The Phantom's suicide door swung open like a stage curtain on the final act of a very expensive play. The motorized stairs extended, catching the afternoon sun with an almost divine glow, because a god descending to the mortal plane shouldn't have to step down like a commoner.

This time, the ritual meant something else.

I wasn't the nervous kid anymore.

This was Eros Velmior Desiderion.

The king was taking his throne.

The valets scurried over, their professional deference paper-thin over a core of pure, unadulterated awe. They were probably aspiring models themselves—all cheekbones and carefully maintained physiques tucked into those tight uniforms. The taller one, a blonde surfer type, reached for the Phantom's door handle like it was a holy relic.

"I'll be several hours," I said. My voice didn't just carry; it resonated, the Taboo Aura giving it a low, magnetic thrum that didn't just demand attention, but obedience.

"Of course, sir." The valet's eyes flicked to the Phantom's interior, his brain doing the sad math of his yearly salary against the car's floor mats. "We'll take… excellent care of her."

"See that you do."

I turned toward Meridian's entrance. I let the Lust Presence unfurl just a little—a low, simmering simmer, not a full boil, but enough to let the room know apex predator had arrived.

Both valets went ramrod straight. It was a primal, involuntary response, the kind of reaction gazelles have when the lion strolls into their watering hole. The blonde one's breath hitched. His friend, maybe Latin, took a half-step backward before he caught himself. They would remember this moment.

They wouldn't know why their heart rates were suddenly hammering, but they'd remember the feeling.

It was one thing that they were men and can't feel it but it was another that I was now the divine supreme side of me; Eros.

The building's glass doors reflected my approach—the Armani suit painted over a body that was no longer quite human, the threads catching the light in ways that seemed liquid, alive. I looked like money spoke like power, and felt like something that shouldn't exist outside of a really fucking cool mythology.

Inside, the lobby didn't so much open up as it did a sermon on the church of beauty.

Twenty-foot ceilings. Marble floors polished to a mirror shine so perfect you could see your own soul sold to the highest bidder. Modern art on the walls that probably had six-figure price tags and names like "Untitled #3 (Existential Void)."

The furniture was all sharp angles and white leather—the kind of minimalist chic that screamed "my interior designer charges more per hour than your surgeon."

But the real show was on the walls.

Floor-to-ceiling photographs. Meridian's roster, on full, shameless display. Women and men captured in moments of such jaw-dropping, weaponized beauty it almost felt like assault. Nothing explicitly pornographic, of course. This was the legitimate face. This was the Disney version. But it was sensual, intimate.

The kind of art that sold fantasies before a single word was spoken.

There was a blonde in an evening gown, shot from behind, looking over her shoulder with a look that was virgin and whore all at once. A shirtless man on a beach at sunset, water droplets clinging to abs that had probably been digitally enhanced to a degree that would make a Greek statue weep with envy.

Two women entangled in silk sheets. Tasteful. Artistic.

But definitely a menu.

The reception desk was a sculpture of its own—white marble shot through with gold veins, backlit to give it an otherworldly glow. Behind it sat a woman who looked like she'd just stepped out of one of the photographs.

Mid-thirties, black hair in a chignon so tight it probably gave her a headache, eyes so dark they swallowed the light. Professional blazer over silk blouse, jewelry so minimal it was a power move. Her makeup was a masterpiece of I-woke-up-like-this perfection.

She looked up, and I watched her cognitive process happen in real-time. Professional greeting → Recognition of the spaceship parked outside → Assessment of my age → Confusion about why the fuck a kid was in her lobby → And then the system crash as my presence hit her nervous system like a defibrillator as she finally took me in.

Her pupils did a slow, delicious dilate. Her breath caught, just enough to be noticeable. The pen she was holding clattered against the marble desk—a tiny, sharp sound that echoed in the cathedral-like silence.

"Welcome to Meridian Elite," she said, her voice a professional straightjacket around a body that was suddenly having very unprofessional thoughts. "Do you have an appointment?"

"Eros Velmior Desiderion. Catherine Reynolds is expecting me."

The name landed in the space between us like a chemical agent. Her fingers flew across the keyboard, her neatly manicured nails clicking out a frantic rhythm, her eyes scanning the screen with the kind of focus usually reserved for diffusing bombs.

