The media room on the first floor was designated exclusively for press conferences. Its design was genius.With a separate, hidden exit on the stage area, it was designed to allow a spokesperson from the company to give a statement and then leave immediately afterwards without going near the reporters.Victor and I waited behind a door with a two-way mirror watching dozens of reporters file into the press conference room and take their seats.My stomach was in knots as I watched the room full of people buzzing with curiosity. They all had video cameras and their phones ready to record me as I read the prepared statement.Geez, it meant there would be recordings of me speaking on the evening news. I didn’t want to be on TV.I wanted to ask Victor to do the presentation, but I knew he was right. It was my family’s company and my father who was ill. I had to do it.I sent a prayer to the goddess to let me be able to speak clearly and not make a fool of myself in front of the entire city.
“The teal cocktail dress will do nicely,” I told Jennifer as she helped me prepare for the evening with Victor.The dress was one of the most attractive I owned. The irregular hemline and sweetheart neckline made me feel more feminine and pretty.“Did you want to wear your hair up or down?” Jennifer asked. “You should wear your gold and pearl jewelry with the dress.“How about if you arrange my hair long to one side,” I replied. “I haven’t worn it that way in a while. And I agree with your choice of jewelry.”“I’ll use the peach makeup palette,” Jennifer added. “It brings out your eyes the best.”After I was ready, I went downstairs to Alex’s room. I met Benson just outside the door and instructed him not to let Alex see the news tonight in case footage of my press conference was aired.I didn’t want him to know about the difficulties with the press and the board. It would upset him.Fortunately, he hadn’t had the TV on much in his room since he came home from the hospital.“You look
Am I jealous?“Well…I…I don’t think so,” I stammered a bit with Victor staring at me like that.“Excellent,” Victor said, his gaze softened.“But even if I were, I would never show it here in public,” I said.“Let’s sit down then,” Victor said with a smile. “Our meal should be arriving soon. And then maybe I can arrange for you to dance with William.”“That would make Diana very happy,” I nodded.Right. Victor should be the one that help William and me. Why would I get nervous at that simple question earlier?We sat down, and the waiter began bringing our meal. The pâté was good, and the venison carpaccio was exquisite.We enjoyed every bite and washed it down with more sparkling grape juice. When our dessert came, William moved his chair to our table and joined us.“Mom and Dad are across the room chatting,” he said. “They’ll be gone for a while. Do you mind if I have my dessert with you?”“Not at all,” Victor said. “We’re having the chocolate-diamond ice cream.”“Me too.” William gr
Since I wouldn’t be missing an actual class, Principal Jones agreed to let me leave school early each day. She gave permission for William, too, when he didn't have football practice.We met at the front entrance after we signed out and walked out to the student’s parking lot together.William helped me into the passenger seat of his Mustang, and I gave him directions to the parking garage's entrance below Alex’s office building.“Wow! Your father owns this whole building?” William asked while parking in a slot near the elevators.“Yes, and this is only one of his buildings,” I replied. “Come on, let’s go upstairs.”We took an elevator up to Alex’s office, and William had a good look around before we started on the files that had been placed on the deskWilliam took a glance at some of Alex’s holdings and whistled. “I knew your family was wealthy, but I didn’t realize they were this wealthy.”“Your family is wealthy, too,” I said.“Not like yours,” William observed. “I’m impressed. An
Victor and I had a productive afternoon at the office. I was learning more about effective advertising and human resources issues.When we were finished, he took me home in plenty of time to prepare for the big Alpha Association party.I had a simple dinner with Alex before going to my room to get ready. It would take some time. I wanted to look just right.I chose a more serious dress for this party. It was a boatneck, A-line, calf-length dress made from tan mulberry silk.Jennifer styled my hair in a bun at the nape of my neck, and my makeup was flawless yet subtle.“You’re just perfect, Miss,” Jennifer crowed. “No one will be able to find fault with how you look.”“Thank you, Jennifer.”I picked up the small tan clutch that was lying on the bed and put my phone inside of it before going downstairs.I stopped to see Alex while I waited for Victor to pick me up.“You look stunning, Daisy,” Alex said as he examined me from his bed. “I know you aren’t thrilled about attending this even
My anger kept me awake when I first went to bed that night. There may be some good Alphas, but the party showed me there were none in a position of power willing to change things.The party reinforced my belief that the present werewolf lawmakers were mostly greedy and selfish individuals who didn’t care about the people they governed.I was still in a bad mood when William picked me up to go to the office. But it would be quiet there on a Sunday morning for me to learn.Plus, I was looking forward to spending time with William.Diana awoke and cheered when he opened the Mustang door for me, and I heard Mark calling her name.“How was the party last night?” William asked as he slid into the driver's seat.I made a face and shook my head.“It couldn’t have been that bad,” William said. “Was it?”“It was awful,” I replied. “The Alphas of the association are a bunch of greedy, selfish jerks.”“I thought you already knew that,” William teased. Then he saw how upset I truly was. “Do you wa
When I got home, I forced a smile on my face before checking on Alex. I didn’t want him to know I was upset.But he was in a deep sleep, and the nurse said he hadn’t been awake since I left that morning. The doctor was on his way, but they didn’t think there was anything he could do for him.Alex looked pale again, and when I took his hand, it was ice cold. I tucked it under the blankets and kissed his forehead before I left the room.I was going to cry again, and if he happened to wake up, I didn’t want him to see my tears.I felt as if everything was crumbling around me.As soon as I reached the hallway, sobs erupted from my throat, and I dashed into the living room before anyone saw me falling apart.I couldn’t stand to lose Alex on top of everything else. I only had him for such a short time. How could he die before he got to see me graduate, run the company, get married, and have children?When I lived with my adoptive family, I wanted to be alone. It was a life goal. But now tha
The next morning I was feeling much better. The doctor was confident Alex wasn’t near death yet. He had woken up by the time I returned to the mansion with Victor.He was well enough for the nurses to get him out of bed to sit in a chair while we had dinner!He ate well and seemed more alert than I’d seen him since he came home from the hospital.After the nurses arrived to help him prepare for bedtime, I came up to my room and sat on my balcony while I brainstormed ideas to raise more money for the foundation and other ways to help the poor.There were several ideas that I felt excited about, but I wanted to talk to someone with more experience in fundraising first to make sure I wasn’t jumping in over my head.Some of the ideas were pretty big, and I would need assistance. But, as Victor had told me, there was nothing wrong with asking for help.Perhaps I should talk to Lana. I hadn’t seen her for a while, and I owed her a thank you for straightening out the mess with the Sandersons