Bloodstone Heart (26 page)

      
Anton had a busy day ahead of him.
 
He needed to drive to Boston and meet a prospective buyer's associate to haggle a price for a piece that had become exceedingly popular when the artist died of a stroke six months before.
 
Anton had been waiting for the right buyer and he was pretty sure this was the one.
 

He didn't always meet clients this way.
 
He had a very capable staff to do the day-to-day business duties, however, when it was a special piece or one that Anton had grown attached to, he would do the business himself, and such was this occasion.
 

Bernard, Anton and Dominic’s butler, served him breakfast early and got him out of the house and on his way in plenty of time to meet his destination on schedule, as Bernard always did.
 
Normally this drive would not be bad at all, but today it was raining and he knew that things would be slowed down because of it.
 

Though there was normal traffic going through the city, it wasn't bad today.
 
Anton often wondered why on rainy days, it seemed people forgot how to drive.
 
How ridiculous that seemed, when it rained quite often. Oh sure, rain caused its share of accidents, but sometimes, with no accidents in sight, the traffic would still crawl at a turtle’s pace in the rain. Thank God that wasn't the case today.
 

Anton pulled into the parking lot adjacent to the building where he’d have his meeting.
What luck
, he thought. A car was pulling out in a primo spot where he would not even have to use his umbrella to get to the safety of the building. What he hadn't noticed was a black Lexus had been waiting for the slow-poke car to pull out for eons, while they put their packages away, strapped the kid in, strapped themselves in, checked their makeup, all the while the woman waiting in the Lexus had her blinker on to make a left hand turn into the parking place.
 
Imagine her dismay when Anton slipped into the parking place instead.

As Anton got out of his car, the woman in the Lexus honked her horn at him and pointed to the parking space. Anton turned towards the woman and shrugged his shoulders, dismissing her dilemma, and ran for the cover of the building's overhang.

Feeling rather good at getting to his destination with plenty of time to spare, Anton went to the lobby coffee shop and got himself a tall mocha. The line was long, but he still had plenty of time to make his appointment upstairs in the conference room.
 
After waiting for about ten minutes or so, he finally got his order.
 
Making sure to get a little sleeve for his cup of coffee, he also made sure that the top was on tight.
 
A disaster a few weeks ago, with a top that was not on tight had made him wary of unsecured coffee lids. Happy, he turned and headed out of the coffee shop and held the door for a woman that looked like she had just crawled out of a swimming pool.
 
Her hair was plastered to her head, to the point that he wasn't quite sure what color her hair was dry.
 
It could have been brown or maybe dark blonde, but either way, she was not a happy camper.
 
As he held the door open for her, she bolted through it, ignoring his gallant gesture as if it were his job.
 
She never acknowledged him or even made eye contact. Under his breath he said, "You're welcome, your Majesty."

The woman jerked her head, spraying water all around her, and gave him a look that actually made him jump a little.
 
He hadn't really intended for her to hear it, and he was sure that it was barely audible to a normal human, but by the look on her face, he was quite sure that she had heard him.
Hmm
.
 
Maybe she's a vampire too
.
 
Could be, although I can't sense her or smell her like I usually can
.
 
Maybe she's just a very sensitive human
.
 

Again he dismissed it as he had the parking incident and went on his merry way.
 
Still with plenty of time before the meeting, he went to the front counter and asked to use the house phone to check for messages at his office.
 
There were none - good.
 
That meant the meeting wasn't cancelled.

He grabbed his coffee and headed for the elevator.
 
He waited a while and took a sip of his flaming hot coffee, only to burn the tip of his tongue.
 
Just couldn't wait, could you?
he thought.
 
Now you won't be able to taste anything for the rest of the day
.

Finally the large heavy elevator doors slid open slowly. He stepped in and hit the button on the panel marked '17.' No one had stepped in the elevator with him and the doors shut. Up the elevator went, opening only once at floor fourteen for who looked like an executive assistant with five folders in her arms. She made eye contact with him and smiled shyly, reached past him, excusing herself, and pushed the button for the twenty-second floor. She quickly glanced at him again.
 
After all, Anton was a very handsome vampire.
 
He stood six feet tall and was dressed in an expensive charcoal gray suit.
 
The gray of the suit played on his eyes, making them look even bluer than normal.
 
He had a thin, straight noble nose, and short dark blonde hair that was spiky on top.
 

He smiled at the woman then went back to looking at the numbers count up on the LED display panel above the door. When it hit seventeen, the doors slid open and he headed out and to the right. He walked down the hall and to the left, where he waved at a secretary and pointed down the hall at the conference room. She nodded.
 

He entered a room with a very long, shiny table surrounded with leather rolling chairs.
 
One of his staff was setting out folders in front of four of the seats and nodded at Anton as he seated himself.
 
“Is the buyer here yet?” Anton asked the busy secretary.
 

“No, Mr. Larsen, but Porter Simmons is here. He just went to use the restroom a minute ago.”
 

“Good.
 
No rush.
 
I got here early.”
 
He leafed through the folder that the secretary had left in front of him.
 
"Excellent job," he said and then he looked up at her, smiled, and continued, "Really, very nicely done.
 
Thank you, Sara. Everything looks great."

The secretary blushed and smiled at Anton. He could read from her that she had spent a great deal of time on the material, and wanted it to be perfect and that was why he made sure that he told her how good it looked.
 
His staff didn't deal with him much and he knew that they tended to get very nervous when meetings like this sprang up with 'The Boss' involved.
 

His staff was capable and professional, and he knew he didn't tell them often enough how nice it was not to have to worry about things when he wasn't around. They worked like a well-oiled machine and he knew just how lucky he was, because it hadn't always been that way.
 

