyes open as he’d gotten dressed for the evening at Nightfall. Thankfully, he’d had enough staff to pull guards to protect his most precious possession at home. He’d left Carina and Mischief cuddling on the couch under a soft throw with a movie she’d wanted to see forever playing.
Throughout the night, he’d checked in on her. She’d wandered away from the couch to grab snacks several times and use the bathroom. When she grew tired of movies, Carina had taken a long bubble bath before returning to the living room to wait for him. He’d ignited the fireplace for her when she’d shivered in the thin robe she’d selected afterward and made a note for himself to get her something warmer. He did not wish for his Little girl to catch a cold.
Arriving home early in the morning hours, Marcus found her sleeping soundly. Her sweet face relaxed in sleep delighted his heart, while the creamy flesh revealed by her robe stirred other parts of his anatomy. Unwilling to wake her, Marcus fixed himself a drink to unwind.
When a log in the fireplace snapped loudly, Carina roused and glanced around. She smiled at him upon spotting him seated in a chair by the fireplace where he sipped a drink. Wiping the sleep from her eyes, she sat up from the couch and adjusted the silky robe to cover herself.
“Daddy, I didn’t hear you come in. I must have fallen asleep after my bath. I wanted to stay awake for you. Is everything okay? Are you all right?”
Marcus placed his drink on the table next to the chair and crossed the short distance to join her on the couch. He wrapped his arms around her and lifted her onto his lap. After a quick hug and kiss, he looked deeply into Carina’s eyes.
“All is perfectly fine for now, Little girl.”
“For now, Daddy? Does that mean something else is coming?”
Marcus chose to tell her the truth. “The man who tried to kidnap you and cause problems at Nightfall does not strike me as someone who can let things be. Tonight, everything was calm at the club. But my guess is Costa will return soon. I need to safeguard you from harm.”
After hugging Marcus and kissing his cheek, Carina shifted to meet his gaze directly. “You’ll always protect me, Daddy.”
“I would give my life for yours, Little girl. But Costa is watching and waiting. He has only to find one weak moment when we are not together. We can never relax our guard.” A stern tone edged into his voice. “And you can never fail to follow my directions. You mean far too much to me to take that risk. I want you safe, with me… forever.” Under his fingertips, a tingle ran up her spine as she absorbed his warning. He hoped the seriousness of his words registered permanently with her.
“I said I was sorry, Daddy. I won’t do that again,” Carina reminded him. Her pouting lip warned him she was unhappy he’d brought up her poor choice to run.
“I don’t think you would choose to disobey purposefully. But what if a friend called and needed you? Or you wrenched your ankle and couldn’t make it to our arranged meeting spot on time? A million unlucky events could happen spontaneously to put you at risk.”
“I don’t want to check over my shoulder for the rest of my life. Isn’t there something we could do? Take Costa out?”
“That is easily done. However, someone would step into his place.”
“But if you turned me, I could kick anyone’s ass,” she told him bravely. “And we could be together forever. I thought about this all night.”
“That is a solution. What did you decide, Little girl?”
“I need you to tell me the bad part again. I already know the good. I missed you a lot tonight. If I became a vampire, I’d get to spend forever with you.”
“I’m glad I’m in your positive column,” he teased her before stroking his hand down her arm to link his fingers with hers.
“You would need to give up everything in your present-day world to embrace a completely different life. You would leave behind friends, family, career, possessions.”
