Night's Honor by Thea Harrison Read Free Book Online Page B

had said, and she didn’t have the money to go anywhere else. Slowly she pulled out her keys and held them out to him, watching his expression closely. “And this is all still routine, is it?”
    He didn’t appear discomfited by her scrutiny, as he tilted his head in acknowledgment, took the keys and placed them on the hood of her car. “After Diego has had a look, your keys will be returned to you, and we can get you unpacked. For now, please follow me. How was your drive?”
    If he wanted small talk, she would oblige. Looking at her car one last time, she fell into step beside him and tried to get her muscles to unclench. “It was good, thanks. The last part, especially along the coast, was gorgeous.”
    â€œThat stretch of road is one of my favorites in all of the world,” Raoul said.
    She gave him a quick glance. His accent was indefinable, but something in the way he spoke lent weight to his words, as if he had seen many beautiful sites from all over, which, if he had been working for Xavier del Torro for any length of time, he probably had.
    As they entered the main house through the side door, he asked, “Have you eaten dinner yet?”
    Hunger had turned into a sharp, unrelenting spike that drove through her abdomen, but her stomach was also tied into knots. She said cautiously, “No, I haven’t.”
    Raoul gave her a smile. While their initial encounter had turned her into a mass of nerves, he appeared entirely at ease. “I am to give you a quick tour, and we’ll take your things to your room. Then you will be speaking with Xavier again. When he’s done with you, you can take the rest of the evening to get settled. Jordan will make up a supper tray that can be brought to your room later. We had roast chicken for supper, and there were plenty of leftovers, unless you’re a vegetarian?”
    So the tour was their chance to search her car. At least they would get it over with quickly enough and feed her supper. She told him, “Roast chicken sounds great, thanks.”
    â€œGood. I’ll let Jordan know.” He led the way through the house with a purposeful stride. “The main house here has almost twelve thousand square feet. There are also four other buildings—including a garage, a guesthouse, a gym with a pool, a steam room and a dry sauna, and the house where most of Xavier’s attendants live.”
    Now that she had truly committed to this course of action, she focused on what he was saying as she looked around. The kind of wealth needed to support such a property, especially a beachfront estate in California, was mind-boggling.
    She tried not to gawk too much, but the house had a restrained elegance that was utterly beautiful, with an understated use of simple, high quality furniture in lots of space. “How many attendants does he have?”
    â€œCounting you, right now he has twenty,” he said. “Eight stay in his house in the city, including Russell, who manages both properties. Eventually you’ll get the chance to meet them. Here, several attendants keep the grounds and pool, or they work with me. Jordan is the cook. Angelica is in charge of maintaining the main house, along with the guesthouse. Both Jordan and Angelica have assistants. In the attendants’ house, we divvy up the chores to keep the house clean. You’ll be expected to pitch in.”
    She rubbed the back of her neck and nodded. “Makes sense.”
    Xavier had said that he kept a small household by most standards—if that was so, she could only imagine what an extravagant Vampyre household might look like.
    The setup was almost like a modern American version of Downton Abbey. Except with Vampyres.
    There was so much to take in, many of the details blurred on her again. Even then, Raoul didn’t take her through the entire house, although he did tell her facts just as though she were a guest—the main house had six