Huh.
Laurel stared at the keys in her grip. “Do you want to talk about it?”
“Nope,” I sang, rising to my feet. I clutched my hip, sucking in a breath. “But I do want some fucking painkillers. Ouch.”
The Indebted blurred to my side and supported my forearm. “Come on then. Bess didn’t include the time it will take you to get to the car.”
“She didn’t, did she?” I chuckled.
We both pretended not to hear it for the pitiful warble of a chuckle it was.
I looked up at the knock. It was a welcome distraction from my dark thoughts.
Tommy hadn’t gotten in touch.
That was the whole point of what I’d done though, and I had to deal with the bed I’d made. Or whatever that stupid saying was. I’d only made one bed in my life and Clint stole it after. They should make a saying about that.
“Miss Tetley,” Angelica said. “I’ve received your notes and wanted to talk with you directly about them.”
The notes asking why I hadn’t received my commission from selling two houses? “Where’s the money?”
“Before I get to that, I wanted to clear the air between us. I know you feel I betrayed you with what happened on Level 66. If it’s not too painful with your hip, could you please follow me?”
My hip was on the mend after the last two days, so I limped after Kyros’s aunt into a small concrete cupboard. Was that an old hot water cylinder?
She shut the door.
“Why are we in here?”
Angelica rapped the walls. “One metre of concrete surrounds us and a healthy wrapping of steel. If we speak quietly, our conversation will remain private.”
Was that a good or bad thing?
“Angelica, are you interfering in Kyros’s love life by dressing me in certain colours and by forcing me into his company during the thrall?”
She blinked.
That’s right, dark horse. I’m on to you.
“Yes,” the vampire admitted.
I leaned back.
Okay, I hadn’t expected that. “Why? Kyros and I don’t like each other.”
Angelica shot me a derisive look. “I love my nephew. From the moment he opened his beautiful green eyes, I’d do anything for him—not that he needs my help. But from the moment he drew breath, he has been part of this battle. In his adult life, despite the best work of the queen and myself, work had overtaken his existence. I would change that.”
I stared at her, trying not to laugh. “And you both hope I can do that? Me. The human.”
“My sister is unaware of my intentions in this matter. But yes, I do. I’ve never seen Kyros so angry as when he’s in your company.”
I squinted. “And the fact we make each other murderous with rage makes you think we’re perfect for each other?”
Angelica smiled, staying silent.
Changing gears, I said, “Do you realise how humiliated I was that night on Level 66?”
She nodded. “I saw it in your eyes. Though why I can’t fathom. Your body is a masterpiece.”
I frowned, shaking my head. “What? No. That wasn’t my point. That’s not why I was humiliated.”
“Humans place great value on physical privacy.”
I pinched the bridge of my nose. There was literally no point having this conversation with a Vissimo.
“I want to convey my sincere apologies on that front,” she said, standing still, hands behind her back. Her blue eyes lit up the tight confines of the closet.
I just couldn’t be bothered fighting with her. My emotional quota was being used up by everything Tommy at the moment. “I’ve realised in the last week that I held you to a higher standard than the other Vissimo in this tower. That was my mistake.”
Her gaze flickered.
“I have since lowered my standards when it comes to you,” I said. “So I’m willing to put the matter behind us in the knowledge that I’m trapped in this fucking place for the foreseeable future.”
She lowered her eyes. “I am sorry to have disappointed your faith in me. Know that only the deepest love for my nephew spurred me to do so.”
She was barking up the wrong tree there.
I waved a hand. “The commissions.”
“Live Right owes you over thirteen thousand dollars.”
After just one week in the normal world, my mind boggled at the sum. Money was armour in this world. With none, I was at Kyros’s utter mercy. With thousands of dollars, a little less.
I shot her a look. “It should be more than that.”
“The top commission bracket is reserved for those who secure properties at the lowest valuation price.”
In other words, I was shooting myself in the foot by securing homes at the top offer. I didn’t give a shit. Thirteen thousand could go a long way. “Why don’t I have the money?” I pressed. “What’s the latest excuse you’ll make up to trap me here?”
Her tiny wince confirmed my nagging suspicion. Pretty sure that’s why Angelica hadn’t paid me in advance that one time. She knew I’d have to return to work the following week. Looking back, the excuses she spun were bogus.
“We operate legally, Miss Tetley. We require a bank account number to process large sums.”
I sighed. “I don’t have a bank account or tax number. What’s another solution?” I’d used the lease agreement Kyros gave me and my driver’s licence to order a passport. When that came, I could apply for a tax number. It would be weeks away.
“There isn’t one. Without both, we cannot pay you the commission.”
I leaned against the cool concrete, playing out various scenarios in my mind. One where I bluffed and told her I’d have an account tomorrow. Another where I threatened to go to a lawyer.
In every scenario, I lost. “I see. Is that all?”
She searched my face.
I took it as a yes and opened the closet door, feeling the air-con wash over me.
“Miss Tetley, I’d like for us to be friends,” Angelica said quietly.
She went there.
