The Immortal Compromise (The Mortal One Series Book 3) (2 page)

Chapter 2

I PLEADED MY case the entire way to Paris, much to Nico’s displeasure. I never thought I would get to see Jen again because of the way my life was heading in Florence. We didn’t want to bring her into the secret of vampires. We put her on a plane at the beginning of summer and her and I haven’t been in touch since.

We were now getting into the winter months and everything was different. We were moving to Paris where I knew absolutely no one beyond Nico and Olivier. I needed a friend and I was pretty sure Nico didn’t want me getting too chummy with Olivier. Besides, both of them were vampires and I needed a mortal friend. Without Antonio to spend time with and without Yankee Bar to get my mind off things from time to time, it wouldn’t be long before I grew bored, lonely, and restless.

Nico listened. He didn’t ask questions. More importantly, he didn’t say no. Not that he said yes, either, but he was going to talk it over with Olivier to see if there would be a way to make Jen forget about anything she may see while in town.

“So you’ll talk to Olivier?” I finally asked as we landed.

Nico kissed my forehead. “Of course. Olivier and I have a lot of business to discuss,” he said.

I nodded. “He’s going to be your right hand.”

“So it seems,” Nico said. He was apprehensive about working so closely with Olivier, but as Costin had said, it only seemed natural for him to choose Olivier. Nico needed someone who had a strong lay of the land and who would be strong enough to fend off any issues. With a mortal pet, Nico was in greater danger and Olivier had already proven that he would do anything to keep me safe.

Nico mentioned hiring security to have during the day because of some murmuring that was taking place throughout Paris with the vampires. Nothing was ever simple. Damn vampires and their drama.

We landed and made our way to the front of the terminal, where Olivier was supposed to pick us up. Olivier would then bring us to our new home, where we had the car and all of our things. I hadn’t seen Olivier for a few weeks, not since he stayed with me after my reaction to the ceremony to lay the zombies to rest. He was so focused on me that night and I think that was what finally helped Nico to see that he wasn’t the enemy.

Olivier also had a lot of knowledge that Nico and I both wanted to know more about. He had two blood lines flowing through his veins and this made him a whole lot stronger than Nico wanted to admit.

“Dylan!” Nico gave me a nudge and I snapped out of my daze. “Are you ready?

I looked up to see that Olivier had pulled up in a black SUV. His dark green eyes were piercing and I fought to look away. Damn vampires and their good looks. I’m pretty sure Nico sensed the tension, but he didn’t say anything. For that, I was thankful. He still didn’t know about the kiss in Paris and if it was up to me, he never would.

“
Bonjour
,” Olivier greeted me with a kiss on each cheek. His lips were warm, so I knew he just fed. He turned to Nico and gave him a firm handshake.

I climbed into the backseat and then Nico went around and got in next to me from the other side. The leather was cold to the touch and I wished for some seat heaters. The vampires wouldn’t feel that it was too cold. Paris in the winter was beautiful, but the cold was a little too much to take at night.

“You won’t see much at night,” Olivier said, “but the way out to
Marnes-la-Coquette
is absolutely gorgeous.”

“I will have to take the car out for a drive tomorrow morning,” I commented, staring out the window. We were on the northeastern side of the city and would have to drive through Paris Proper in order to get to our new home. I was hoping to see the Eiffel Tower as we drove because, even though I’d seen it a dozen times before, I always loved seeing it at night, lit up in all its glory.

“You should probably stay a little more local tomorrow,” Nico said.

Olivier nodded from the front seat. “There’s still the discussion of security.”

I sighed as I stared out the window, my breath fogging up the glass. I took my finger and made designs in it. Now I had two men who were neurotic about my safety. As much as I wanted to be changed so I could defend myself, I wasn’t ready to lose my mortality. Not yet, anyways.

“Is the security for day or night?” I asked.

“Both,” the men responded together.

“Why? At night, I will be with one of you at all times. During the day, there are no vampires out.”

“I would think that last month proved that vampires are not the only thing you have to worry about,” Nico said.

