Initiating Amy Read online

  Miranda cleared her throat loudly. Who was Amy kidding, ignoring her never worked. Besides, she had all afternoon. The hotel was quiet, and she had no scheduled runs for the rest of the day. She could sit there all afternoon, waiting. Miranda pulled out her cell phone and began scrolling through old messages.

  “I’m kinda busy.” Amy kept her head down, typing away on her keyboard.

  Miranda slid her phone back into her pocket. “I can see that.” She sat looking patiently at Amy. “I can wait.”

  Amy took her fingers off the keyboard, pushed her chair back and crossed her arms. She adjusted her expression and smiled at Miranda. “I see that you’re not busy.”

  “Usual mid-afternoon lull.”

  “Isn’t there somewhere else you can go play? Some of us don’t get afternoon lulls.”

  “Actually, I’m here with a purpose this time. I need to ask a favor.”

  This was a first, thought Amy. Miranda was never one to ask for favors, she hated the idea of owing someone something. Amy was intrigued. She uncrossed her arms and slid her chair out from behind her desk, moving closer to Miranda’s.

  “How can I help?” Her tone and expression said that she genuinely did want to help.

  “Have you heard of the Lover’s Ball?”

  Amy couldn’t believe these words were coming out of Miranda’s mouth. What was the chance? Excitedly, she slid her chair back around her desk, pulled open a side drawer, took out the flyer and slid back towards Miranda, leading with the flyer in her hand. Miranda took it from her and looked at it. She tossed it back on the desk.

  “So you have heard of it.”

  “I found this flyer on the floor of the office. Funny story.”

  Miranda cut her off. She didn’t have the patience for one of Amy’s long, winding stories. “You can tell me the story later. For now, I want to know if you wanted to volunteer to help put the thing on.”

  “You mean like being part of the organizing committee?”

  “Yeah, like that.”

  “Are you on the committee?”

  “Me,” said Miranda, indignation in her voice. “Do I look like I’m the volunteering type?’

  “But you want me to volunteer.”

  “Yeah, I do.”

  Amy thought about it for a moment. “How’s that work?”

  “Tony’s on the committee.”

  Amy sat back in her chair, giving it some thought. This was too much of a coincidence to let it go. “Ok, I’ll do it.”

  “Great.” Miranda shot out of the chair as quickly as she sat down in it.

  Standing beside Amy’s desk, she said, “Be at the Dominion after work tonight, at six. The committee meets in the owner’s suite, the Penthouse, so you’re going to have to tell the concierge to let you up.” Miranda turned and began walking away. “I’ll tell them to expect you.”

  Amy remained seated at the side of her desk, watching the whirlwind Miranda blow out of the office. She chuckled quietly, sliding back behind her desk and diving back into her work.

  Tony Marino entered the elevator and inserted his key card into the elevator control panel. Sliding it out lit the lamp behind the PH2 button on the panel. This was the only way to gain access to Penthouse 2, one level above the Penthouse Suites. Although not originally designed to be a residence, as long as Tony had been at the hotel, he had only known it as the private residence of the hotel owner. This is where Evelyn stays when she is in town, although she was out of town more than she was in town.

  Even when she was in town, Tony rarely met her in person. Evelyn hated face-to-face meetings. She felt the social niceties involved were a waste of time, preferring phone conversations—the type that she could easily end when she felt the business at hand was concluded. Tony tried to remember the number of times he stepped foot in PH2. He could count the times on one hand. And the number of times he was there to meet Evelyn, well never.

  As Tony rode the elevator, it occurred to him that he had to decide what to do with PH2. The sale of the Dominion Hotel to his group would be finalized next month. The due diligence was almost complete, and the paperwork was with the lawyers. Tony and his financial backers would officially be taking over control of the hotel from Evelyn in exactly thirty days. With Evelyn no longer the owner, PH2 would be vacant.

