Seduce(50)

Andreu was completely devoted to business full stop. Antoine could see it in the way he assessed everything, from the furnishings to the staff. Here was a man dedicated to making money, and lots of it, and God forbid anything tried to get in his way. He reminded Antoine of himself as a youth. Andreu was probably the same age as he had been back when his mind had been more on fast money and pleasure than anything of real worth.

Payne looked across his broad muscled shoulders as the double doors behind Antoine opened. Callum. Antoine didn’t need to look to know the young elite vampire had just walked in with a few performers tailing him.

He kept his gaze on Payne, intrigued by the way the coloured flecks in his eyes pierced the darkness in the moment before he turned his head away and fixed his gaze back on Javier.

Interesting.

Coupled with the tattoos and his all-too-clean background, it was enough to stir Antoine’s curiosity.

But not enough to keep his mind off his apartment and Sera.

Javier continued his tour and Antoine didn’t bother to follow them. He had met the males and had spent enough time with them. His concern shifted to Callum now. The black-haired elite male slouched into one of the front row seats and waved a hand at the performers on the stage. The trio immediately set into action, the two men stripping the woman, slowly peeling her clothes off and kissing each inch of skin they exposed.

“Are we hiring her?” Callum said and Antoine frowned, lost for a moment. “Elizabeth’s youngling.”

“Devil, no,” Antoine muttered and sat next to him in one of the red velvet seats. “If she even tries to get on that stage you are to come and tell me, understand?”

“Javier said you would respond with something like that.” Callum’s green eyes stayed fixed on the performers as they began to go through the more erotic side of their routine. He couldn’t fool Antoine. The elite vampire radiated tension, from his aura to the way he kept picking at the arm of the seat, intent on fraying the fabric.

“How did the scan go?” Antoine spoke low enough that the three performers wouldn’t hear.

Callum swallowed.

“Um, well... she is definitely pregnant.” He tapped his fingers on the seat arm now, his tension mounting.

Any moment now, he was going to explode. Why?

Callum shot around to face him, his eyes bright and wide. “Apparently we’re expecting twins.”

Ah. Antoine could see why that might be a problem. Two mixed breeds were more difficult to hide and protect from the uglier side of their world than one.

“I am sure that nothing bad will befall them, Callum. I would be more than happy to have them at the theatre. Kristina is welcome here any time she wishes to come. She would be safer here.” There was a time, probably little more than a few days ago, when he would have been surprised to hear himself saying such a thing to an elite, or any vampire. He smiled to himself. Not anymore. Sera had shown him that allowing others into his life wasn’t a bad thing and that company was good for his soul, and for his bloodlust. It was better to let his emotions out than struggle to keep them contained.

Callum was family, and so was Javier, and that bond extended to those the two elite males loved.

“I know she would,” Callum said on a sigh. “I am trying to convince her to come and stay in my apartment here, but she’s still not sure. She feels The Langham hotel is safer with all the humans around her. No vampire or werewolf would dare cause a ruckus in such a public place.”

“When the twins are born though—”

“I will have her move here. I will not let my children come to harm, and I know you will protect them.”

“Will they be hybrids?” Antoine had never heard of hybrids being born of a union   between a vampire and a werewolf. He had heard tales of mixed couples producing offspring but normally those couples went into hiding and were never seen again.

Callum hesitated but then relief blossomed in his eyes. “No. Apparently not. The doctor has said that one will be born vampire and one born werewolf. One hundred percent. No crossover at all.”

Relief washed through Antoine too. “I am glad. It will be far easier to protect them, especially if their parentage remains anonymous. No one need know they were born of a vampire and a werewolf unless they wished to reveal it.”

“Javier was right.”

Antoine frowned. “About what?”

“She is good for you.” Callum grinned.

Antoine huffed. “That is yet to be seen.”

“I’m seeing it right now. The Antoine I left to audition Sera wouldn’t have sat here with me discussing babies.” Callum’s grin cracked even wider. “I presume you’ve been taking precautions in this love affair of yours?”