Conor felt that business was going well this winter. The new year had dawned in Jinstain with Cara and Peter surprising him at his new place. They had burst through the door, with Parker following slowly behind. Cara had rushed at him and jumped into his arms, wrapping him in a huge hug.
“Conor! Happy New Year! We missed you!”
“I can tell!” he said, giving Cara a spin before setting her down. “How were your travels?”
Later that week, Mr. Nuri called Conor, “Sir are you in the office?” “Yes, what’s up?” “If you don’t mind, I will be over shortly.” “Sure, door is open.”
Targu Province – Kerrigan Kerrigan Lokir finished up the last of her day and was heading to the door with Natalie. It had been a long week and she was ready for the break the weekend would provide. She just had one last dinner meeting tonight and a short schedule tomorrow to survive and then she could relax some. Two of her sales VP’s were waiting to take them to dinner tonight to discuss the spring marketing plans, when Kelan Benedict stepped off the elevator with a bouquet of flowers. Kerrigan groaned
Kerrigan was pleased that Kelan had the good sense to take her to Velyki’s finest diner and her favorite place for steak, the Emerald Bison. She had earned her reputation as the dragoness not only at the negotiation table but also before a steak. “I see you did your homework” “Katie was treated well to several meals, outings, and fine jewelry before she even considered giving up such a trade secret. You should be proud you have such loyal staff.” Kelan said seriously.<
Kelan wiped the red droplets off his face. “That was a very expensive suit,” he muttered to himself.He glanced around at the stunned faces of the other guests, his eyes narrowing. “What are you looking at? Get back to eating!” he barked, his voice laced with venom.“And if I see this in a single news article or online, I’ll make sure to track each and every one of you down! Don’t cross the Benedict family, or you’ll be at the bottom of our mines by tomorrow!”The guests quickly averted their gazes, the sound of cutlery awkwardly resuming as they tried to pretend they hadn’t just witnessed the scene. One of Kelan’s cronies rushed over with a towel, nervously dabbing at the red stains on Kelan’s suit.Kelan smacked him across the face. “Off, man. Can’t you see it’s ruined? Just have the tailor send me a new one. No point wasting energy on this one.”The crony hesitated, still holding the towel, unsure whether to continue or retreat. “And what of the girl?” he ventured cautiously. “Shall
The next morning, Kerrigan sat fuming in her office, thinking about Kelan and his audacity. How could he just propose like that? It was worse than the last time when she was just 18. At least then she thought it was all a big joke and even the Prima had shot it down as bad timing. Kerrigan wondered what the Prima thought of all of this. For years he had talked as if he would marry Kerrigan himself, a thought that made he want to gouge her own eyes out. Her desk vibrated, and she quickly looked around to see if anyone was in her office. Natalie had slipped out to get them both some apple cider from the breakroom, so she unlocked a hidden drawer in her desk. Inside was a phone that was silently vibrating.
That evening, as the staff began to leave, Kerrigan bade Natalie a good night and wished her a restful weekend. She texted Breanna that she would be working late and would text her later. After the last of the regular staff left, Kerrigan began looking for Katie’s car, occasionally clicking the alarm. She finally found it in the back corner of the parking garage. Kerrigan hurried over to the older model light blue car and tried the handle. The key stuck in the lock and the handle wouldn’t budge until she yanked hard. It flew open, clipping her shin. Jinstain – Conor Conor wrapped himself tight in his long coat. He really should have grabbed his fur lined jacket instead, but for some reason he had thought the sun would warm the world a bit more than it had. He darted from the car and made his way inside the run-down community center. “Conor!” squealed a small girl, wrapping herself around his legs. Rejected Billionaire 95: Where is Eibhlín?
Targu Province – Kerrigan LokirMonday dawned with a glistening sheen of ice coating the snowpack creating a white shell across the world. Kerrigan had been up since before dawn training with Breanna. Sometimes, a vigorous bout with the warrior was the only way to keep warm when the temperatures dropped below -17C and tried to drop further. Kerrigan twirled with her quarterstaff. Clank, clank, clank!Breanna stepped back, sweeping