Glamorous - A Grace Bishop Novel - Chapter 20
© Denise Bossarte
Viora rested on the plush leather
seat in the limousine. Her long legs were crossed beneath the knee length slate
gray business skirt. Her matching jacket tossed onto the seat next to her.
She reached up to run her free hand along her neck, using her
other hand to check updates on her cell phone. The acquisition meeting had gone
well, and she was curious to follow the chatter on line and watch as the final
decision became public.
Two quick taps on the tinted window next to the empty back seat,
before Robyn slid into the car beside her. His eager gray eyes scanned Viora’s
face as she concentrated on the phone.
Robyn broke the silence, impatient for her to acknowledge
him.
“What are they saying? How much are things going up?”
After a while longer reading through some text, Viora replied
without raising her eyes.
“It is going as well as I expected. The stock is climbing
already.”
Viora missed Robyn’s look of relief, but she was aware his body
language had relaxed. After a few more moments of scrolling, Viora put aside
her phone, a predatory smile breaking across her face at her success.
“You did well, my pet,” she said, lifting her gaze and turning
her head to address him. “There were no complications after I left?”
Robyn’s smile was broad, his capped teeth glowing in the
overhead light of the limousine. “No problems at all. They were all pleased
with how everything turned out. I made sure of that.”
Viora’s eyes narrowed as she continued to look at him, and Robyn
shrank back into the seat under her cold stare.
“I didn’t overdo it, I promise!” he said, anxiety filling his
voice.
“Robyn, we have talked about the delicate nature of these
meetings. You do fine while I am leading the negotiations. Your touch is
subtle, and no one is aware that anything other than a normal meeting is
happening. But I wonder about when I leave the room.”
Viora stared at him harder pushing him further into the seat
with the force of her disapproval.
“I am beginning to think it is not a wise decision to leave you
alone with the clients.”
Robyn’s left eye twitched in response to Viora’s statement. It
was never a positive thing if she talked about being wrong. She loathed being
wrong.
“No, no. I did everything the way you told me to. Not too much
Glamour, only enough to make them feel happy about their decisions.”
“Not too happy,” she said, her voice lashing out.
“Only enough. A touch of doubt, but an overall feeling of
getting what they wanted.” Robyn’s voice held a hint of pride at how he had
achieved such a balance.
Viora smiled to herself at the satisfaction in Robyn’s voice.
His pride in his skill with his ability was the only time he showed a real
backbone to her face. But her smile shifted to a grimace. The problem was he
had developed a backbone during the times he was not under her direct
supervision. Something she would need to handle another time.
Viora turned to push a button on the armrest, activating the
intercom to speak with the driver.
“Soho, Gregory,” she said and picked up her phone again.
Robyn took that as the dismissal it was and immediately stepped
out of the car, shutting the door with care behind him.
Viora set the phone down on her lap, massaging the back of her
neck with her free hand. She was not looking forward to her meeting with Eli
scheduled for that afternoon. It would be a definite low point in the day after
such a high point this morning.
Viora stared out the limousine window, not registering the
scenery as it flowed by with the smooth progress of the car. Her thoughts were
on the things she needed to prepare to deal with Eli that afternoon. As usual,
when her thoughts turned to Eli she felt the banked coals of resentment explode
to a maelstrom of rage, despair, and jealousy. Viora could not forget and could
never forgive Eli for her mother’s abandonment and suicide, both of which she
laid at his feet.
Viora’s plans for Eli would only add to their long term
contentious relationship, but her vitriol for him meant would relish an excuse
to punish him. Viora preferred to rule The Family and their aligned Paranorms
by the power of her will, the power of her position, and by their fear of her.
All strong and effective motivators on a day to day basis. As the head of The
Family, she was the most powerful Wiccan in The Family. Her power was the
leverage she needed to keep personalities in check and to keep most situations
from becoming issues.
But with her half-brother, things were much more complicated.
Eli had always been as powerful as she. And although it roused her jealousy to
admit it, in pure skill, he was most likely more powerful. Otherwise, she would
have been able to get rid of him like she did all her older siblings as she had
maneuvered her way to take over her father’s place ruling The Family.
But her position as the official head of The Family tipped the
scales. It literally gave her the extra power to push her ahead of Eli as a
competitor. That was one of the reasons why she had coveted her father’s
position and had done what was necessary to make sure she, rather than Eli,
became the head of The Family.
Despite her expectation that he would challenge her after her
climb to power, Eli had shown a general apathy about wanting to claim any
position of power within The Family structure. And the past few decades he had
been content to wallow in obscurity at the theater without concern for the
politics or machinations the other Family members were always engaging in with
each other.
Although she sometimes regretted not having an excuse to crush
Eli once and for all, it served her purposes to have someone else manage the
Paranorms. Especially someone who expressed no desire to contest her for her
position. It was the one thing her father had taught her well; don’t throw away
resources, no matter how distasteful they or their methods were to you. Use
them to your advantage, but watch them well. Given time and patience, she would
be able to enact her revenge on Eli for her ruined childhood and the
disintegration of her perfect Wiccan family.
But it the Aperto Rottos she had sent to him had aroused his
interest. It was subtle, and she doubted he recognized the signs himself. But
she had been an avid observer of her half-brother for years, even obsessed with
him. She was immediately aware of even the slightest changes to his behavior.
This afternoon, she would take the necessary steps to make sure
Eli didn’t act on behalf of this girl. Something she knew would keep him from
misbehaving and interfering with her plans.
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