“I had one friend,” I told her, my spine so rigid it might snap. “Now she’s gone. No one will replace her. I have no idea why you’re entertaining the idea of friendship between us, but I will tell you games is a bad fucking start. I don’t play games with anyone. No one.”
“Noted.”
By my record, she’d apologised once before. “I won’t hold my breath, Angelica. Now, please excuse me. I’ve got work to do.”
25
“Go away,” I yelled.
“It’s Rory.”
I muted Sailor Moon.
Rory. What the hell was Kyros’s brother doing here? Scrap that, I could guess. But would he go away if I didn’t make another peep? Sailor Moon was about to find out who Tuxedo Mask really was.
Rory’s muffled voice reached me through the door. “I can hear your breathing. You’re in the back corner of the room.”
I rolled over as quietly as possible.
“You just moved to the right.”
Fucker.
“What do you want?” Why him in particular? I needed to hide from the vampire for more reasons than one.
The man who’d unknowingly humiliated me in my teens growled. “What I don’t want is to break Kyros’s tower. He gets shitty.”
“That’s an incentive, right?”
His louder growl convinced me to haul ass. I glanced at my white tank and white underwear combo.
Eh. He should have called first.
I swung the door wide and peered into the bright blue eyes that once made me swoon. Now they made me feel nauseous with remembered mortification—even if that remembered mortification was dressed in a tux that hugged every line of his athletic body. He must have been a sprinter in his last life. Hot damn.
His eyes swept down my frame, lingering on my bare thighs.
Shit, I was swooning.
I grunted. “What?”
He held up a dress bag. “It’s Friday. I need a
date.”
“Hell no.” I slammed the door shut.
Nearly.
Rory held the door ajar. “It’s a social function. It won’t mean anything. You’d be doing me a favour.”
“This is to torture Kyros.”
The bastard didn’t deny it.
“I always take a human date. People find it easier to talk to me when a human is in my company even when I’m muting completely.”
“Are you telling me that you dazzle them?” I called, leaning against the door with my entire body weight.
The door didn’t budge.
“I believe our first meeting left you speechless.”
Oh how right you are. Just not about where we first met. “Things between Kyros and I are finally settling down. I’m not screwing with that.”
Rory snickered on the other side of the door. “You think he’s settling down?”
He wasn’t? No, I didn’t care.
“Since Saturday night, everything has been better. With regards to me and him.” I couldn’t speak for the rest of my life.
“You should’ve seen him when Laurel called about that Fyrlia scum attacking you.”
“I don’t want to know!”
He pressed on the door, and I stumbled backward into the room.
Kyros’s brother stepped into the room. “Come, and I’ll shut up.”
Spinning on my good leg, I limped to the bed. “Nope.”
“Come with me, or I’ll drain you dry.”
My heart skipped a beat. “Nope.”
“That scared you though. What will it take?”
Hmm. Now that I could work with.
Grabbing Beast, I typed out my request and tilted the screen toward him.
I need a bank account opened, and a tax number, but I lost my ID. Can you do it?
I peeked up and caught his grin.
My stomach flipped as he brushed back sandy blond hair. He really was handsome. Shampoo commercial on steroids handsome. Seventeen-year-old me had great taste—if not great pick-up lines.
“I control the finance industry in Bluff City. Yes, I can arrange for that to happen.”
Dang, there went my guess about Pantsuit aka Safina controlling finance. “Can you do it if Kyros goes against you? I don’t want him to be able to reverse stuff after the fact.”
“By the time he finds out, you mean?” His eyes sharpened. “There won’t be an issue. The finance sector is mine and mine alone.”
“I thought Sundulus operated legally.” I crossed my arms.
He pursed his lips. “We do. Alas, not all of our contacts have the same upstanding code.”
And that kept them squeaky clean? Yeah, right—but I wasn’t about to discourage him.
“Can I take that as a yes?” he murmured, smoothing his tie.
“I don’t want Kyros to find out about this date.”
“Hard no,” Rory said, hand going to his tie. “Is there a mirror in here?”
I held out my hand for the garment bag. “In the bathroom. How long do I have?”
“An hour. Angelica said she’ll do you up.”
Already back to her matchmaking ways, was she? A pissed-off Kyros was unlikely to keep his distance. “In a body bag?”
Rory’s eyes flashed.
A light knock sounded from the open doorway, and I grimaced.
“Not quite, Miss Tetley,” Angelica said drily.
Sighing, I threw the garment bag on the bed and unzipped it. I stared at the sparkling, spangled black dress within. Full length. “What kind of social event are we talking about?”
Crap. I might know people at this thing.
“I’ve changed my mind,” I said. “Don’t like the dress.”
Rory stepped forward, snarling. “I picked it. And I have exquisite taste.”
And ego to spare. I shook my head, wrinkling my nose. “Nah, don’t like it.”
He pulled up short, eyes glimmering. “What made you change your mind so suddenly, Basilia?”
“It’s Basi.”
Kyros’s brother studied me. “Don’t forget what you stand to gain. A few hours and you-know-what is all yours.”
Thirteen thousand dollars. And all future commissions. Plus, figuring out a way to get paid the money would be a small fuck you to Angelica. Without that money, I had just over eight hundred dollars to my name. I wanted out of this game and away from here. Ironically, to do that, I needed the very thing I left at the estate. Power from financial clout.
