Jenna Black - Dark Descendant

I’m sure Alexis picked the place specifically for its lavish décor, but if he’d been looking for a place ideally suited for surveillance, I’m not sure he could have done better if he’d tried. The lobby was large, but there were a number of secluded nooks that were almost cozy. There were also a fair number of rectangular pillars, greatly cutting down on visibility, especially for someone coming in the front doors.

I took a seat on a not particularly comfortable sofa in one of the sitting areas. My seat was in a corner, where a pillar conveniently blocked me from view. Alexis would have to walk down a long hallway past the elevators before he’d be able to see me. I then pretended to drop something—not that anyone was paying particular attention to me—and positioned a small spy camera under the legs of the chair across from me. The camera gave me a perfect view of the hall leading up to the front desk.

Sitting once again in my secluded position, I opened my laptop and pretended to work as I scrutinized the feed from the camera. I watched every person who came in the front doors, without ever having to lift my head from my computer screen. If I saw anyone who tweaked my radar, there was room for me to retreat down another hallway, and I could leave another spy camera right next to my current position so I could keep up my surveillance. But carefully though I watched, I saw no sign that anyone was getting into position for an ambush.

At noon exactly, Alexis strode through the front doors of the hotel. He was not alone, although I didn’t recognize his companion, a tall, imposing guy with olive skin and a neat black beard. I couldn’t tell much from the somewhat grainy surveillance video, but it looked like his suit was as expensive as Alexis’s, and he carried himself with the confidence of a man used to being in charge. Konstantin, I wondered?

The two of them stopped halfway down the hall, both standing there with expressions of impatience. A few more steps and they would see me, but I guess they figured it was my responsibility to come to them; they weren’t about to expend the effort to look for me.

I watched them for another five minutes. Their body language got progressively more impatient as they waited. I didn’t see anyone else come in after them—not anyone who acted like they were slipping in on the sly, that is—so I closed my laptop and shoved it back in my backpack. Then I took a deep breath and stepped into the main part of the lobby, where they could see me.

“Oh!” I said in feigned surprise when Alexis caught sight of me. “Have you been standing here the whole time? I was right over there waiting.” I jerked a thumb toward the seating area.

Alexis narrowed his eyes at me. I had to resist the urge to glance at the spy camera, which I would have to come back later to collect. It was inconspicuous enough that I doubted Alexis would notice it unless I drew attention to it.

“You must be Ms. Glass,” Alexis’s companion said, and I took a closer look at him. He wasn’t particularly good-looking in a traditional sense, but he fairly reeked of power, and I suspected women fell at his feet in droves. I saw no sign of a glyph on him, but perhaps it was hidden by his clothing, or even by his beard. His Mediterranean dark hair was just starting to gray at the temples, and there were the beginnings of crow’s-feet at the corners of his eyes. On another man, they might have looked like laugh lines, but not on him. His smile was warm as he reached out his hand for me to shake, but I couldn’t miss the hint of danger in his eyes. This was not a man to mess with, those eyes said, and I was inclined to believe them.

“I am Konstantin,” he said as I reluctantly placed my hand in his. Not surprisingly, his handshake was crushing, though I gave back as much as I could before I remembered I’d decided not to mess with him. “It is truly a pleasure to meet you.”

He released my hand, and I had to resist the urge to rub my now-sore knuckles. The predatory amusement in his eyes told me he was quite aware of his own strength; the crushing grip had been no accident. I hate bullies with a passion, and it took some serious willpower to keep myself from going on the offensive. I wasn’t in a position to fight back, not yet, so for now I was determined to keep my cool and not be any more antagonistic than necessary.

“Alexis was quite insistent I make this meeting,” I said, which was far more diplomatic than what I wanted to say.

Konstantin’s face showed regret, but I had the strong suspicion it was only skin deep. “I apologize for the Draconian tactics, but I understand Anderson has attempted to poison you against us already. I think it only fair that we be able to argue our case, which is difficult to manage if you refuse to meet with us.”

Oh, yeah, right. He’d forced me into meeting with him because it was the fair thing to do. I’d convinced myself I had to stay as civil as possible, but that didn’t mean I had to roll over and show him my belly. “You’ve done a better job of poisoning me against you than Anderson could ever have done. Hasn’t anyone ever told you that threatening someone’s family is a sure way to get a relationship off to a bad start?”

Konstantin shot a quick look in Alexis’s direction. There was no missing the reproach in that glance. Alexis looked away. “Again, I apologize. Alexis can be rather impetuous at times. He should have cleared it with me before making threats. We have had a long talk, and he’s assured me nothing like that will happen again.”

Alexis’s shoulders tightened at the rebuke, and his gaze remained pinned to the floor. All very convincing, but I had a hard time believing Konstantin really had a problem with what Alexis had done. Maybe he’d have preferred it if Alexis tried a little harder to make contact peacefully before resorting to threats, but the threats would have come eventually, one way or another. And if Konstantin were really sorry about it, he’d have said so right from the start.

“So are you retracting the threat?”

He smiled at me, the expression condescending, though his tone remained completely pleasant. “My friend threatened harm to your sister if you didn’t show up today. You’re here, so the threat is no longer valid.”

I wondered if he thought he was being subtle. Some people are such good liars that they can respond to questions with a complete non sequitur and make you believe they actually answered you. Konstantin wasn’t one of them.

“So if I walked out of here right now, we wouldn’t have a problem anymore?” I asked, pressing the issue even though I knew the answer.

“Let’s not make this meeting a waste of both my time and yours,” he said. “We can have a civilized conversation over lunch.”

He gestured in the direction I presumed was toward the restaurant, but I didn’t budge. I didn’t want to spend a moment more than necessary in the company of these men, and I sure as hell couldn’t see sitting down to lunch with them.

“I’ve got a very busy afternoon,” I told Konstantin, still trying to be at least relatively diplomatic. “I don’t have time for a fancy lunch. Why don’t we have a seat over there,” I continued, gesturing toward the nook where I’d been sitting, “and we can get right down to business.”

Konstantin was clearly taken aback by my refusal. Guess he was surprised I didn’t automatically do what he wanted. He paused for a long moment before he spoke again.

“I can see how you and Alexis would rub each other the wrong way,” he said with a wry smile that didn’t reach his eyes. He may have been genuinely trying to create some kind of rapport based on shared humor, but the attempt was too forced to be effective. Beneath his urbane veneer, an aura of cruelty clung to him.