"Of course, Lord Arvil." I ducked my head.
"You don't have to call me Lord Arvil, although I like it—I just adopted you, baby. You're only nineteen—I know that. On Campiaa, you won't truly come into adulthood until you're twenty-two. You're my little chick, Reah."
"I want to take Reah out for dinner," Teeg stood and pulled me up with him.
"The uh, new staff should be able to finish dinner—we got it started already," I said, pointing off in what I thought was the kitchen's direction.
"Don't worry about it—go have fun. We'll get going on this tomorrow," Arvil waved a hand. Delvin had stood by, his face expressionless as he absorbed the news. I wanted to fling him through the huge window behind Arvil's desk. Teeg hauled me out of the room instead.
"Reah, breathe, sweetheart." I was hyperventilating. I'd made it to the beach across the road, but then I was gasping for breath, hugging myself and going to my knees in the loose sand. Teeg was kneeling beside me, trying to get my breathing evened out. "Just breathe slow, baby, slooow." I realized I was crying when I did take shaky but more normal breaths after a while.
"Reah, I don't care anything about what that comp-vid said. I see what's in front of me. I'm not going to hold any of that stuff against you." I blinked at him—he'd said stuff. I sobbed.
"What's wrong, sweetheart?"
"You said stuff. Some old friends used to say that."
"You don't like that word?"
"I do, it was just," I flung out an arm, unable to say what I felt.
"Then I'll say it again—stuff. How's that?" I nodded mutely. "Come on, let's get drunk," he hauled me up.
We didn't get drunk but we did get tipsy. And then Teeg bought a ring. A really nice one. "I'd put Tiralian crystal on that finger, sweetheart, but they can't get any of it here." Teeg offered me a crooked grin. He had a beautiful mouth. He kissed me with that mouth after we got the ring sized and he slipped it on my finger. I hoped Aurelius and Tory were understanding. I didn't think I could give Teeg up. Not for any reason. We went to find something to eat after that, getting food to go and taking it to Teeg's apartment.
"Last night here at my apartment," he muttered softly as we ate our dinner on Teeg's kitchen island. We'd gotten a decent pasta dish at one of the casinos Arvil didn't own. I wanted to check out the competition as much as I could. Edan used to do it for Desh's. I was never given enough money to check on the competition or I would have.
A hovertruck came for us and all our things the following day. I had some clothing left but half of what I'd bought with Teeg had been destroyed in the firebombing. I had mindspeech to send to Vice-Director Lendill Schaff, too. I wondered what he was going to say or do when I told him Arvil San Gerxon had adopted me. I wondered if Arvil could get his legal counsel to void the papers from his prison cell when the ASD came calling. What would I do, too—if Arvil asked me to kill someone for him? Someone like Neele, who I had no desire to harm?
"What are we going to do?" I whispered as I grabbed Teeg's hand before we walked out his door.
"No idea," he leaned down to kiss me.
I fired three cooks, six assistants and eleven members of the waitstaff before the day was over. Either for theft, food safety issues or failure to report tips. I knew when they were lying. Too bad for them. They were escorted by Arvil's security to the shuttle station. A list of people waited to be interviewed—I sat in on the interviews. I knew when those people were lying or padding their resumes. Several of the head cook applicants made meals for the guards and me.
The guards loved it—they never got to eat like that. Arvil's kitchens and customers didn't suffer; we had replacements hired before the day was out. I also set up a rotating schedule with each of the security supervisors in every one of Arvil's casinos. Each member of the security team would get a voucher for a nice meal for two in one of Arvil's casino restaurants every eight-day. They could bring a date or a spouse on a day off and have an expensive dinner.
It never hurt to have security on your side—especially if you wanted their cooperation later. The guards loved it—they had to pay before and the nicer restaurants tended to be out of their price range. The best the casinos had wasn't inexpensive in any sense of the word. In return, security would be less likely to turn their heads if they saw any of my staff taking liberties.
I sent mindspeech to Lendill while I was cleaning up before going to bed. Teeg was in Arvil's office, going over the books for several casinos. I was going to wait until I'd gone through everything on the restaurants before sitting down with Arvil.
Vice-Director? I sent.
Reah? I haven't heard from you for several days.
A lot has happened since I talked to you last.
Tell me.
Arvil's family—what there was of it—got killed during the firebombing.
Good news—what else?
Arvil adopted heirs.
Not good news. Who do we need to add to our lists of most-wanted people? Some of the reptanoids?
