14. Penelope
Chapter 14
Penelope
I glance up quickly from Tristan’s empty plate as Dominic comes striding into the kitchen, dressed in his usual work suit. He conveys power and authority, just by walking into the room, and I have to swallow hard to keep from staring at him.
“Are you ready to go?” he asks.
I see him like this at work all the time, but it’s different when it’s just us here at the house, and there’s no buffer of the boss/employee relationship to fall back on.
“Y-yes,” I manage to say without sounding like a complete idiot.
“We’re all riding together, aren’t we?” Xavier says. He comes walking in next, buttoning the cuffs on his shirt before shrugging into his jacket.
“May as well, since we’re going to the same place,” Dominic agrees.
“Jonas is bringing the car around,” Tristan says he walks past, not giving any of us a second look.
We head outside, just in time to see Jonas pull up the driveway and hop out to get the doors.
“Jonas!” I greet him warmly. “Good morning.”
“Good morning, Ms. Dalton. Oh. I guess it’s Mrs. Dalton now, right? Or did you change your name?”
I shake my head. “Nope, still Dalton. It would have gotten confusing with so many last names to deal with.” Not to mention the fact that it wouldn’t have been worth it to change my name, only to have to change it all back once we ended the marriage in a year.
All three of the men exchange a look with each other, and I frown, not knowing what that’s about. It’s not like I told Jonas anything I shouldn’t have.
Jonas nods with his usual friendly smile. “I understand that.”
I slide across the leather seats, leaving room for the others to get in as well. Jonas closes the doors and gets behind the wheel, backing down the driveway.
Jonas and I chat as he drives, and the more times I ride in the car with him behind the wheel, the easier it gets. I ask him about his family and find out about his sister, who has gone back to school because she wants to be a nurse.
“That’s really admirable,” I say, leaning forward so I can smile at him in the rearview mirror. “Going to school the first time is hard enough for some people, but going back when you’ve already got a life and everything has to be even harder.”
He nods, signaling and moving smoothly into another lane to take the exit for the office. “It’s a lot of work from what I understand. She uses a lot of words I don’t know, but she seems happy.”
“That’s what matters. Tell her I’m rooting for her.” I frown, catching up to myself. “If you don’t think that would be weird. I don’t know how she’d feel about a stranger wishing her luck.”
Jonas laughs. “At this point, I don’t think she’d mind luck from any corner. There’s a lot of reading involved.”
We both laugh at that, but before I can launch into another question, Tristan clears his throat pointedly. When I look over at him, he has a somewhat sour expression on his face, and I wonder what his issue is with me talking to someone else. It’s not like he wants to talk to me. It’s not like he says more than two words to me at a time most of the time. Maybe he’s just tired of hearing my voice this early in the morning.
Either way, I lapse into silence and the rest of the ride is quiet.
When we get to the office, Jonas wishes us all a good day, and I give him one last smile before getting in the elevator. It arrives at the right floor, and I get off, ready to go down the hall to my desk.
But Xavier snags my wrist before I can.
“Hold on,” he says. “You don’t work down there anymore.”
“I… don’t?” I frown. “What do you mean?”
He has a playful smile on his face, and his green eyes are alight with good humor. “Follow me.”
Tristan peels off to go to his own office, presumably, but Dominic falls into step with us, going down the hall to whatever Xavier wants to show me.
He stops in front of a door, and I’m about to ask what we’re doing there when I glance up and see the name plate on the door. It’s my name. Penelope Dalton, there engraved into the metal.
“Oh,” I say softly.
“Go on in,” Xavier replies.
I step inside, and it’s incredible. It’s nowhere near as big and spacious as any of the men’ offices, but they’re the CEOs, that’s to be expected.
The desk is dark wood, and the computer on top of it is nicer than the one I was using before, when I worked out with all the other assistants in the open area. The chair looks so comfortable, and the windows on the back wall let in enough light that the overhead light isn’t even necessary.
It’s cozy, rather than ostentatious, and it’s honestly perfect.
“This is… so nice,” I breathe. “Why?”
Xavier shrugs. “If you’re going to keep working here, then you deserve a nice office at the very least. Call it part of the benefits package.”
“Thank you,” I say, glancing at him and then at Dominic. “This is really, really nice.”
Dominic’s lips twitch in something that could be described as a tiny smile. “Can’t have anyone saying we don’t take care of our wife,” he says. He checks his watch and then makes a face. “Xavier, we have a meeting in five.”
“Right, right. Have a good day.” The last is directed at me, and I wave as the two of them head out to go do their big, important jobs, leaving me alone in my office. My office. I’ve never had a space like this that was just mine before.
Even when I was working from my bakery, it was small enough that I was using a corner of the kitchen to prop my laptop up on a table and handle the accounting and supply orders and stuff. It was nothing like this.
I give in to the urge to go plop down in the office chair and sigh with pleasure at the way the plush leather molds to my body.
It’s perfect.
I can’t remember the last time someone did something like this for me, just because. And I know what Dominic said is probably true, and they have to make it seem like they’re taking good care of me if this whole marriage arrangement thing is going to have the intended effect. But still, it’s a nice gesture, and it brightens my day considerably.
I settle in to start working for the day, and when I realize I need a file from the outer office, I get up to head out and find it.
A few of the other assistants wave at me, and I smile and wave back, feeling a little bubble of warmth that there are people here who like me. I expected that I wasn’t going to fit in no matter how hard I tried, but it seems like a little bit of good old fashioned kindness and friendship goes a long way, even in a place like this where money is the only real language people seem to speak.
“Penelope.”