“Three hours maximum.” I glowered. “No more.” A few bathroom breaks and I’d knock that down to two.
He snapped his fingers. “Put on the dress, Basil. I’ll return in an hour. We need to be out of here before Kyros gets back from dinner.”
That explained his openness. They were fucking cowards, the lot of them. “Don’t call me Basil.”
The comment floated to where he’d disappeared.
Jerk.
Angelica took his place, two huge black bags in her hands. “Shower first?”
“Yeah,” I said on a long exhale.
This was definitely an occasion for shave, cleanse, and hydrate.
Damn, but I loved looking good. The full-length spangled dress hugged me in the right places, accentuating my breasts and the curve of my ass, leaving the golden skin of my back on display.
Rory might have exquisite taste.
The six-inch heels weren’t ideal with my sore hip, so I’d taken an extra painkiller. Unnecessary as it turned out. Rory supported my entire right side with a slight pressure under my forearm. Probably looked like nothing to everyone else.
“You didn’t mention a red fucking carpet or that the media would be here,” I hissed at him. If I didn’t know for a fact that estate security would never let these pictures see the light of day, I’d be truly livid. This could have otherwise busted my cover with Kyros and his tower of fangers. So far, the lack of information about me was holding up. If the Vissimo had run background checks, they wouldn’t have found anything. But I had to ensure that wouldn’t change.
He kissed the back of my hand and cameras flashed.
“Didn’t I?” he murmured.
I beamed a smile at him. “I wonder what a stir it would cause if I ditched Rory Senrite, Bluff City’s most eligible bachelor, in the middle of the red carpet.”
He stared at me through hooded blue eyes. “Try it.”
Swallowing, I angled my face away. Cameras flashed. “Knew your ego couldn’t handle it.”
Even if that’s close to what he did to me over four years ago.
“Am I to understand that you’ve followed me in the tabloids over the years? Is this why I dazzled you so in my brother’s tower?”
By now, I’d seen Rory check himself in mirrors enough times to know he dazzled himself most of all.
“No,” I replied.
The only thing I was dazzled by was my own hypocrisy. I’d left this shit behind. No, I hadn’t even attended this shit when I was at the estate.
Ugh.
“Can we go inside, or would you like to preen some more?” I asked him. “I could go ahead so you have space for some solo shots.”
“The kitten has claws,” he retorted, standing behind me. He circled his hands around my waist. To humans, it might look like he whispered in my ear. I’m sure any vampires here would notice his teeth were positioned over my pulse.
Rory only wanted one vampire to notice.
Which made it extra satisfying that no pictures of me would survive this encounter.
I snorted despite myself. “You are such a brat. Why does Kyros put up with you? I would have strangled you and Gerome a century ago.”
He ran his nose up my neck, inhaling. “Our youth and antics remind him there is joy in life.”
That was… really sad. “How old are you?”
“That’s a rude question,” he chided, a smile plastered on his face.
My brows climbed as he guided my arm through his once more. “No, it isn’t.�
��
He studiously ignored me as we entered the building and the flashing cameras were left behind.
My jaw dropped. “You don’t like aging?”
He was totally, totally vain. As vain as humans at least. I felt like an immortal should know better. “Talk about dodging a bullet.”
The curled length of my hair tickled my lower back as I gave full throat to my chuckle. Angelica had worked the top half into an elegant swirl that coiled neatly at the back of my head.
Rory pulled me against him as another camera flashed. Man, did he have a paparazzi radar?
“What do you mean dodging a bullet?” he whispered in my ear.
Peering around, I eyed a gilded clock, the centrepiece of the lobby. I’d been in this building many times. One of my grandmother’s best friends—Sir Olytheiu—had his main offices here. He was the founder and owner of Bluff City Bank and one of the richest people in the city. Internationally, the Le Spyre estate had him beat, but locally, he came out on top. Thank fuck I’d never come to these things. The only people I might know were my grandmother’s select few friends. Hopefully none of them were attending tonight.
A thought caught me. “How is it that two clans can fight to own the city when so many others own a chunk? You’ll have to battle rich humans at some point. And some of them are seriously fucking rich.”
I’d said too much, but Rory didn’t notice.
“They’re a front. Various CEOs and Head of Estates are tied to one of the clans via blood compulsion. Through them, most of the city rich are in our employ and control, and they carry our holdings in name only. If two families own everything, humans get angry,” he murmured, waving to a middle-aged couple I didn’t recognise.
I contemplated that my grandmother was one of their puppets and our family wealth belonged to Sundulus or Fyrlia but disregarded it quickly. The Le Spyre estate was hundreds of years old. And when this place was a village port, the ancestors of the current-day elite owned the land. We’d been here longer than Ingenium.
“I suppose that makes sense. People would stop selling to you.”
Rory slid me a look. “They would. They are.”
If my list of trouble properties was anything to go by, the vampire was right. “What happens if a clan lands on the estates?”
Blood Trial: Supernatural Battle (Vampire Towers Book 1) Page 29