Indebted to the Vampires

Piper

I spent the rest ofthe night imaging what was going on down there. I’d never imagined any of them would be into that kind of stuff. Okay, that was a lie. I totally could see some BDSM action coming from a few of them.

But Rayne? He was a punk that seemed more like a bottom than a top. Wynn, oh, Wynn, I would let him tie me up any day. The thought of a twin sandwich also didn’t strike me as something I would hate.

I was having a delicious dream of just those things when a pounding sounded on my door. Groaning, I glanced over at my clock. It was barely after seven. I was usually up by now, but apparently, I needed the sleep. Something I wished the person at my door would respect.

“Piper, get up,” Darren’s voice called out, making me groan again. Of course, it would be him, the freaking slave driver.

“I’m coming! Hold on a second.” I crawled out of bed and pulled a pair of sweatpants on, not bothering to put a bra on under my big t-shirt. I pulled open the door to find an annoyed Darren waiting on the other side. “Yes?”

Darren’s eyes dipped down slightly to my attire, and I could tell he didn’t approve. Not voicing his opinion, he glanced to his wrist and his watch. “No list today. The masters are throwing a party. We need to get the house ready for visitors.”

I frowned, my brow furrowing. “But they had visitors last night, and we didn’t have to prepare anything.”

Tapping his foot, Darren let out an exasperated sigh. “That was different. Today, we prepare the house, and tonight, you will stay in your room or, better yet, go visit a friend. You don’t want to be caught up in their shenanigans. Now, get dressed and meet me in the kitchen. We have a lot of work to do.”

Closing the door, I proceeded to do as he asked.

What kind of people have two parties in one week? The rich kind, obviously. Except it seemed like this time, it would be a bigger affair. What about Darren’s comment? I understood the whole stay in my room bit. I was the help, no one wanted to see the help hanging around while they were trying to get their freak on.

However, asking me to leave the house altogether? That was a bit strange.

Trying not to think about it too much, I brushed my teeth and cleaned my face before heading downstairs. Gretchen was in the kitchen, cooking something that was not breakfast for me. On the table was a box of donuts with my name on it. Not literally but I could hear it singing out to me.

Eat me, Piper. You know you want to. We taste so good.

Sighing as I took a seat, I bit into the pastry. I really needed to get a life, one outside of work.

“Make sure you eat plenty this morning.” Gretchen raised a brow at me. “If you think they have been working you hard now, you haven’t seen their parties.”

I slid my gaze over to Darren. The bastard ratted me out. Was nothing sacred in this house? Apparently not. I was on my own after all.

After I finished eating and drinking a whole pot of coffee, I turned to Darren. “So, boss, what’s on the agenda for today? Maybe painting the whole mansion? Or cooking dinner for one hundred in one day?”

Gretchen snorted. “You leave the cooking to me, and if they ever gave me that short of notice for a hundred people, I would quit on the spot.”

“Oh, no, you wouldn’t,” Darren shot back with a pointed look.

Gretchen sighed. “You’re right, I wouldn’t, but I would spank some butts!” She and Darren laughed heartily. I could tell they had been together a long time. They even had their own private jokes. I half wanted to be in on those jokes, but I also didn’t want to be a maid for the rest of my life.

Their laughter cut off when Antoine showed up in the doorway of the kitchen. He nodded at Darren and then smiled at Gretchen. “Good morning, Miss Gretchen. Could you please add two more people to the place settings for this evening? The two we thought weren’t coming have changed their minds.”

“Of course, Master Durand.” Gretchen smiled back at him like a grandmother would her grandson. It was a bit endearing had I not thought Antoine was a bit of an ass. A hot one, sure, but an ass none the less.

“Miss Billings.” The tone of his voice changed from courteous to stern. “I expect Darren has told you about tonight’s event. Everything must be perfect, so try not to break anything or antagonize any of my brothers today.” I flushed as I realized he was talking about my encounter with Rayne yesterday. “We’re all a bit on edge, and I can’t be held responsible if something should happen to you.”

I couldn’t tell if Antoine was worried for me or just didn’t want to be bothered by an incident. Either way, I got the message. Keep my head down, do my job, and stay out of the way.

“Understood, Master Durand.” I nodded and then waited for Antoine to leave so I could finish eating the one good thing that had happened to me this week.

Antoine, however, didn’t leave. He put his hands behind his back and strolled toward me. Gretchen and Darren seemed to hold their breath as Antoine moved into my personal space. He stopped at the island and leaned onto the counter next to me just inches from where I sat.

“I also wanted to be sure we have an understanding of a different matter.” His face was so close to mine, it was strange and exciting. It made special tingles go through my body, and I had the sudden urge to lean toward him and bask in his scent. “Please refrain from speaking ill of my brothers and me in such a public setting. If you have any complaints, I expect you to handle time professionally and not scream them at the top of your lungs.”

When I realized last night’s ‘Bite me!’ was what he had been talking about, my face burned with embarrassment. Darren had been right about their hearing all right. I should have been more careful.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean anything by it—”

Antoine’s fingers covered my lips startling me. “Enough. I simply wish to remind you to think before you speak, because the next time you tell someone to bite you...” He leaned forward until I could feel his breath on my face. “... someone just might.”