I sunk into the bench seat and crossed my arms. I hated being defenseless and hated being in the dark about all of the potential threats even more. Every time I broached the topic of what goes bump in the night, I was told that I didn’t want to know or that the list was too long and it would be impossible for them to deem what would and wouldn’t be a threat. Somehow that was supposed to make me feel better, which was the terrifying part of it all.

“We will work something out so that you don’t feel so restricted,” Olivier said, sensing my uneasiness.

I looked at him in the rearview mirror and smiled. “Thank you.” Nico was oblivious to the concession that was just made.

The drive was about forty minutes. No one spoke any further about safety or anything else. The silence was deafening and I didn’t want to get into an argument about essentially having a babysitter all the time. It was fucking ridiculous as far I was concerned.

We finally pulled into a gravel driveway of a two story building that was whitewashed. There were large pillars in the front. Landscaping was basic, but what was around was in good condition. It would be the largest home I have lived in thus far and now I was beginning to rethink hiring an interior designer to help me with it all.

Olivier pulled up right in front of the house and put the SUV in park. He grabbed the keys and opened the front door. He then handed the keys to me, since it was now my house. I waved them in front of Nico and mouthed “mine”. He smiled and gave me a pat on the butt as I walked through the door.

Olivier gave us a tour through the home, though I saw enough photos and floorplans to have a good idea of what it contained already. After we walked through all six bedrooms, I stopped and looked at the two men.

“Really?” I asked.

The two of them looked at each other and then back at me. “What is it,
mia mortale
?” Nico asked.

“There’s no furniture.”

“That is your project.”

“I understand that. But there’s not at least some kind of bed or couch or something until then?”

Realization splashed across the faces of both of them. Fucking vampires. They don’t need those kinds of things so they don’t think about them. They can go into a coffin or a closet or the damn ground during the day, so what would a bed or a couch be used for?

I shook my head, unable to hide how pissed off I was.

Olivier chuckled. I shot him a death glare and he put his hands up defensively. “I’m sorry,” he said, suppressing a laugh. “But you have to admit that it’s kind of funny. Neither of us thought about it.”

“Well, it looks like I will be doing some serious shopping tomorrow,” I announced. “I hope that credit card has a very high limit.”

Nico smiled. “I do not see it being a problem.”

Olivier shook his head. “You and a credit card. That seems a bit dangerous.”

I shot Olivier another glare. I had had about enough of him, especially since he thought this was amusing.

“She will be fine,” Nico said, coming to my defense.

Chapter 3

“SINCE IT DOESN’T look like I’ll be getting a good night’s sleep, I may as well sit in on your discussions,” I said.

The two glanced at each other uncomfortably. It was Nico who spoke up. “I am sorry, Dylan. You will not be able to do that.”

I thought he was joking, but he didn’t crack a smile. “Excuse me?”

He frowned. “You are mortal and therefore someone could find out various details about what our plans for the city are without you even knowing it. We cannot take the chance of you being such a liability.”

“So I’m a liability?”

“Please, Dylan. Do not take this personally.”

I rolled my eyes. “Fine, let’s talk about something else.”

“Is there something on your mind?” Olivier asked.

“There is. Jen.”

“Jen? I’m not sure I understand,” Olivier said.

Nico shook his head. “I heard your case in the car. This is something that Olivier and I will discuss to see if it is something that can be permitted.”

Olivier looked intrigued and shrugged Nico’s suggestion off. “Who is Jen?”

“She is a friend of mine from Florida. She came to visit a while back, around the first time you came to Florence. We haven’t spoken since we put her on a plane back to Florida because we couldn’t risk her finding out about vampires or anything that was going on here and with me.”

“Okay. And why is Jen being mentioned now?” Olivier asked.

“Because I want her to come visit. I need a mortal friend in this city. I don’t have Antonio or a bartending job or anything else. I can’t just be a fucking housewife and decorate. If you think I would be okay with that on any level, you don’t know me well enough yet.”

Olivier looked at Nico, who didn’t appear to be very happy with me right now. I shrugged and met his glance.

“What are your thoughts?” Olivier asked, turning his attention to Nico.

“Jen is mortal. She poses a threat simply because we would be letting her into our world. If she saw anything, she would be a liability,” Nico explained. “It is difficult enough to keep Dylan safe. We would then be responsible for two and I do not think that is something we can deal with right now.”

