Chapter 1

Penelope grabbed her purse off the dresser. Meeting with a client in an hour. She was the boss, she called called the meeting as CEO and owner of Exquisite, her modeling and advertising agency company and she had one rule. Punctuality. Her business was her baby and she would not let anything destroy it or take it away from her.

She wasn’t called Ice Queen for nothing.

As she prepared for another day of success the door downstairs opened and Nancy, her maid who works five days of the week, climbed up the stairs to her room with the subtlety of an elephant in a circus. She opened the door and paused at the doorway eyes widening. Even after working for Penelope c for years, she still could not get used to the woman’s punctuality. She was a perfectionist in every way.

“Good morning, Miss Quinn.”

Penelope merely nodded never looking away from her reflection in the mirror. A light touch of concealer hid the circles around her eyes. She had stayed awake the night before working on new designs, and new show ideas. The business wouldn’t thrive without the brilliance of the woman looking in the mirror.

 I’m not just known as the Dragon lady, I am what every woman wants to be, she thought to herself. Independent, fierce, a girl boss, and successful. She only knew the sacrifices she had to make, the tears and sweats. Who would have thought the daughter of a thief could become successful.

Yet with the perfect sacrifices, she climbed to the top.

 And she made her first sacrifice with Noel Greer.

Just the thought of him brought anger so strong that she visibly shook from the force of it. That day was clear in her memory. The day of his rejection.

Of course, he could fuck the daughter of a thief but God forbid he marries one. Not a man like Noel.

“Ehhh…Miss Quinn?”

Nancy was sticking her neck out nervously. Penelope scowled at her until she realized Nancy’s gaze was directed toward her hands. She was squeezing the concealer tube so hard that a bit of the thick paste dribbled out. Sighing heavily, she forced herself to calm down. Even after 10 years he still had the power to make her riled up.

Was it really 10 years already?

Pushing away from the dresser, She slipped her heels on and grabbed her purse.

“I will have steak and potato salad for dinner.”

“Yes ma’am.” Nancy hovered by the door.

“Anything else, Nancy?”

“Yes ma’am. Jonah said there was a man out here looking for you.”

“Okay. Is this man still here?”

“Jonah didn’t say.”

“Okay, whatever. Get to work.”

As Nancy made her way to the kitchen, Penelope finished her make up, grabbed her keys and headed to the garage.

Jonah, a middle-aged local fisherman was milling around with some of the locals when she drove out and honked her horn to get his attention.

“Miss Quinn,” Jonah called out before leaving the group of men to run toward her car.

“There was a man looking for me today?” he nodded. “What did he want?”

Jonah shrugged. “He didn’t say. He would be back tonight, that’s what he said.”

Penny frowned. “I see. Well, probably another wannabe model waiting to be the next big thing.”

She drove away, missing the look of unease on the older man’s face as he watched her go.

The city was just waking up. West End of Port was a picturesque little fishing town much like the Italian Rivera town Sestri Levante. Even though economic bloom had taken much of its ancient charm , turning it into a cornucopia of skyscrapers and industries, a little section of it, the seaside still remained a quaint little town. Penelope lived on that side of town and sometimes she spent late mornings enjoying a cup of coffee by the window looking at the boats, yachts and ships dock.

Since changing her name from Penelope Novak to Penelope Quinn and moving out here, she enjoyed the warmth and generosity of the locals, most especially the fishermen who gifted her with loads and loads of fresh seafood.

She drove through the streets with her windows down smiling at the greetings of the local children on their way to school and women until she entered the main city filled with steel and cement constructions. Tinted glass windows hid executives and workers going about their businesses.

Far ahead, the bright October sun glinted off the glass walls of the WINSTON’S office complex where her office was located. Her smile broadened. She loved the sight of that building. It reminded her of all the feats hurdles she beat to accomplish success. 3D glass cutouts of the name EXQUISITE hung from the 7th floor.

The executives bank of elevator was her destination. Thankfully it was empty. She didn’t have to make small talks with anyone when she needed to bring her A game to the day’s meeting. Work was in full swing when she walked into the office. Editors and assistants worked at their desks poring over images to be used for the company’s next advertising campaign.

