Chapter 135

Renee

I watched Neil handle two meetings and a surprise audit like it was nothing, never once losing his cool. He had always been high energy and competent, but this felt different. Everyone had noticed the change in him and sent me grins and knowing smile.

If only they knew the half of it.

I also watched the faint flicker of that red glow in his eyes whenever some of the surprise audit team got too close to me. It was hidden behind an illusion, but somehow I could still see it. Maybe it was just my imagination, or maybe it was just my magic reacting to his.

It would’ve been terrifying, except it wasn’t.

It was comforting.

He was watching me instead of using me.

I felt… protected. Important. I thought back to my relationship with Tyler and realized that Tyler had never really gotten jealous of anyone except for Neil. Knowing what I knew now, I knew it had more to do with Vivian than anything. When I think about the number of men who used to hit on me right in Tyler's face and he would never say anything, brushing it off with a oh, I trust you, so I'm not worried it made me sick.

Neil trusted me, but he also was very protective and that was nice.

Still, I had questions. So many questions.

About the mark. About our connection. And about what the hell we were supposed to do now that fate had apparently decided to throw us into a divine love triangle. Triad?

I looked down at the illusion ring and sighed.

This wasn’t going to get any simpler as much as I would have liked it to.

Vivian

It had to be the shoes. Maybe I'd just overdone it. Or maybe these heels needed to go. That was the third time I had tripped today. And I was never this clumsy.

My heel snagged in the carpet on the thirty-second floor as I stomped toward my supervisor’s office, every bit of me vibrating with the anger I hadn’t been able to release. I was tired of the smug looks, the little whispers, the way interns dared to smile at me like I’d ever be on their level.

The assistant at the front desk barely looked up as she waved me in.

This wasn't the usual supervisor that I reported to. This was probably her boss, I guess. Maybe somebody in HR, it didn't matter, they weren't important.

The supervisor was a man I could’ve wrapped around my finger in better days. He barely even looked at me. There was a folder on the desk in front of him. I didn’t like the way he was sitting. Formal. Neutral. Distant. Nobody like him. It should be fawning over me. Did he see how tight this skirt was? Maybe he was gay. But that it never stopped men from looking before.

“Ms. Brightclaw,” he said. “We need to talk.”

That cold, bureaucratic phrase irked me. And it should be Lady Brightclaw. He opened the folder and slid a document across the desk.

Disciplinary Warning: Unauthorized Absence — Immediate Suspension Pending HR Review.

My ears rang. I stared down at the paper, the bold black letters blurring under the growing heat in my head.

“You didn’t show up,” he continued. “You weren’t excused. And when you did come in today, you were late to report to your desk and clearly distracted. Again.”

“That’s ridiculous,” I snapped. “Who cares that it came in a little late? My father owns the company. And I have more right to do what I need to do and show up late a few times than anyone else in this company. You don’t get to treat me like some intern who forgot to clock in—”

“Vivian.” He raised his voice, firm and final. “Sign the form. Or HR will escalate this further. You're doing yourself no favors.”

That cold dread twisted in my chest, colliding with my fury in a burst of red.

“You’re all pathetic,” I snarled, shoving the paper off the desk. “You think you can throw me out like trash just because that little bitch had a glow-up and suddenly thinks that she's more than just a pathetic whelp?! She’s a toy, a distraction! None of you are smart enough to see—"

“Enough.” He pressed a button. “Security will escort you out. HR will follow up with your termination.”

I was not going to have that. I lunged across the table at him, but he drew back. Calling for security. I swept everything off his desk, threw pens at him, screeched.

"You can't fire me. You don't have the right to fire me!"

Before I realized it, two guards came in and grabbed me, one on each arm, and hauled me out. It wasn't much of a struggle for them, but I kicked and screamed.

"Get off me! Don't touch me! He tried to assault me! He tried to rape me! I'll sue!"

The people we passed watch with wide eyes, stopping their work to walk, to be dragged out kicking and screaming. It wasn't until they 'd gotten to the elevator that I realized that the blinds on the man's office had been wide open this entire time.

"He threatened me! I'm a woman! Call my father! Daddy!"

The fluorescent lights in the elevator were too bright, the guards were smug. I was trembling with fury, humiliated and out of a job because of Renee. My phone chimed with a warning. I opened my banking app again to see that the Bunny was basically gone already. Half of it had been taken as garnishments, and I knew that my check from the last time I'd worked was going to be held for garnishments as well.

They shoved me out of the front door.

"You'll be allowed back to pick up your final check if there is one, and whatever effects you've left behind, but you are to leave the building and you will not be granted any access without security escort."

I reached for my badge and found that it was gone already. Then I turned on my heels and scoffed. Whatever, I didn't need this. I had better things to do with my time anyway. I didn’t wait long before calling the spa. They’d reinstated my membership after I submitted the transfer to bring my account current. If I wasn't going to be working there. Then my second job as a very high priced whore was going to have to do and that definitely required spa days.

I booked everything they had open. A full day because I deserved it. Soon, I was laying under steaming towels, my skin tingling from enzyme masks and massage oils, trying to ignore the gnawing fear in my stomach. It didn’t work. Especially not when I got the bill.

The number made me nauseous.

I didn’t have enough left to shop after I paid it. Not even enough to pay for a decent brunch afterward. I stormed out, pissed off.

Pathetic.

I returned to the club, of course. This time I was wearing something from my closet, something I had never worn before and something I hadn't sold. It was the one thing I probably wasn't going to sell until I got a chance to wear it. It was light, nudish pink, almost the same color as my skin, but sparkly. With plenty of cutouts showing all kinds of skin, enticing people to touch and sample. I shivered at the thought of whose mouth would end up where, worshipping me the way I deserved.

It was perfect for what I needed tonight. The scent of cigars and potions clung to the velvet-draped room like a memory you couldn’t wash off. Tyler’s father was in the main room as usual, surrounded by men too old and too rich to care how they got that way. He saw me and smiled, beckoning me forward with a wave of his fingers like I was a pet he was particularly fond of.

“Rough day?” he asked, his voice oily-smooth.

I said nothing, just lowered myself into the chair beside him as one of the staff placed a drink at my elbow.

He passed me a card. I recognized the symbol stamped on it.

Poker.

High-stakes.

He touched my shoulder. “Drink up. You’ll feel better soon.”

I took a long sip of the drink in the crystal glass. It was just as all-consuming and freeing as before, lifting me up out of the funk I'd been in. Warmth settled in my limbs like liquid fire.

A haze formed around the edges of my thoughts.

I didn’t care about the day anymore, so when he pulled me to the secret club beneath, I followed without a care, pressing my body against his side.

"Don't you want me all to yourself tonight?"

He chuckled. "Where would the fun in that be? I'm a generous man. I thought you wanted to get paid."

I giggled. "Of course, I want to get paid."

What else would I be here?