The Blood Heiress

Prejudice

Evander

I appreciated the work each of my handpicked department heads had put into their presentations. And while the presentations were not for me specifically, transparency was key for accountability. There were definite places to trim the budget so that the resources could be allocated to other areas of expansion. While the presentations today were only from departments that the were part of the public Santos Industries, tomorrow evening would see presentations from the private portion. I was still debating whether to allow Adella attend those.

The day was a long one for Adella. I saw her nodding off and jostling herself awake a few times. An unfamiliar heat spread through me everytime I happened to glance at her. An occurance which was happening more than was seemly. Unseemly, unfamiliar but not unwelcome.

If my people noticed they were discreet about it. As they should be. I straightened my tie and pushed my chair back away from the table a little. Ms Huffington stopped her presentation and nervously watched my movements. I waved her on. Relieved, she turned back to her presentation on the output of her particular subdivision.

My behavior since Adella had entered the picture had been erratic. That much I was aware of. But after what had taken place at the restaurant, I realized just how unusual the shift in me was. I never lost control.

If I hadn't fought against myself with considerable effort and if Adella hadn't anchored me with her touch....The meal would have ended very differently.

Still twenty-four hours after the incident, and my blood boils at the idea that she spent any amount of time at an orphanage. No matter how much I wished to discount it, I knew that single fact explained away so many of my questions of where she had been hiding, why she was so deficiently educated. It explained her.

Ms. Huffington finished up her last slide and turned an expectant face to me. I thanked her and led a light applause. She quickly gathered up her items making way for Mr. Teller to give the final presentation of the day.

"Thank you all for your attention to detail. Let's take a ten minute break and reconvene to finish out our quaterlies." My words set the room loose and they all lazily scattered. Some moved to stretch, others left the room, some pulled out their devices and a few remained as they were, chatting with their colleagues.

"Ev...Mr. Santos..." Adella's whisper drew me back to her. She shifted in her seat. "Where is the restroom?"

How had she not been shown its location before now? I clearly remember instructing my assistant to give her the tour before the interviews. Something must have gone awry. Jessica was, after all, my assistant for good reason. She was usually very thorough. Holding the conference room door open for her, I inhaled her light scent as she passed.

"Are all your employees..." her voice lowered as she kept in step next to me with some effort. "vampires?" She was still uncomfortable with that word. Unsure of its weight, its shape. Her tongue treated it gingerly, enunciating every syllable with precision.

"On this level yes, vampires of all sorts and breeding. But not all of my employees are. Most in fact, are human."

I stopped in front of the restrooms and waited for her to finish her business. Uncertain if I should wait, but doing so regardless because I had not indicated otherwise. I did not need another reason for her to think me rude. My wandered as I stood there.

How long had she been at the orphanage? Was it within the realm of possibility that she was simply volunteering? Wasn't likely in the least, but I wanted to cling to that possibility. The thought she hadn't been entrusted to humans, abadoned by her family and left to rot at one of this city's institutions soothed me. I was not one for fantasizing but in this instance, I very much wanted to indulge.

I heard the door shut and brought my attention to the hallway. I did not miss the way her eyes widened for a short second when she returned and saw that I was still waiting. Misunderstanding avoided, we walked back in silence as the ten minutes were just about up. Adella was starting to stumble a bit in her shoes. Bit off more than she could chew in those. But I knew she would learn and adjust, she had already demonstrated that she was a fast learner. When we reentered the room everyone was quietly waiting. Adella let out a sigh of relief as we took our seats. A tiny smile crept on my face. I pulled in my seat, repressed the smile and looked to the front, a clear signal to begin.

Lauren Teller did not delay, I sat back and relaxed confident in his abilities. Surveying the room, I was satisfied to note that everyone seemed to be intent on learning what they could from Teller's slides. His was, by far, the most interesting report, after all. The division he was charged with was food and beverage, one of our newest.

I had promoted him to division manager two months ago and the changes he had been able to make were impressive. His heavy handed approach to trim the fat and reorder for efficiency and production reminded me of my father. While it wasn't my particular style of leadship, his methods were exactly what his department had needed. That isn't to say I couldn't be heavy handed should the situation call for it.

Last night sprang forth in my mind's eye as a clear example. René's bloody face and yelps of pain. His pleading that I stop, that he can fix everything if I just let him go. A sly smile twitches at the corners of my mouth.

After almost losing control in public, I retreated to the gym. Then trying to channel the uncontrolled rage in an productive manner, I had managed to corral the fire but had not extinguished it. When beating the bag into submission hadn't released the building momentum, I searched for another outlet. Short of running loose in the city I had come up empty on what to do to burn off the rest of it. My paitience thinned as the flames licked up towards my throat. I almost gave into tearing my room apart as a last resort, when I was conveniently reminded of a certain prisoner that I had yet to deal with.

The delight that had filled me, the anitcipation of releasing the monster inside on someone who deserved every bit of it, was seraphic. That feeling grew and took on a life of its own with every step down into my hidden lower level. I rubbed a hand over my knuckles. There was assuredly no trace of what had transpired but I could almost still feel his jaw breaking against them. My ears could just still hear traces of his faint cries. The death knells of a man that had outrun his sins for too long.

