The following evening, Claire decided to return her attention to Raven’s Loft for the time being. It was her next attempt at distraction since she was now to be left with more time to think once again. After all, the original reason she had gone home with her film-making partners the night before was to celebrate them finishing their last night of production on their latest film. Then the evening took a surprisingly dark and then, an even more surprisingly, erotic turn, somehow. But alas, now was the time for them all to take some time off to plan out their next creative vision.

Palmer gave her a questioning look as Claire moved past his open office door and reached for the door of her own largely abandoned office. “Something you needed?” he asked, standing and moving to his office doorway across the hall, his dark eyes moving over her as if to try to guess at the possible reasons for her presence that night.

“Didn’t realize I needed to check in with you before coming to my own club,” she smirked, moving to take a seat behind the desk. Even his usual condescension, despite how annoyingly attractive he was, didn’t seem to be getting to her that night.

Palmer simply scoffed, “It’s just a rather rare occasion when you put in an appearance.”

“Well, I have been busy making films if you recall,” she reminded him pointedly as she reached into her desk drawer.

“Oh yes, your artistic endeavor of the decade. It gets so hard to keep track of how quickly you Toreadors go through those,” he stated disinterestedly.

“My turn; is there something you needed, Palmer?”

“Mainly just the reason for your presence,” he said bluntly.

“I think I covered that with the ‘my club’ part,” she returned his snark with another smile, though kept her eyes on the list of her staff of entertainers and their performances now in front of her. Annoying as he was, it was still hard for her to ignore his physical beauty any time she had ever let her eyes stay on him for too long.

Palmer scoffed again, beginning to turn back toward his own desk, then rethinking the move, and adding, “Also, most of the time when you do appear, drama seems to follow you. Can we keep that at a minimum this time, please?”

Claire shook her head, managing to ignore her immediate desire to spit out a biting remark of some kind in return. Instead, she just kept the smile on her lips, “No promises,” she stated with a bit of mischief, her smile growing as she heard his sigh of annoyance as he returned to his desk.

Claire spent the next few hours at the club reworking the lists in front of her. It seemed like it had been ages since she had spent any time here planning out each night’s entertainment, and working with the singers and dancers in her employ. And she was feeling particularly inspired that night, leading her to plan out an entire new roster of song and dance numbers for the entertainment staff to learn and perform.

After all, the last thirty years had seen an entirely new sort of entertainment growing popular in Europe, and it was about time she tried it here. It would be a new ‘artistic endeavor’ for Palmer to mock, but she almost relished seeing him squirm any time she made any sort of changes. With his controlling tendencies, which all his clan shared, and complete lack of interest in anything creative, he would always be miffed over any changes. Not that he ever had any real say in the entertainment side of the business. That was the whole reason he needed Claire at all. Even if he’d never admit it out loud.

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It took another week or so to institute all the changes to the club’s new kind of entertainment. But by the following weekend, she had managed to completely re-brand the place once again, as she had done several times in the countless number of years since it had first been nothing but a pub in the lawless west.

It was now a far cry from that little tavern where she had first met Kristofer. Where her friends Eliza and Finn had met their grisly fates at the hands of his brother. Where his son, Sebastian tried to turn it into something else and rebelled against her plans to assure customer loyalty. Where that horrible man had taken revenge by ending Sebastian’s life as well. Where his daughter tried to get her own vengeance for her father’s death by murdering all those poor girls; then made the mistake of walking into the club alone with Sean, and meeting her own end.

The place’s history was so very dark, but now, it was almost unrecognizable; newly unveiled as this new ‘Cabaret’ club in the heart of the city of angels. And Claire was more than ready to bury every bit of the place’s grim past with shows that would hopefully mesmerize the masses.

One night after the new signs and lights went up, and the first show started, people did flock there to see this new brand of entertainment. And one of those mesmerized masses happened to be Lucian’s adopted daughter, Kirielle, now fifteen years old.

She had grown into a stunningly beautiful young girl over the years. She was quite petite, with waist length platinum blonde locks, and the palest of blue eyes. And she was indeed completely enamored with the stage show she had dragged Lucian to that night.

“You really know the lady that owns this place?” she asked Lucian excitedly as the curtain fell after the show’s opening and the stage began to be prepared for the next act of the night.

“I’ve known her since first coming to America, actually. We do go back a long way. But, Kirielle--”

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Her excitement couldn’t keep her from interrupting, “Can we go talk to her, please?”

“I don’t know, Kirielle...” he stated warily as he watched some of the incredibly scantily clad performers move past them to get drinks before it was time for the next performance.

“What’s to know? This place is incredible! And I hear they may start to do matinée shows during the day too,” she prodded.

“Why should that matter?” he asked as he looked down at where she was practically bouncing with excitement.

“Ever since Summer left, you haven’t wanted me to even leave the house during the day. Afraid I’ll get into trouble or something? But...” she began pointedly, “if I could get a job here, you’d never have to worry about where I was, now would you?”

