Chapter 32

Tessa’s POV

Joseph, being the gentleman that he apparently is, carried my belongings from his car and into his villa. He paused once we got inside and turned to me.

“Go pick out your room,” he said, looking down at me. “Obviously, you can’t have mine. But any other room is up for grabs.”

I wondered how many bedrooms were in this Villa. It was a huge building, but only two stories. During our one-night stand, we started off in the downstairs bathroom next to his study, but gradually made our way upstairs and into his bedroom.

I remembered his bedroom was down a long hall and the door was redwood with golden decals. I didn’t ask him what the decals meant at that time because all I cared about was getting inside, but as I stopped in the hallway and looked at his bedroom door, I couldn’t help but inquire about them.

“It’s the symbol of the vampire empress,” he explained. “She died many years ago. Not something you should concern yourself with.”

I didn’t ask further questions about this empress.

The hallway we stood in was spacious and like most of the other rooms in the Villa, it was lit up by a crystal chandelier. There were also many doors that I’m assuming were bedrooms. I wasn’t going to be picky with the room I chose.

Joseph stood by, holding my suitcase, patiently and quietly as I assessed each door.

“You can open them,” he informed me.

“I’ll take this one,” I said, pointing to a random door. “It’s the furthest away from your room,” I added slyly as I made my way into the bedroom.

He stood in a place for a moment longer before following me into the room.

I was astonished at how big the big room was. It had a king-sized bed with a ton of dressers. There was also an attached bathroom which I was relieved to see. Like everything else in the villa, his furniture was dark, and his curtains were closed tightly, making the room appear gloomy.

I now understood that it was because the sun makes vampires ill, but I wasn’t a vampire and I wasn’t going to keep this room looking gloomy.

“This is perfect,” I beamed.

The last time I stayed in a room this luxurious was when I went to Cancun with Brian and his family last summer.

Joseph made his way over to the bed across the room and placed my suitcase beside it.

“So, we should establish some house rules,” he began as he turned to face me. “Our relationship is nothing more than professor and student. We need to remain professional. Nobody can know that you are staying here including Ruby, understood?”

I nodded.

“You won’t go into my bedroom, or my study without permission. You can use the library and computer room as much as you want. Help yourself to whatever food is in the kitchen. I have a specific person who comes to the house every week and stocks the kitchen with food. I also have a cleaner that arrives a few times a week to do laundry and cleaning. Make sure whatever laundry you want to be done is outside your door by 9 am Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday when she arrives.”

This was a lot of information that I was trying to wrap my head around.

“Curtains around the house remain closed. Feel free to open yours as you’d like. Just like you aren’t allowed in my room without permission, I will not enter yours. Also, and this goes without saying, visitors are forbidden for obvious reasons.”

He paused as he thought about more to say, but when he couldn’t think of anything he turned away and began walking toward the door.

Once he reached the door, he paused and turned back to me.

“I sleep a lot during the day, try not to disturb me unless it’s an emergency if I’m asleep.”

“I won’t even be here,” I reminded him. “I have school during the day.”

He looked at me for a moment longer with an expression I couldn’t read before leaving the room.

I was finally alone, and I felt like I could breathe.

Grabbing my phone, I frowned at the screen when I saw that I had one missed call from Ruby. I couldn’t even fathom how upset she was with me right now.

I didn’t even give her a real explanation as to why I was leaving and where I was going.

I couldn’t call her back right now though. I wanted to unpack my stuff.

I utilized most of the dressers to put away my stuff. It’s not like I had many clothes. I had a few outfits that were Brian-approved, but for the most part, my typical wardrobe consisted of a sweater and jeans.

It was going to be nice not having to worry about dressing appropriately and elegantly to appease Brian and his snobby friends.

Once I was done unpacking my things, I went into the bathroom and looked at myself carefully. I was a lot paler than I was not long ago. This whole thing had taken a lot out of me. My hair was also lifeless and draped lazily around my shoulders.

It even appeared that I lost a little bit of weight. I hadn’t eaten properly in a while. Maybe a few bites of food here and there, but with everything going on, I’ve been feeling sick to my stomach more often than not.

I don’t feel very hungry right now, but that might change in the morning now that my adrenaline was calming down.

