“I’m concerned though, about what she’ll be like following the turning.”
I sighed. “Ninety-nine percent of turnings go smoothly and it's just a case of switching the blood.”
Flynn tapped on the side of the glass. “But there’s the one percent and she’s part succubus. We’ve finally found her. I don’t want anything to go wrong.”
“It’s in the hands of fate, my friend. There’s nothing any of us can do about it.”
There was a silence and we both looked out over the ocean.
“How are you? It must have been difficult to see Leonie. Was she pissed at what we did?”
“You’ll be able to ask her yourself soon I’m sure.” I licked at my bottom lip. I was ready for my O-neg.
“What? You heard back from her already?”
“Flynn, she’s a housekeeper and we’ve offered her a job and her own room at The Dream. I bet she’s been sat on her hands to stop herself from ringing the minute we left.”
“Why The Dream and not an apartment?”
“Because she’s right where she needs to be for work then, and she’s close so we can keep an eye on her.”
“You don’t trust her?” Flynn took a gulp of his water.
I tilted my head at him. “She went to a gossip magazine to expose us. Serena might think she’s okay but she could just have decided to add to her story. I’ll be keeping her in my sights and I suggest everyone else does the same.”
“Have you talked to Serena about this?”
“Serena’s convinced we were in the wrong and Leonie is an innocent party, despite the fact she openly admits to trying to land a billionaire. It’s not my first rodeo and Serena will be busy adjusting to her turning. I’ve nothing better to do, so I may as well focus on Leonie.”
“Just be careful, Smith.”
I nodded.
“What are you two women gossiping about?” Carter swaggered into the room, the cockiest of grins on his face.
“Hmmm, now I know you’re not wearing your satisfied sex face because our girl is in a sex coma so what’s happened? Your balls dropped?”
“Fuck you. I’ve just got off the phone from my agent. I’ve been asked to audition for a part in a popular US sitcom!”
A panicked glance swept quickly between myself and Flynn.
“Congrats, friend. What kind of part? A walk on?” Carter had been trying to land an acting role for years. His parents were acting royalty, but he’d always been frozen out by the establishment. It looked like the recent publicity about our ‘arrangement’ with Serena was making people sit up and take notice.
“It’s the part of a boyfriend interest who could be a regular depending on how it’s received. Anyway, I have an audition tomorrow in Los Angeles.”
“But that’s when Serena’s being turned.”
“Yeah but we don’t all need to be there, do we? I’ve been waiting for this break most of my life. Please don’t ask me to cancel it.”
Flynn sighed. “Yeah, you go do your audition. I’ll be there with Serena. Congrats again. I know how much this means to you.”
“Thanks. They’re sending me over the audition script so I’m going to go practice. I’ll catch up with you guys later.” We waved him off and waited until he’d gone out of earshot.
“You think it’s a good move?” Flynn asked me.
“It’ll get it out of his system if nothing else. Personally I think the guy is at home on the beach, riding the waves, but he’s always had this itch needs scratching. His self-esteem riding on whether or not he can act just like mom and pops.”
There was a beat of silence.