“Of course.” Pias left the room.
I sat at my desk and dragged my hands down my face, feeling a migraine approach. Instead of taking painkillers, I usually just drank more scotch. But now that I shared my life with the queen sitting upstairs, I had to make some changes.
Losing Ariel was a lot more difficult than I thought it would be. I felt like someone had ripped out one of my kidneys so my body was required to function with one instead of two. It wasn’t life-threatening, but it was still uncomfortable.
But I couldn’t give up London.
She was the only woman I’d ever had these kinds of feelings for. I thought I’d loved Josephine, but my love for her was nothing compared to what I felt for London. I’d been shot because of her, and I still protected her. When Josephine betrayed me, I stopped giving a damn about her.
London was definitely different.
But Ariel was important to me. She was a family member I assumed would always be there. She and I had a good friendship as well as a business relationship. I couldn’t ask for anything more.
I felt like shit.
But I couldn’t allow Ariel to tell me how to run my business and my personal life. I couldn’t allow her to insult me like that. If I did, she would have more power than I allowed anyone to have.
There was no other option. She had to go.
Now I would have to work longer and harder to make up for Ariel’s absence, but it wouldn’t be too difficult. Once I hired one or two people, everything would slowly return to normal. Ariel couldn’t be replaced, but her necessity could be erased.
Dunbar knocked before he stepped into my office. “Sir, Ariel is here to see you. Should I let her in?”
I stared at him blankly as I processed what he said. “What does she want?”
“Said she forgot a few things.”
“Such as?”
He shrugged. “She didn’t say, and I didn’t think it was my place to ask.”
I shut my laptop and gave a slight nod. “Send her in.”
Dunbar shut the door and disappeared.
My heart began to race, and my fingertips felt numb. No one ever made me feel nervous. Even when Joseph pointed that gun at my chest, I wasn’t nervous. When I lay on the ground with my blood soaking into the rug, my pulse rate didn’t increase.
The door opened again, and Ariel stepped inside. She was in dark jeans and a black t-shirt, casual for the first time ever. Her hair was pulled back into a rigid ponytail, and her glasses were gone. She seemed to be taking her unemployment well.
I rose to my feet and placed my hands in my pockets. “Ariel, how are you?”
“Good.” She stood in front of my desk with her hands held together at her waist. “You?”
“Good,” I lied. “What can I help you with?”
“I left a few things behind. I was wondering if someone could fetch them for me.”
I was stupid for hoping she wanted her job back. Ariel was far more stubborn than I was. I was more likely to fold than she was, and that was never going to happen. We both cared about image, about pride. “Of course. What are they?”
“I left fifteen thousand in your grand safe. I left it there for traveling expenses.”
I’d forgotten about that. “Anything else?”
“Yes. I have some sentimental jewelry in Fair Isle. I’d let Finley mail it back, but I don’t feel comfortable with that arrangement. If you can fly me out there, I can retrieve it myself. Or you could have one of your men escort it here.”
“I’ll arrange for Dimitri to fetch it for you.”
“Thank you.”
I walked around the desk, keeping my shoulders straight. “I’ll be right back with the cash. You can take a seat if you’d like.”
Ariel remained in place.
I left the office and walked upstairs to the bedroom. I had safes in various places around the castle, dispersing important items in separate locations so it would be difficult to rob me. Ariel’s cash was in this safe, along with some of my family heirlooms.
When I walked inside, London had just finished drying her hair with a towel wrapped around her waist. “What a nice surprise.” She walked up to me and kissed me, dropping the towel at the same time.
My hands slid up her back and to her shoulders as I kissed her, my body automatically reacting to hers. Her perky tits were pressed against my body, and my hands slid down to her ass and gave both cheeks a squeeze. For a second, I forgot the reason why I came up here to begin with. I pulled away and ignored the hard-on that formed in my slacks. “Ariel is waiting for me downstairs. I just came to grab something from the safe.”
“There’s a safe up here?”
“Yeah.” I walked around her and entered the private living room. The safe was behind one of the picture frames. No one knew where it was besides myself. I didn’t even share that knowledge with my employees. I was about to ask London to go into the other room so I could have some privacy, but I knew that wasn’t how I wanted our relationship to be. I trusted her, and I needed to prove it.
I pulled the picture off the wall then spun the dial left and right until I got the code right. Then I opened the door and saw the heirlooms inside. My great-great-grandfather’s crown sat on the top shelf, the material rusty and some of the gems missing. There were a few other things passed down from my ancestors, including a brush that had most of the bristles missing.
London stood beside me and peered inside. “Oh my god…are those real?”
“Yeah.” No matter how many times I looked at them, I never forgot how significant they were. These were relics that had lasted hundreds of years. There was a time when civilization didn’t rely on the internet, mass production, or even automobiles. My ancestors survived long enough to have me, and now I lived a life of luxury that my relatives never dreamed.
“That’s incredible…” She stared at them for a long time and didn’t try to touch anything.
I didn’t put my hands on any of the relics because the oils from my fingertips were damaging. They weren’t exposed to sunlight and stayed at a constant temperature at all times. I pulled out the bag of cash and left the door open. “Make sure you close it when you’re finished.”
“You’re gonna leave it open like that?” she asked incredulously.
I wanted to prove that I trusted her so we could be the way we used to be. I knew she didn’t want me for my wealth or my connections. If anything, she loved me in spite of those things. “I know you’ll take care of it.”
A slight smile crept into her lips. “Ariel stopped by for money?”
“Yeah. She has some stuff at Fair Isle as well. I’ll have to have someone fly out and bring it to her.”
She nodded slightly. “You aren’t gonna try to talk to her again?”
“No.” Ariel wouldn’t change her mind unless I gave her what she wanted. I walked out so I wouldn’t have to listen to London convince me to fight for a woman who didn’t want to work with me anymore.