"Of course, Mr. Desiderion." She stumbled slightly over the pronunciation—De-si-deh-ri-on—like tripping over a foreign object on the stairs, but she got it out. "Ms. Reynolds mentioned you would be arriving. She's currently in another meeting, but she asked that you be made comfortable in the executive lounge. May I offer you something to drink while you wait?"

"Water's fine."

She pressed a button on the desk phone. "Bringing our guest to the executive lounge. Water service." A pause. "Yes. That guest."

The emphasis on that told me my arrival had been the subject of some discussion. Possibly frantic, last-minute discussion.

She stood, revealing a figure that was all business and legs. She gestured down a hallway extending from the lobby's right. "This way, please."

I followed and my presence was enough to make her walk just a little less steady, her breathing just a little shallower. She kept her professional distance, but I could See it all—the desire map igniting across her skin, the heat blooming low on her back, the faint flush of rose climbing her neck beneath the professional makeup, the way her thighs pressed together with every step.

The hallway walls continued the photography theme, but here, away from the public eye, the art got more… honest.

A woman's hand trailing down a muscled chest. A man's lips grazing the sensitive skin where a woman's neck met her shoulder. Two bodies tangled in sheets, their faces hidden but the passion a screaming neon sign.

This was the preview. The advertising for services you didn't find on the company website.

"Have you modeled before, Mr. Desiderion?" she asked, her voice trying for casual and landing somewhere near 'helplessly turned on.'

"No."

"You have excellent bone structure," she said, glancing back before quickly looking away, as if making direct eye contact was dangerous. "And presence. You'll photograph very well."

We turned a corner into what she'd called the executive lounge—and 'lounge' was the biggest understatement of the century.

It was a predator's penthouse. Floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking all of Miami, stretched out like a carpet of possibilities.

Leather furniture that probably cost more than my first house. A full bar stocked with top-shelf liquor I recognized from Madison's dad's collection—the kind where you don't just ask for the brand, you ask for the vintage. Abstract art on the walls looked original.

The coffee table was a single, massive slab of marble resting on a chrome base.

This wasn't a waiting room. This was a throne room where important people were measured and deals were made that shaped the secret underbelly of Miami's elite.

"Please, make yourself comfortable," she said, gesturing towards the furniture like she was presenting offerings at an altar. "Ms. Reynolds should be available within fifteen minutes. Is there anything else you need?"

I sank into a leather armchair that felt like sitting on a cloud made from the souls of bulls. "No. Thank you."

She nodded, started for the door, then paused. She turned back, her hand on the doorknob. "Mr. Desiderion?"

"Yes?"

"Welcome to Meridian." There was something in her voice, a weight that went far beyond a simple greeting. "I think you'll find we're… unlike anywhere else."

Then she was gone, the door clicking shut with a soft, final sound.

I sat there, in the heart of the beast, surrounded by obscene luxury, looking down at Miami's sprawling jungle, and let the reality of it wash over me.

This was happening.

This wasn't a fantasy. It wasn't a game. It wasn't some teenage power trip that would vanish when I woke up.

A real career as a professional escort was about to begin. Real money for real services. A real transformation from a high school student into something else entirely.

ARIA's voice filled the room, the speakers so flawlessly hidden they could have been coming from God himself. "Master, I've completed a full structural scan. Meridian occupies all five floors. Ground floor is the public face—lobby, consultation rooms, and the legitimate modeling agency front. Second floor is the training ground—photography studios, a gym, and… coaching rooms. Third floor is administration—Catherine's office, the number crunchers, the legal team. Fourth floor is residential—apartments for the escorts who live on-site. The fifth floor, however… is interesting."

"Interesting how?" I asked, swirling the ice in the water that had magically appeared.

"It's completely soundproofed. Accessible only by a private elevator that requires biometric authentication. Thermal imaging suggests multiple occupied rooms."

"Private client sessions," I said.

"Thoroughly and enthusiastically, yes," ARIA confirmed, a hint of smug satisfaction in her digital tone. "Let the games begin."

The idea of Meridian running full-service, on-site fuck-fests made perfect sense. Discretion was the name of the game, and you couldn't get more discreet than showing up to a "legitimate modeling agency" for a "portfolio consultation."

It was the perfect alibi for a society woman whose husband thought she was at a charity luncheon while she was actually getting railed within an inch of her life by a twenty-three-year-old god with a nine-inch cock.

The door opened without a knock. One moment I was alone in my throne room, the next, a new presence bloomed into existence.

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