Page 55 of Damian’s Conquest

They showered quickly, and got dressed. Naomi snatched a piece of fruit and a yogurt from the refrigerator, and ate it.

“Are you not having breakfast?” she asked.

He grinned. “I’m still full from last night.” Naomi’s blood was still permeating his body, and he didn’t feel the need to feed. Besides, the blood from the bottles suddenly had no appeal to him anymore, and soon, he would drink Naomi’s blood exclusively—just as soon as she agreed to blood-bond with him.

Naomi’s cheeks colored, and she dropped her lids.

“There’s nothing to be ashamed of,” he said and tipped her chin up with his finger. He pressed a quick kiss to her lips. “It’s perfectly natural. Now, let’s go, before I drag you back to bed.”

They drove to the Mezzanine. Damian parked the Porsche in the parking lot behind the club. As they got out of the car, Damian asked, “Which building does Mrs. Zhang live in?”

“That one,” Naomi said and pointed to the tall apartment building across the alley.

Naomi led him to the front entrance of the building and rang Mrs. Zhang’s flat.

“Mrs. Zhang, this is Naomi Sutton. I was wondering whether I could speak to you again about your complaint?”

“Yes, come up.”

The buzzer sounded, and together, they entered the building, and rode up to the third floor.

“Don’t tell her that I’m the manager of the Mezzanine, or she might be hostile.”

“How should I introduce you then?”

“Tell her I’m an investigator you work with,” he suggested.

When the elevator doors opened, the door to Mrs. Zhang’s flat was already open, and she stood there, arms crossed over her chest. When her eyes landed on him, she drew up her eyebrows.

“Mrs. Zhang, thanks for seeing me. I brought my investigator with me,” Naomi said immediately, “since I think this case warrants a much closer look than I’d thought at first.”

Damian suppressed a smile. Naomi sure knew how to butter up the old woman and make her feel important.

“Mrs. Zhang,” he said, “may we come in? I’d like to show you photos of a few suspects.”

Her eyes lit up, and she stepped aside. “Of course, please, come in.”

Inside the flat, Damian glanced around and noticed the impeccable cleanliness.

“May I have a look from where you were able to see that something strange was going on at the club?”

“I saw everything from my bedroom.”

She walked ahead, and he and Naomi followed. When she pointed to the window, Damian stepped closer and looked outside. Mrs. Zhang definitely had a direct line of sight to the back exit of the club, as well as the parking lot and the dumpsters. But could she really see that clearly?

Damian turned around, and pulled out his cell phone, navigating to the photo app, where he’d loaded photos of all his male staff at the club.

“Would you please have a look at these men, Mrs. Zhang, and tell me if you recognize any of them as the man you saw with blood on him, the one who was meeting with another person several times a week?”

He held the phone in front of her, and scrolled through the lineup.

“This one. That’s the man,” she said in a firm voice.

Damian looked at the photo. It was Mick, the missing bartender. He nodded. “Thank you very much, Mrs. Zhang. You’ve helped me a lot.”

“What will you do now?” she asked.

“I’m going to look into this person, and if there’s anything nefarious to find, I’ll find it. We’ll be in touch. Thank you for your time, Mrs. Zhang,” he said, and turned to leave.