The wind and rain battle me, battle us, but we stay the course.
Freedom rushes through me. This feeling—I’ll never lose. Not again. Not a chance.
I’ll take them all out, reclaim my birthright, put Rosalie in place, and then live my life.
At any cost.
ELEVEN
Rosalie
Having finished my breakfast of one healthy apple, I precariously balance my latte in one hand and my briefcase in the other as I approach my office door, before Joseph Cage slides out of a conference room down the hallway.
He moves toward me, his gaze sweeping me head to toe. “Rosalie, good morning.”
“Good morning,” I say, the hot coffee beginning to burn my hand through the cardboard wrap.
He looks me over again. “You look fantastic today.”
I’d hurriedly tossed on taupe-colored slacks and a white blouse, hoping I remembered to leave a blazer in my office just in case I unexpectedly get called into court today. I’m wearing a simple angelite mirrored pendant and matching earrings because Alana had once told me that angelite is my stone. “Thanks.” I begin to move past him.
He grasps my arm. “Would you like to accompany me to dinner tonight?”
I look up at his handsome face. “We tried that. Remember?”
“Yeah, but,” he looks me over again, “I don’t know. You seem different.”
I try not to blush, I really do, but heat fills my face. I do not want to think about why I look different. “The answer is no.” I move past him and walk into my office. I can hear him hesitate in the hallway, his breath nearly ragged, and then he stomps away.
“What a jackass.” A familiar head emerges from the other side of my desk.
I gasp. “Alana?”
“Yeah.” She shoves herself out from where she’s apparently been hiding beneath my desk. “How are you?” She smiles wide and hurries around toward me.
“Good. Let me put this coffee down before I burn one of us.” I place the mug on my glass desk and drop my briefcase before embracing my best friend in a hug. I then look surreptitiously around. “Wait a minute, you’re here without bodyguards.”
She snorts. “It took me a while to evade them, but I finally made it.” She grasps my hand and pulls me over to the small area holding a leather sofa and matching chair. “How are you? I feel like I haven’t talked to you in forever.”
“It’s been a week.” I smile and take a seat. I’ve missed her. Her sparkling, greenish-blue eyes light with mischief, and she’s pulled her mahogany hair up in a ponytail. For her escape today, she’s wearing jeans and a simple white sweater.
“I don’t even have my phone,” she says, smiling.
I laugh. “You’re not going into withdrawals?” As the face of Aquarius Social and now, somewhat, Malice Media, the woman is always on social media.
She nods. “Oh, yeah. They can track you through phones, you know. Besides, Cousin Scarlett is taking on a lot more of the Aquarius Social work now that I’m engaged to Thorn, and I even have her charging some of the crystals just in case. It’s difficult going back and forth.”
“I can’t imagine,” I say honestly. The two corporations are clear rivals, and she has to feel torn once in a while. There’s not a doubt in my mind that she’ll choose Thorn if it comes down to it, which is probably why she’s training her cousin Scarlett to take over for her. “Does Scarlett have half of the power you do with charging the aquamarines?” Aquarius, of course, runs on aquamarine crystals.
Alana nods. “Actually, she’s much better than I would’ve thought. The more she works with it, the better she’ll get. Thorn and I are thinking about taking an extended vacation after the wedding, so we’ll need to leave other people in charge of the corporations.”
“That makes sense.” Of course, she has been hiding beneath my desk all morning waiting for me. It’s a good thing she doesn’t want to escape Thorn for long ... because I’m not sure she can.
She studies me. “You look different. What’s up?”
Seriously? I appear different to everybody after having just one mind-blowing orgasm that morning with Alexei? “I have no idea,” I say. “Maybe I got extra sleep last night.” More heat climbs into my face.
“What are you hiding?” While Alana looks like a simple party girl if she wants to online, she’s actually one of the smartest people I’ve ever met. It’s impossible to get anything past her.