No.
Then who? Did you get names?
Yes.
Tell me.
Arvil San Gerxon adopted me and another person. That brought silence. Either Lendill was stunned or he was already putting my image on the comp-vid most wanted site. I waited. And waited some more. Finally, a response came.
I'm sorry, Reah, but the Director and I just laughed so hard we nearly cracked a rib. Arvil adopted you? I think he had to stop and laugh some more.
Yes. I am officially Reah Nilvas San Gerxon. The other person is Teeg San Gerxon. And you can't kill him. Arvil married us yesterday. Teeg is my husband. I don't think he's bad—in fact, the reason Arvil adopted him is because he's the one honest person, possibly, on all of Campiaa. He was a building contractor for Arvil before he was adopted.
A contractor?
That's what I said. And we're married. I sure hope Tory and Aurelius don't have a fit. I'm not giving this guy up.
Reah, you have been busy.
This wasn't my idea, Lendill Schaff. It was yours. What was I supposed to do—tell Arvil no, so he could shoot me in the head like I've seen him do with other people? Or watch while one of his wizards burns Teeg to death? You kept me here, Vice-Director.
I know. Do what you can to keep from breaking the law, but this is more than we ever expected. You are now in an even better position to hand him over to us. His contacts as well. Keep your eyes and ears open, Reah, and report back to me with whatever you learn.
Vice-Director, you are forcing me to live a bigger lie than I ever thought possible. Perhaps it will pay off for you, but it makes me feel cheap and dirty, even if Arvil is an evil that should be stopped.
Reah, lives will be saved in the long term, Lendill attempted to reassure me.
And how many deaths will I witness, before I can walk away? Or will my death be one of those? Honestly, I don't think you or the Director care about that, as long as you get what you want. I cut off the communication.
I was going over accounts on my newly acquired comp-vid when Teeg slouched into the bedroom. "Long day?" I asked.
"Bad day," Teeg pulled his shirt over his head. "Where does the laundry go?"
"I think the others just dropped it on the floor and expected the staff to pick it up. I have a pile going in the closet—I'll try to get a hamper or two tomorrow."
"What did you do today?" Teeg unbuckled his belt. Teeg has muscles—lots of muscles—that ripple when he moves. I can't seem to stop staring when he takes his clothes off like he does. His navel is the center point in a hard, powerful body. I'd thought Bel and Delvin were well-put together. Tory and Aurelius might compete with this, but nobody else could.
"I, uh, fired people. For, uh, theft and stuff."
"You said stuff." He pointed a finger at me.
"I like that word. It's not in any dictionary I've ever seen, but I like it anyway. And I hired some people." The pants dropped. "And, uh, did my best to get security on my side, so they'd report future, uh, infractions," the underwear dropped to the floor.
"Reah, I love the look on your face right now."
"Uh, right." I turned back to my comp-vid, trying to make sense of something that now resembled gibberish.
"You think Arvil has cameras in this room?" That was something I hadn't considered before. What if he did?
"I don't know," I answered truthfully.
"If he does, we'll give him something to think about." Teeg climbed into bed. His comment had me worried, but his loving soon had it flying out of my head in favor of other things.
Head cook Kiasz grinned at me. I'd gotten rid of his troublemakers and hired better staff. Arvil's assistant, who'd hired the others, was the one Haral had fried in my kitchen. Now Kiasz was getting what he wanted from the kitchen help and waitstaff. "Wilffin actually didn't complain about his last visit, and normally he does," Kiasz said. "But I have to get you to show me how to make those oxberry tarts for the next time—that's what he liked best. He said he hadn't gotten anything that good since he was on Tulgalan."
I schooled my face. "All right—we'll work on that. Are you expecting any oxberry shipments soon?"
"I have some frozen in the keeper inside my office," Kiasz whispered. "They're nearly as good as fresh if you cook with them."
"Then we'll work on that soon," I said. "Let me know when you have some time and we'll invite important guests for drinks and dessert."
"I like that idea." Kiasz traded his wide grin for a chuckle.
"Little cook," Farzi nodded to me when I walked into the kitchen at Arvil's palace later. I was frazzled—keeping up with all of Arvil's casino restaurants was a tiring enterprise.
"Farzi—I am pleased to see you," I said.
"We have been out, searching for good place to replant," he said. "Many places have one thing but not another. Most have sufficient, but too many people. You understand?" He blinked golden-brown eyes at me.