Chapter 4 PPOV

Placing my hat on my head as I stepped out of my jet, I stood at the top of the steps for a moment, a grin pulling at my lips at the sight of an old friend standing at the bottom with an open umbrella. A chuckle in my throat, I bounded down the steps before handing off my bag. "Randell... how the hell are ya?"

He held the umbrella over my head as he escorted me to my truck that waited to take me to meet my girl. He had a smirk on his own lips as he answered. "Can't complain, though you could have picked a dryer day, don'tcha think? I mean... it rains like a week a year here total."

I snorted as I opened the door and he stashed my bag in the backseat. "You ain't sugar, and it won't last long. Speakin' of sugar; my girl there yet?"

He nodded before he closed the door. "She and Leon got to the strip about two hours ago. He said he was going to take her shopping before heading out to the ranch."

Climbing into my seat, I nodded. "That'll do."

I shut the door as he made his way around to the other side of the truck. Pulling out my phone, I called Leon. He didn't even let me say anything before he spoke.

"She's fine, if not a little weird about spending that money."

I snorted as I started the car and shifted it into drive. "She gonna have ta get used ta that shit. Where ya at?"

There was a moment's pause before he came back through the line. "The Bellagio."

Humming my understanding, I nodded. "I just landed and will be at the ranch in about twenty minutes or so. Y'all been there yet?"

"No, Sir. Bella said something about wearing the same clothes for two days and having nothing clean to change into after a shower, so she wanted to stop first. I don't think she believed me when I said this was an expensive city."

I snorted as I pulled out of the small air strip my jet was housed at, then headed for home. "Ya took her ta the Bellagio. Course that shit gonna be expensive."

I heard him chuckle in response to the disgruntled sound of a very irritated sounding lady in the background. "I didn't take her anywhere. She's the one that said to stop at the closest place to where we were going. I only did as I was asked. And, I have to say, if she's this pissed off about jeans costing a hundred bucks, can't wait to see her reaction to where she's going to be staying for the next two weeks."

I grinned. "You just let me worry 'bout that, yeah?"

"Gladly. Do you want us to meet you at the ranch, or are you going to meet us here?"

"I'll meetcha at the ranch. Gotta make sure it's still standin'."

"You got it. We'll be there in about an hour."

Hanging up the phone before dropping it in the cup holder, I shifted my weight slightly, then laid on the gas as I glanced at Randell from the corner of my eye. "We waitin' on anyone?"

I saw him tilt his head, but he nodded after a moment. "Yeah, a couple. Garrett, Richard, and Lillian are running a couple hours late."

Shaking my head, I snorted. "I don't rightly give a fuck if Dick and his girl show up at all. They gonna piss me off if they do, I know it. Garrett doin' somethin' for me, so he'll be 'round 'fore long." Pulling off to the side of the road, in the middle of nowhere, I shifted my truck into park and opened the door. Climbing out, I looked back into the truck. "I'ma run the last a the way. Leon ain't ever been to the house out here, only the roundabout location, so he don't know right where the drive is. They in a little black coupe. Wait for 'em, and show 'em the way."

Once I got a nod in understanding, I shut the door and took off across the sand. It was only a couple of miles from where I pulled off to my house in the desert, so it didn't take but a few minutes before I jumped the wall to land in my backyard. I wasn't surprised to find no one outside, but there was a gut feeling I was going to get very angry when I went inside. So, I took my time following the voices, making a pitstop in the kitchen for a beer before I continued my way through the house.

When you get a bunch of nomads in one place, personalities clash and tempers flare, but they don't normally cause any damage. However, when you have two nomads in an enclosed place, plus they already have problems with each other, 'normally' doesn't apply. Add in a familiar tie, and shit is gonna get fucked up. Blake and Drake are twins who never really worked out their human issues that led them to be changed. Blake got into a fight with the wrong guy, who Drake knew, and that guy turned them both. Honestly, I could understand Blake's anger at his brother, but could also see things from Drake's perspective. Blake blamed his brother for bringing Dillon around, while Drake blamed Blake for pissing Dillon off. It was fucked, but they were stand up guys as far as younger vampires went.