Lucian let out a sound of disbelief, “Not sure how you spending the day dancing and singing at some club,wearing who knows what, is supposed to fill me with calm.”

“Not just some club. Your friend’s club! You trust your friend, don’t you?”

Lucian just shook his head at how manipulative this teenage girl was trying to be, or more likely, at how successfully she was managing to make him feel like he should give in to her wants, crazy as they were.

“I don’t think Claire spends much time here during the day either,” he stated with an uncomfortable sigh.

“Come on, at least let me see if she’ll let me audition! You know how much I love to sing and dance. And how good I am at it. Do you really want to tell me I can’t follow my dreams?” she pleaded.

Lucian shook his head again, “You’re unbelievable,” he muttered with another sigh.

“Was that a yes?” she asked, beaming up at him with a hopeful smile.

“We can meet her, but no promises!” he finally gave in, which caused the young girl to throw her arms around him and give him a peck on the cheek. He couldn’t help the pang in his heart her gratitude caused, his mind immediately returning to his actual daughter who Awsha stole from him all those years ago, and recently claimed could still be alive, unbelievable as that idea even was.

His painful reverie was interrupted though, as his current ward grabbed him by the wrist and began leading him up the stairs to the actual loft part of Raven’s Loft, in search of the woman she so desperately wanted to meet.

Despite how brief their meeting was, Kirielle’s sheer beauty and exuberance was enough to convince Claire to let her come in for that audition shortly before doors opened the next evening. After thanking her profusely, Kirielle then rushed back downstairs as the next performance was about to begin. She was determined to memorize every step and every lyric before her chance at joining them up there on that stage.

“She’s... energetic,” Claire decided on as she smiled over her desk at where Lucian had remained upstairs after Kirielle had headed back down to the club floor.

“That’s one word for it,” Lucian agreed with another wary sigh.

“Good quality for a performer, though,” Claire assured.

“Not even sure that’s what I want her to be, honestly,” he admitted, his eyes moving over Claire, just as she had let hers move over him. They may have only been intimate once, but the memory seemed to hover in the air between them every time they had spoken since.

“You mean you aren’t the one that fostered that interest of hers in song and dance? I find that hard to believe,” Claire chided.

“Wanting her to appreciate it, and wanting her to dance around on a stage in her underthings? Not quite the same,” he returned wryly.

Claire couldn’t help a chuckle at his words, “I promise that if I do hire her, I’ll try to find her the most conservative of underthings.”

“How comforting,” Lucian scoffed, though still managed a smile. “So, I must say though, that this meeting has surprised me in another way.”

“How so?” Claire asked.

“Why you of course,” he replied.

“Me?”

“Yes, I mean, if I didn’t know better, I’d say you almost seemed, well, happy,” he clarified, giving her a questioning look.

Claire let out a slightly self-conscious laugh, “I suppose that would be shocking, wouldn’t it?”

“Quite,” he agreed, then made himself ask, “Let me guess, your magic man finally found his way back to you?” Though, as he asked the question, he tried to keep any feelings he may have had about that out of his tone.

“Eliot?” she gave him a questioning look. “Last I heard, he was back in your hometown.” She then remembered Lucian’s ties to Summer, as well as Summer’s formerly very close friendship with Eliot. “Unless you’ve heard something different?”

“My hometown?” Lucian asked with surprise, “What on Earth is he doing in London?” He then responded to the other half of her statement, “And no, why would I have heard anything different?”

“Wasn’t sure if Summer and he were in touch again,” she replied more quietly.

Lucian narrowed his eyes at her drop in tone before responding, “Well, if they are, I wouldn’t be aware of it anyway.”

Claire looked up at his statement, “You wouldn’t?”

“Summer moved out a while ago,” he offered that information, watching closely for any reaction to cross Claire’s pretty face.

“Why did I not know that?” she asked, more to herself.

“Well, last time I tried speaking with you, was when Eliot first disappeared again, and you were quite directly spirited away by your filmmaker friends,” he reminded her pointedly.

Claire let out a small laugh, “That was ages ago.”

“I’m aware,” he agreed with the same tone.

Claire just shook her head, “Well you knew where to find me if you missed me that much,” she scolded him.

“How much I miss you and how much I really don’t want to speak to Sean?” he feigned thoughtfulness, “This my dear, is the eternal battle going on in my head every time I think of you.”

“Funny,” she wrinkled her nose at his words.

He gave her a playful grin before speaking again, “But do tell, if Eliot is off and away in England of all places, and his most recent absence has been the cause of your woe in years of late, why then are you in higher spirits this evening then?”

Claire let out a sigh as she tried to find a fitting answer to that question. She doubted telling him about her recent nights of passion with both of her ‘filmmaker friends’ would probably be a wise answer, after all. “I suppose, I’ve had my current troubles put into perspective in recent nights.”

“Well, that sounds useful. I think I may need someone to do that for me too. Are you available?”