My Most Precious Human

I walked inside slowly, not because I wasn't confident, but more because I still didn't feel comfortable in the high heels that Martha forced me to wear. She was fanatically excited about choosing my outfit for my first day at work. She picked a simple black, fitted dress with short sleeves and a pair of bloody-red heels. She told me that I had to be dressed to kill on my first day. Well, judging by the curious glances of the people standing in the entrance hall, she was right. I could smell their hostility from the moment I crossed the threshold.

I walked to the reception desk and realized that for the first time I would probably have to use the name that I had hated all my life to introduce myself. I clenched my teeth and looked at the lady receptionist. "Good morning, my name is Lilith..."

"Ms. Lilith! I'm so glad that I can finally meet you!" I heard a man's voice coming from behind me.

Reacting to the sound of that man's voice, the eyes of the lady receptionist filled with fear. Then she immediately bowed as if she was begging to save her own life. I gulped then slowly turned around and saw a tall, handsome man with sharp, grey eyes, black hair, and pale skin.

"Good morning..." I said hesitantly, waiting for his introduction.

"Good morning!" the man called, grinning. "My name is Gabriel Foubert. I am the CFO of the Argent Investment Bank. The Duke announced that you will be joining our little family from today. Let me show you your office." He put his hand around my shoulders and led me towards the elevators.

I smiled nervously but decided not to push him away until I found out who I was dealing with. He slightly touched my arm with his fingertips. His skin was cold. That gave me another argument stating that he was a vampire. The question was, was he really this friendly, or was it just a planned act?

We stood at the end of the line leading to the elevators. He slightly cleared his throat, and suddenly everyone in the line split to the sides, letting us through while bowing their heads. Gabriel grinned wickedly and pulled me to the front. That already made me feel uncomfortable. When the elevator came down, he took his hand away from my shoulder and invited me to go in first, with an ostentatious gesture.

I briefly glanced at those people behind me. They were all sending me a look of disdain. I smirked. I seriously wanted to applaud Gabriel for making everybody hate me in less than a minute. I clenched my teeth and walked to the elevator. Gabriel followed. Of course, no one dared to ride in the same elevator as us.

As soon as the door closed, Gabriel stepped closer to me, as if he wanted to check something.

"How boring! You are not even nervous!" he called out, clicking his tongue.

I glanced at him suspiciously, trying to comprehend his actions.

"Should I be nervous?" I asked hesitantly.

"Your scent gets more intense when your heart beats faster," he tossed, then sighed.

"Why do you want to smell me?" I smiled awkwardly and stepped back away from him.

He smirked and said, while gazing deeply into my eyes, "Let's just say your scent is quite seductive for vampires."

I flinched. Even though I had already heard that there was something in my blood that drew vampires, the way that Gabriel looked at me was quite disturbing. Moreover, I was a little surprised at how easily he admitted that he was a vampire. I started to wonder if it was merely because he already knew that I was aware of their existence, or was it because everyone at the company knew...

"Are there... many vampires working at the company?" I inquired nervously.

"Oh, yes, there are quite a few," he replied, chuckling.

"And the humans working here, do they know?"

"Not everyone is fully aware, but they all signed a very special confidential agreement, so it doesn't really matter if they find out or not," he stated, smiling maliciously. "But you already knew that I was aware..."

"Of course I was aware!" He cut me off laughing, "It is quite obvious for someone living in a castle full of vampires, isn't it? Besides, the daughter of Randall D'Apolito had to be familiar with inhumans..." I smiled bitterly, then clenched my teeth. The elevator arrived at the top floor. Gabriel got out first, then showed me the direction in a ceremonial way, once more drawing a lot of attention. He led me to the end of the corridor. There were three offices right next to each other. I noticed that there was no plate on one of the doors. It was the office that Gabriel opened and invited me to go inside.

"This will be your workplace, Ms. D'Apolito," he stated, strongly marking my name.

I gritted my teeth. "You seem to know quite a lot about me, Mr. Foubert. Too bad that no one informed you that I was never publicly recognized by my biological father. Therefore, I have never used this name, nor do I acknowledge having anything to do with this man," I claimed strongly.

Gabriel burst out into laughter, then leaned against my new desk and looked me up and down.

"You are indeed peculiar, just like cousin said..." he snickered.

"Cousin?" I gazed at him curiously.

"The Duke of Calvet is my dearest cousin. I am actually Marquess Gabriel Foubert," he answered beamingly.

"I should have guessed that you two are related. The resemblance is quite obvious..." I muttered under my breath.

"Why, thank you, Lilith," he replied as if he had not noticed my sarcasm.

"That... wasn't a compliment," I said truthfully.

"You are quite bold, aren't you?" he asked, with a wicked smirk on his face, "But I have to admit that makes you even more interesting. Aren't you even a little afraid of me?" Gabriel stepped closer and leaned

over me.

I flinched. I had to rely on my gut and believe that I was under Sariel's protection, and even someone like Gabriel couldn't do anything about it.

"Marquess Foubert... How long are you going to test me? I would rather talk about my work here. I was hired to do a certain job. I am not here for your amusement," I stated firmly, while desperately trying to stabilize my trembling voice.

He was only a few inches away from me, looking into my eyes. I kept repeating myself to stay calm, and strangely, it worked. He stayed like that for a while staring at me closely, then smirked.

"Fine, let's focus on work... for now," he stated and wickedly chuckled, "I will be the one who reads your reports first. Also, whatever problem you find, you should come directly to me. You might already be aware that the Duke of Calvet acts as the CEO, but he rarely comes here. He would rather work while sitting at the castle, especially since he has to prove himself in front of the royal fraction if he wants to become the future king. That leaves most of the company's problems on my shoulders," he explained.

"Now I get why everyone looked so intimidated when you came down to meet me, but may I ask why did you decide to act that way with me?" I asked, gritting my teeth.

He burst out laughing, then boastfully claimed, "You should thank me. By now, the whole company knows that I respect you, and so should they."

"Respect? You are kidding me, right?" I gazed at him in complete disbelief, then I burst out, "It's going to be quite the opposite! I'm here to review over ten years of their work, so they already had the reason to hate me, but now they will also think that I came here because I slept with you or slept with you and the Duke both!"

"Well, you are right. I didn't think that it could look that way..." he said, looking worried for about half of a second, then he added, grinning, "But you won't get discouraged, even if you aren't liked here, right?" "Seriously?" I muttered, imagining that I hit his smiling face.

He patted my shoulder. "You will do just fine! Monique from the HR department will visit you in just a moment. She will give you your access pass and explain where you can find all the documents you'll need." I stood silently, my fist squashing his face in my mind. He ignored my murderous gaze and walked towards the door.

"Have a great first day at work, Lilith!" he called while leaving my office.

I sighed heavily, then muttered, clenching my teeth, "Yes... I'm sure that this day will be all "great"..."