  Tony tried to convince Warrington to move into the suite, but with Alison being pregnant they opted to get a house in the suburbs, deciding it was a better place to raise a family. None of the other financial backers were local, making the Penthouse available. Tony felt a little awkward with the idea of moving into PH2 himself. He had spent so many years in his suite on the Penthouse floor, moving one floor up seemed odd to him. He tried to rationalize staying in his current suite by saying that he needed to be on the Penthouse floor, if only to monitor the guest activity there, but he knew it was thin reasoning. There really wasn’t a need for that, and even if there was, it was no longer his responsibility. As the General Manager of the whole hotel now, his responsibilities extended beyond just the Penthouse Suites.

  This thought reminded him that he had to start thinking about a replacement for role. He needed someone dedicated to the Penthouse Suites, someone who could take the time to vet and tend for the very discerning, very special VIP guests who stayed on that floor. Members of the Dom/sub culture, the guests who sought out the Dominion Hotel for the privacy and discretion the Penthouse Suites provided them.

  By the time the elevator came to a stop at PH2, Tony had made a decision. There was no two ways about it, he had to move into the PH2. If nothing else, it was a good business decision. Moving in here would mean that he had one more unit on the Penthouse floor that he could rent out. Renting out PH2 was not a possibility. It was too large and the demand for suites of that size was small. He just had to figure out how to get Miranda on board—but that was for another time.

  The doors of the elevator opened and Tony was met by a striking young woman, the spitting image of Evelyn, although much younger. She was tall, with auburn hair, broad shoulders and a slim, fit body. Tony smiled, taken aback a moment, not expecting to be met by a younger version of her boss.

  “You must be Tony,” she said. She even sounded like Evelyn, her voice deep for a woman, but it had a quality all its own as well, a sexuality that was immediately apparent. “I’m Eve, Aunt Ev’s niece.”

  “Aunt Ev?” Tony had never heard Evelyn referred to this way. He didn’t even know that she had a niece, and he said so.

  “Yes well, Aunt Ev was always the mysterious one in the family.” Eve turned and walked into the suite. Tony followed. Eve spoke as they walked. “My mother, Melissa, is her sister. They were quite close, the two of them, when they were young. I’m named after my aunt.”

  Eve led Tony into the dining room. The room, like most of the Penthouse, was ornate and immaculate, antique furnishing throughout. The dining table alone was worth a small fortune, dating back to the Victorian era. It sat twelve. Evelyn was a passionate collector of antique furniture. Tony remembered when he discovered this about her, thinking that he finally found something that she was passionate about.

  Evelyn was sitting at the head of the table, her eyes cast down as she looked at a number of papers in front of her. This was a pose Tony always pictured her in. He wasn’t surprised to see her occupied this way. Amy was sitting to her left, looking very uncomfortable and out of place. When Tony entered the room she immediately relaxed, jumping out of her seat, coming over and give him a hug.

  Amy leaned into Tony. “Thank goodness you’re here.” Tony felt her relax even more as she said this.

  Tony smiled, understanding. “I’m glad Miranda was able to convince you to come.”

  “It wasn’t a hard sell. I love this kind of stuff.” Amy went back to sit beside Evelyn.

  Evelyn finally looked up from her papers, saying “Mr. Marino, please, take a seat.” Evelyn gestured to a seat beside Amy. “You’re late.”

  Tony looked at his watch. He
wasn’t late but knew better than debate this with Evelyn.

  The ding of the elevator was heard again, signally that the car had arrived at the suite. Eve heard it and silently left the room. Tony watched her leave. From behind, if he didn’t know better, he would have sworn he was watching Evelyn leave the room.

  Tony looked at Evelyn. “You didn’t tell me you had a niece.” He wasn’t surprised. Evelyn was such a private person; he was amazed he knew anything about her at all.

  “You didn’t need to know, Mr. Marino, and it never really came up in conversation.” She looked down at her papers once again.

  Tony smiled, amused by the typical Evelyn answer he just received. No chitchat, just business, right to the point.

  Tony was still looking at Evelyn when Eve returned with Lance. Tony was expecting him. However, Amy was not. She immediately stiffened up upon seeing him. Tony noticed, and leaned into her.