My focus shifted to the task at hand. Teller's presentation wrapped up nicely and we gave him his applause. He gratefully packed up as I dismissed the group. Adella and I stayed back waiting until they vacated. I had not yet settled on what to do with the final hour here at work. I had the burning desire to grill her about her upbringing. However, it was all still too fresh and I knew that with my manner of delivery it would go wrong quickly.

"How did you know I was a vampire?" Ah, her line of questioning hadn't been finished from earlier. I had taken the comfortable silence back from the restroom as the end. It seemed that I was incorrect. That decided it for me. I couldn't keep the chuckle back at the childlike question. It was trying and inexplicably refreshing to deal with her. Someone unintiated to the status quo.

"I do not think I have ever been asked that before." I tried my best to smooth over any misunderstanding my chuckle had brought. There seemed to be an inordinate amount of those between us. "Mostly an instinct. Gut feeling if you will. Some vampires have the ability to hide their true nature and in that case it would be the smell of them up close. But with you it was both."

"Smell?" She scrunched her nose in an endearing way. Though I dare not bring attention to it.

"Humans don't have an inherent scent. Certainly they can use perfumes to mimic but it isn't as if they exude an aroma. Vampires usually do."

Her mind worked over the information carefully. I knew she understood what I had explained, just needed time to process, so I waited.

"What about the instinct? You can look at someone and just know? Know what exactly?"

"I take it from your question that you have not experienced that yet. Which means that it must be tied to a successful transition..." Interesting "There is an instant connection of....sameness....similarity that hits you upon first glance. Bear in mind as well, that all humans are easy to spot from the pulse and the lure of blood in their veins"

"So, I need to wait. It won't happen until I transition fully?" Their was a spark of something hidden in her blue eyes with that inquiry.

There was also a note of anticipation in her voice that took my by surprise. Was she warming up to the idea? That hadn't taken that long. I had, as a matter of course, initiated research into finishing her transition safely. There was so much gray area I was not confident that we would find much evidence of precedence. It was just unheard of to make a spawn wait so long to transition. I knew she had yet to finish though from the lack of development of her vampiric qualities. She should have some evident but yet all that had occured so far was the physical trasition.

She had grown quiet, I stood up and held out my hand. She took it without a thought and I helped her to her feet. Preparing a response carefully.

"I do not believe so, though it warrants more research." Her full lips pursed in thought. "It is already four. We need to return to my office to finish up some things."

She took an uncomfortable step, then another. And I paused giving her time. I led her back to my office slowing my pace to an agonizing crawl.

"I need your assistance over here." I called to her when she, as predicted, went to the bench she favored. Probably expecting to just be waiting around. No, I had a surprise for her. I motioned at the seat beside me, behind my desk.

"With what?" She curiously asked when she took the offered spot.

"You need to give these applicants another look. Miss Mayville has already weeded through them. These ones here have made it to the second round."

"What are you looking for?"

"Any that stand out to you."

"Anything in particular that I should be noticing?" She flipped over the first page of the first resume.

"I am interested in what you find to be important. Which candidates stand out to you."

"Does it matter if they are vampire or not?"

"I only hire vampires for this office. We discussed this previously."

"How do you know before you interview them? Is there a special vampire's only job posting?"

"What? No, that was what we were weeding out...didn't Miss Mayville tell you already?" This was indeed troubling, I needed to follow up with my asisstant tomorrow.

"Not a word. I was only there to observe."

"Observe and learn." I clarified.

"Even if I had known what the interviews were for I couldn't have possibly been of any help. I don't know how to tell the difference between humans, vampires, half vampires, whatever it is that I am." Her flippant disregard for the proper title she wore rankled me.

"Tribus Quartem." I reverently put the words out into the air and hoped that by hearing them, she would accept them.

"What?" Clearly, she hadn't been expecting me to derail her thread of conversation to correct her.

"That is what you are." It was a hard won distinction she should respect.

"Yes, I know. It's simply that it sounds overly pretentious to have an entire latin name for the very specific type of vampire I am and everyone else gets lumped into regular old 'vampire'." A troubled sigh left me her words.

"That is not true. There are the turned, purebloods, half breeds and Tribus Quartem. While vampire is an umbrella term, the entire race has been categorized accordingly." I placed my papers off to the side for tomorrow. I was not going to be getting threw them today.

"Accordingly?" She sounded displeased and that spark from earlier was readily evident in her beautiful eyes.

"Yes, according to the amount of true blood they carry." There was no need for me to dance around her very pointed and potentially loaded question. This was simply fact.

"Naturally then purebloods would be at the top." We locked eyes then, I recognized the challenge hers were now issuing to me. Another tug-of-war. I supressed the laugh of amusement I knew irritated her so much but I didn't hold back the smile. Even if she would interpret it as a smug slight.

"Yes, as all others spring from them."

"They were first then?" Our eyes were still locked, her jaw set firmly waiting for my response.

"Naturally" The orphanage had robbed her of even the basics.

"Where do the rest fit in?" She broke our staring contest first and there was a small pinch of disappoinment in my chest.

