Page 51 of Sweeter than Honey
She pouts. “But you didn’t even hear…”
“No.”
“Renata!” she moans. “I just bought this super-cute mauve swimsuit and I don’t haveanyshoes that go with it! I just need to borrow your…”
“No.”
Lexi growls.
Lily’s voice comes through my speaker. “Celine is here to see you, Renata.”
“Send her in,” I sigh.
Celine is surprised to see both Hallie and Lexi already in my office.
“Oh, good,” she says, holding up a black file folder. “You’re all here. Renata, I need to ask you…”
“I can’t take on another project,” I tell her firmly. “I’ve got enough to manage, with the wedding season in full swing, and the hotel fully booked for summer vacations. Not to mention that ridiculous witch conference that I’m supposed to plan…”
“That’s whatIcame to talk to you about,” Hallie interjects. “Professor Vyas has been mentoring me over the summer, and I’m helping her write her keynote. When we were talking, we had some ideas for the conference. She thought it would be really fun to have a display of altars to the various Deities and Demons that witches worship…”
“Andwhereexactly is she going to put them?” I snap. “Does she realize how much effort I’ve put into finding enough space for all of her witches in the first place?”
“Maybe they could go in the south wing?” Lexi suggests. “Then you can use the dining hall for the broomstick flying tournament Xia and Amara are organizing…”
“Thewhat?” I demand. “They never mentioned such a thing to me. I’m not having witches flyingbroomsticksthrough my hotel!”
“Ourhotel,” Celine corrects. “Come on, Renata, it’ll be fine. I can’t speak for Xia, but I’m sure Amara will make sure that the flying stays inside the…”
I stand up, my leather chair rolling out behind me. I look my sister directly in the eye. “You want to have witches wearing robes on broomsticks in the middle of a hotel while there’s aweddinghappening in the other room? Do you have any idea how ridiculous you sound?”
She grimaces. “Just let the witches handle it. We’ve got bigger things to worry about, Renata.” She hands me a black file. “It’s Xavian. He’s moved into Lazarus’s territory, in Silverlake City.”
Lexi gasps. I take the folder from Celine.
“Who’s Xavian?” Hallie asks.
“He’s a…very powerful vampire,” Celine replies.
“He’s a big asshole,” Lexi adds.
“He’s trying to acquire our hotel chain,” I mutter, taking the folder and flipping through it. Celine has CCTV and drone footage of Xavian’s vampires around what used to be Lazarus’s territory north of the city. This doesn’t look good.
“He’s trying to what?” Hallie says. “Can…can he do that?”
“Not if we stop him,” Celine crosses her arms. “Our family has controlling shares in the hotel chain, casino, club, and the holding companies. Well,Tudordoes, but since he’s imprisoned, that falls to me. Technically Cedric is his eldest progeny, but he’s been disinherited.”
“What about our shares in Lazarus’s businesses?” I ask Celine, with a raised eyebrow.
“Well, that’s where things get dicey,” Celine grimaces. “The paperwork hasn’t been updated recently.”
I glare at her. “Itoldyou and Tudor we needed a succession plan, for exactly a situation like this!”
She groans. “Renata, how was I supposed to know that Tudor would get imprisoned and Lazarus would get staked in thesamenight?”
“You don’t have to know exactly what’s going to happen in order to prepare for it!” I retort, tossing the file angrily to my desk. “I don’t know why you never listen to me. If we had developed a succession plan while Tudor was here, we could have had everything set up…”
“Well, wedidn’t, Renata…”