  “You all right?” He was amused by her reaction.

  “Yeah, fine, fine. It’s just…what’s he doing here?”

  “He’s part of the committee.”

  “I didn’t know that.”

  “Now you do.”

  “How do you know him?” Amy asked.

  “Lance used to work here. I hired him as Assistant Security Director for the hotel. He moved over to the Broadstone when the Director’s position became available there. I gave him a reference. He’s a damn fine man.”

  “Damn fine man,” Amy mumbled to herself, swallowing and looking at Lance, watching him move along the dining room on the opposite side of the table, sitting down beside Eve.

  “Do you know him?” Tony asked Amy.

  Amy was distracted, her gaze fixed on Lance. Lance looked across the table, catching her staring at him. He smiled and nodded at her, causing her to flush and swallow nervously. She leaned into Tony. “What? Yeah, we’ve met around the hotel.”

  “Thank you all for coming today,” Evelyn said, raising her eyes from her paperwork, looking at the four others at the table for the first time.

  Amy was glad to hear Evelyn speak, taking her focus and her mind off Lance. Even though Amy was looking at Evelyn, she was fighting the urge to turn her head and look at Lance.

  “As some of you know,” Evelyn continued, “this will be the last Lover’s Ball that I am a part of. I’ve sold the hotel to Mr. Marino here.” She nodded towards Tony and Tony smiled. “I have little reason to stay in the city any longer. Needless to say, this last ball is a very special one for me. I would like to make it the best one ever.”

  “It will be, Evelyn,” Tony looked around at the others the table. “All of us are committed to making that happen.”

  Amy felt she should say something, but she didn’t know what. She remained awkwardly silent.

  “I agree.” Eve spoke, taking the pressure off of Amy. “We’re all here for you Aunt Ev.”

  Evelyn smiled a small smile. “Mr. Marino.”

  Tony straightened in his chair, addressing the table. “Most things are in place from an operational point of view. The hotel has been running the ball for a very long time, so we pretty much have it down. What we need from you, and why you are all here, is to get the crowd out. We need one final marketing and ticket-sales push. We need to make sure the public knows about the ball again this year, and that they attend.” Tony reached into his briefcase and pulled out a few sheets of paper. “Eve and I will work on the marketing side of things.” He reached over and handed Eve a piece of paper. Looking directly at Amy, he said, “Amy, I want you to work with Lance on ticket sales.” He handed her a piece of paper, reaching over and passing one to Lance as well.

  Amy took the sheet and then looked over at Lance. He was smiling back at her. Was she blushing again?

  Tony continued, “The list I just gave you is of all the past attendees. Most will attend as they always do each year, and the ones who have already bought tickets have been highlighted. I want you to focus on those who have yet to buy a ticket.”

  “How do we do that?” asked Amy.

  “Call them, go see them. Talk to them. Encourage them to come. They’ll be here, we just have to remind them.”

  Amy looked down at the list again. Before she knew it, Lance had come around to her side of the table and was pulling out the chair next to her. As he sat down, she did her best not to move, keeping her eyes glued to the page in front of her, trying to keep her cool. She was mildly successful until Lance leaned into her, until the moment she could smell him beside her, musky, manly, feral. For want of something to do, she dropped the page onto the table, sliding it in his direction.

  “Thanks,” he said, picking it up.

  Amy sat back in her chair, calming herself, hoping that she was not giving any outward signs of her excitement. Is it hot in here? Am I sweating? Man it’s hot in here.

  “I recognize some of these names,” Lance said, dropping the page down on the table, first looking at Tony, then Amy before finally resting his gaze on Evelyn. “There’s some heavy hitters on this list.”

  “Well of course, Mr. Ackermann,” Evelyn said. “Who did you think attends this event?”

  “I don’t know,” replied Lance. “People, normal people.”

  “These are normal people,” Evelyn said, quite seriously.