“Good morning, Miss Quinn,” her employees greeted. They respected her. They hated her. They wanted to be like her. They thought she had a frozen pussy.

On her floor, her close assistants were unusually chatty even after she walked in. They knew her policy; business and pleasure don’t mix. But when she saw the reason for their excitement she laughed. Her ex-secretary, Chantelle Jones. Chantelle called out her name.

“Penelope.”

Beside a much shorter Chantelle aka Coco was Nolan Pierce with his arm protectively around her waist. Penelope smiled to herself as she recalled the unusual way both of them had gotten together. One minute Nolan was contracted and engaged to be married to Lurane Grant, daughter of Douglas Grant, one of the powers that be controlling the entire state, and the next minute he was dumping Lurane for Chantelle, his old flame from the past. It was sweet really, their love story.

If only…

Chantelle was beaming as she made her way toward her. They were no longer employer and employee since Chantelle opened her own fashion house. But Chantelle in her gentle way had earned Penny’s hard respect even though they were now rivals.

“Isn’t it illegal to be friends with your rival?” I

she joked.

Coco put her arms around her. “You can’t get rid of me that easily,” she laughed and pulled back.

“Well, I don’t suppose this is a pleasure meeting?”

“Actually no.” she glanced at Nolan who was standing behind her handsome as ever but with a strained look on his face. “We need your help.”

“Let’s talk in my office.” Penny ushered them into the office and took her seat on the leather chair behind the glass desk. “So what’s the problem?”

They went straight to the point and as she listened she felt sorry for them.

“Douglas is trying to destroy me,” Nolan said. His voice was hard and his eyes reflected his anger. “We made a deal after the whole engagement fiasco and he tricked me into a new contract only that this time the catch is if I don’t fulfill the requirements of this new contract I will end up on the streets again.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Douglas wants Nolan to build him a hotel in six months,” Chantelle jumped in. “If within that time Nolan hasn’t completed the construction all his wealth and inheritance goes to Douglas.”

“And you accepted this deal?” she couldn’t hide my surprise from them. Douglas was a cunning bastard.

“He sweetened the deal by offering a third of his wealth if the hotel is complete but he owns half the construction companies in West End as you know – I didn’t know that, now his men have pulled out of the project and I don’t know what to do.”

She considered both of them, two lovebirds under the mercy of someone so powerful. They were just starting their lives together. Nolan had had a hard life and she could see the fear in his eyes. If the contract went wrong…he would be back to square one.

“I don’t know what you both can do unless you find a way out of this contract.”

“There is a way out,” Nolan shifted closer to the edge of his seat. “Douglas only owns a few construction companies but there is someone else with more power than he. We were hoping you could help us talk to this person.”

“And who might that be? I don’t dally with construction companies.”

“You have a history with him, at least that’s what Matt Wolffe told us.”

Matthew Wolffe was an ex – fling. But that wasn’t what made her wary. It was the look in Chantelle’s eyes that bothered her.

“And who is this person?” she asked carefully.

“Noel Greer.”

Her hands involuntarily squeezed the edge of her desk and she reminded herself to breathe hoping her face didn’t betray her thoughts.

“Please Penny my life depends on this. I need your help.”

Chantelle was almost close to tears. “We desperately need you. If he is the man that can help us then you must help us.”

She saw the looks on their faces. They were young like she was and she knew what it felt like to lose everything, to start all over again. The pain. The sweat. The struggle.

Without knowing it her hand was already reaching for her phone.

“You will have the give me a moment let me place a call to him,” she heard herself say. But even when she realized what she was doing she knew she couldn’t not help Chantelle and Nolan. Nolan was a good friend. Chantelle was a dear friend.

They thanked her profusely as she walked outside. Her fingers shook as I typed in a number she knew she would never forget. Not even if she lost her memory.

 Why did I memorize that number? Why haven’t I forgotten it even after all these years? She wondered, taking a deep breath for courage. Thankfully the hallway was empty. There was no employee there to witness the crack in her Ice Queen façade.

The phone rang and with it was her heart running a million miles per second.

“Please don’t pick up,” she whispered. Maybe the number was no longer in use. Maybe he changed it. That way she wouldn’t feel guilty when she told Nolan and Chantelle that she couldn’t be of help to them.

There was a beep.

“Noel Greer.”