“What if she learned the truth?” I asked.

Both of the vampires stared at me.

“That is not an option,” Nico said.

“But what if she did? By accident?”

“She would be killed,” Nico said.

“What if I requested that she was not killed?” I asked. I remembered that is what I had to do to keep Giancarlo safe.

“It is not the same. You cannot make such a request,” Nico explained.

I stormed out of the room. There was nothing for me to do because there was no bed. There was no furniture. Nothing was open, so shopping at this late hour was out of the question. I could take the car and drive into Paris, but I hadn’t done the drive during the day and wasn’t comfortable doing it alone at night.

It pissed me off that Nico and Olivier suddenly bonded. Once Nico made the decision to take over the sovereignty of Paris, he worked to maintain a good relationship with Olivier. I was glad they were getting along, but right now, it seemed like they were ganging up on me and that shit needed to stop.

I went out to the car where my messenger bag was still in the backseat. Inside was a notebook, so I started to go room by room to make a list of what I needed. All the boxes from the apartment in Florence contained clothes, books, and wine. All the furniture was left where it was because it would be rented.

We needed everything. Not only furniture, but also kitchen appliances, plates, window treatments – everything. I don’t think Nico had any idea how little we owned and how much we would need to buy. It had been a while since he cooked a meal, but I planned on actually eating. The lack of a bed waiting for me here was evident that he sometimes forgot what it was like to be human. Ugh.

After going through the bottom floor, I went upstairs and began taking more notes of what we needed. I finally curled up on the window seat that was in the master bedroom. The expanse of property out the window was breathtaking, even in the limited light that the moon offered. It wasn’t long before my heavy eyes finally closed and I was out.

***

“Dylan,” Nico whispered. He stood over me, waiting for me to gain enough consciousness to have a conversation.

“Yeah?” I asked, yawning and unfolding from the window seat.

He pointed outside the window. “It’s getting close to sunrise. I’m headed over to where Olivier sleeps. I’ll be back tomorrow evening,” he said, kissing me.

I nodded.

“Do you want us to take you to a hotel?”

“No, I’m alright.”

“Are you sure? It would give you a bed to sleep on and you would be in the city, closer to the shopping.”

I thought about it and then shook my head. “No, I will be fine here. Is security going to show up?

Nico shook his head. “Not as of right now. I do have an interior designer coming over around nine.”

“Nico,” I started to argue.

He put his fingers to my lips. “Just hear what she has to say. Take as much help from her as you would like. If you don’t like her ideas, fire her. Spend as much money as you wish.”

I nodded again. “Fine.”

“Have a good day,” he said, kissing me on the lips. I rose to meet him, feeling that spark as I always did.

This was the part I hated about being married to a vampire. The lonely days. No matter what, it was always just me during the day and it sucked.

“Bye,” I said, following him down the stairs.

Olivier stood at the base of the stairs. Nico walked out the front door and Olivier simply stared at me. He reached his hand towards mine and his fingertips grazed mine. He didn’t say anything, but our eyes met. The small amount of contact was enough. His desire was known.

“Good night, Olivier,” I said.

He took the hint and walked out the door, silently.

I looked at my watch. It was close to eight already, which meant the interior designer would be here soon. She didn’t know I was dealing with a vampire for a husband, so I had to come up with some kind of story as to why it was just me handling everything. Maybe my husband was a very busy man and worked all day in an office. That might work. Whatever. We had enough money that she wouldn’t care what he did as long as we could pay her.

I dragged one of my suitcases upstairs and into the master closet. I unpacked it, hanging what I could in the closet. I also found my makeup bag and unpacked it in the bathroom. There were no towels, so taking a shower wasn’t going to happen yet. I splashed some water on my face, applied a fresh coat of makeup, and changed into something more presentable than what I had slept in.

There was a knock at the door that nearly caused me to jump out of my skin. Interior designer, I reminded myself. I ran downstairs to greet her.

“Hello,” I said, opening the door and inviting her in.

“
Bonjour
,” she said.

“I’m Dylan,” I extended my hand.