A familiar, chilly voice cuts into my thoughts, and I have to amend my statement a bit. Kindness and friendship go a long way with people who are capable of returning it.
I turn and see Sienna coming toward me, her arms full of folders. As usual, she’s dressed impeccably, in a matching pantsuit that shows off her long legs. Her hair is pulled over one shoulder and her makeup is flawless. The look on her face as she comes over to me says she thinks I’m worth less than shit on her shoe, but I take a deep breath and plaster on a smile anyway.
“Good morning, Sienna,” I say pleasantly. “How are you doing?”
She scoffs, rolling her eyes.
“That might work on the other assistants here, but it’s not going to work on me,” she says.
“What isn’t?”
“Your ‘oh, I’m so polite and friendly’ routine. You’re not going to sway me into forgetting what you are that way.”
I blink at her, confused by the sudden amount of anger coming off her. She’s never liked me, and I’m willing to bet she never will, but she’s never been quite this hostile before.
“I don’t know what you mean,” I tell her, frowning. “There’s something wrong with being friendly now?”
She looks down her nose at me. “It is when it’s all just an act to make people forget that you came here with no qualifications or skills. I was wondering how you managed to charm the CEOs into thinking you were worth hiring, and it all makes sense now.”
“ What all makes sense now?” She’s not making any sense.
Sienna just laughs, short and mean. “Oh, don’t play innocent with me, sweetheart. I’ve been working with men like this for a long time, and I know how it goes. I know how women who don’t belong in their jobs get promotions and keep the attention of the higher ups.”
I don’t mean to prove her point, but my eyes absolutely get wide when she says that. She’s not coming out and accusing me of anything, but I know exactly what she’s trying to imply.
I take a step back, caught off guard because that’s not what I was expecting to hear this morning. I guess I should have, especially from someone like Sienna, who seems to have made it her mission to try to tear me down and make me fail at this job.
There’s a vindictive light in her eyes, and something in my stomach drops a little to see it. Is she telling other people that I’ve been sleeping around to get favors from Xavier, Tristan, and Dominic?
Is that what everyone is going to think now?
I open my mouth, but nothing comes out for a second, and the look on Sienna’s face just gets more triumphant. She’s wrong, but I don’t know how to tell her that.
And even if I did, would it matter? Would she even listen to anything I have to say?
I hear footsteps approaching, and we both turn to see Tristan come striding into the outer office. He looks like he’s going somewhere with purpose, as all three of the men do whenever they’re going about their business in the office during work hours, but he stops when he sees me.
His eyes flick over my face and then dart between me and Sienna. I don’t even know what he sees when he’s looking at me, but whatever it is, it makes him stop and come over to me.
“Everything all right here?” he asks in his gruff way. He meets my eyes for a second before glancing back over to Sienna. As usual, there’s no telling what’s going on in his head.
The last thing I need is for Tristan to think I’m weak. He already barely seems to tolerate me most of the time, and I can’t seem to stop putting my foot in my dang mouth when he’s around.
So I force a smile and nod. “Yeah, everything’s just fine, Mr. Blackwell,” I say. “We’re just discussing some files I need.”
He hesitates briefly, like he might say something else, but then echoes my nod and continues on his way.
Sienna snorts as soon as he’s out of earshot. “‘Mr. Blackwell’?” she asks.
“What are you talking about now?” I retort, exasperated with this already.
“Just that it didn’t seem like there was a lot of warmth there between you and one of your husbands.” She says the word like she really means something else. “He treated you the same way he would have treated any of the other assistants. I wonder what that could mean.”
My stomach flips over a bit when she says that, and it’s a strange, unexpected feeling.
“Just drop it, Sienna,” I snap, finally losing my patience with this and with her.
“Oh, Sienna,” Xavier says, walking up to join us. “Just the person I was looking for.”
She smiles, and there’s just an edge of smugness to it. Enough for me to see, but Xavier probably wouldn’t notice if he wasn’t looking for it.
“You found me,” she says. “What can I do for you, Mr. Sterling?”
“We have a meeting with a potential client in half an hour. I need ten copies of all the relevant intro materials ready to go by then.”
“Oh,” she says, faltering a little. “I don’t usually?—”
“You can handle it, right?” he says, cutting her off. “I need to talk to my wife.”
“Of course,” Sienna says. Her tone is fake nice, but I know she’s so cool about this that butter wouldn’t melt in her mouth. “I’d be happy to, Mr. Sterling.”
“Great. Thank you.” Xavier turns away from her, giving me his full attention, so he misses the way Sienna gives me one hell of a stink eye before she goes off to do what he asked.
Once we’re alone, I smile hesitantly at Xavier. “You know you can’t spoil me like this right? You’re supposed to be treating me like any other assistant. Otherwise people will start to talk.” I think about what Sienna implied and decide not to mention that they’re already talking. I don’t want to give her more ammo to use against me.
“I know, I know.” Xavier gives me a grin. “I’ll treat you just like all the others, promise.” A thoughtful look crosses his face. “You know, most of our assistants are general purpose, but some of them like to specialize in one thing or another. Is there anything you’d like to focus on while you’re working here?”
I give that a bit of thought, chewing on my bottom lip. “Well… I think it would be nice to learn more about the logistics of owning and running a business. Clearly you guys all had experience with that before the merger, so you’re probably the best people to learn from. And when I reopen my bakery, it would be nice to know a lot more than I did the first time around.”
“That’s a great idea,” Xavier replies. “I think you’re going to have a head for this, shortcake. You’re quick to pick things up, and you follow instructions well. I can help you learn what you need to know.”
He smiles at me, and I can’t help but smile back, caught up in his good humor.