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I focused on work and told her about Jackson and then what I wanted from the role. She was pissed about that club and motivated to make damn sure that no other club was behaving like that.
I also told her that I wanted to work on having a few people like me that could work at the clubs for a while and get all of the dirt. She loved the idea, having a few ideas even from seasoned dancers at Berlin who were in a bit of a rut.
“If anyone could start a successful spy school, it’s you, Jasmine,” she said as we walked into the villa.
“I agree,” Mason chuckled from the kitchen. “I hope you don’t mind, but I was craving fried chicken, and one of the clubs had a buffet of that.”
“We need a day of meat to counter all the carbs we had yesterday,” Kiera joked, thanking him for getting it and letting her join us.
I was really glad she liked him now. She’d been all about me picking the twins—and she still liked them best—but part of that was her apprehension of warlocks. Now that she’d gotten to spend time with Mason and especially with them taking care of me to recover, their relationship was easier.
Basically, she liked him because he was good to me, and he liked her because she was a great friend to me. It actually made me feel warm and fuzzy that both of them cared about me so much like that.
We ate and talked a bit, Mason nodding along even if he wasn’t directly involved. He wanted to help though and said if Kiera ever had a gut feeling about someone but didn’t want to go through proper channels and start trouble that she could always come to him. We could both tell that it wasn’t even about protecting the company that was mine, but willing to do something nice for my friend.
“I think we need to change how your dances are paid out,” Kiera said when we were wrapping up. “It’s always irked me.”
I nodded. “Flat monthly fee?”
“Yes. God, yes, that’s so much easier and—no one’s got time to keep track of every time they do a dance. I’ve had lots admit that they forget and they don’t mean to. They’re not trying to stiff the system, but I can’t tell you what I had for breakfast Friday, and we’re not the only busy ones.”
“No, that’s much smarter,” I agreed. “Natalia was the one who said pay it out like rights to the song. You know best as a dancer and manager. Get me a list of things you want to go over.”
“If it were me, I’d want to audit some clubs under glamour before the announcement was made and transition happened,” Mason muttered.
“I was thinking the same,” Kiera told us. “Natalia’s great, but she treats everyone like we’re too old to be stupid or deal with bullshit. That’s not the world. Unfortunately, sometimes the people under us are more like kids that you have to set firm boundaries with. Even the good ones. Not everyone is on board for the mission and this is just a job. That’s fine. But they want to milk their jobs.”
Again, totally fair.
She headed out and was excited for the next stage in her life. She wanted to schedule a time with me where we could go over the dances and I could teach them to the choreographers. She was truly thrilled and so was I that it had gone so well.
The fact my next meeting went to shit almost ruined that.
“I’ll deal with the kid if you have faith in her, but I’m not working with a warlock,” Orion said firmly, shooting Natalia a glance that he wasn’t kidding.
“If he’s this pleasant with the councils, we’re going to end up at fucking war,” I grumbled, rubbing my tired eyes. “And no one is going to be working with the warlock directly besides me or Kyle. We’re protecting him and—”
He snorted. “You need to learn from the story about the scorpion and turtle.”
“Well, this is the first warlock I’ve really interacted with much and he’s my lover, so I trust him enough to be in my bed, and you’ve never fucking met him.” I snickered when I felt his desires. “Sure. Let’s do it.”
“Jasmine,” Natalia sighed.
I bat my eyelashes at her. “I could always use more exercise, and if he’s as good as he thinks, it should be fun.” I glanced at the clock. “I have a bit before I go back undercover.”
“You’re an idiot if you’d really fight me,” Orion drawled even as he got to his feet.
Yeah, that was his desire. He’d heard from Ally and Arthur how I was an amazing fighter and beat Elijah all of the time, and the ancient couldn’t wrap his mind around that. He was dying to get a crack at me and mock Elijah. Apparently, he and Elijah were also a bit like oil and water. Both didn’t have a lot of patience, and while they respected each other, they didn’t really like the other.
Mostly because I got the feeling they were the same side of the coin, and only one cranky asshole should be in any friendship.
We went down to the basement with all the training rooms.
He snorted when I only took off my shoes and jacket.
“If you give me a lecture on my arrogance when you’re completely sure you will win, without a sliver of doubt in your brain, then I’m going to punch you extra hard,” I warned. “I don’t know he will work. Blunt and cutting through the bullshit is great, but he’s offensive and not flexible.”
He did not like me saying that, kicking off his shoes as well before storming onto the mats with me. “This is dangerous for me to get involved. I’m going to put myself front and center with the councils to protect you. If you can’t take a bit of an interview as well, then you’re not worth it.”
