My eyes went wide. "What?"
"Yeah, there are links to the royal family on Mr. Covington's side."
My jaw went slack. "The British royal family?"
She laughed. "No. Although they're cousins, I suppose. But the royal family of the Winston Isles. I'm sure you've seen them in the tabs."
And then everything started to click. "Jessa Ainsley is that Jessa?"
"Yes. Oh God, looks like we're going to need to catch up at lunchtime.”
“Right. So, don’t embarrass myself in front of my new boss. Don’t embarrass myself in front of an actual princess. Okay, check.” I rolled my eyes. “I feel much better."
"You'll be fine."
The elevator doors opened up letting us out on my floor. Gemma led me down the wide expansive walkway. "Okay, over here are your software guys. Anything client website related, those will be your guys. You'll find out who's specifically assigned to you on a project-by-project basis.” She turned and pointed. “And over there are your hardware IT guys. They're your go-to if somehow you end up with porn on your computer."
I frowned. "What? Why would I end up with—"
She shook her head. "It happens.”
I blinked at her.
"Look, everyone here is primarily young. There are a bunch of good-looking girls in the marketing department. The finance guys are pretty hot. It's basically a cesspool of drama."
"My God, a part of me loves this already, but I'm also terrified."
Gemma laughed. "You should be. Okay, this is you."
We'd arrived at the Operations Department, and I took in several cubicles arranged outside Olivia Covington's office. "Oh, okay. Thanks."
"It's fine." She leaned over to grab a pad and scribbled her extension number. "You can reach me here. Also, this is my mobile. We'll have lunch together today so you won't be completely on your own."
"Uh, thank you."
"Here's your speaker setup, so you know, you can have music on using your earbuds. And I think that's it. You're all set."
"Okay. Thanks a lot."
"You're going to be great. We'll have lunch and I'll catch you up."
I was grateful for Gemma because right now I was starting to wonder if I'd made a huge mistake.
Luckily, Olivia had already left me an itinerary, telling me where to be and at what time. At ten o'clock, we had a meeting in her office, and then later in the afternoon, I was to meet Mr. Edgerton, Mr. Covington, and Mr. Hale. Jesus, the owners of the company? God, I should probably find out if I needed to get coffee or tea or something for that meeting.
I sat down and took a deep breath and reminded myself that all the bad luck I'd had until that particular moment was over. Clean slate. I was getting a whole new shot and I was going to take it.
As I got my speaker set up on my computer, I followed the instructions from IT and set up my passwords. I was under my desk connecting a cable when someone tapped on my shoulder, and I yelped, banging the back of my head underneath the desk. "Aww."
I crawled out rubbing the back of my skull, and the devil himself was staring down at me. "Oh my God, ow. Uh, who are you?"
He stared down at me with a lifted brow and a scowl. "Who are you?"
"I’m, Rian Beaumont, the new—"
"I don't care. Where's Olivia?"
I blinked and frowned. "Excuse me? And you are?"
I stood up, brushing myself off. He smirked down at me and I realized just how tall he was. Dark hair, dark silver-gray eyes, a jaw that was razor sharp. Completely terrifying. "Oh, I'm just the guy who owns the place."
My jaw unhinged and my stomach bottomed out.
He shrugged. "This division, anyway. Are you one of mine?"
I swallowed hard. Way to make an impression Rian. "Yep, yes. Absolutely. I'm your new hire."
"Stand down, Bridge. She's one of mine."
A gorgeous woman peeked her head around Bridge's massive shoulders. "Hi. Rian, right?"
Her skin was dark brown, and her cheekbones shone as if she walked around with perfectly highlighted cheekbones, even though she didn't appear to be wearing much makeup at all. God, she was stunning. Absolutely jaw-dropping. "Um, yeah, Rian Beaumont."
She grinned and stuck out her hand. Her handshake was firm, warm, and brooked no arguments. She turned her attention to Mr. Edgerton. "Back to your desk, beast. You have no business here."
He lifted a brow. "You know what, you don't boss me around."
She laughed. "I dare you to repeat that louder."
He grumbled under his breath. "You recognize I own the place, right?"
"You recognize, I run the place, right?"
He muttered something else under his breath and then he was gone.
"Jesus fucking Christ, he is terrifying."
Livy waved a hand. "No, he's not. I'm so sorry, I couldn't meet you earlier. You could have avoided that. I would have taken you around to introduce you to the idiots."
"Excuse me?"
"Oh yes, Bridge and East and my husband Ben are equally full of self-importance. You just need to remind them that they're not really in charge of shit."
I coughed. "Well, they are in charge of the hotels, aren't they?"
She laughed. "You'll learn soon. The operations team… We are in charge of the hotels. Their job is to look pretty. You know, also make some money and some good decisions, but we are the ones who really run it."
She stepped aside, moving to enter her office. "Grab your notebook and let me get you acquainted with how we do things around here. And not to worry, you're going to have a whole team working with you, and I’m still planning to hire more. Bridge isn't too thrilled about it because he likes his control, so he's just grumpy. Don't worry, you're going to love it here."
"I believe you."
"Is this your first time in London?"
I shook my head. "No. I came here once when I was a teenager. I fell in love with the city then. I had to come back."
Her face brightened. "Oh, excellent. But, you know, if you want, we can arrange for you to get some smaller neighborhood tours. Things the locals enjoy. I'm sure you were stuck with family and had to do like tours of cathedrals and things when you visited."
I laughed. "My aunt was a little unconventional. So there were fewer cathedrals than probably usual. But it was certainly an education."
"Excellent. I think I'll have to hear about your aunt then. Give me ten minutes and come on in."
“Got it.” My phone buzzed as I jotted some quick notes about looking up Mr. Edgerton and the others she mentioned. “Hello, this is Rian.”
“Miss Cooke, My name is DI Jones. I’d love to sit and have a chat with you. It’s about the case against you five years ago.”
Every bit of bubbly joy from seeing Olivia again deflated. “I-I’m sorry?”
“You’re not in any kind of trouble. But seeing as how you’re back in London, I could use your help.”
No.
My instincts screamed at me. This was my fresh start. A chance to be a whole new person. I didn’t want to go back there. But something occurred to me. “How did you find me? And please address me as Miss Beaumont. I assume you know I had my name changed.”