"His son? He didn't tell me he had a son?" I said, shaking Callan's cold hand.

"He didn't? Maybe he is trying to impress you with his rich bachelor lifestyle. His age kind of ruins it for him, though." he laughed.

"How has he never mentioned you to me? He told me everything else."

"So, you know about our family history then?"

"Yep, and it's pretty unbelievable, to be honest."

"I imagine it would be to someone of your kind. Jake told me you were human?" He said, slightly shaking his head, smiling his perfect smile just like his father.

"Yeah, does that surprise you?"

"Well, kind of. My father doesn't usually surround himself with your kind. I mean, he doesn't hate you, but I've never really known him to employ them on his personal staff."

"Miss Summers," Mr Morgan called, motioning for me to go to him.

"You're being beckoned. Well, hopefully, we will get to continue this conversation later." He smiled again.

"I look forward to it. It was nice meeting you, Callan."

"The pleasure is all mine, Ebony Summers." he smiled his perfect smile again. This family certainly had some impressive genes.

"Oh, by the way. Don't believe a word Jake says about me." I said, rolling my eyes.

Callan chuckled as he walked toward the others. "Oh, so you don't have a love heart birthmark on your lower back?"

"I'm going to kill him," I yelled.

"Nice to meet you, Ebony." Callan laughed.

I walked over to Mr Morgan shaking my head and muttering about Jake, "Yes, sir?"

"We are taking two planes as I have to make a short stop. You will come with me. That way, I will know you are safe." his eyes were lighter than usual, almost like they were turning a soft silver color.

"Oh, ok. Thank you, sir."

He just nodded.

"So, you have a son, huh?" I said casually, standing beside him.

"I do, yes. I take it he introduced himself just now?" he said in a monotone voice, his eyes forward.

"He seems very nice; he looks just like you." I smiled up at him.

"Quite." he looked down at me with his now silver eyes.

"Are you ok?" Something was definitely off with him right now.

"Fine, thank you. We shall take the next car as our flight will leave a bit later. Have you eaten dinner yet?"

"Have you eaten?" I said, raising an eyebrow at him.

"Yes."

"Are you sure?"

"You are quite safe, Miss Summers. Now, have you had some dinner?" He repeated.

"Well, no, but I'm fine. I'll grab a sandwich or something on the plane."

"Nonsense, we will stop on the way to the airport. I will not have you going hungry," he said sternly. "What would you like?"

"Oh, really, sir, it's fine."

"What would you like to eat, Miss Summers?" He repeated, ignoring my words.

"I don't know. What's close?" I knew there was no point in arguing with him.

"I know there is an Italian restaurant close by. One of my clients owns it and has invited me many times. This might be the perfect excuse for me to visit and play the hungry human." he smiled as his eyes slowly turned back to their beautiful aqua tone.

"Sounds perfect, thank you."

"You are most welcome. Ah, there is the car. Let's get you out of this cold then." he gestured for me to move forward towards the car, and he followed, carrying our bags.

-----

"Carter, my boy. You finally came to my restaurant. Good to see you. How long are you in town?" A short, older man with thick white hair said as he shook Mr Morgan's hand.

"Terrence, lovely to see you again. Unfortunately, we are leaving town tonight, but I thought I would show Ebony here your wonderful establishment. I hear it's the best in town. Well done, my old friend," Mr Morgan said, shaking the man's hand and smiling warmly. He really was very good at playing the part of a happy, typical human businessman.

"All thanks to you, my boy," Terrence turned his eyes to me and smiled. "You must be Carter's girl? Lovely to finally meet you. He's a good man, yes?" Terrence shook my hand.

"Hello, my name is Ebony, but we're not ...."

"So, what do you recommend for a hungry couple Terrence?" Mr Morgan cut me off.

"I make you whatever you want. You tell me, and I'll bring it to you." he patted Mr Morgan on the back. "I owe you everything. You believed in me when no one else did. You gave me my dream; look at this place." Terrence gestured around the busy restaurant. "You, my boy, saved my life. That, to me, is family. "

"Thank you, Terrence, but this is all you. I listened to a man with a passion for food and life. Inspiring to say the least." Mr Morgan bowed his head slightly. "Now, Ebony, what would you like for dinner?" Mr Morgan said, smiling his perfect coy smile.

"I could use some comfort food, so lasagne and bread sound perfect."

"Good choice. I will make it right now for you both. Have a seat. I'll bring wine." Terrence said, walking to the kitchen.

"Are we eating here? I thought we were leaving?"

"We have time. Sit, enjoy. You deserve a little downtime." he put his hand on my lower back and guided me to the back of the busy restaurant and into a booth in the corner. I noticed everyone was watching him; he was hard not to look at.

"How are you enjoying Germany?" Mr Morgan said, taking off his black coat.

"It's beautiful, but to be honest, I haven't seen much of it,"

"Yes, I'm sorry about the workload that you have had while we are here. I'm afraid it does start to take over after a while," he said, running his hand through his dark hair.

"It's fine; really, I don't mind at all. I'm kind of the same, actually. Once I start something, I have to finish it."

"Yes, I noticed that. That is why I knew you would be perfect for me," he paused and looked at me for a second. "I mean perfect for the job."

"I appreciate that, sir," I pressed my lips together. "Why did you insinuate that we were a couple just then?"

He smiled. "Why does that offend you?"

"No, not all, but I was just wondering why?" I was blushing. Yep, I must be red as a tomato right now.

Mr Morgan looked over towards the kitchen, where Terrence was talking with his chef. "I've known Terrence for a very long time. He's a big family man; whenever he sees me, he asks about my girlfriend. I always tell him I have no time for a girlfriend, but he always tells me the love of a woman is life-changing. It turns into this very long conversation I don't want to have. I thought maybe if he believed you were my girl, he would stop trying to set me up with one of his seven daughters."

