Page 81 of Sold to the Dark Vampire Prince

“Yes.”

“We’re under the same sky, Alex. A breath apart.”

He swiped fingers beneath his eyes.

“No matter what happens, I will never be far from your heart.”

“As you can see, this shipping center is one of the busiest in the region,” Lara said warmly to the gathered press pool.

Cameras clicked. Around them on the distribution center floor, workers hurried to get shipments out under the harsh fluorescent lights.

“Cavalieri Industries has helped encourage economic growth across multiple sectors and facilitates small business development. Without our shipping infrastructure, it would be all but impossible for their orders to get fulfilled and sent out on time and at the price point customers have come to expect. That partnership has helped the sectors rise out of the ashes of the dark days after the pandemics, and we will continue to build prosperity as we look to the future.”

Alexander rubbed his temples. Leave it to Lara to make one of the most corrupt mega-conglomerates in the history of anywhere sound like it should be nominated for a peace prize.

“How many people does this facility employ?” one of the reporters asked as they made their way past a row of workers in dark blue uniforms boxing up shipments at a speed that would have made Alex dizzy within minutes.

“Nearly three thousand. We pride ourselves on giving back to the community in every way. We’re the biggest employer in the sector.”

Who paid minimum wage and offered their employees practically no health benefits, Alex thought.

Lara was wearing a soft cashmere sweater and perfectly tailored gray slacks. Her dark hair fell in loose waves as she turned to smile at reporters. She’d clearly decided that if she couldn’t win his heart, she would win over the court of public opinion. It wasn’t hard to see her angle—that sooner or later, with enough pressure from the press and Daniela out of the way, he would cave.

He felt his fangs sharpen, and carefully reined in the flash of anger. Making sure the cameras followed him, he reached out to shake the hands of two workers they passed.

“You wouldn’t happen to know the rough breakdown of how many humans are employed here, and how many vampires?” Alex asked.

Lara frowned at the question. Just as quickly, she pasted her camera-ready smile back in place. “It varies based on job type. For this facility, I believe it’s close to seventy percent human, and thirty percent vampire. We don’t discriminate. Anyone qualified who passes a background check can come to work for us.”

“No, that’s good.”

He saw the cameras clicking at part of the assembly line and craned his neck to see what they were filming. A flash of Daniela’s honey-blonde hair caught his eye as she grabbed a product and stuffed it into a padded envelope. Her cheek was smeared with dirt. He doubted she even knew they were here. She was stuffing boxes so quickly. All of them were. He wondered if she’d even been able to go to the bathroom or take a break all day.

Alex didn’t turn, even as he could see Lara’s tiny smirk out of the corner of his eye, just felt white hot rage course through him. Because of course she’d planned this, had choreographed the press event so the entire sector could see her striding confidently through the facility her father owned in a designer outfit while having a visual reminder the girl some might think could be a princess was nothing but a factory worker in a borrowed gown.

Just then, one of the workers pointed to their group. Dani turned and their eyes met.

Quickly, just before she turned back to the boxes she was packing, he mouthed, I’m sorry.

To Lara, he said, “What about the fae?”

She stumbled.

“What did you say?”

She was wearing very tall heels, but still…

“I was just thinking, you’re so close to the fae lands out here that surely you must have had applicants looking for work, people who’ve left their territory and come to ours?”

“I’m not sure how often that happens.” She checked her watch. “We should wrap this up. I’d like to answer final questions outside where we can see our fleet of shipping vehicles.”

Alexander followed her across the facility floor and out into the icy loading area, which had been swept clean of snow. It was well below freezing and a harsh wind was gusting from the north. As Lara led them past the loading area, out through the parking lot into the snow, Several reporters shuddered, pulling their coats tighter.

This was ridiculous. The snow was wet and nasty. The wind was blowing sharply from out over the mountains. Although Lara’s personal assistant was trailing her with an umbrella, her hair was already looking rather bedraggled and worse for wear, and there was nowhere sheltered for them to film.

Why was Lara even taking questions outside?

“So, you’re not going to answer my question?”