"Tribus Quartem follow. Then turned. And finally the half breeds." I continued with less gusto than before.

"Half blooded vampires are last?" I looked curiously at her. The change in her tone was evident. It had gone from curious, to confident, to absolutely angry all within the span of this short conversation.

"In a manner of speaking." I cautiously answered.

"Is that what you have against Cassian?" That name again! The true purpose behind this line of questioning suddenly became crystal clear.

"No, though it certainly doesn't help." I tersely tried to shut her down before she could latch onto much. What purpose did this serve. My problem with Cassian Moretti, with all the Moretti's for that matter was my problem. Why must I fawn over the man as she does for her to be satisfied?

"Did..." He voice is quieter now and lacks the bluster of her early questions. "Did Ben tell you to keep me away from him?"

Benetto, telling me to do anything? The hearty laugh that left my mouth at the thought of such an absurd thing only brought her anger forth again.

"No, he did not." I grabbed the resumes from in front of her and placed them back in their spot. This clearly was not going to get done today either. I sighed and stood up.

"Where are you going?" She narrowed her eyes at me as I moved to the door.

"Now is not the time for this conversation." My hands balled up instinctively with my growing discomfort in the way the conversation is headed. She wasn't ready for the truth quite yet and anything I could offer her would not satisfy her.

"Now is a perfect time." She jumped up and proceeded to almost keel over, she had forgotten her heels. I moved to help her right herself, but she shot me a furious glare. Pulling off each of her shoes she channeled all her irritation into chucking them into the garbage can. Her angry face then calmed a little, a blush colored her cheeks. "What is wrong with now?" Her voice has calmed as well and she moved right up to where I stood. Challenging me once again.

Her struggle with the heels may have lightened the atmoshpere momentarily but I was plunged back into a sour mood once more with her persistence.

"For one, I am not sure that you are ready for it." I erred again in being too honest with her. If I had learned anything about her in our time together, it would be that Adella Russo didn't appreciate my honesty. Perhaps one day, she would understand the gift that honesty could be.

Her dark blue eyes are now a muddied purple. Interesting. She was fighting against her darker side even though the transition had not been completed .

"Who are you to tell me what I am ready for?" Her gaze was haughty and her tone condescendingly incensed. "And I would like an answer. I want to know what you have against Cassian Moretti. If Ben didn't tell you to keep me from him, did he tell you that he is no good for me? Did Ben tell you to get in the way?" Her face was right up in mine by the end of her diatribe. I appreciated her new bearing, her rising to and embodying the Russo heritage. But I couldn't ignore her words.

"Get in the way?" I knew my carefully constructed mask had fallen at that point. "Get in the way?!"

I had had enough and my own flames were stoking themselves with her words, her accusations, her demands. I had really let her get away with too much due to my curiousity. My pity. My interest. Who was I to question her? Who was she to insinuate that I, of all people in her life, had gotten in her way? I took a step and invaded her personal space. Instinctively, she took a step back. Using that to my advantage I backed her against the office wall. Her surprise at hittng a stop in her route away from me was all over her face. I brought my mouth to her ear, her enchanting scent surrounded me. She shuddered when my breath hit the bare skin of her neck. My anger with her immediately quieted, the flames however were still running high. I found myself fighting the urge to touch her, to feel those flames under my skin where it met hers. They were present even when we touched casually, with our clothing in as a barrier. If I could only bring my lips to that exposed skin and... Her small hands found their way to my chest, the dull fire at their touch spread outwards, interrupting my train of thought and bringing my focus back.

"Miss Russo, you are asking for answers you are hardly in a position to be ready for." I whispered roughly into her ear and then pulled back. Her face was not set in anger any longer, yet the flames were dancing in her eyes still. Curious. She also felt the pull as I did. My gaze was returned in equal measure. Much like when we shared the elevator after attempting to dine out, we stood simply taking each other in for a moment.

"Can you blame me? You can't." Her voice broke and her eyes became glassy when she finally breeched the silence." I don't know anything about anything. I am trying to get my head around all of this. Trying to live up to the expectations others have of me. What am I supposed to do in this situation? I need answers."

An unfamiliar desire to pull her into my arms and comfort her rose up in me. I couldn't bring myself to act on it. What was I thinking? What would she think?

"The situation with your bartender is more delicate than a simple dislike from Benetto. Benetto did not tell me to do anything of the sort. He wouldn't for one. Two he couldn't. Deep down, I know you know this. Benetto may be an important piece of your household but he is hardly in a position to be telling me what to do." An aching spread in my usually numb heart when I looked at her dejected demeanour. None of this is her fault. "Adella, you need to learn to trust yourself. You give yourself far too little credit."

A tear spilled over and I wiped it away. Delighting in the way the little flames danced under my thumb. She looked up from under her long, dark lashes in surprise. My hand cupped her face fleetingly, then I thought the better of it and withdrew it.

"Eventually, I will find out Evander." Her confidence was back. The tears were now safely stowed away.

"I hope that you do. And when you are ready, I will even tell you myself. You have had a lot to deal with these past few days. Let that sink in first." She slowly nodded her head and I moved to the door. "I believe it is time to start your self defense lessons."