"Oh? Sure, that makes sense. So, you don't have a girlfriend?"

"You know I don't, Miss Summers. Why do you ask?" His eyes burned into mine like they were trying to read my mind.

"Just making conversation," I shrugged, looking away awkwardly. Am I bushing again?

"Here you go, enjoy. I had it made special, just for you. Such a lovely couple." Terrence said, putting the food in front of us.

"Thank you, Terrence. It looks wonderful." Mr Morgan replied.

"If you need anything else, you call me. Enjoy." Terrence walked away, smiling.

"So, I have an ignorant human question for you," I said as Mr Morgan poured the blood-red wine.

"Of course you do. Proceed,"

"How do vampires and garlic work?"

He chuckled in the back of his throat. "Fair question. I guess the easiest way to describe it would be, it makes us feel quite ill but would not kill us."

"So, the smell of garlic bread is not affecting you?" I could smell the aroma of garlic in the air.

"Slightly, but I'll be fine." he sipped the red wine.

"So, if I were to kiss you right now, having just eaten garlic, it wouldn't hurt you?" I smiled and bit my lip.

"As I said before, I have a very high tolerance for most things. I would be fine. You wouldn't even know if I was in discomfit," he smiled.

"Huh, good to know," I said, biting into the bread.

"Any other questions?" He placed his hands on the table right before me and looked into my eyes. I noticed they were twinkling again slightly.

"I have one," I said shyly.

"Ok?" he said softly.

"It's about Callan's mom." I bit my lip and looked down." He said she was meeting you at the dinner. Are you two still a thing?" I shrugged.

"Are we a thing?" Mr Morgan repeated. "Well, we are no longer married if that is what you are asking me?"

"Ok, are you still together sometimes? Like occasionally, you two might be together?" I took a sip of wine and looked away from him casually.

"You mean, am I sleeping with her?" He raised his eyebrow sharply.

"It's not my business, I know, but... It doesn't matter. I shouldn't have asked. Let's change the subject. Callan seems nice." I sipped my wine. Why did I ask that?

"He is a very polite boy; he learned that from his mother. She is very particular about manners."

"Oh," I said, sipping more wine. I need to change the subject. "So, do you have any other human personal employees?"

"No, just you. I don't tend to employ a lot of humans for my personal staff; they tend to crumble with the pressure of the job. Are you finding everything ok?"

"Yep, no problems here. All good, no, things are actually great. So do you still talk with Callan's mom?" I blurted it out. I didn't mean to. It just spilled out like verbal vomit. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to say that."

Damn, it!

"Let me assure you, Miss Summers, although I do still converse with his mother, I'm not, nor do I intend to ever be in a relationship with her again. We share a son, which is more than enough for me." He ate a fork full of lasagne. "Not bad. I've certainly had worse." he smiled.

"I'm sorry, it's not my business. I feel awkward now."

"It's fine, really. When you meet her tomorrow, you will know why I feel this way." he smiled. "What about you?"

"What about me?" I sat up straight in my chair.

"Boyfriend? Crazy ex? Tell me about you. It's your turn to share."

"Well, no boyfriend, as I told you before. A few exes, but none crazy. Honestly, sir, I don't date a lot."

"Me either. I find relationships rather pointless. You meet someone, you like them, you date, you fall in love, life happens, and then you lose it. I find dealing with numbers a lot easier."

"I get that. I still want to feel love, though," I shrugged.

"You have never been in love?" He said, surprised.

I shook my head. "I thought I had, but I realized it was just lust. When I get close to someone, I tend to, well, I tend to run."

He just smiled and nodded his head. "I respect that, but as my mother used to tell me when I was younger. It only takes one to make you feel true love, and that one will be the last one you suspect. Don't worry, I'm still searching, and I've been in this world a lot longer than you, but I'm ok being alone." he shrugged.

"I wish I were, but lately, being alone is really..." I stopped talking as I felt the presence of someone standing next to me.

"Why hello there, long time no see." I looked over to see who cut me off and gasped. My heart was pounding as I saw him standing next to me. "Ebony, how are you? You are looking better than the last time I saw you."

"Get away from her before I rip your head off and make you watch yourself self-die." Mr Morgan growled as he clenched his fists and started to stand up.

"Now, Carter. I'm only trying to talk to the pretty girl here. You don't want to start something in this lovely family restaurant with so many beautiful children around, do you?"

"Get. Away. From. Her." Mr Morgan said slowly. His eyes turned blood red, and his stance suddenly became more powerful as he leaned over the table in this guy's face showing no fear. "I'll give you five seconds to walk away, Phillip, then I'm going to shred you like paper all over this floor. One ...."

"I'm only here to talk, Carter," Phillip said calmly, holding his hands in front of his face.

"Two ...."

"No need to be hostel. I'm here to talk, mate."

"Three ......"

"Can you believe this guy? Always with the violence." Phillip scoffed.

"Four...." Mr Morgan sounded like he was growling in his throat. I gasped as I saw two sharp teeth over his pink bottom lip.

"You should leave," I said, pulling myself closer to the wall in absolute fear of what was happening in front of me.

"Don't be scared, little one; I just have a message from Leon for you," Phillip said, smiling.

"Leon? What does he want from me?" I said, shocked and instantly feeling sick to my stomach. I pulled myself away from him and backed up against the wall.

Phillip grinned at my fear. "Perfect." Phillip looked me up and down slowly. "Well, Ebony Summers, Leon said he wishes to ...."

"Five ...." Mr Morgan yelled as he lunged at Phillip like a lion in a jungle. The restaurant was suddenly filled with the sound of terrified people trying to escape and me screaming in absolute fear as I cowered in the booth covering my eyes.

"HELP!"