The bathroom was much more basic than I thought it was going to be. It was no different than Ruby’s bathroom, except a little bigger. At least that was the one thing that seemed normal to me.

I turned on the shower and allowed the hot steam to fill the bathroom, clearing out my senses, before stripping naked and getting into the shower.

It felt like ages since I was able to take a nice hot shower. The water soaked through my entire body, soothing my muscles, and washing through my hair. I used some of the body wash that was left out. It smelled of lavender and relaxed all my tension.

Once I was clean, I turned off the shower and wrapped my body in a towel from the bathroom closet.

I left the bathroom and went back into my new room, grabbing my nightgown that I left out on my bed. When I was covered, I sprayed myself with the perfume Lisa gave me, just in case before getting into bed. The entire bed was plushy, and I nearly sank as I lay down.

It was certainly an upgrade from Ruby’s couch.

Just as my body relaxed even more and I felt sleep overtake me, I couldn’t help but think to myself that I could get used to this.

…

I woke up to a knock on my bedroom door and I groggily opened my eyes. Peering around the dark room, I slid out of bed and went to the door.

I was surprised to see a petite-looking older woman standing before me. I thought visitors weren’t allowed here. I assumed that rule was for him as well.

“Good morning,” she said with a bright smile. “Do you have laundry you’d like me to wash for you? There’s none in the hallway and Mr. Evergreen told me he was having a guest here for a while.”

This had to have been the cleaning lady he told me about last night. I wasn’t sure how I felt about having someone else clean up after me and do my laundry. Those were things I was accustomed to doing myself and I didn’t mind doing them either.

“No, it’s all right. You don’t have to worry about it,” I assured her.

“Oh, but it’s my job,” she said with a timid frown. “I really don’t mind.”

“I only just got here yesterday, so I don’t have much,” I told her. “But I appreciate the offer.”

“Of course,” she said, giving me a kind smile. “I’m Monica by the way. I will be here every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday morning to get the house cleaned. If you ever need anything, don’t hesitate to ask.”

“I’m Tessa,” I said in return.

“It’s lovely to meet you, Tessa.”

She turned and left the area, leaving me staring after her. She seemed very pleasant, but having her do chores for me seemed odd.

I wondered if she knew who she was working for, or rather, what she was working for.

I shook my head at the thought and glanced at the clock. It was almost time for me to leave for school. I thought that Joseph would want to take me to school considering the whole purpose of my being here was so he could protect me. But it was also daytime, and I knew that the sunlight makes vampires ill.

He also told me last night that he usually sleeps most of the day and not to disturb him. So, I quickly got dressed in my usual attire and grabbed my backpack from next to my bed.

I called for an Uber to take me to school, that way I didn’t have to bother Joseph.

While I waited for the Uber, I went into the kitchen to find food because as predicted, I was hungry this morning. I was honestly surprised that he didn’t have more healthy options. Most of the breakfast foods consisted of sugary cereals and pop tarts.

Which honestly was fine by me.

I grabbed a pop tart and munched on it until the Uber arrived.

…

It didn’t take long to get to the school, and I knew as soon as I saw Ruby, she was going to ask me even more questions.

I reached my locker to shove my things inside when I saw Ruby nearing me from down the hallway.

She didn’t look pleased.

“I saw you getting into a black car last night,” she said, raising her brows. “Who was that? Where did you go last night?”

“I’m staying in a hotel,” I said quickly. “That black car was an Uber.”

She was about to say something in return, but she stopped herself and her eyes shot upward. Just then, I felt a hand on my shoulder, and I quickly turned around to face the person who stood before us.

Joseph?!

He was awake and at school during the daylight? But why??

“I’ll see you in class,” Ruby muttered as she walked away.

“You should have waited for me this morning,” he said in a low tone once Ruby was gone. “I would have taken you to school.”

“Sorry, I didn’t want to bother you while you slept. I thought—”

“There he is!!” I heard a woman yelling from down the hallway.

We both turned to see a small group of people marching toward us. They were women and men of the older generation.

They looked furious.

“That’s the professor that has our children go to his house after school hours!!”

Oh no…

Angry parents.