With that, Antoine was gone, and I was trying to relearn how to breathe. Glancing between Gretchen and Darren, who looked amused by the whole situation, I cried out. “What the fuck was that?”

Darren and Gretchen breathed out, visibly relaxing after Antoine left. Taking in a deep breath, Darren shook his head. “I hate to say I told you so but...”

Gretchen barked a laugh. “You big fibber, you love to say I told you so. Especially to anyone who isn’t you.” She waved her spatula in his direction with a roll of her eyes.

Straightening out, Darren tugged on the cuffs of his gloves. If it were possible his nose was stuck even further up in the air than ever before. “Regardless. I expect Piper to be more aware of her surroundings and save her outbursts for her days off,” he locked those stern brown eyes with mine, his brows furrowing, “when you are out of the house.”

I jerked my head up and down twice before shoving my donut into my mouth. With a little moan of relief, I sagged in my chair.

Darren watched me with a mixture of disgust and amusement before asking, “Are you finished? We have several items on today’s agenda, and I would like to have them finished before the first guests arrive.”

Slugging back what was left of my coffee mug, I gave him a thumbs up. “Let’s go, boss.”

Snorting, Darren adjust his suit jacket. “Hardly.” He left the kitchen through the dining room, not waiting for me to follow him.

Gretchen and I exchanged a knowing smile before I handed her my coffee mug and went after our stuck-up butler. I followed him into the dining room. The long table dining table had been scrubbed clean recently, and the cleaning fluid stung my nose and made me sneeze.

They must have really made a mess last night.

“Come now, don’t dally.” Darren poked his head back into the dining room from the foyer. “We have plenty to do and not near enough time to do it.”

Hurrying after him, I laced my finger behind my back. “So, how many people do you think will be coming? Is there a theme for this party?”

“Yes.” Darren stopped before the hallway closet where he pulled out a long hook. Apprehension filled me as he came toward me with the hook. However, he stepped around me and hooked it into the rings of the heavy curtains over the windows. Light flooded into the room, and I held my hand up to block my eyes.

Blinking rapidly to get the spots out of my eyes, I searched for Darren’s form. “Am I allowed to know the theme?” I huffed, my hands on my hips as I tapped my foot. “How can I help if I don’t know what I’m doing?”

Darren finished pulling back all the drapes and clacked the end of the hook’s pole on the ground. “You are not going to help with anything. We don’t need to lose any more of our precious antiques to your clumsiness. The masters have hired decorators, and they will take care of everything.”

“Then what am I supposed to do?” I crossed my arms over my chest, annoyance pinching my face.

Darren walked calmly to my side, the large hook looking over us. “You will stay out of sight. Take an early day off. Go get a manicure. Whatever it is you do with your free time, but don’t come back until just before sunset.” He started to walk away but then stopped. “Actually, if you could stay the night somewhere, maybe with a friend or a lover? That would be best for everyone.”

“Then why did you even wake me up?” I snapped, marching after him before he could leave me behind. I followed him into the back of the house where a large library sat. I hadn’t had a chance to go in there yet. None of my chores had asked me to, and there was never any time to explore.

Large shelves covered every wall of the library with a balcony wrapping around the second story. A rolling ladder was attached to a metal bar which moved all around the room. Desks and couches littered the room, but unlike most libraries, I’d seen no book was out of place. They were all neatly stacked on the shelves. No messy readers in this house.

Darren threw open the doors and began to pull the curtains back in there as well. “I have too much to do to wait for you to roll out of bed. Better to send you on your way now, so you are out of our hair.”

A low growl erupted from my throat. “What’s the point of being the maid if I can’t do my job? You won’t tell me anything. I’m already under contract to keep my mouth shut, but I can’t keep quiet if I don’t know what I’m being quiet about.”

Throwing an irritated scowl over his shoulder, Darren finished the drapes and then strolled toward me. I thought he might ignore more once more, but instead, he stopped before me.

“You may think your role here is important, but you aren’t. I cannot tell you anything until the masters deem you to trustworthy enough to know. As for your job, you will be given more responsibility—”

“When I’m trusted enough to handle it,” I filled in for him. “Yeah, yeah. Whatever.” I waved him off and sighed. “Fine but I don’t have anyone to stay with, so I’ll just call it a night early. Will that be satisfactory?” I gave him a beaming ‘fuck you’ smile.

Darren sniffed. “If you must, but it is imperative your door be locked tonight. No late night snacks. No sneaking out to spy on the party. This is a very important night for Master Wynn, and we can’t have you ruining it with your clumsy ways.”

Master Wynn? If Darren had been trying to detract me from wanting to check out the party, he shouldn’t have mentioned Wynn. Now I wanted to know what was going on even more than before.

Holding one hand up in front of me, I smiled innocently. “Promise. I’ll be out until sunset.”

“And?”

Putting my other hand behind my back, I crossed my fingers. “And I’ll go straight to my room and stay there until sun up.”

“Good. Now, get out of here.” He brushed past me and then paused at the library door. “Clean your car, Lord knows it needs to be sanitized.”

I glared at his retreating figure. Clean my car, my ass. My car was fine. Sure, it had been a pit for my many fast food wrappers, but that had changed. I now had a home to litter with those.

When I made my way out of the house and into my car, my nose wrinkled at the sour smell. Okay, so a car wash wouldn’t be so bad after all.