Ashby Fairfax, and that is why any of us would die for you.” Baptista bowed and quietly left the room.
Ashby turned onto his side and buried his face into Gabriel’s arm.
“I don’t want anyone to die. Please wake up soon, my prince,” Ashby whispered and eventually fell
asleep.
* * * *
“Prince Ashby, repairs have started on the VIP conference room, it should be completed before we
reopen on Friday night. Do you think we could change the paint color while we’re at it, maybe a neutral
gray? What do you think?”
“Prince Ashby, the beer vendor we use is angry with us for denying them entrance on Monday, should
we try and retain them as our alcohol vendor or see if we can get someone new?”
“Prince Ashby, what do you think we should do next weekend for theme night?”
After the final person in what seemed to be a never-ending stream of people left the office, Ashby
slammed his head down onto Gabriel’s desk. He had been fielding questions all morning and was shocked
at the number of people coming to him for advice.
He had slept through the rest of the day Tuesday and woke up still moving slow on Wednesday. Baptista
made sure he stayed in bed all day. When he woke on Thursday he felt refreshed and much better. The only
thing left over from his ordeal were the teeth marks from the savage bite from Gabriel’s reclaiming. To his
disappointment Gabriel was still asleep and hadn’t shown signs of waking when he had left their apartments
that morning.
“Gabriel does this every day?” Ashby turned his head, his cheek on the desk, to look at Roman who
was quietly typing at his own computer. Roman looked up surprised.
“Of course not. The coven loves Gabriel, don’t get me wrong, you’re just more approachable. They
would never come to him with these type of concerns.” Ashby groaned. Roman resumed his typing.
“It just shows how much they have come to care for and trust you.” The sound of typing stopped.
Roman’s face inched toward the screen and he shook his head before the tapping resumed.
“Prince Ashby, I’m sorry to bother you again. But I contacted the alcohol vendor like you advised, they
are saying that they cannot make any deliveries to us for the next two weeks,” Rhys said from the doorway.
Ashby raised his head, his eyes flashing.
“That is ridiculous! They’re just messing with us. Contact the other vendor and say we’re willing to give
them our business, beer and liquor, contingent on getting a delivery out to us today, and ask how low of a
rate they can offer. Advise them we’ll need an answer back in thirty minutes and let them know you are
contacting other vendors, so their offer better be the best they can do, we’re not negotiating.” Ashby tapped
the desk thoughtfully.
“If their offer comes within five percent of what we’re paying now, switch vendors. Then contact our
current vendor and let them know their services are no longer needed.”
“Yes! These guys have been assholes from day one, but they offered the best price,” Rhys explained.
“Sometimes you have to pay more to get what you want. In this instance it’s better customer service. Let
me know what they say,” Ashby said, grinning at Rhys who practically left the office at a run to get back to
his phone.
“Where on earth did you learn how to deal with vendors?” Roman asked, stunned. It was Ashby’s turn
to look surprised.
“I learned from the best. You should hear Ma make arrangements to get food and supplies. I applied
what I learned to run my own business. Whether it’s a restaurant, an ice cream parlor or a club, they are
basically the same.” Ashby shrugged.
A few minutes later Rhys returned with a swagger.
“Prince Ashby, it was epic. The second vendor was all too willing to help. It’s a smaller company run by
a family. The prices are slightly higher than what we’re paying now, but he said that rescheduling shipments
wouldn’t be an issue and is willing to make arrangements for evening or even late night deliveries. That
alone is worth the slight increase. Being able to split deliveries across the day and night shifts will help
immensely.
“But the best part was when I called the asshole back from our old vendor. He was still screaming ‘You
can’t do this!’ when I hung up on his ass.” Rhys was grinning from ear to ear.
“That’s awesome! I’m glad to hear about the split deliveries. You look happier too.” Ashby couldn’t
help but return Rhys’s grin. The man looked that happy.
“You have no idea what a load off my mind this is. I hated working with that douchebag.” Rhys’s face