Chapter 45

Renee

I was lucky that HR could squeeze me in to fill out paperwork that day, so when I came in later in the week for my first day, everything would be ready for me. I gave my notice to my clerk job, and celebrated my little victory with champagne and the most tender steak I had ever had, cooked to perfection by Arielle's private chef in the comfort of her penthouse.

"Do you just want to live up here?" She asked over the rim of her glass. "I don't mind."

I bit my lip. "I… No, it's fine. I just…"

"There's room for you here," Arielle said. "And if you decide that you indeed want your own space… maybe to drag your daddy alpha or that brooding prince into bed, you have it."

My face flushed. "I could not— you don't sleep with people you're not married to."

She threw her head back and laughed. "You have so much to learn. I am going to enjoy corrupting you." She beamed. "I'm also going to enjoy grinding Philip's balls beneath my heels."

It still amazed me how quickly she could go from warm joy to violence, but she set me up in the other master on the other side of the penthouse, transferred all the clothes she and grandpa had procured for me and all the toiletries I had been using at her place.

We had breakfast together. We had dinner together. We talked about each others day, and it was a lot like being a part of a real family. It was what I always imagined having an older sister or real best friend would be like.

When I entered Nordwell, a few days later I felt like I could conquer the world. The hum of keyboards and low conversation filled the open-concept floor as I settled into my desk in the Finance and Audit department. My new ID badge still felt foreign clipped to my blazer, but the energy in the office was brisk and alive. I was here. Actually here. My first real internship. A real office. A future I had earned.

I was adjusting the height of my monitor when I caught a glimpse of Dominic.

What was he doing here?

Through the glass wall of the executive wing, just beyond the frosted company logo, I saw him speaking to someone. His posture straight, his expression unreadable as always, though I could tell his voice was calm, commanding.

My heart skipped. I didn’t mean for it to. I hated that it did.

But I’d be lying if I said he hadn’t been on my mind more than I wanted to admit.

The way he’d defended me.

The way he’d looked at me when I said I’d told him what dating Tyler and being friends with Vivian was like. The way he offered so simplyto take me himself.

I swallowed hard and looked away. I couldn’t afford those kinds of distractions. Not here. Not now.

And yet, when I glanced back, he was gone.

Before I could really process that flutter of disappointment, a shadow fell over my desk.

I looked up.

A man mid-forties, balding, wearing a red tie that looked too tight. He stood over me with a scowl. Without preamble, he dropped a stack of files on my desk with a thud that made my coffee slosh in its cup.

“This is yours.”

I blinked. “I’m sorry?”

“You’re Renee, right?” he said, flipping through a folder and not bothering to make eye contact. “Intern. Right. You’re to sort, reconcile, and flag every discrepancy in these financial records. Cross-reference with last quarter’s data. To my satisfaction, not yours. And I don’t care if it takes you all night. You don’t leave until it’s done.”

I opened my mouth. “I have classes in the morning, I—”

“Then you’ll learn to work faster.” He finally looked at me, and there wasn’t even a hint of empathy there. “Or quit now. Plenty of others who want the spot.”

He didn’t wait for my response. He just walked off, already barking something at someone else.

I stared at the stack of files. Thick. Dense. Confusing even at first glance. Were they even in the right order? Were they even organized at all? In any way, shape or form?

This wasn’t the gentle ramp-up I’d expected. No welcome packet. No training period. Not even an explanation of what exactly I was supposed to be looking for. Or all internships like this? Even when I worked as a clerk, there was at least an adjustment. And what did he seem to already hate me, though he had only spoken to me for a few seconds. My chest tightened.

But I didn’t reach for my bag.

I pulled the stack toward me, logged on and started searching for documentation that could tell me how this was supposed to be organized.

A shadow moved past the glass wall to my right, and my eyes followed it instinctively.

It was Vivian. She strolled by with that infuriatingly smug little smile, sauntering by. She wasn’t even looking at me. She didn’t need to. The tilt of her chin, the set of her shoulders, the bounce in her step—every inch of her oozed satisfaction.

She was loving this. She was behind this. Immediately, I thought of that red dress that was missing. I bet she was trying to figure out how to get it taken in.

A little worm of unease in my chest curled tighter.

Vivian wasn’t even a finance major. She’d spent the last year bragging about how she hated anything with numbers, how her degree in political science and justice was just a placeholder until she found a way to get a brand deal. In her words, she didn't need to work. Dominic was always going to take care of her. There was absolutely no reason for her to be anywhere near this department.

She stopped and turned to look dead at me. There was a challenging little tilt to her eyebrow before she walked on.

The urge to get up and ask her about my dress and all my damaged things was almost overwhelming, but I didn't have proof that she had it. Not yet. Vivian had always been petty. She'd show her hand eventually on that front. She was also sloppy so it was likely that she'd get found out sooner rather than later. I was looking forward to that day. Because Arielle would definitely drag her entrails out through her nose.

But what was her problem? Why was she working at all? She couldn't be upset I’d gotten the job. She didn't want a job. I frowned, thinking back to my past life. I remember that she had been on the outs with Dominic a few years from now. I wasn't exactly sure why, but I remember at that time she had to get a job. I remembered that she hated it too and complained about it often. I don't remember if it was with a company that was related to the pack or not, but the fact that she was here meant that something was going on. Perhaps by coming back to the past with my future memories and making all these changes to my life, I had caused other changes. Like killing a butterfly in the past and going back to the future to find it a nuclear wasteland.

Given the timing, it likely had something to do with the conversation I had with Dominic. She had to be punishing me for ruining her plans, whatever they really were, or whatever trouble Dominic had decided she was in because of what I told him.

I let out a slow breath, pulse rising. It was just like her to blame me for things that she brought upon herself. More and more I felt like I should have just let her get hit by that car all those years ago. I winced at the thought, finding it meaner than I truly was. I guess dying really changes a person.

I sighed and looked back down at the stack of files.

I was going to show her, her lackey, and anyone else who though they could break me just who they were fucking with. I might not be the type to rip someone's entrails out through their nose, but the mountain howled in me too.

I smiled at that, pulling out the little charm Arielle had given me to decorate my desk. It was supposed to be a soothing desk lamp or something like that. An invention of someone in the Mountainhowl that was damn hard to get a hold of. Mine had my name on it in pretty, curling letters and took the form of a little castle.

A castle for a princess.

The little flags rose from within the little castle, billowing a soothing, soft blue. I grabbed a pen, a highlighter, and opened the prior quarter's records before getting to work organizing the pages in the proper order.

So much for a pleasant first day, but when had my life ever been easy?