The Vampire's Surprise - Stormy Glenn Page 0,51

that would get better, too.

Quinn headed downstairs to the kitchen. He had plans. Big plans. He'd arranged for a small tray of food to be prepared, and once the kids were laid down for the night, he was going to lock himself, Dmitri, a tray of food, and a bottle of wine up in their bedroom.

For the last month, Dmitri had been putting in a lot of hours to clean up the mess Chambers had made with his bid for power. Between tracking down the remaining rogues who'd been working for Chambers and saving those who lived on the fringes of vampire society, Quinn had hardly seen his mate. He was hoping to change that, even if it was for just one evening.

He grimaced as he walked into the kitchen and came face to face with Gavril. Technically, the man was Prince Marcus's assistant, but Charlie had taken over a lot of his duties. Quinn wasn't sure it was so Charlie could be closer to Marcus or so Gavril wasn't. The man was kind of a tool.

Unfortunately, he was a tool Quinn needed to be nice to. "Good evening, Gavril."

Gavril let out a huff before storming past Quinn and out the door.

"And good evening to you, too, Quinn," Quinn said as he rolled his eyes. "It's so good to see you this evening. How are you? Well, I'm fine, Gavril. Thank you for asking. Think nothing of it, young sir."

"Talking to yourself, rajaaka?"

Quinn squeaked and spun around. He pressed his hand to his heaving chest. "Dmitri."

Dmitri raised one eyebrow.

Quinn rolled his eyes again. "No, I was imagining what sort of conversation I could have with Gavril if he wasn't such a jackass."

Dmitri snorted. "Never happen. The only person he likes is Prince Marcus, and he idolizes him. Everyone else is beneath his notice."

That was pretty much the feeling Quinn got as well.

"If he wasn't so good at his job," Dmitri continued, "I'm sure the prince would fire him."

"I'm guessing personality wasn't a job requirement."

"Well, he did get the job, so…no." Dmitri looped an arm around Quinn's waist and pulled him close. "Now, would it be possible for me to get a few moments of your time?"

"Of course," Quinn answered instantly.

Quinn shivered at the feeling of Dmitri's hand sliding down his arm until the man reached his hand and grasped it. "Come with me."

"Oh, but…" Quinn glanced over his shoulder, looking for the tray he'd ordered. Since he didn't see it, he shrugged and turned back to Dmitri. "Okay, where are we going?"

"I need to show you something upstairs."

"Is it one of the kids?"

"No, it's on the third floor."

Quinn was puzzled, but whatever amount of time he could spend with Dmitri was worth any confusion he might have. He followed Dmitri out of the kitchen and then up the stairs. Once on the third floor, Dmitri led him down the corridor to a door at the far end. He opened the door without knocking and walked in, pulling Quinn inside with him.

And then he just stopped, right there in the middle of the room.

Quinn glanced around, growing even more confused. It was a suite much like the one they'd been staying in, only much smaller. They currently stood in a small sitting area, but Quinn could see another room off to one side that had a bed in it, so he assumed it was the bedroom. Since that was the only piece of furniture he could see in the entire place, it kind of made sense.

"What do you think?" Dmitri asked.

Quinn frowned as he turned to look at the handsome vampire. "Of what?"

"Of this suite?" Dmitri walked over to the entrance to the bedroom and gestured to something. "There's a master bath in here and a small balcony."

Quinn walked over and peeked inside. "It's nice."

"Just nice?" Dmitri didn't sound as excited as he had a moment ago. "You don't like it?"

Quinn turned to look at Dmitri. "What's this all about, Dmitri?"

"Well, we're kind of cramped in the suite Marcus gave us when you and the kids arrived. I figured we could use our own space."

That sounded good, but… "Dmitri, I have to be where the kids are."

"Oh, no, I would never take you from the kids. Our suite is directly below us. Marcus said if you liked this space, he'd put stairs in to the floor below us. We're keeping the suite, but this would basically be the master suite."

"Oh." Okay, that put a different spin on things. He started to