Grandma Mila reminded everyone in the room, "Young ones, no need to argue amongst yourselves. We all agreed that getting help from a member of the Starke Tribe was the only viable option at the time."
Lady Maria could no longer sit still, she got up from her seat drawing everyone's gaze in her direction.
"Grandma Mila is right, let's not lose sight of our goal tonight which is the recovery of a valuable family heirloom. Our family journal which contains not just our history, our secrets but also a lifetime of our fashion designs has been stolen from under our noses. We need the Starke to find it and return it to us."
"Lady Maria has a fair grasp of the situation at hand. I wish everyone would just be calm and let me do the job I'm being paid to do well," said Lithe.
"The journal contains a wealth of information, if it leaks out we can expect our businesses to lose credibility and our sales to decline."
"Thank you Christina, we are all aware of the end game. The drug may not have worked on the Starke like I initially planned but all hope is not lost."
"So you're just saying that we just sit and wait around for the thieves to contact and black mail us."
"Don't put words in my mouth Christina. You are deliberately being obtuse because Starke is the best tracker around. If he can't reclaim the journal then it might as well be declared lost to humanity."
"You are the one being dumb, putting your faith in a drunkard. Foolish enough to get himself unwisely caught in such a sticky situation. Nothing but a lazy, good for nothing reprobate. You expect me to have confidence in him when he can't even stand up straight."
Somehow Zen managed to stand up straight and turned to glare at Christina with hostility through the glass.
Taken aback, Christina gasped.
It was impossible for him to see and hear them, they knew this so why did his haughty look send shivers down their spine.
The window was set up so only they could see him, not the other way around and the room was soundproof.
Lady Maria was shocked by her daughter's lack of foresight, "The walls have ears, please don't ever call him that to his face again. Or we may not come out of this room alive."
Just then Lithe shivered, for Zen's eyes were no longer fastened on Estella but his attention was now solely on Lithe.
Zen was looking at Lithe through the glass just like he did at the bar.
Like he wanted to eat him alive.
Lithe recounted the first time he laid eyes on Zen.
The only way to enter the POSH BAR was to dress like the regulars.
Don't let the name fool you, it was a hook up bar for wealthy people that were serious about S&M play.
Since those that attended regularly were into things that Lithe never knew existed and blew his mind.
Zen was a guest at Morgan's home.
As good friends it made sense for Morgan to take him to the POSH BAR.
Since he himself was a man who frequented these types of establishments regularly.
This would be Lithe's only opportunity to get close to Zen for he was scheduled to leave the day after.
When Zen entered the bar Lithe felt as if the air in the room became electrified.
Voices swirled loudly around the bar.
"Somebody pinch me," muttered a patron, "I can't believe that a Starke is here."
All necks were craned and mouths left speechless as they ogled the newcomers.
Especially the darkly tanned, tall, well endowed giant.
Who was muscular and powerfully built; walking through the crowd that parted like the red sea as if he owned the place.
A metal fork fell out of hands and clattered loudly onto the floor.
A bartender forgot that he was pouring wine and the contents spilled over.
A mosquito buzzed loudly around a man's ear and he didn't swat it away.
Everyone was unabashedly staring at the handsome men that walked into the room.
Freed from their frozen state of shock, the tongues went wagging again as they expected a juicy scene that night.
Anticipation lit those cold, gluttonous eyes and hard faces.
As the gossip folks in that room except Lithe knew that the rumors from tonight would be the talk all over the continent for the next few days.
No one expected a Starke to make a guest appearance that fateful night.
Starke's rarely left their territory unless they were hunting for a mate.
The men in the room puffed out their chests and possessively drew closer to their women.
Of course, the women were not immune to Zen's looks, he looked like he would be good in bed.
He radiated monster energy and they wouldn't mind being his prey that night but they were too afraid to flirt with him openly.
The prickling of the static shock receded the closer that Zen got to Lithe's table.
When they passed by their table to go to a private balcony where Morgan had an exclusive table of their own, Lithe felt a sense of loss.
Without being told by Estella he knew instinctively that this was the Starke he had been searching for.
From when he started doing his research on Zen his obsession had featured in his dreams regularly.
It was like his imaginations came to life.
Everything that he had studied about Zen Starke would now come in handy and could be put to good use.
Zen was just as Lithe thought he would be, debonair and dark-haired with a frosty gaze and a haughty demeanor.
Driven by his intelligence Zen would opt to pursue a life governed by his own Machiavellian rules.
Still there was a sinking feeling of dread in the pit of Lithe's stomach.
After that night when the true Lithe was revealed.
When Zen was aware of what Lithe had done to him, he would despise him for life.
Lithe took another sip of the expensive cocktail for liquid courage before he boldly made his way over to Zen's table.