Page 42 of Damian’s Conquest

“Find Damian. She claims she came with him. Not likely.”

“I saw Damian go into the study earlier.”

“Thanks, Coop. I’ll be right back.”

He slapped his hand on Cooper’s shoulder, then headed for the study. Grayson knocked briefly, then opened the door and looked inside. Damian was indeed in the room, but he wasn’t alone. Amaury, Eddie, and his own father, Samson, were there. And they looked like they were talking business. Without him. Fuck, how he hated that. He didn’t like it when they excluded him from business discussions. After all, he was the heir to the Scanguards empire. But sometimes they treated him as if he wasn’t ready to lead.

But he’d prove to them, and particularly to his father, that he always looked out for Scanguards, and only had their kind’s best interest in mind, particularly when it came to protecting them from outsiders—like the blond woman who’d snuck into the house without anybody noticing.

“We have a problem,” he announced. “A party crasher. That fat chick claims she’s here with Damian, but that’s obviously a lie—”

“Naomi isn’t fat!” Damian snapped and lunged for him, his fist connecting with Grayson’s chin before he could even comprehend what was happening.

Grayson’s head whipped to the side, and instantly his fangs extended to their full length, and he was ready for a fight. He drew his fist back for a counter punch, but his father blocked him, catching his fist in his palm and holding it tightly.

“Stop it! Both of you!” Samson commanded. Then he looked at Damian. “This Naomi, does she know what you are?”

Damian shook his head. “No. Not yet. I was planning to tell her later tonight.”

Grayson stared at his fellow hybrid. “Why tell her?”

“Why do you think, you idiot? Because I want her to be mine.”

Damian’s declaration silenced everybody in the room. Only their breathing could be heard, together with their heartbeats.

“You’re not kidding, are you?” Grayson felt his chin drop. “I had no idea you liked—”

“You say the word fat one more time,” Damian warned, “and you can pick up your brains from the floor.”

“Hotheads,” Samson said in a casual tone, addressing his oldest friend, Amaury.

“Yeah, both of them,” Amaury replied.

“I think we need to talk,” Samson said.

“You know, guys,” Eddie interrupted. “I don’t need to be part of this. Why don’t I go and make sure the girl doesn’t stumble on our secrets?”

“Good idea,” Samson agreed, “take Grayson with you.”

“But Cooper is already watching her,” Grayson protested.

Samson tossed a glare at Grayson. “Out, now. What I have to discuss with Damian is none of your business.”

Grayson grunted in displeasure. Eddie already opened the door, then looked over his shoulder, lifting his hand that held a cell phone. “I’ll get right on this. Will let you know what I can find.”

Grayson followed Eddie out of the room, and pulled the door shut behind him, annoyed that he hadn’t gotten a chance to punch Damian in return, though he understood now why Damian had lashed out like that. Damian was in love.

20

The moment the door fell shut behind Eddie and Grayson, Samson turned his gaze back to Damian and looked at him with different eyes. Amaury’s son had grown up. Where had the time gone? It felt like yesterday, when he and Amaury had fought side by side to rescue the women they loved. And now the second generation was ready to forge their own path, have families of their own. Ryder had been the first to set out on that path, and it appeared that Damian would be the second.

But before congratulations were in order, several things had to be cleared up, because Samson now realized that Damian had conveniently left a few things out of his report about the goings-on at the nightclub.

“This Naomi wouldn’t be the person who alerted you to the fact that Mrs. Zhang saw the thief leave the Mezzanine?”

Damian nodded. He’d been very vague about how he’d come by the information that a neighbor had seen the thief, which had led to him finding the broken bottle of blood and the vial that had undoubtedly been filled with vampire blood. They’d all recognized the distinctive smell.

“And you didn’t find it necessary to mention that?”