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The bastard was the leader of the Parisian vampires, who were the most radical—and unstable—in all of France. His presence was most definitely not a good sign.
Laurie nodded. "Once the boy told us what he'd found, I had a few trusted males keep watch for Durand, using the one-known sketch of the male for reference. He was sighted for a few seconds earlier today."
"Fuck," Leo muttered.
Joseph nodded. "Our thoughts exactly. If the ruler of the Parisian vampires is here, it isn't for pleasure or even business interests since his cock can't get hard and his trade is restricted to other parts of Europe."
The French vampires, in general, hated the British ones. But the leader of the Parisian sect was rumored to be bordering madness. One didn't reach the age of three hundred like Durand did and retain their sanity, especially since he'd never found his fated one and purposefully stayed clear of females so he wouldn't ever do so.
At one point, it had been the only thing Leo had admired about the male—retaining his frozen state for so long. But since finding Yesenia, all he wanted to do was kick Durand back to France, protect his people, and keep his bride and family safe.
Laurie spoke up. "What do you want to do, Leo?"
His brother's question brought his focus back. "We're going to continue watching Durand's movements for now. With the recent addition of shifter and fae witch investigators, it should be easier to do so without being obvious. After all, the French vampires would rather die slowly in the sun than work with other paranormals and will think we're the same." He glanced at each male in turn. "Although I'd like our new allies and cohorts to meet here, at Nyx's Kingdom, to coordinate and finalize their plans. Not only is your building near the edge of my territory, enough people come and go so that shifters and fae witches showing up here isn't seen out of the ordinary."
Joseph raised his brows. "Will the fae witches come here, though, given your father's actions?"
While Nyx's Kingdom catered to all paranormals and even some humans, few fae witches would step foot inside due to the violent history between them and the vampires. "They should since it will be at Khan's orders. Besides, this place is along the border with the fae witch territory, so they don't have to travel far. And they'll relax a bit more if you offer them a few free incentives."
Laurie crossed his arms over his chest. "This isn't a brothel, Leo. Everyone comes here of their own free will to find pleasure, but only after a thorough investigation into their background, along with their yearly fees, of course. I won't overlook the character check, not even for your bloody big dream of a unified paranormal utopia in the East End."
Joseph spoke before Leo could do more than frown. "Give us their names ahead of time so we can look into them and ensure they're not a risk, and it should be fine. I'm sure you understand the need to protect the patrons inside these walls."
Given the offering of fantasies, and debauchery, and all-around freedom from prudish expectations, it would be scandalous for someone's name to be released to the public. Especially for the human lords and politicians who visited. "Fine. I'll ask Black and Khan for their full names." Leo handed the paper back to Joseph. "Keep this here, with the rest of your gathered information, in a safe place."
Once the male vampire took the paper, Leo asked, "Anything else to share? I need to get back."
Laurie waggled his eyebrows. "Need to claim your bride again, eh?"
He resisted the urge to punch his brother's jaw and merely straightened his waistcoat. "I'll take that to mean no, there's nothing else. I'm leaving." Laurie opened his mouth, but Leo beat him to it. "You'll meet her when I say you can, not before. So stop harassing me."
Laurie rolled his eyes. "Fine. Although I still say you should bring her here. I expect a modern female would thoroughly enjoy the fantasy rooms we offer, which means you would too."
Leo narrowed his eyes at his brother. "What do you know of modern females?"
His brother snorted. "You hear things inside these walls you won't hear anywhere else. Such as stories from couples brought together by the former time-wielder."
He frowned. "They must be in their sixth or seventh decades, at least physically."
Laurie shrugged. "Lust and sex doesn't stop at thirty, brother."
Not wanting to imagine two septuagenarians engaged in some sort of lord and servant fantasy, Leo merely shook his head and went to the door. "Goodbye Laurie, Joseph. I'll see if I can get the lists and possible backgrounds to you in the next day or two."
Before his brother could pester him further, Leo exited the pleasure house and made his way back toward his gaming hell.
Unfortunately the walk only gave him time to think. And since he had guards stationed randomly throughout his territory, not to mention the loyalty of nearly all the people in his patch of London, he didn't have to remain overly alert to his surroundings, only mildly so.
And so his mind went back to Yesenia. How she'd pulled away from his touch, the hurt look on her face, and even the self-hatred in her eyes for not ensuring she knew what a vampire's claiming entailed.
Fated ones shouldn't be so bloody complicated, and yet that's all Yesenia had been since arriving.
Although the thought of never meeting her made him frown. He didn't like that picture either.
Frustrated, he picked up his pace and reached his establishment in record time. However, he didn't go to his office or even to his chambers. No, he headed to the underground boxing area. Few would challenge him, but tonight he needed some way to forget about disappointing his bride, learning of a possibly mad vampire near his territory, and how if he wasn't careful, his people could very well end up in the midst of another war.
No, what he needed was to punch someone, or two, and feel pain in return.
And soon he did exactly that, only briefly forgetting about the massive number of troubles he needed to sort through.
