Suddenly, Layla realized Charlie was right – Dusk was the best. He was there for her in a way her other two Bound men just weren’t, and it made her heart swell for him. All at once, she realized he didn’t have second-place status in her life. In certain ways he was coming in first and always would – simply because of who he was, day in and day out. As she and Arron exchanged a glance, he gave her an eyebrow lift that spoke volumes.
“Dusk is the best.” Layla smiled.
Just then, another knock came at the door. Layla rose to admit a duo of Hotel employees from Wardrobe come to style Arron for dinner. Arron laughed as he rose, seeing they had brought mani-pedi supplies on a gilded cart, plus a full hairstyling setup. Settling into a chair before one tall mirror, Arron let the Wardrobe folks attend him like a king as Charlie and Celia moved back to their own rooms. Layla went to the doors also, exiting to get ready for her Courtesan’s interview with Quindici DaPonti.
But as she moved to her apartment, at the last moment Layla changed course, stepping to Luke’s doors. With a knock, she waited. But no one answered and when at last Layla knew no one was coming, she turned away with a sinking feeling in her heart.
CHAPTER 3 – INTERVIEW
At her Courtesan’s interview, it took everything Layla had to not fidget as she sat across a broad mahogany desk from the Paris Hotel’s new Associate Head, the Barone Quindici DaPonti. Quindici’s office of floor-to-ceiling bookshelves and high-gabled windows breathed with the hiss of radiators in the midwinter afternoon, snow swirling down beyond the massive windows with their forest-green velvet drapes. But though he sat in the bright winter light without concern, the Master Vampire seeped with the cold breath of the grave as he sat back in his tall mahogany chair and steepled his long white fingers, watching Layla.
Ancientness rested in Quindici’s gaze, his irises so dark they were nearly black, though Layla had no clue how old he really was. Wearing a dark maroon suit, his shirt a flat black, the new Associate Hotel Head let no one deny what he was – a creature of darkness, despite his Master’s ability to walk in the day. A vivid crimson pocket square complemented his ensemble, his dark auburn hair styled expertly back from his beautifully masculine features, gold and ruby rings glinting on his long fingers. Cufflinks of gold and copper filigree held large onyx stones the same color as his eyes, piercing the French cuffs of his shirt.
“Ms. Price, thank you for meeting with me today.” Quindici spoke, a pleasant smile curling his full lips. It flashed the points of his fangs – on purpose, Layla was certain. “I know this is a busy day for you with your friends arriving at the Hotel, and I appreciate your dedication to your impending position as a Hotel Courtesan.”
“Associate Hotel Head. Thank you for the opportunity.” Layla lifted her chin as she settled her hands on the lap of her cream cocktail dress with its burgundy lace shoulders. She’d changed into a far more elegant outfit for this meeting, to show her understanding of a Courtesan’s niceties. Her blush patent leather heels were platform stilettos and Layla sat tall, crossing her ankles and tucking them to the side. It was an elegant position, one Reginald had grilled into her mercilessly these past months.
“I’d like to discuss your upcoming duties as a dual-position at this Hotel.” Quindici continued in a gracious baritone. Glancing at a leather folio on his desk with gilded edges, embossed with the crimson ‘R’ of the Hotel, he flicked the cover open, his dark eyes scanning Layla’s employee file. “Head Courtier-in-absentia Reginald Durant has been thorough in his reports on your training. He is confident you are ready for your Courtesan’s Debut tonight at the Yule Ball. It is a prestigious event, Ms. Price, both the Ball and the debut of a new Courtesan. This meeting is informal; you have all the qualifications to satisfy your impending position and your application has already been approved by the Owners’ Board. I simply wish to see how you are feeling about your auction tonight for your first Assignation.”
“Reginald has prepared me for everything I will experience tonight.” Layla spoke, keeping her head high though something deep inside her clenched. But she kept her posture; she’d be damned if she’d display discomfort before the new Associate Hotel Head, even though she was intensely nervous about being auctioned off like a piece of meat tonight. Technically, Quindici was Adrian’s ally, watching over the Paris Hotel while Adrian was on the lam. But the Master Vampire had once been Head Courtier of the Florence Hotel, and an aura of decadent sexuality breathed from him still – scandalously intimate even for this informal meeting.
And as Layla watched Quindici, she wasn’t entirely certain he was a friend.
“Reginald is a force of nature in the bedchamber. He understands all the regular sexual arts as well as those far more obscure.” Quindici continued amiably. “You are lucky he has been your Partner. As his protégé, you stand to earn this branch a considerable sum in the coming years, and yourself as well. Our representatives have already been spreading word that Reginald has a Royal Dragon Bind as hisingénue, and it has provoked much interest. So. Tell me how you are really feeling about your impending position as a Hotel Courtesan.”
Layla took a deep breath, re-crossing her ankles. Their new Associate Hotel Head wasn’t going to let her off the hook. Quindici’s dark gaze was deep as he watched her, and in it, Layla saw Reginald’s uncanny awareness. The Vampire noted everything about Layla; her posture, her rigidity, her scorched bourbon scent that flooded the air. Layla knew she couldn’t hide her true feelings from Quindici and it made her feel intensely vulnerable as they stared each other down.
“I think I’m ready.” She spoke at last, stubborn.
