KEISHA’S POV

"You’re overloading yourself."

I looked up from my desk. Mrs Velaris was standing over me with her arms folded and a stern look on her face.

Oh.

When I got back to work this morning, I hadn’t taken a rest. I had several things to catch up on and errands to run.

Somehow, I just felt the need to finish it all off before I clocked out for the day.

"I’m just catching up." I assured her. "I took a day off."

"You took one day." She admitted. "Not a week. The files were here before you and they’ll be here after you." She nodded at my screen. "Finish what’s in front of you and leave the rest for the day."

I opened my mouth.

She raised a hand. "It wasn’t a suggestion. That’s an order, Keisha."

Oh.

A smile pulled at my lips. "Of course. Good bye."

"I want to see you leaving in a few minutes, Keisha. Get some rest." She ordered as she walked away.

I sat there for a moment then looked back at my screen.

Some of the files were still there and they needed doing. Also, leaving them unfinished meant I had to think about the news I received this morning. And trust me, I didn’t want to think about that.

Callum’s note was still folded in my coat pocket.

I had found it under my door this morning before I was fully awake. It was just four lines but it had sent dread rushing through me.

"Coldridge Pack delegation will be arriving in two days. Riven Cole will be among them. Thought you should know before you heard it from someone else."

That was all it said. At least he knew to deliver it in a note and not physically. I was still mad at him.

I had stood on my porch in my socks and read it twice before I had tucked it in my pockets and hadn’t brought it out since then.

Mostly because I still wasn’t sure what to make out of the news.

Riven was coming here in two days.

I pulled up the next file and kept working with a sigh, ignoring Mrs Velaris instructions.

By midday I had cleared most of the backlog and my brain was starting to run out of things to redirect itself with when Nadia appeared in my doorway waving something in her hand.

Huh?

I squinted at it, a frown on my lips. A black card.

"Clock out." She said with a huge grin.

Confusion was clear in my face. "What?"

"Dad gave me his card and told me to get out of the building." She was already coming inside, already reaching for my coat off the back of my chair. "So I’m getting out and you’re coming."

"Nadia I have—"

"Is it urgent?" She looked down at my screen.

I looked at my screen. "Not exactly but—"

"Then it can wait." She pushed my coat into my hands. "Go get changed if you want. Something nice."

"We’re going shopping?"

"Exactly." She said it like that explained everything. "Now. Let’s go get you dressed and out of this place."

****************

I went back to my house and sat on my bed.

For a long moment, I stared at my wardrobe and immediately started losing interest in the whole thing. I thought about Orin’s apartment again, my heart rate speeding up as I thought harder about it. I sat there for a moment and then stood up and went through my wardrobe properly because I was not going to sit in this house and let my thoughts win.

After what felt like an eternity, I found something, put it on and went back to Nadia’s room.

She opened the door, looked at me and scowled. "No."

I looked down at myself. "What’s wrong with it?"

Her brows scrunched up. "This isn’t working. Come to my room instead. I’ll find you something."

What?

But I didn’t argue. I followed her back home and up into her room.

"Nadia, what the hell is wrong with this?" I asked again, looking around her familiar room.

"Nothing’s wrong with it." She was already disappearing into her small wardrobe. "It’s just boring."

"We’re going shopping Nadia, not—"

"Here." She emerged with something and held it up.

I stared at it, my brows furrowed. "That’s extremely tight."

"It’s fitted."

"On who?" I raised a brow.

"On you." She pushed it into my hands. "Put it on."

"I really don’t think—"

"Keisha." She gave me eyes that made me sigh. "You have been through something awful and you deserve to look incredible today. Put it on."

Without arguing this time, I put it on.

I looked in her mirror and immediately understood why she had picked it and immediately wanted to take it off because it was a lot.

"Perfect." Nadia said behind me with the satisfaction of someone who had won something.

"It’s too much."

"It’s exactly enough. Come on, let’s go."

We went downstairs to leave through the main entrance and I was still pulling my coat on when I looked up and Callum was there like he had appeared out of nowhere.

He was holding a book in his hand, glasses perched on his nose and his eyes fixed on us. Me specifically. My cheeks heated and I straightened.

He looked at me for a moment that was slightly longer than a glance and I felt heat move through his expression and I suddenly felt too hot in the hallway.

"You look beautiful." He suddenly said, almost like he didn’t even need to think about it.

Nadia spun around and pressed her hand to her chest. "Thank you Dad, I wasn’t sure about the—"

His eyes hadn’t moved from me, clearly talking to me and Nadia stopped talking.

She looked at her father, then at me, then back at her father.

"We should go." I cleared my throat, pulling my coat the rest of the way on. "Becca mentioned groceries."

Nadia looked confused. "Okay... Bye Dad."

We walked out and as soon as cold air hit my cheeks, I took a deep breath.

What the fuck was he thinking saying that in front of Nadia?