Chapter 51
Xander
Once everyone left to head back to Manhattan, Penelope and I spent some time getting settled into our lives in Singapore.
Since I was a founder at Dawn Capital, working from Singapore was a pretty easy sell. Especially since the people I had to
convince didn’t need any convincing. CeCe had arranged for all the things I needed for work to get shipped before she even
left for the proposal. And the partners at Penelope’s firm were already preparing for her to be remote from Singapore, regardless.
After a few weeks, everything was settled in Singapore with Chen Tech and our new penthouse, so we flew to Manhattan to spend
Christmas with Sloan and everyone there. I think Penelope was a little nervous to deviate from that tradition even though
I told her Christmas in Singapore sounded just as good.
Either way, after a raucous Christmas at my childhood home in the suburbs outside of Philadelphia, we flew to Scotland while
the few necessities we wanted moved to Singapore were flown over and organized in our new home.
“Now, once the shares transfer this summer, these highlighted accounts will have a small portion that’s been liquidated. That’s your way to keep up with expenses.” Penelope sat patiently next to her mom at the sturdy wooden kitchen table, weathered and worn from years of use. “The rest of the shares are in your name and will be managed by Dawn Capital. Anything you need, you can draw from your liquid assets in your bank accounts.”
I turned the mug in my hand and leaned against the stone archway that opened up to the kitchen.
An hour north of Glasgow, Victoria Astor lived quietly among sprawling hills in an old stone manor that the Astor family owned
for generations. She had a small staff because it was becoming abundantly clear to me that she had no idea how to run her
own life, let alone an entire estate. It seemed like she enjoyed the life but not anything that came along with managing it.
“Can’t you do this for me, dearest?” her mother complained, running her fingers through her auburn hair as Penelope gently
tried to get her to sign the paperwork. “You know I abhor these types of things.”
Victoria was used to Penelope taking care of everything. Now that Penelope had arranged for her mom to have a manager to keep
an eye on her investments, Victoria could finally take some responsibility on her own. Knowing her mother, Penelope set some
checks in the process so Victoria couldn’t do anything outlandish with her wealth since the shares in Astor Media were worth
around two-hundred million pounds.
“I know, Mother, but you have to get used to doing some of it on your own,” Penelope cooed softly, introducing Victoria to
a life where her daughter wasn’t the one who had to do everything for her. One where Penelope was able to free herself from
some of that responsibility. “I’ve hired an executor for the estate. They’ll take care of most things. Any questions can go
to them, and if you’re nervous you can always ask me.”
“Or me,” I interjected as I peeled myself off the wall and took a seat next to Penelope. “I’ll take care of anything you need.”
It wasn’t just an offer because I happened to be a banker and running the capital firm she’d store the investments in, but
I was tired of having to see Penelope be the one run ragged doing everything.
A smile stretched across Victoria’s face. “Well, alright, then.”
The pen scrawled across the last line that Penelope flagged for her mom to sign.
It was a little unsettling, seeing how much Penelope had been responsible for. She was her mom’s personal secretary from the
day she could read.
Penelope leaned her head on my shoulder for a fleeting moment, before popping back up and stacking the papers neatly together.
“I’ll send these off first thing tomorrow.”
She stood up and walked out of the kitchen, leaving me and Victoria alone at the table.
“My Penelope seems different.” Victoria turned her head, watching Penelope leave the room to put the papers in a folder. “Happy.”
“If ever she’s not”—I looked her in the eye—“I’ll fix it. I’ll take care of her; you don’t have to worry.”
She smiled proudly. She took the book at the end of the table and opened it to a bookmarked page and began reading. “I never
worry. Nobody needs to take care of my Penelope.”
No, but someone should .
And from here on out, it was me. I was going to do everything in my power to pull things off that never-ending list in her
head.
I didn’t say anything. I only nodded.
A few quiet minutes later, Penelope returned to the table, but Victoria’s attention was squarely in a book by that point.
With an almost silent sigh she sat down at the table.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
With another deep breath she nodded and leaned into me. “Why do I feel like I just ran a marathon?”
“You work too hard, dearest,” Victoria said offhandedly, her attention still in the book.
Ignoring the urge to point out that maybe she was the reason Penelope always seemed to run at 150 percent, I kissed Penelope
on her head.
“You’ll have some time to relax soon,” I whispered.
She sat up, an excited twinkle in her eye. “A surprise?”
“Something like that.”
***
Penelope
When we landed in the Faroe Islands the day after I took care of all of my mother’s financial paperwork, I had a feeling about
what he was up to.
Now, walking into the cabin that was a remote home with multiple one-way glass domes, I was sure of it.
The aurora. The last item on the list.
Xander led me inside. The glass dome at the end of the room granted us an uninterrupted panoramic view of the Arctic wilderness
that lay beyond. Spread as far as the eye could see, it was a pristine portrait of crisp white beneath the muted glow of the
twilight sky.
“How long until we can see them?” I asked, taking the coffee from the attendant that greeted us when we got off the all-terrain
truck.
He chuckled. “How’d you know?”
“Remote islands in the north Atlantic during the winter. Far off from light pollution.” I flicked a glance over my shoulder as he helped me out of my parka. “You’re really not that clever.”
He chuckled again.
“We should be able to see them in half an hour.” He handed the coats off to the other attendants as they made their final
touches and put away our luggage.
Inside the cabin, the large domes were the focal points, but the ambient light cast a soft, golden hue across the room. The
warmth of the wooden furnishings juxtaposed the frozen canvas just beyond the glass.
“How will we pass the time?” I sat on one of the plush blankets.
The blankets and fur adorned the comfortable seating area, inviting us to sink into their embrace.
Xander took a glance over his shoulder, offering a quick thank-you to the staff as they left the cabin. He took a seat beside
me and whispered, “I can think of a few things.”
His breath just barely grazed along my shoulder; an eruption of goose bumps pebbled along my skin.
“But I want to give you something first.” He reached behind the couch and pulled something from the bag he’d deposited there.
I leaned forward and put the coffee on the beveled wood table ahead of us.
He handed me a stack of papers.
A realization pushed forward as I glanced over the blank cover page. The date on our divorce papers was approaching in a few
months and it was something I’d completely forgotten about. My heart rate picked up.
“I had Sloan send these.” Xander’s hand gripped my thigh gently, as if reading my thoughts. “And all we need to do to nullify
them is sign on the flagged lines.”
I paged through the same papers I signed months ago. Seeing the addendum Sloan and Maya had added. One to nullify the divorce clause and keep us married—for good.
“You think of everything, don’t you?” I whispered.
A tremor moved along my body. His arm moved from my thigh to my shoulders, and he shifted to allow me to lean into him.
All the competing interests, the compromises, all of it was silent.
Xander gave me the one thing nobody else ever had.
Peace.
And he kept giving it to me. A mind clear from clutter. Anyplace he could pull an item from it, he would.
“I didn’t want you to have to worry about this later,” he answered.
I signed my set and Xander signed his. Before I could neatly stack the papers and tuck them away, he took them and leaned
back to return them to his bag.
“I love you,” I told him, leaning back into him.
“I love you, too.” He pressed a kiss against my head, pulled a blanket up around us, and turned his attention up at the night
sky. The darkness had fully blanketed it by that point.
Every star was visible, an array of diamonds along a silky onyx horizon. It wasn’t long before the first flashes of the aurora
came into view.
The occasional silhouettes of distant mountains were only visible in fleeting moments between the dancing greens and yellows.
“Nothing on that list is safe,” he whispered in her ear.
“You’ve just crossed off the final item, darling.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll think of some more.”