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Immediately, Everly popped into my head.
“Fuck.” I ran my fingers through my hair and held on tight, relishing the pull to my scalp. “Do I have to go?”
“You know the rules.” She had walked to the opposite side of my desk and now leaned against one of the leather chairs facing me. “Someone from the company has to, and your father isn’t that person.?
? My mother had left strict instructions, more of a goodbye letter than a will, dictating from beyond the grave what she wanted to accomplish. My father wouldn’t be caught dead at one of these events. So it was all left to me.
Around three o’clock, I got an email from Stella, letting me know both she and Jade wanted to come in for testing. Normally before I offered a contract, I arranged for a paid audition to test out their skills. As funny as some may think, sex is a skill. One that was developed and crafted over time. Greatness came with confidence, and first-timers were never that confident.
Now that the escorts had confirmed, I needed to break the good news to my father.
“Dad.” I knocked on his door, and smiled when I saw him hunched over his desk, his nose two inches away from the computer screen. He’d forgotten his glasses again.
“Maximillion!” he bellowed from behind his large oak desk.
I cringed. I hated when he called me by my given name. What the hell were my parents thinking when they chose it? I wasn’t some pretentious, rich douche who came from old money. My family’s money was very new and very tainted. At least according to most of the population.
Dad’s office wasn’t fancy. Gray walls and steel furniture. If it had been any other porn executive I’d know the steel was utilitarian—easy cleanup after contract meetings with aspiring starlets. But not my dad. While I knew he was a man who had needs, I was pretty sure he hadn’t been with any woman since my mother had passed. Unfathomable, considering his occupation. Temptation was around every corner. In every room. On every television and computer screen.
“Did we have a meeting?” He looked at the calendar on his desk and frowned. It was bare save for his computer, a tray with various papers, and a picture of my mother. Many people had an opinion of Hirsh Levin. Sinner. Blasphemer. Peddler of flesh. But to those who knew him, he was saintly, kind, and generous. And for me, loyal. Despite being surrounded by twenty-something porn stars he still went home every night to the same woman, despite her having sex with five other men that same week. Even when she’d been diagnosed with breast cancer. Even when she was too sick to smile. He still came home.
“No.” I walked toward his desk. “I want to talk to you about something though.”
He waved me in. “I always have time for you.” He shuffled the papers in front of him and moved them off to the side. “But, hold on…” He held up his finger while scanning the mess on his desk.
My father was almost fully gray. I don’t know why I hadn’t noticed it before. He had kept himself completely natural. Unlike some of the other men in this industry, who insisted on dying their hair as if the passage of time didn’t apply to them. Not my dad. His salt and pepper hair was distinguished and matched perfectly with his fifty-five years.
“Here…” He picked up a folded newspaper and handed it to me. “Looks like you’re going to have to find somewhere else to live.”
I scanned the article. It was about boutique hotels in Toronto and how they were slowly turning over to American hands. The article also disclosed that Bryce was selling the Concord.
I grunted. “Probably explains why he’s been calling me for the last three days.”
“It’s a shame. I hope whoever buys it won’t tear it down.”
So did I, and not just because I’d have to move. The Concord was one of my favorite places in the city. I knew it wasn’t normal to live in a hotel, but I was never home. I never cooked. And Bryce gave me a good monthly rate. Not to mention I brought his bar a huge amount of business.
“You know you can always move back home if you need a few months to find a place. It’s pretty lonely there now that you’re gone.”
I loved my father, but I was old enough that I needed my own space. Needed somewhere to retreat after the workday.
I gave him a half-smile and tucked the newspaper under my arm.
“What did you want to talk about?” he asked.
“I’ve expanded our casting net and I’m screening new talent with…experience.” Although it wasn’t porn experience, sex was sex.
“Wonderful. Luring away from the competition.” He winked and pointed his index finger in my direction. “What company do they currently work for?”
“They’re not in porn, they’re…escorts.” My father’s face was expressionless, which made me want to defend my decision. “High-end, of course. Highly recommended by their madam. I met with two girls a few nights ago and they are interested in testing.”
“Escorts?” For the first time he hesitated, not immediately giving me his go-to response. My stomach tightened. I wanted very much to prove I was worthy of the Levin name, and so far, my entire life had been one big ode to being a Levin. So close to taking over, I couldn’t risk getting it wrong.
“Great. Run with it.” He returned to his computer screen.
I could probably tell him that I wanted to start filming animals having sex and he’d give me the green light. I don’t think I’d ever been criticized growing up. Not once. My name meant “greatness” in Latin, for fuck’s sake. Normally golden boy status was reserved for high school quarterbacks or the eldest son. I was none of those things.
“Don’t forget you’re attending the distributor meetings next week. There is much for you to learn.”
