Page 18 of Cherished By the Sinners

He called Louise and discovered that there were several loveseats and chairs that could be added to the suite.He told her he’d call back after talking to the guests.

Magnus nodded at the lady who’d opened the door and waved at her to come over.

She trotted over and gave him a little bow.

He inclined his head and spoke in a low tone in Mandarin, “Our housekeeper,” he gestured at Darlene, “would like to have more seating brought in for you.Is that acceptable?”

“Oh,” the lady said, glancing at Darlene with a smile before returning her gaze to his face.“Yes, thank you.”

“The same for the other suite?”

“Yes, thank you for your thoughtfulness.”Her smile was wide.

“Our housekeeper is very thoughtful,” he replied.

The lady turned and told the rest of the guests in the room that their housekeeper and security man were arranging for more chairs for their suites.

Applause broke out across the room, and several of them turned to Darlene and saidthank youin horribly accented English.

Darlene shocked them all by saying you’re welcome in Mandarin.

The applause got louder.

A couple of the ladies approached her and spoke in slow, careful Mandarin.Asking if she spoke the language and where she learned it.

Darlene replied slowly, obviously thinking hard, saying she’d just picked up a few words here and there.Then she bowed a little and turned away to get back to work.

She could speak a bit of Japanese and Mandarin.How many other languages could she get by in?

Magnus stayed in the doorway, ignoring the looks, whispers, and giggles from the mostly female guests.He’d have been annoyed at having so many people speculating about his and his brother’s intentions toward Darlene, if Mason hadn’t already made it plain to their Japanese and Indian guests.

He just hoped it didn’t annoy Darlene.

Finally, she finished cleaning the suite and pushed her cart toward the door, exchanging goodbyes with everyone.

The elevator dinged and Magnus turned to see who was arriving at the floor.The furniture.Good.

Darlene was able to get her cart out just in time for the first loveseat to be rolled in.

Once again there was applause.

She headed to the second suite their Chinese guests were staying with a smile on her face.“They certainly are easy to please.A couple of the ladies have even offered to tutor me in Mandarin.”

“I’m sure they’ll teach you all kinds of things if you let them,” he said, considering how dangerous each and every one of those ladies were.

“Like what?”Darlene asked, a little frown on her face.

“I can give you a background on most of them if you want, but to boil it down...they’ve all been trained in multiple martial arts styles.”

Darlene blinked.“Why?”

“Well, some of them are something like ambassadors, and the others are both family and part of their security detail.”

“Sort of like Yvgeny, Baz, and you and your brother?”

He glanced at her, but she was already nodding her head.“I get it.”

She was very observant, and a lot smarter than everyone assumed.