That brought the Deveel’s attention back to me, and he extended a hand across the desk.
“So you’re the Great Skeeve, eh? Pleased to meet you. Been hearing some good things about your work. Say, you really got a great setup. I especially like that little number you got working as a receptionist. Might even try to hire her away from you. The girl’s obviously loaded with talent.”
Looking at his leer and wink, I somehow couldn’t bring myself to shake his hand.
“Bunny is my administrative assistant,” I said carefully. “She is also a stockholder in the company. She earns her position with her skills, not with her looks.”
“I bet she does,” the Deveel winked again. “I’d love to get a sample of those skills someday.”
That did it. “How about right now?” I smiled, then raised my voice slightly. “Bunny? Could you come in here for a moment?”
She appeared almost at once, ignoring the Deveel’s leer as she moved to my desk.
“Yes, sir?”
“Bunny, you forgot to brief me on this client. Who is he?”
She arched one eyebrow and shot a sideways glance at the Deveel. We rarely did our briefings in front of clients. Our eyes met again and I gave her a small nod to confirm my request.
“His name is Bane,” she said with a shrug. “He’s known to run a small shop here at the Bazaar selling small novelty magic items. His annual take from that operation is in the low six figures.”
“Hey! That’s pretty good,” the Deveel grinned.
Bunny continued as if she hadn’t heard.
“He also has secret ownership of three other businesses, and partial ownership of a dozen more. Most notable is a magic factory which supplies shops in this and other dimensions. It’s located in a sub-dimension accessible through the office of his shop, and employs several hundred workers. The estimated take from that factory alone is in the mid seven figure range annually.”