“Thinking you’re ready to have sex with a stranger and knowing you’re ready are entirely different things.” Quindici countered with a deeply knowing gaze. “Every Courtier and Courtesan is nervous for their first Assignation. No one knows how it will go, who it will be, what will be demanded of them. Though you will pre-approve subsequent partners, your first Assignation is determined by the auction – and the price will drive high for you. Not just because you come from a rare Lineage, but also because debuts at Grand Masquerades go for extraordinary sums. Which is important for our Hotel right now, making up for running in the red for much of the autumn as we are. Reginald knows this; so does the Board. And so do I.”
Layla heard condescension in Quindici’s tone against Adrian’s management of the Paris Hotel. Indeed, Quindici’s influence on the Hotel had been nothing short of astonishing these past weeks, establishing a BDSM technoclub in the basement, semi-secret 1920’s speakeasies behind the walls, and an Escape Room with magical puzzles so extreme that it was attracting the best minds in the human and Twilight Realms to solve it. Though he was countless centuries old, the business-savvy Vampire Barone had his pulse on modernity, implementing upgrades that attracted a younger audience of new money. And as a former Head Courtier and a current Clan First of his Dark Haven in Florence, he had a long-standing association with the Florence Hotel that gave him exquisite knowledge of people’s darker desires – something the Paris Hotel lacked.
Settling his elbows on his chair, Quindici’s onyx gaze was penetrating as he sat back, an amused smile curling his full lips. “Did Reginald tell you he trained under me at the Florence Hotel?”
“I’ve heard it mentioned,” Layla spoke, wondering where this was going. “Though he’s not said much about it.”
“Indeed.” Quindici smiled amiably. “Our association occurred a little over two hundred years ago. I was his Partner for a time, and he my protégé, just as you are to him now. The Florence Red Letter Hotel has always been known for the darker arts of pleasure, and Reginald became a master of them during our time together. He is a considerable asset to this Hotel, and his patrons bring in nearly a fifth of our annual revenue.”
“If he’s so valuable,” Layla countered, lifting an eyebrow, “then why don’t you officially re-instate him as Head Courtier?” Though Reginald hadn’t been dismissed after his Siren-fight with his older brother Bastien at Thanksgiving, his current position-in-absentia was still technically a demotion. Heads had rolled in the wake of that event, invoking a re-organization of the Paris Hotel – Adrian fleeing under pain of death as the scapegoat for it all.
“By Hotel law,” Quindici spoke, his dark eyes piercing Layla, “anyone who has endured a significantlydestabilizingevent must abide a three-months suspension until they are deemed fit to return to work. Reginald slaughtered his brother Bastien in cold blood, destroying a Hotel ballroom and taking many lives. He and I have spoken, and he is not fighting his current suspension, especially now that he is embroiled in his clan’s politics after Bastien’s death. Please do not push the matter, Layla, if you would like to stay on the right side of the new Hotel Head.”
“Lulu Duvall wanted to dismiss Reginald and you prevented it?” Layla’s eyebrows raised. As Adrian’s strongest ally on the Owners’ Board, Quindici had been appointed to lead the Paris Hotel in Adrian’s place, but only as Associate Hotel Head. As Layla stared at Quindici now, she realized he held a tenuous position, bridging the gap between Adrian’s allies on the staff and the mouthpiece for the Owners’ Board – their new Hotel Head, the frighteningly elegant French Faunus Ms. Lulu Duvall.
Just then, the door to the grand office behind Layla opened. A statuesque woman entered without knocking, a stack of leather folios carried in her graceful, slender arms. Naked but for the soft tawny velvet that covered her, growing into thicker, sleek hair down over her gazelle-legs, she looked like a supermodel, all lovely elegance and striking bones. Gold torques wound up her corkscrewing antlers, the same decorating her slim arms, wrists, and curling around her small breasts. She glanced at Layla with big dark doe-eyes as she rounded Quindici’s desk and set the folios upon it. Her hands were long, her nails done in perfect French manicure as she lifted the top folio and extended it.
“Quindici, please set appointments to review these staff members in the next week.” Ms. Duvall spoke, her voice low and melodious with its purring French accent. “We need to make assessments to see if they would be a better fit at other Hotels. Begin with this one here.”
“Yes, Ms. Duvall.” Quindici received the folio from his boss with a pleasant smile, flashing fang as he slipped it beneath Layla’s.
“I’d also like a report on the Grand Ballroom re-build,” Lulu Duvall continued. “I would like to create a placard for guests to read tonight, if they are curious why the Ballroom is under construction during Yule.”
“Yes, Hotel Head.” Quindici nodded graciously. But though he was elegantly poised, Layla could see his clever mind noting every word Lulu Duvall had spoken, and everything she hadn’t said. Ms. Duvall was the kingpin of the Hotel Board’s re-organization of the Paris branch in the last month. Their mouthpiece and their hands, Ms. Duvall received orders from higher-ups and relayed them through Quindici to help ease the Paris Hotel’s transition into a compliant establishment with the Board’s desires. A far cry from Adrian’s stern but compassionate running of the Hotel, Lulu Duvall didn’t care about feelings, only results. She was getting them by invoking a deepRisorgimentoof the branch, but it was pissing off the Department Heads – most notably Dusk.
With a gracious nod, Ms. Duvall departed, giving Layla a smile as she left and closing the office’s gilded double-doors behind her.
“So.” Quindici continued with Layla as if they had never been interrupted, something astute easing through his eyes. “Tell me: what fears do you have about your debut tonight that I may assuage?”
