JIMIN POV
I was surprised to find that I actually enjoyed talking with Jungkook.
He had a keen mind and a vast array of information in his head.
He'd seen and done a lot, even more than I had.
Of course, he was about a hundred years older than me
so that only made sense.
He had also traveled the world and seen many of the same places I had had so we had
that in common.
We even knew some of the
same people. Not a plus.
"This is me." I said when we reached my apartment building.
"It used to be a warehouse but someone had retrofitted it about ten years back and turned it
into loft apartments."
"I'm on the top floor."
Jungkook frowned as he glanced up the side of the building.
"You said someone was waiting for you in your loft and that's when they attacked you?"
"Yes."
Where was he going with that question?
"Why?" I asked.
"How did they get in?"
"I don't know."
"I got knocked out after getting clocked over the head."
"I woke up on the way to the hospital, I haven't had a
chance to look around yet."
Jungkook's lips turned down in
a grimace. "My men have been here since you were attacked."
"I'm sure we'll find the answer."
Wasn't sure how I felt about strangers roaming around in
my apartment, even if they
were Jungkook's guards.
Kind of felt like an invasion
of my privacy.
On the other hand, they were keeping the place safe, so I guess I couldn't argue too much.
Well, I could but I knew when to pick my battles and this wasn't one I wanted to fight.
I'd rather find out who attacked me.
"Did you tell anyone about me?"
I asked as I led the way into the building.
"I mean, that I'm your mate?"
"Just Tai and hobi and I trust both of them with my life."
"Tai and hobi?"
"Tai is the head of my security, He's been with me for decades."
"Hobi is my personal assistant and I guess you could call him my personal butler."
"He keeps me glued together."
"Glued together is...good."
Jungkook chuckled. "He's a virtual genius."
"I have no doubt that if he had decided to go into the business world, he'd be a billionaire tycoon."
"Why didn't he?"
"You know, I never really asked."
"His family has been butlers for my family for generations."
"Usually, they are household butlers but when I became prince, I chose hobi as my personal butler and assistant."
"I needed him to be able to
go where I went, not be tied down to a house."
"His older brother jih is the house butler on my family's estate."
"My parents have Tito but he's more in charge of security than anything."
"Due to the nature of my parents and Jin's relationship, they tend to keep a low level of household staff. Not everyone understands."
I'd grown up knowing that the private moments between my father and Jin were just that.
Private.
To the world, he was simply my uncle, my mother's twin brother.
I hated that.
I wanted to be able to shout to said world that Jin was a very important member of our household.
I wanted my father to be able to share his love of Jin in public.
Half the time, Jin didn't even attend the social functions my parents went to because my mother was the one on my father's arm, not him.
Maybe I needed to warn Jungkook about that before
he made another mistake.
"Hey, about Jin and my parents..."
Jungkook lifted an eyebrow as
he glanced at me. "What?"
"To the world, my parents are mates and my uncle just lives with them because he's my mother's twin."
"Very few know of their true relationship and it needs to
stay that way."
"I'm not sure I understand but
I agree to keep it a secret if that's what you want."
"When it's just family or close friends,things are pretty normal."
"It's those high society social functions where things get dicey."
"Every time rumor leaks out about my father and Jin, they
get like a million phone calls
from family wanting to know what in the hell is going on and why my father or mother are shaming the family name."
"It's a real pain in the ass."
"Ah." Jungkook nodded.
"Family image, The downfall
of society in the modern age."
Yeah, pretty much.
"Well, considering that your mother, father and Jin are all connected to me now through you, I suspect you'll be getting phone calls of a different sort."
Uh...
"Come again?"
"I'm royalty, kitten. If your parents' families are anything like you say they are, especially your father's family then they are going to be green with envy that I am claiming you as my mate."
"They will also want a piece of the proverbial pie, or me, as
the case may be." Oh, that.
"My father's family will for sure."
"Not so sure about my mother's family, They pretty much wish
we would disappear from the face of the earth."
"Since my mother went against family orders and mated my father, thus having me and then my uncle went against family orders and mated my father,
they are kind of persona non grata in the vampire world."
Jungkook wagged his
eyebrows at me.
"Bet I can change that."
Color me intrigued.
"How?"
He smiled as he wrapped an
arm around my waist and drew me to his side.
