“I’m sure you’ll take good care of his money,” Hayden says. “Just like Storm takes care of ours.”
“I hope so,” I answer. “That’s why they pay me. Can we stop by my apartment? I’d like to get a few outfits, so we don’t have to keep going there every morning so I can change. Clearly, I won’t be staying there for a while.”
“Not with all these vampires,” Hayden confirms, shaking his head. “And if we’re able to complete the mating ritual, we’ll be wed. That’s how it’s usually done with our kind, and you’ll live with us after that.”
“Are we all going to move into together?” I ask, some concern in my voice as I try to imagine it. Five of us living in a house with large furniture, enormous beds, and an industrial-sized fridge that will have to be refilled every couple of days. “All of us? Except Jaxton I assume.”
“We haven’t discussed it yet, but that’s what I’m thinking,” Hayden’s tone is a little lighter now. “Maybe we find a place out in the country, away from people. Forget about this city.”
Then I imagine a large barn, children, and a life that sounds simple, but it doesn’t feel right. “No, Chicago is our home. We don’t have to run away. We’ll… we’ll manage. I can’t just give up my job. Especially now that my portfolio is growing.”
“We’ll discuss it with everyone when the time is right. Not right now. We have to deal with the vampires.” So much for the lighter tone.
We turn down the street that leads to our perfectly normal looking house. On the outside. Inside, it’s getting rather crowded.
I can tellhowcrowded when I open the door and hear music like some sort of party is going on.
“Oh no,” I gasp, my hand flying to my mouth. “Daisy, what are you doing?”
I rush to the living room door and pause in my tracks. They’re not having a party. Well, they are, sort of, except Daisy isthe only one standing. My mates are casually relaxed in their true Human Forms. And they’re… they’re playing poker. Just casually leaned back on the furniture, drinking and playing cards. Everyone has an enormous stack of money, and it appears the ante is on the coffee table.
“Alright, I raise… um, let’s see,” Daisy casually taps her finger on her chin. “Two hundred thousand.”
“Fuck, I’m out,” Remy sighs, tossing his cards.
“Me too,” Wyatt says, leaning forward to collect Remy’s cards, and the deck.
“I’m…” a man I’ve never met before starts to speak, then he lifts his head and our eyes meet. “All in.”
The pull is instantaneous. It’s like I’m in love with the silver in his hair and the matching streaks in his amber eyes immediately. I don’t have to ask if he feels it too. It feels like time slows down or my brain is just stuttering to catch up.
He doesn’t push money into the pile. He stands up, drops his cards revealing Pocket Aces, and walks across the room. He’s gorgeous, but there’s something in his smirk that reflects the kind of confidence I’ve seen in his brothers. Possibly even some arrogance.
“I’m Storm,” he says, taking my hand. “I didn’t realize it would be this strong. Your scent. You. I feel it, just like they described.”
“I feel it too,” I breathe out.
“The mating bond,” Hayden speaks over Storm and I staring at each other. “Every missing piece seems to make the connection stronger.”
The connection isn’t just strong. It’s undeniable. The need. The desire. The strange flare in my depths that wants him. I can see it in his eyes, too. We’re both practically ravenous and we just met each other.
“There will be time to get to know each other later,” Hayden grumbles impatiently, breaking us out of our trance.
Storm lets go of my hand, but he still seems to be studying me. Or drinking in the sight of me by the looks of him.
“I fold by the way,” Daisy sighs, throwing her cards down, revealing two Queens. “You won back two-hundred-k of the million you gave me so we could play.”
Did she say…million?
“What is going on here?” I chuckle nervously, feeling some dampness between my legs.
“Playing some Texas Hold’em,” Daisy explains as glibly as if we just walked in on them watching a rerun on TV. “Let’s see, I started with one million, then I won two, three, six hundred-k, lost two hundred. Yeah, I’m doing pretty well.”
“You aren’t keeping that money, right? This is just…” I look around and nobody seems bothered by it.
“I gave her a million dollars so we could play, like she said,” Storm clarifies, gesturing towards Daisy, his eyes never looking away from me.
“Alright, clean this stuff up,” Hayden orders. “We need to talk about the vampire lair and put together a plan for dealing with it.”
