Chapter 8: Unknown Visit

The morning had started like any other. Raven sat at her desk, staring at a spreadsheet that refused to make sense, her coffee cold and bitter in the cup beside her keyboard. The office was quiet, the usual hum of conversation muted by the early hour. She had been here since seven, trying to catch up on a report that was due by noon, but her mind kept drifting.

She kept thinking about the coffee shop. About Fenris's gray eyes. About the way he had said her name.

She shook her head and forced herself to focus.

Margot Pierce appeared at her desk like a sudden storm. Her heels clicked against the floor, fast and urgent. Her face was flushed, her eyes wide.

"Raven. Good. You are here."

Raven blinked. "I am always here."

"We have important clients coming in. Very important. I need you to be on your best behavior." Margot straightened a stack of papers that did not need straightening. "They will be here any minute."

"Who?"

"The Vlad family."

Raven's heart stopped.

"I am sorry?"

"You heard me." Margot smoothed her blouse. "They are one of our biggest clients. We have been trying to get them in for weeks. They agreed to come this morning. I need you to look professional and keep your mouth shut."

Raven stood. "What do they want?"

"They want to see how we operate. Meet the team. Standard VIP treatment." Margot's eyes narrowed. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"No reason."

"Good. Now go fix your hair."

Raven walked to the bathroom and stared at her reflection. Her hair was fine. Her dress was fine. Her hands were shaking.

Fenris was coming. Here. To her office.

She did not know if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

The lobby was buzzing when she returned. Employees who had been slouching at their desks were suddenly upright. Phones that had been ringing off the hook fell silent. The whole floor seemed to hold its breath.

Raven stood near her desk, her hands clasped behind her back, her eyes fixed on the glass doors at the front of the office.

They opened.

Fenris walked in first.

He looked different today. Professional. Controlled. His dark suit was perfectly tailored, his tie knotted tight, his hair swept back from his face. His gray eyes swept the room, cold and assessing, and Raven felt the weight of his attention even from across the floor.

Behind him walked an older man. Silver hair. A neatly trimmed beard. Eyes the same flat gray as his son's, but harder, colder, more hungry. He moved like a man who had never been told no. Like a man who expected the world to bend to his will.

Dante Vlad.

Raven did not know his name. She did not know who he was. But she felt something shift in her chest when she looked at him. Something warning. Something afraid.

Margot rushed forward, her hand extended. "Mr. Vlad. Welcome. It is an honor to have you here."

Dante shook her hand briefly, his smile thin and practiced. "The honor is mine."

His eyes moved past Margot, scanning the room. They paused on Raven. Just for a moment. Just long enough to make her skin prickle.

Then they moved on.

Fenris followed his father, his expression unreadable, his gaze fixed straight ahead. He did not look at her. He did not acknowledge her. He walked past her desk like she was a stranger.

Raven's chest tightened.

The next hour was a blur.

Margot led the Vlad family through the office, introducing them to key employees, showing off the firm's capabilities. Raven stood at her desk, pretending to work, watching them through the corner of her eye.

Fenris did not look at her again. Not once.

But his father did. Every few minutes, those gray eyes would sweep her way, cold and calculating, like he was filing her away for later.

She did not like it.

She did not like him.

When the tour ended, Margot ushered them into the conference room for a private meeting. Raven breathed a sigh of relief.

Her phone buzzed.

She looked down.

Come to the conference room. NOW.

Margot.

Raven straightened her dress and walked to the conference room. The door was heavy, frosted glass, impossible to see through. She knocked once, then pushed it open.

Fenris was standing by the window.

His father was seated at the head of the table, his hands folded in front of him. Margot sat beside him, her posture rigid, her smile tight.

"Ah, Ms. Wolfe," Dante said. "Please. Sit."

Raven looked at Margot. Margot nodded.

She sat.

Fenris turned from the window. His gray eyes met hers. Something flickered there. Surprise. Concern. Something else.

"Ms. Wolfe has been with us for three years," Margot said. "She is one of our rising stars."

"Is she?" Dante's eyes swept over Raven. "You look familiar. Have we met?"

"No," Raven said. "I do not think so."

"The gala." Fenris's voice was quiet, controlled. "She was at the gala."

Dante's eyebrows rose. "Ah. The young woman you were speaking with."

"She was networking."

"So was I."

Dante smiled. It did not reach his eyes. "Ms. Wolfe, my son speaks very highly of you."

"I am flattered."

"You should be. He does not speak highly of anyone."

The silence stretched. Raven could feel Margot's eyes on her, confused, curious, worried. She kept her face still, her hands steady.

"I am sorry to interrupt," Raven said, "but I have a report due by noon. If there is nothing else..."

"Of course." Dante waved his hand. "Do not let us keep you."

Raven stood. She walked to the door. She did not look back.

But she felt Fenris's eyes on her the whole way.

She was at her desk when he found her.

The meeting was over. The conference room was empty. Most of the staff had gone back to work, pretending the visit had been routine. But Raven knew it had not been routine. Nothing about the Vlad family was routine.

Fenris appeared beside her desk, silent as a shadow.

"You did not tell me you worked here," he said.

"You did not ask."

He leaned against the edge of her desk, his arms crossed over his chest. "My father likes you."

"I doubt that."

"He likes people who do not grovel. You did not grovel."

He looked at her, his gray eyes softer now. "I did not expect to see you today."

"Neither did I."

"I wanted to say something. In the conference room. But my father..."

"You do not need to explain."

"I know." He paused. "I wanted to."

Raven looked at him. At his sharp jaw. At his tired eyes. At the man who was hiding something, just like she was.

"Thank you," she said.

"For what?"

"For not treating me like a stranger."

He almost smiled. "You are not a stranger."

"Then what am I?"

He did not answer. He pushed off her desk and walked toward the elevator.

"Fenris."

He turned.

"Your father. What is his name?"

"Dante. Why?"

Raven shrugged. "No reason."

The elevator doors closed. Fenris was gone.

Raven sat at her desk, her heart pounding, her mind racing.

She did not know why she had asked. She did not know why it mattered. But the name stuck with her, heavy and ominous, like a warning.

Dante.

She wrote it on a sticky note and tucked it in her pocket.