Chapter 14

I shivered and turned to him, my mouth slightly open.

A lady sat behind us taking notes on my reactions.

The lights dimmed even further, and the music changed. It was now a sultry, jazzy tune. The next model came out wearing lingerie. I glanced at Tony suspiciously. I hoped he wasn't thinking that he was going to get a private fashion show later with me as the model.

The lingerie was tasteful, though. The skinny models wearing the thongs made me remember that my new and improved body gave them a run for their money. Unlike their asses, mine was filled out in all the right places.

The lights came up, and I almost applauded. It had been a wonderful show. Tony watched me with a slight smile that made him look so sexy.

"Did you enjoy that?"

I nodded. "I thought we were going to the mall or something."

"The mall? Never." He stood and took my hand.

"What's next?"

"Home."

I looked at the empty catwalk. "When do we pay?"

"We? You're my guest, in all ways. And I have already taken care of the bill. Our purchases will arrive tomorrow night." He waved Brett over. "I'll just be a minute." He stepped away to talk to Brett.

I looked at some of the paintings and sculptures, and before long they joined me.

"Miss Russell, will you follow me?" Brett asked.

I gave Tony a puzzled look, but he just smiled. "Okay ..."

Brett led me backstage. "Where are we going, Brett?"

"Mr. Yates has made a small purchase for you to take home tonight."

"Okay." And I had to go to it? It couldn't come to me?

"Through here is a dressing room, Miss Russell." He gestured for me to go inside. "One of my assistants will bring something to replace your torn blouse."

I thanked him and entered a little dressing room. A young woman breezed in carrying a wardrobe bag draped over her arms.

My eyes were locked on that wardrobe bag before I realized that she was studying me just as hard. I saw a blush creep over her face at being caught staring and she quickly hung the bag. Wordlessly she began to remove my blouse and because I'm not accustomed to being undressed by a woman it creeped me out a bit. But then she reached to undo my pants and I took a step back and told her that I could take care of it. She gave me a lingering look before leaving and after she was gone I blinked in surprise. Did I just get hit on by a chick? Oh my God…

As soon as I was sure she was gone and not ready to breeze back in the room once I was down to nothing but undies, I unzipped the bag and gasped.

Inside was a pure white pantsuit. It was the cleanest, purest white I'd ever seen.

The pants were loose and flowing and draped my legs like a waterfall. I pulled on a sheer blouse of the most translucent silk. My black lacy bra stood out like a sore thumb so feeling bold I removed it.

I shivered at the feel of the cool silk against my naked skin causing my nipples to tighten and draped the matching wrap across my shoulders allowing it to conceal my perky boobies. I modeled in the full-length mirror loving the look. Tony had chosen well.

When I stepped out of the little room I saw Brett waiting for me with ten pairs of shoes!

I slipped off my black boots and tried on several of them before selecting my favorite. The heel was higher than what I would normally choose, but the outfit called for it.

Brett led me back into the main room, and Tony let out a low whistle then came forward to take my arm. We were quite a sight—him in his black and me in my white. He just stared at me for an entire minute before leading me to the door.

"Brett," he said, "As usual, a wonderful job. Thank you, my friend." They shook hands and hugged.

"No problem. Anything for you, Mr. Yates." Brett turned to me. "And Miss Russell, it's rare to see beauty such as yours. I hope to see you again."

I smiled; a beauty such as me? I doubt that with all those gorgeous models surrounding him. But I thanked him for a wonderful show.

Tony led us out the door.

"Tony, thank you for the outfit. It's beautiful. I love it."

He held me with his eyes. "No. Thank you. Come." He led me back to the Benz, and Mei Wah was waiting at the door to let us inside. I wanted to call Arnitra so bad, but I knew that it wouldn't be fair to bring her into a situation like this.

Tony's posture tensed. "I need to tell you something."

I didn't like the sudden serious tone of his voice.

He looked out the window for a few moments before turning back to me. "I wasn't completely honest with you about something."

"What?" I frowned.

"About Johan."

"What about Johan?"

He shifted in his seat to face me so that his knee rested lightly against my thigh. "Because you are responsible for his death, you can replace him on the Council."

I digested that news. I suppose it was a big deal to the other Vampires, but it didn't really mean all that much to me. Still, I needed to keep my options open. "How would it benefit me by being on the Council?"

"I forget that you are a Third Generation and don't have the old memories," he said. "The Council is what controls the Neratomay or Vampire nation. Each country is segregated into sectors that are controlled by a local Council. It's our responsibility to control the Vampire population and monitor the human mood. Each of us has a territory. Johan's was fairly large. When there's a problem, his liege rely on him to settle it. Without him there would be anarchy. Therefore if a Council Member dies he must immediately be replaced by his Second or Third in Command. But in the case of a Council member being killed by another, that individual is allowed to take his seat. This is not something that happens often because there are rules against killing a Council member. It's an automatic death sentence. But if the Council member is clearly the aggressor and it is a fair fight, then the rules change. In your case he ... or we ... were the aggressors. You killed Johan in self-defense."