Leaning a shoulder on the wall behind the group of vampires who were yelling at them to knock it off before I showed up, I simply brought my beer to my lips, taking a pull from the bottle as the two continued to ignore the warnings, and continue to snarl and snap at the other. Eventually, they would have at each other and settle their differences, it just wouldn't be in my fucking house.

I watched the pissing contest until Drake kicked Blake in the chest and sent in through a window. Before anyone was able to stop them, Drake was tackled through a wall. That's when I stepped in. Snatching both those boys up by the hair on the backs of their heads, I smashed their faces together -the sound of cracking stone silencing the entire house- before throwing them in opposite directions with a 'knock it the fuck off'.

When they landed and looked at me, I shifted my eyes from one to the other, a growl in my throat. "Y'all two better work this shit out while ya fix whatcha broke and clean up the mess. My human on her way, and I ain't gonna stand for this shit when she get here. She gets so much as a fuckin' splinter, and I'll kill ya both."

Turning to the mass of bodies that were looking at me, I narrowed my eyes. "Keep your noses to yaselves. She gonna be half cocked around so many a us as it is. There ain't no need ta make it worse."

Eventually, I was sure it wouldn't come down to threats when a human was involved, but that day was not today, and it always worked. Once it was out there, things settled. A few of the other guys took up helping the twins fix the wall and window while everyone else scattered about the house, most of them gathering on the second floor where I had a game room setup with pool, darts, and a bar. Someone turned on a football game, but it was muted in lieu of having music blaring through the surround sound.

Of all my houses, this one was probably my favorite. The second floor was something of a masterpiece of design. It was a loft style with a wooden railing that extended from one side to the other, overlooking the Great Room and front door. At the back, there was a wide hall, with the doors to the only three rooms on the second floor; the only bedroom in the house, a storage room, and an office. The first floor boasted the Great Room, a dining room, the kitchen, and a second bathroom. The kitchen, however, might need an overhaul because it wasn't set up with ever having a human in mind. With no need for a range, oven, dishwasher, or any of that, the only appliance it had was a refrigerator, and that was full of nothing but alcohol. Still, I might be able to avoid that since there was a BBQ in the back yard. It wasn't used to cook food, but that didn't mean it couldn't be.

The house was built for my ex-wife after we divorced. It was civil enough, I suppose. It was always more a marriage of convenience, so I wasn't all that surprised when she told me she wanted out. I also wasn't surprised when she told me why. There was a short conversation where I told her to pick whatever place she wanted and she could have it, but she didn't want anything that was already built. She wanted something new, something just hers. I consented to building her a new place, she just had to figure out what and where she wanted it.

She wanted something close to Vegas for like, a playhouse of sorts I guess, which was why it had fully functional bathrooms, but she just had to go get herself in trouble with the wrong crowd. Char was stunning, even by vampire standards, but I don't think there was ever a brain between her ears. The damn bimbo didn't listen for shit on a good day, and tended to push buttons that were better off not pushed. If you do that enough times with the wrong people, it'll land you in an urn faster than you can say howdy fucking doody. She was so used to her looks getting her everything she wanted, she didn't take the time to consider that if a man wasn't attracted to females, they didn't mean anything.

When she died, I took the house back instead of destroying it because I really did like the place. I almost didn't hand over the keys when I was done, thinking I could just buy her place off the strip, but ended up handing it over because I didn't want to deal with a remodel right after I got done building the damn thing. However, it didn't take a lot of work to get it closer to my tastes; just some paint, different furniture, plus new fixtures and accents. I myself spent a decent amount of time in Sin City, though I had always just stayed in one of the hotels. Now, I stay here... because why not. After the reconfiguring of the rooms, as well as getting rid of Char's shit, it was a perfect little get away literally in the middle of nowhere.

Even over the music I heard my truck and the sound of a second car engine outside the front door, pulling my attention from the game of pool I was mindlessly playing and back out of the recesses of my mind. Turning my head, I looked out the large bay of windows that spanned the front of the house, grinning. She was finally here, and shit was about to get interesting.