"This way, detective," the bodyguard, Ibris Sunhari, grunted.

The tall, broad-chested man glanced down at Katie over his shoulder as he led her through one of the Darven's many homes, the one in which Grace had personally taken up her lodging.

It was a large, sophisticated house with historic elegance. The high ceilings are lined with polished wood coving and old-money styled, simplistic decor. The scent of aged elegance lingered on the blue velvet curtains drawn from the tall windows, where the scent of a freshly maintained garden wafted through the long hallway.

This house was something Katie could never even dream of affording, and yet, strikingly low-key for a Darven family home, unlike many of their others, which were much grander and used to flaunt their wealth.

Ibris pushed through the large, polished wood doors at the end of the hall, leading Katie into a broad, bright living room with open windows and pillowed sofas, where Grace was lounging as she watched a baby play with wooden blocks, while another child sat at the window. The older child hunched in a navy private school uniform, his small face scrunched in concentration as he poked a needle through an embroidery hoop to make a lopsided "L".

At the two newcomers' entrance, all attention turned towards the pair, and the little boy jumped off his stool and hurried over to Ibris with an irritated twitch in his brow.

"Dad, can you help me?" he muttered, exasperated, as he sloppily threw up the embroidery hoop for his father to catch.

Katie's eyes narrowed for a quick moment as she glanced between the child and Ibris. She could definitely see the resemblance as they stood side by side. Still, Liam hadn't mentioned Grace's boyfriend having a son... and, looking at the small baby on the ground before them, neither of their research had indicated that Grace Darven had any children, let alone two.

"Not right now, Davie," Ibris muttered, giving Katie a side eye as he pulled the child back to the seat near the window. "We have a guest, I would put this away and go play outside—"

"No!" The boy, Davie, huffed, visibly frustrated. "My home ec class said I need to embroider something for a grade by Thursday,  and Gamma said embroidered towels would be a great present for Uncle's wedding—"

"He's been struggling with that towel all day," Grace interupted swiftly, her narrowed eyes staring at Katie as her mouth twisted into an amused smile. "I already told him you will be better help, since you are always so good with your fingers..."

She turned to Ibris from where she lounged, giving him a wink while tossing her long dark hair over her shoulder.

Ibris bit the inside of his lips, trying to contain a smile as he looked between Katie and Grace, his brow scrunched in uncertainty.

"Go and help him with it, Ibris. I can handle the detective myself."

"Do you want me also to take R—"

"No," She sighed, waving off his offer as she turned her attention back to Katie. "She doesn't take me as the type of woman to hurt a mother in front of her child." She stated, her tone lighthearted, yet her gaze was firm as she made eye contact, a silent warning behind her smile.

Katie tilted her head, giving her a small grin with a polite nod in assurance. She had to admit that she was impressed by the elegance and commanding presence of the Darven family's daughter before her.

Ibris gave a defeated sigh, tossing one last warning look over his shoulder at Katie as he ushered the angry child out of the room through a door at the rear of the living room, quietly shutting it behind them.

"So, tell me, what brings you to my door, detective?" Grace hummed, her long fingers drumming on the gray silk of her long loungewear pants, which matched the loose gray silk blouse she wore.

The woman was undoubtedly stunning, yet in a way different from her older brother. The two looked almost nothing alike, making Katie wonder if there was a bit more twisted family drama than the precinct's data archives had indicated.

Her skin was a tanned olive brown, her long dark back hair falling in loose waves. And although she wore minimal makeup, with all her family's money, she probably had enough access to skin treatments that she didn't need any.

"As far as I know, I haven't done anything in my family's affairs to bring you knocking on my door." She observed with a laugh, "So I suspect this might  be a... personal... interrogation."

The child playing beside her let out a shrill shriek in excitement as it tossed a block across the floor, causing her to coo at the child with a fond smile before turning her attention back to Katie.

"Yes, well, Connor has been very uncooperative with my questions. I thought you might be a bit more resourceful."

"Oh? My brother Connor, huh?" Grace huffed, eyeing me with a small smile. "Well, he's always been the most straightforward of us, so that's surprising... "

Her tone was laced with sarcasm, and Katie had to wonder just what kind of relationship existed between the Darven siblings.

"So you understand, then," Katie replied with a nod. "He marked me, and yet, he refuses to tell me why."

Carefully pulling her hair to the side, Katie displayed the deep red mark imprinted on the side of her neck for the woman to see, watching as Grace's eyes went wide before an uncharacteristically loud laugh tumbled from her lips.

"He marked you? And won't tell you why?" She laughed, falling back into the cushions with a dramatic palm to her forehead, "Of course, Connor is deciding to be messy...Can't let anyone have anything easily, can he?" She mused, turning and giving Katie an amused smirk.

"It seems so."

"Well, and what answers do you think you'll get from talking to me?"

Katie sighed, lowering her hair once more. "Connor mentioned that the colors of the markings mean something, and I hadn't heard of, nor can I find any evidence of, different color markings. Yet, your boyfriend seems to have a blue marking."

"Well, yes." Grace hummed, "I marked him. Can't let anyone else take that man out of my grasp, can I?" She scoffed, her thumb pointing to the door, "I mean, can you blame me?"

Katie gave her a polite smile, thinking of Liam, and how the quiet, kind, nerdy guy was more her type than a tough, muscle-bound mafia man... but understood why a mafia daughter might have a fondness for that.

"So you marked him? And his marking... is blue?"

"Yes," She said slowly, her eyes sparkling with mischief as she leaned forward. "And to play into my brothers' little game, the reason why it's blue ... is that I am the third child of a Vampire King.

Katie's mind froze as Grace leaned back with a knowing grin on her face.

"The heir is red," She continued, " but the second born is purple, and the third born is blue."

"So..."  Katie began slowly. "There is another Darven sibling?"

"Yes," she chuckled, "My older brother was kept from the rest of the family for a long time, an illegitimate child from a long forgotten fling that my father never knew of. Which isn't surprising, knowing his whorish—" She stopped, looking down at the babbling baby below her before shaking off the rest of what she said.

Katie's mind was whirling, working in overdrive to figure out how she could get more information about this brother and what this hidden sibling meant about her marking.

There was another Darven brother, but why would Connor send her looking for him?

Was it why he was being so unclear about marking her?

Because Connor was supposed to be the heir?

But he really wasn't?

"So, looking at my mark, you know which of them marked me," Katie asked carefully.

"Of course."

"And it wasn't Connor."

The woman widened her eyes and gave an innocent shrug.

"Well, he claims it was, and he is the heir after all."

Katie narrowed her gaze, Grace's answer making it obvious that Katie had reached her limit of answers the other woman was willing to answer.

"Thank you, Miss Darven, for your time. I appreciate your willingness to... illuminate...some details on your family's secrets."

Grace nodded, resting her head on her palm as she watched Katie with an amused smile.

"Well, I know you won't be the one to spill this secret of ours." She replied, "You seem to have caught my brothers' attention, and I trust that is for a good reason."

Shifting from the sofa, she lazily stood, a shorter height than Katie had expected, a significant difference from Connor's, which reinforced Katie's budding theory that all the Darven children might have different mothers.

Lazily, Grace reached out her slender hand for Katie to shake, and with a knowing smile, wished her goodbye.

"I am sure I will be seeing you around again very soon, Katie. It was lovely to meet you."