"Let's just say, being royal has
its privileges."
I narrowed my eyes at him.
"And that means what?"
I wanted specifics here.
"It might involve you attending one of those social functions
you loathe so much." I groaned.
"Let me make a few phone calls and see if I can throw some
thing together."
"I think with the right people backing them, Jin and your parents might finally be able to come out of the shadows."
My jaw dropped when Jungkook winked and said, "And it would help if your mother could bring
a date of the female variety."
"Just what are you planning?"
"I'm still piecing it together in my head but basically, I want to get Grand Prince Kim and his royal consort to attend a party that you and I will host in celebration of our mating."
I swallowed tightly. "You want
to bring the grand prince of vampires in on this?"
"Yes."
"With his approval, I will
accept your father and Jin's mating publicly."
"letting the world know that
the prince of gryphons and the prince of vampires in Seoul both support the relationship your parents and Jin have."
It wouldn't hold sway over everyone but it might be the barrier my parents and Jin needed to keep everyone off their backs so they could live their lives as they chose.
"Do you think he'll agree?"
"I'm not sure, The new grand prince is human so I'm not exactly sure what he will think."
"All I can do is call him and ask."
"Human?"
My eyebrows shot up.
"I hadn't heard this."
I'm pretty sure I would have if
I ran in vampire circles and I
did not. Thank god.
I tried to avoid them like
I would avoid the plague.
"Yes apparently, he was adopted by the former prince and inherited the position from him."
"When Prince Kim saved the life of King Jackson, he was made the grand prince of vampires."
My eyes rounded with shock.
"Holy crap!"
I bet that set the vampire world on its fang.
Jungkook and I climbed onto the elevator but we were joined by two of Jungkook's men.
He waved his hand to one of them.
"This is Tai, he is the head
of my security."
"Hello." I said.
"It's nice to meet you."
"I suspect I'll be seeing a lot
of you in the future."
The tall gryphon nodded back
to me. "Consort Jimin."
Oh, god, not this.
"Not yet."
I glanced at Jungkook.
"But maybe soon."
Jungkook was growing on me.
"Sir." Tai's eyes darted to me
for a moment before going back to Jungkook.
"Luca called."
"And?"
"Um, sir..."
"Just say it Tai." He demanded.
"Jimin has the right to know
what is going on."
"Of course sir."
"Well, Luca called."
"There was minimal damage to the consort's apartment, most
of it situated near the elevator."
"After taking evidence, some of the guards cleaned up the mess but we do have pictures if we need them."
"And does Luca have a suspect?"
"Not at this time sir."
"He said he is gathering the evidence and will be by to speak with you tomorrow concerning what he has found so far."
"Good." Jungkook replied
before turning to me.
He must have seen the confusion on my face because he started explaining to me what was going on.
"Luca is the man I told you
about that I put in charge of finding out who attacked you."
"Oh, okay." I vaguely remembered him mentioning something about that.
"I'd like to be kept informed
of whatever he finds."
"Of course kitten, We can both meet with Luca in the morning."
Jungkook smiled as he turned toward Tai. "Jimin has agreed
to spend a week in my world if
I spend a week in his world."
"It's a way for us to get to
know each other better."
Tai's eyes widened. "You're
going to spend a week...?"
Jungkook frowned. "You don't think I can spend a week living how the other half lives?"
"I don't think you can spend a week away from your office."
"The world might implode."
The guard with us let out a sputter of laughter before quickly schooling his features when Tai glared at him.
"Sir." Tai said as he turned
back to us.
"I applaud your desire to
spend time with your mate
but I'm not sure how you expect to leave the ruling of the gryphons for an entire week."
"I just don't see how it could happen."
"That's why I have you and hobi."
Tai paled. "Sir?"
"I also have a cell phone, Tai."
"If there's a problem, you can always call me."
"Just because I will be spending a week with Jimin does not
mean I am totally unavailable."
Tai groaned.
"We're spending a week in
your world first." I said, hoping that might help.
"We just need to see if we can mesh our two worlds together before this goes any farther."
Jungkook's arm tightened around me. "Our worlds will mesh."
He sounded like he was positive of that fact, I wasn't so sure but I was willing to give it a shot.
Like Jungkook said, I only got one mate. If I gave him up, I'd never get another one.
I wasn't ready to do that.
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