Esmeralda's second lair just like the first didn't scream "evil mastermind." It just smelled expensive.
Silk curtains drifted lazy in the AC like they had all the time in the world. Marble floors caught the warm glow of the chandelier and threw it back up at the ceiling in soft ripples. Low music hummed somewhere in the background...something slow and French and filthy if you listened close enough. Roses in a crystal vase on the side table, but underneath it all was that faint metallic tang that never quite washed out. Money acquired by blood had a way of lingering retaining it's scent.
Her desk was glass, completely see-through, nothing on it but a thin black notebook, a gold pen, and one crystal ashtray she'd never once used. She sat with one leg crossed over the other, chin on her knuckles, smiling at the phone as it rang.
It was anUnknown number...She answered on the second ring, voice soft as silk.
"Hello."