A minute later Porter Simmons, a stocky man with glasses, entered the conference room.
 
He took care of most of their legal obligations and issues and was absolutely the best in the field at this sort of acquisition.
 

“Anton, it’s good to see you out and about.
 
You look good.
 
I hope you received my condolences on your wife's death.
 
How are you doing? I know you were estranged, but still, it must be hard. Amy told me to make sure and tell you that if there was anything we could do, to please let us know.”
 

“I appreciate that, Porter.
 
You are a very lucky man to have such a doting wife.
 
Yes, I received the flowers and your condolences and they were greatly appreciated.
 
It was a shock to lose Libby, but like you said, we were estranged and I suppose that makes it a little easier.
 
Thank you for your concern.
 
Dominic and I are squaring away her affairs still, but all seems to be fine.”

“Well, if you need any legal advice or help, don't hesitate to call me.
 
It's not my specialty, but I do know a few people who could help.”

“Thanks, Porter, I'll do that.”

Porter sat down next to Anton with a cup of coffee and a couple of file folders.

To kill some time, Anton pulled out his iPhone and checked his email messages. A few minutes later, a finely dressed gentleman entered the room. Anton stood to greet the gentleman with his hand extended and said, "Mr. D'Angelo?"

"No. I'm Samuel Birke, the lawyer working with your client and Ms. D'Angelo."

"Good to meet you, Mr. Birke. Glad you could make it in this rain. This is our lawyer, Porter Simmons."

"Thank you, Mr. Larsen. It's nice to meet you. Mr. Simmons, I know you by reputation only. It's a great pleasure to meet you."

Porter stood and shook Samuel's hand and said, "It's nice to meet you, too."

Anton continued, "I hope Ms. D'Angelo did not get caught in traffic.
 
You never know what traffic will be like in this kind of rain."

"Very true, however I think she had more trouble with the rain than with the traffic. Last I saw her she was very wet and headed for the ladies room. I suppose she is drying off."

"Oh dear, maybe I should send Sara in to see if she needs anything?"

"I think it best that we stay out of her way. She did not look very happy when I saw her."

Anton simply nodded and smiled at Samuel.

Another ten minutes went by and the dutiful secretary Sara had come in to make sure everyone had everything they needed, then turned and left the room. A moment later a striking woman stepped into the room in a long, slim fitted black skirt.
 
Her hair was slightly damp.
 
Being a vampire, he could hear that her spiked heel pumps made a squish sound with every step.
 
Her white silk blouse looked to be the driest thing on her and was as sheer as tissue paper over a flesh-colored camisole.
 

All the men in the room rose at her entrance and when Anton walked forward to introduce himself, her eyes widened as she took him in. "You!"

"Uh, yes. I am Anton Larsen and you must be..."

The woman looked at him with such distaste that Anton was taken aback and stopped mid sentence. Bewildered by her hostility, he tried to finish his sentence, "...Ms. D'Angelo."

She refused to shake his hand and looked at it with disgust.
 
"Yes. I am Juliana D'Angelo and I represent my client Thomas Sinclair on the acquisition of the statuette entitled 'Apathy.'"

Anton motioned towards a chair next to Samuel Birke and said, "Yes. Please make yourself comfortable. Can I get you anything?"

"I think you've done quite enough, thank you."

All the men in the room stared at Anton. Anton shook his head at her statement, like a dog might shake off water from its coat of fur.
 
He was very confused. This woman was so hostile towards him.
 
She did look vaguely familiar, but he couldn't quite place her. She had a slight English accent that suited her. Her eyes were the color of dark blue sapphires, but they showed nothing but malice towards him.

"Okay. No coffee, maybe some tea?"

"No thank you.
 
Let's get straight to it, shall we?
 
Your asking price is grossly over-inflated, Mr. Larsen, and I have advised my client to reconsider pursuing this transaction."

"Okay, Ms. D'Angelo, that is your prerogative, but this item has been highly sought after since the death of its artist and I don't think that your client will find anything of its caliber on this market for much less."

"I don't concur and we will be taking our offer to another gallery."

"All right. I guess this meeting is over then.
 
Sorry gentlemen, to have taken up your valuable time. It was very nice to meet you, Mr. Birke." Porter stood up and so did Samuel, to shake hands with Anton, but Ms. D'Angelo stuffed the folder into her briefcase, ignoring their conversation.

"Ms. D'Angelo, it was nice meeting you," Anton said politely, to which she waved her hand as if swatting at a fly. Surprised, Anton raised his brows then turned to Porter and shook the man's hand and said his goodbyes.

As he turned the corner down the hall, he saw that an elevator was heading down and the doors weren't closed just yet.
 
He made a mad dash for it outstretching his hand to prevent the doors from closing and stepped in, only to find Ms. D'Angelo standing there, seemingly appalled by his intrusion.
 
He smiled coldly at her and hit the button for the lobby. The doors closed behind him and he stared at the numbers above the door as they counted down.

Somewhere between number 12 and 11 the lights in the elevator blinked and a horrid metallic sound rang loud in their ears. The elevator stopped with a jerk that just about knocked both its passengers off their feet. Then there was only the easy listening music in the background as the elevator sat there between two floors.
 

Juliana started hitting buttons frantically.
 

"How is that going to help? Even if it starts, now we’ll have to go to every floor in the building before we get to the lobby. Don't panic.
 
It will start moving any second now," Anton said.

Her sapphire eyes were burning a hole into the side of his head with her stare of malevolence. After a moment he opened the little door with the emergency telephone and grabbed the receiver.
 
It seemed the phone was dead. "Hmm," he said, disappointed. He pulled his iPhone out of his briefcase and called the secretary that he had just talked to upstairs.