Lou finished pouring a drink, gulped it down, and then all but ran out of the bar on the way to Portia’s office.
* * *
Back in Portia’s office,Lou followed her in. “I have to say Little Ruby is quite the smart one,” he said.
Portia beamed with pride. “I know. And I feel totally responsible for how well she turned out. This isn’t Stella’s doing. It’s genetics and my influence, of course. That’s just the truth.”
“You know what I’ve always adored about you, cuz? Your humble nature.”
Portia flipped her hair over her shoulder. “I know, right?”
“You really love this girl, huh?”
She nodded, her eyes turning a bit sad. “I do. Stella never treated her right.”
Lou winced. “I can’t imagine that she would make a good mother. She was never all that nice, even by succubus standards. I wish the rules were different, Portia. I really do wish that.” He patted her shoulder.
Portia could’ve raged about those rules. After all, it was the only thing that had stopped her from raising a kid of her own.
“The rules exist for a reason,” Portia commented lamely.
“Hey,” Lou sighed. “I know how much you’ve sacrificed, and for that, I reallyamsorry, you know.”
“I do know. It’s nice to have your sympathy, but it doesn’t give me a child or grandchildren.”
Lou was the only creature in the whole world who knew just how much Portia had given up for her family.
“That’s why this isyourhotel. Life and its circumstances might have robbed you of the future you wanted but look at this resort asyourextended family. Every person that walks through that door is another opportunity to make it all better. To make a difference.”
“To be a smothering mother,” she laughed giddily. It was no use crying over a long-ago past. Portia kept her eye toward the future as she always did.
“Yup. You just gotta change your perception of it a little bit. Ain’t no thang.”
“Ain’t no thang?”
Lou shrugged. “I’m feeling a little saucy right now. I’d like to get into some trouble.” He wiggled his brows and pointed toward the computer.
In fact, it wasn’t actually a computer. It had been designed to look like one, but it was a control console for Hellscape Holiday Resort. It controlled the weather, the setting, and a whole lot of other things.
“We haven’t had a chance to play with our brand-new toy yet,” Lou cracked his knuckles, grinning like an imp with a snack.
“Toy?” Portia laughed. “You really call this a toy?”
“It is. It was a very expensive magical toy, but it’s still a toy.” He tapped the screen, and it blinked to life.
The Hellscape Holiday Resort logo blinked at them. The screen had timed out during their intense conversation. Lou tapped the monitor again. Suddenly, the screen was filled with a view of the entire resort … from the actual hotel to Black Sand Island to Golden Lagoon and all of the other little nuggets that were created to make Hellscape Holiday Resort the very best place for all supernatural creatures to visit for some rest, relaxation … and a little mayhem.
It was business gold, Portia knew that, but as she sat at the control console watching her niece and her very hot date, the weight of her position settled on her.
Lou was right. She hadn’t become a mother to save her future children the life she had led, but now she had a whole new kind of opportunity to make people’s lives better. It was true that this notion had already been in the back of her head. There was a new side to it, though.
Hellscape Holiday Resort was a family.Herfamily. Between Lou, Una, Ocho, and all of the others in between, this was one big, weird Hell family.
She could include the guests in those numbers. And why wouldn’t she? Hell didn’t have to be bad. Portia had always made her own way, but now, there was nothing holding her back.
“Watch this,” she giggled as she pressed a few buttons on the console’s screen.
“What are you doing?” Lou’s question was answered by the show on the screen.