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Even though the oldest vampire was embarrassed he still pulled his own quilt from the storage. The stitching wasn’t as masterful as the previous work and some of the squares looked a little wobbly but I still clutched the quilt to my chest.

“Mine,” I said, daring Tristan to argue.

“Yes,” the vampire said. “I’m yours and all my possessions are as well.”

My cheeks flared with heat at the shameless declaration.

Hours later my energy was flagging and we decided to call it a day.

For the first time in days I was left to sleep alone.

“I can’t sleep… and the room smells like paint and wallpaper glue.”

“Of course it does,” Tristan responded to my sheepish admission with bemusement. “Then you can always use the room that was originally meant to be yours for tonight.”

“It’s too spacious,” I mumbled, hiding my face in his arm.

“Then the couch is an option. Or any of the guest rooms. Or…” I looked up at him, hanging onto his words. “Or you can accompany me in slumber. I have been told that my mattress is to die for.”

“You know how to entice,” I tried to joke. The truth was, in just a few days of having a constant ‘bodyguard’ with me, even in bed, I had somehow gotten used to having someone cuddle me to sleep. Expected it. Looked forward to it. Missed it. “I have to see if those claims are true.”

I made a high-pitched squeak as Tristan suddenly picked me up.

“No time like the present,” he said as he carried me to his bed.

The mattress was truly heavenly. As was the feeling of his arms around me.

Chapter Twenty-one

Will tried to play it cool when he entered the room.

“Victoria,” he just gave me a warm smile.

I wasn’t having it. My body collided with his in an octopus-like hug. Once he had me in his arms he clutched back at me desperately, matching my own fervor.

“I missed you, sis. I missed you so much,” he said into my hair, his voice strained as if he was trying to hold back tears.

“I missed you too. But it’s going to be alright now,” I babbled at the speed of sound. “Tristan, Theo, and Matthias paid your debts to the mafia and you can be free now.”

My brother’s body in my arms stiffened.

“Victoria... they didn’t pay off the debt. I did. After they bought more than half of my company.”

The whisper struck me like a knife. Somehow, I had imagined the vampires finding the way to nullify the debt or them throwing money at Will, no strings attached. But if they owned the majority of the company now...

It meant my brother exchanged one master for another.

And so did I.

I closed my eyes and pressed my face into my brother’s shoulder in despair. This wasn’t the fairytale ending from one of my grandmother’s stories where the monsters saved the princess like I had thought.

Still, it was better than what I had before, right? Even if the thought of using sex or feelings to manipulate the three vampires I came to care about made me nauseous. But I was going to do whatever it took to ensure my own survival and my brother’s prosperity.

There was a sound of a polite throat clearing behind us. We separated reluctantly and Tristan gestured to the table in the middle of the room.

“Take a seat. We have a lot to discuss.”

I tried to take a seat next to Will so that we would be a united front against the vampires but I was ushered to the other side, made to sit between Tristan and Theo while Matthias hovered at my back.