Chapter 11
Kasimir~
While I’d had my doubts, I could admit that Stephanie had done a good job of overseeing the auction in Aurora’s partial absence.
The hotel that Aurora had chosen was classy, but it was also small, which helped with the security detail.
All of the ‘dates’ were to take place in the reserved rooms upstairs, and that was to ensure that none of the participants overstepped and got away free.
At any rate, tonight’s auction had ten girls and thirty participants, making the bidding interesting, which was the entire point.
While some of these women might be here for some easy money, some were here because they were desperate for some breathing room, and even though I’d been raised with unlimited wealth at my fingertips, that didn’t mean that I didn’t understand desperation.
In fact, I saw what desperation could do to a person whenever I became their living nightmare.
After one last patrol of the entire hotel-which Aurora had rented out completely for the night-I walked back into the hotel’s conference room where Stephanie was attending to the remaining details, and while she didn’t know it, it was on her to make Aurora’s night a success, or else she was going to have me to deal with, and nobody in their right mind wanted to do that.
Nobody.
“Everything’s ready as far as security and the rest of the hotel,” I announced as I made my way across the room to the faux stage that’d been erected yesterday.
Stephanie stopped what she was doing, and when she turned to face me, she smiled like we were the best of friends or something, which we weren’t.
I’d just met the woman a couple of days ago when I had escorted Aurora to the hotel to iron out some remaining details.
It was then that she had introduced me to Stephanie Alvin, and no matter how much Aurora sang her praises, I couldn’t care less about the woman.
The girls should be arriving in about an hour,” she replied. “I’ll lead them to the dining area to fill out their limits card, and then once that’s done, a suite has been reserved for the girls to finish touching up their makeup or whatever.”
“Who’s in charge of escorting the participants?” I asked, that minor detail having slipped my mind.
“That would be Dehlia,” she answered. “Very tall, very svelte, and every man has a weakness for sultry brunettes.”
Now, while I had nothing against brunettes, my mind couldn’t stop thinking about a very petite auburn-haired woman who hated me.
Granted, without Zoya in the picture, I didn’t have a preference when it came to women; I liked them all, and in my opinion, no one woman looked better than the next.
All women had something special to give to the right man, though that wasn’t to say that I was the right man for any of them, because I was not.
“Will one of the men be standing with her as she greets these participants?” I asked, the answer not mattering because I’d make sure that one was.
“I hadn’t thought about that, but I can find someone if you want me to,” she replied casually, and you’d think that she’d have more care when you considered her choice of lifestyle. Stephanie Alvin was one of our regular prostitutes, and she worked closely with Aurora.
“Yes, I want you to,” I told her. “In fact, I’ll find someone to stand with her in the lobby.”
She smiled again. “Thank you.”
“Is there anything else that you might have missed?” I asked. “Any questions for me about security or the rooms upstairs?”
Stephanie shook her head. “I think we’ve got everything.”
“Okay, I’ll check in with Aurora in case she has any last-minute requests,” I informed her, reminding her that Aurora was still in charge, even if she wasn’t here.
Then, the woman set the paddles down before walking over to me, and not for nothing, I recognized that look in her eyes, and before this past week, I might have appreciated it a little bit more than I did right now.
My last name had women hitting on me all the time, so I knew what she was going to say before she even said it, but little did she know that I wasn’t about to piss off my sister-in-law by muddying up the waters where she swam.
“You know, the entire hotel has been rented out for the event, so there are going to be plenty of empty rooms upstairs once the auction is done,” she said, and it was hard not to appreciate the confidence that came with being a blonde.
It was like they knew that men had a weakness for their fair looks, and they flung that advantage around like a weapon.
“I’m here to make sure that my sister-in-law’s auction is a success,” I clarified for her. “Nothing more, nothing less.”
She cocked her head coyly. “C’mon, Aurora won’t mind.”
“I’ll mind,” I replied coolly. “And even if I needed to get my dick wet, I don’t need to pay for it, though I assure you that I’m not judging you either way.”
“I wasn’t going to charge you,” she fired back. “I just thought that we could both have a good time, what with all the empty rooms.”
“Those rooms have been reserved for safety purposes, Stephanie,” I reminded her. “They were not reserved for the staff to engage. This is an auction, not a swingers’ club for a night of debauchery.”
The woman bristled a bit. “That’s not what I was implying.”
“Well, whatever you were implying, I’m not interested,” I told her. “I’m here to make sure that the auction goes off without a hitch, and that is all.”
The tone of my voice must have conveyed how serious I was, because she quickly backed down. “I understand.”
With that taken care of, I turned to leave, and as I walked out of the conference room, I called Aurora to tattle on Stephanie.
“Kasimir, is everything okay?” Aurora asked as soon as she answered the phone.
“So far, everything seems to be on point,” I answered. “However, your girl just hit on me, wanting to make use of the empty rooms upstairs.”
“You sound offended,” she chuckled.
“I am,” I informed her. “I thought you said that she could handle everything professionally.”
“I never used the word professionally,” she replied evenly. “However, I understand your point, and you can rest assured that I will be speaking to her about this.”
“I don’t trust her,” I said.
“Kasimir, you don’t trust anyone,” she pointed out. “Besides, it’s not like you’re going to have to ever deal with her again after tonight.”
“I’m just telling you that you should probably step back and reassess,” I told her. “She should be trying to impress you with a flawless execution of the auction, Aurora. She shouldn’t be trying to ride my dick.”
“Honestly, I never imagined that you’d be the kind of man who would complain about a beautiful blonde hitting on him,” she drawled out.
“I’m full of surprises,” I quipped.
“So you keep saying,” she snorted.
“Look, just...keep what I said in mind. Okay?”
“Okay, I promise,” she replied, and since Aurora’s word was as good as gold, I felt better for having ratted Stephanie out.
“I’ll talk to you in the morning,” I said.
“No problem, and thank you again, Kasimir,” she replied sincerely.
“Not a problem.”
I hung up, then did another round just for something to do.
I didn’t want to be around Stephanie if I didn’t have to, but only because I didn’t want to ruin this for Aurora.
I could easily see Stephanie getting on my nerves enough to throw her out, and I could only imagine the chaos that would cause.
So, in the best interest of keeping Aurora happy and my brother from murdering me where I stood, I triple-checked the security and even chose Pruitt McMahon to join Dehlia in the greeting of the participants.
He was very observant, and he never hesitated to put a bullet in someone’s skull if warranted, something that we all could appreciate.
I also thought that it’d be prudent if I kept myself scarce once the women began showing up.
While not all of them, there was still bound to be a couple of nervous ones in the bunch, and I didn’t want to add to their anxiety by lurking around.
Even if I hadn’t been born a Korolev, I understood that my left eye was a bit unnerving for some people, though it was something that I was very much used to.
An hour later, the women began showing up, and so I did one last check of the ten rooms that were to be used for services rendered tonight, and though the entire hotel was safe enough at this point, it never hurt to look for hidden cameras or whatnot.
Luckily, nothing untoward popped up, and everything was ready for the auction to start, and the sooner that it started, the sooner that I could get my ass back home.