  Lance took a moment before answering, carefully considering his response. “I guess normal is a relative term.” He looked at Amy, catching her staring at him. She quickly averted her eyes, blushing a little.

  Evelyn rose from her seat. All eyes immediately went to her. She steadied herself with one hand on the back of her chair. “What is normal for one is not always normal for another. You should know that, Mr. Ackermann.” With this, she turned to leave.

  She stopped at the door, but did not look back into the room as she said, “Mr. Marino, I trust that I can leave the rest to you?” She did not wait for an answer before leaving.

  “Of course, Evelyn.” Tony was used to this, watching Evelyn leave the room, leaving the rest to him. He watched her leave, a bemused smile on his face. When he was certain she was gone, he turned back to look at Lance.

  “Lance, really?”

  “Sorry.”

  Tony chuckled. “Never mind.” He looked at everyone in turn. “Are we all set? Any questions?”

  “All set,” replied Lance, with Amy and Eve nodding their agreement.

  “Wonderful,” Tony said, getting up from the table. “I’ve got to go.” Turning to Eve, he said, “I’ll call you early tomorrow and we can begin mapping out the campaign.”

  Eve stood. “Yes, please do. Now if you’ll excuse me”—she looked at Amy and Lance when she said this—“I’m sure my aunt will be looking for her tea. Tony, I’ll walk you out.”

  With Eve and Tony gone, Amy found herself alone with Lance. He slid his chair back, coming to rest even with her. She found the silence awkward, feeling compelled to speak.

  “What did you mean when you said normal is relative?”

  Lance smiled before answering. “I don’t really know what I meant. I don’t even know why I said it.”

  “Of course you do. No one says anything for no reason.”

  “Maybe so. Maybe I just wanted to push a few of her buttons.”

  “That’s not very nice.” Amy regretted the words as soon as they came out of her mouth. It wasn’t her place to chastise him, she didn’t even know him, who was she to judge?

  Lance turned and smiled at her. She was relieved to see he didn’t take her comment personally.

  “You’re right. I do that sometimes, push the envelope. Some people like it, others don’t. I take it you don’t like that sort of stuff.”

  “No, no.” Amy didn’t know what to say. “I don’t mind it actually.” She didn’t. “I don’t have the nerve to do it myself, but I admire it in others.” She was thinking of Miranda.

  “Interesting. Good to know.”

  Amy was silent. She began to think that Lance was a little more complicated then sh
e first thought.

  “But I did mean what I said about the heavy hitters.” Lance picked up the paper from the table and pointed at a few names. “Robinson, Henderson, MacIntosh.”

  “Do you know them?”

  “I don’t know them, but I know of them. They’re some of the wealthiest families it the city.”

  “Makes sense that Evelyn would know them then.”

  Lance drew a finger down the page, reading off more names. “Whitlock, Mercier, Racocco.”

  Amy bristled when she heard that last name.

  “Racocco?” She got out of her seat and walked around the table to the other side. “Do you know Racocco?”

  “No. Do you?” asked Lance, surprised by her reaction to the name.

  Amy composed herself. “No, but I’ve heard Tony mention the name before.” She was lying, trying to act as casual as possible, unsure if she was pulling it off or not. She changes the topic. “So they’re all rich.”

  “Sort of, but I know the names for a different reason. They’re all regular guests of the Dominion. They typically reserve the Penthouse Suites.” Lance paused to see what kind of reaction this would draw from Amy. He saw none and decided not to carry on in that direction. “So I’m not surprised Evelyn knows them.”

  “Will we have to personally call on those people as well?” Amy was hoping he didn’t hear the anxiety in her voice.

  “I don’t think so. We’ll leave that for last, just in case we can’t get the numbers out. We’ll try to save ourselves the hassle. They’re mostly from out of town anyway. If we need to, I’ll can call them myself, I know a few of them.”

  “You do?”

  “Yeah, I used to work here, remember? I’d come across them a few times. A couple of them were in need of some discrete assistance, if you know what I mean.” He looked intently at Amy when he said this.