“Lily,” she said, shaking my hand. “Pleased to meet you.”

I was thankful that she spoke English.

“You have no furniture?” She asked, looking around.

I laughed and shook my head. “Nothing.”

“Oh,” she said with big eyes. “We have a lot of work to do.”

I nodded. “Yes. And how quickly can we get furniture?”

“Usually it takes a few weeks,” Lily said. Her voice held a tone as if she didn’t like the answer she was giving any more than I wanted to hear it.

“What if I find something in a catalog that I want this morning? Can we pay extra to get it here today?”

“Showrooms charge a lot to have a same day delivery. It is not very common.”

I waved my hand. “Whatever it costs.”

Her eyebrows shot up. “Oh, very well then.” She reached into her bag to begin pulling information out. We walked over to the kitchen island where we had a space to work on. She had paint swatches, fabric designs, and then catalogs upon catalogs containing furniture. “Do you have an idea of what you’re looking for?”

“Modern, very modern,” I said. A few of the catalogs had rustic iron framed beds and I tossed them aside. Then there was a catalog with a lot of maple and oak. I grabbed a pen from my messenger bag and began circling items that I liked.

Lily looked over at what I was doing. “You do know what you want.”

I nodded. “Can we get these in today?”

Lily held a finger up and stepped outside with her cell phone. I heard her talking to someone and saying that she was dealing with a very demanding client. I laughed, not ever considering myself to be the demanding type. I didn’t care. She could tell them whatever she wanted as long as I had furniture by the end of the day.

Leather sofas, oak bedroom furniture, a glass-top desk for the office, and a few other random pieces of furniture, including bedroom furniture for one of the other bedrooms. We had six bedrooms, but I hadn’t decided what was going to be done with all of them. One was the master, one was the guest bedroom. One I would turn into a home office and another would be a home gym. As for the other two, I was content with leaving them empty until we were in the space a little longer.

Lily was able to get all of the furniture that I circled in the catalog scheduled for later in the day. She explained some of it was coming from the showroom itself and others were coming from a warehouse on the other side of the city. I nodded as if I cared and she smiled with a sense of accomplishment.

“Shall we talk about colors and overall designs?” Lily asked.

I took a deep breath. Here was the part that I needed help with. “Yes, though I must admit that I’m out of my element. I know what I like, but that’s where it stops.”

She laughed. “That is why I am here.”

Lily asked about colors that I liked. She talked about different colors and how they could impact mood. We decided on a neutral tan and green for the bedroom, a dark red in the kitchen, and hints of gray in the living room. She showed some bold prints for wallpaper trim as well as window treatments. She quickly learned I wasn’t the pink and floral type. Once she realized that, her suggestions started to make a whole lot more sense.

She had enough to work with and would be working with her assistants and painters over the next week to complete the requests.

“I have to go shopping for some art, accessories, and kitchen items,” I explained.

She nodded. “Yes, I can tell.”

“Where do I go?”

Lily grabbed the pen off the counter and started writing down the names and addresses of stores in my notebook. “These three stores are all within ten minutes’ drive of one another. They will box all of your purchases and even load them into your car.”

“Thank you. When do I need to be back to accept the deliveries?”

“It would be best if you could be back here by three.”

I nodded. “Thank you again.”

***

The entire morning and most of the afternoon was spent shopping. The stores loved me. I spent more money than I thought was possible on appliances, high-end kitchen items, bath towels, shower curtains, bathroom rugs, wall art, bedding, and more. Some of it was loaded into the back of the SUV and the rest of it was scheduled for delivery for the afternoon as well as tomorrow. I even ordered a treadmill so I could start building my home gym.

Everything was spread out across the floors within each room. I was simply playing the waiting game for the furniture to be delivered. I couldn’t do anything with the bedding until there was a bed. I couldn’t hang art above the sofa without the sofa being there, and I couldn’t wash any of the new towels without the washing machine.

By two, deliveries began. I pointed to the various rooms where everything needed to go. The delivery men installed, assembled, and tested. I signed delivery slips and tipped and then did it all over again with the next delivery. After the third delivery, I was exhausted, but it was empowering. I had never done anything like this and was proud of myself.