Page 62 of Retrograde

“You never complimented my fighting before,” Myriam said, blinking at me in shock.

I smirked at her. “If I was a tiger and not an equally well-trained hugedragon, I would not want to go up against you in a fight. You are lethal andsmartin how you move.” I focused back on June whose mouth was hanging open. “I never told anyone—not even the school. I was worried how much trouble I would get into with my parents.”

June filled in the pieces and nodded. “And you killed someone that night?”

“Several.” I winced. “And did some damage to the school, but Myriam’s family paid for that.”

“It was the least we could do for saving my life,” Myriam drawled.

“I understand the bond now,” June muttered, glancing between us. “Many have—”

“She’s her own person and an impressive woman,” I cut in. “I’m lucky she was willing to help me and all of Thovudin.”

The rest of the interview went well. We touched on the lawsuit and how I felt that Kole had been arrested. I made it clear that while I appreciated Vex finally pulling his head out of his ass, he wasn’t the same as the Alpha of Sunborough.

Vex bailed out his son and was paying for his attorney.

Fine, I said it nicer than that, but my point was made.

“As horrible as it all is, at least people aren’t talking about the texts anymore,” June said as we finished and the cameras were off.

I snorted. “They will later. It’s too juicy for people not to go back to. If nothing else, the amount of insults. People won’t leave that alone and—they just won’t.”

“Wouldn’t it be nice if they did?” she sighed.

“It would be nice if they found out who leaked them because I look forward to their trial,” I answered with a smile. “It’s been confirmed it was the phone company, but they better get us who it was or I will have another lawsuit.”

“You’re going to sue them?” she asked with a grin. “You should even if they tell you. Make it clear they will pay if they don’t protect our privacy and information better, not just your texts. Before queen, you’re a citizen of Thovudin and sign the same contracts we do. If they’d be so bold to leak your texts, then what about the rest of us?”

I studied her a second. “I hope you do a report on that and their lack of security. I’m sure we’ll back you up if you do.”

That made her and her team happy. That was a big story other executives wouldn’t want to touch, but… I liked touching things I shouldn’t.

It wasn’t until I was almost to my suite that I realized how bad that would sound if I’d said it out loud. Oh well, it was nice to have some fun.

And my fun was a bunch of my purchases delivered.

I smiled as I set it all up, frowning when there was a knock at the door. I just wanted ten minutes to myself. Was that really too much to ask?

Raquel and another woman I’d seen before but couldn’t place walked in and bowed to me. “This is who I was thinking about assigning to you. Pearl will be the only one who cleansyour suite, does your laundry, and fills your kitchenette. She will shop on her own for it—no one else will be involved besides me checking in.”

Pearl gave me a shy smile. “Basically, I’m an introvert and don’t have a bunch of friends on staff like others.” She winced and hurried on. “I’m not rude, but—I like keeping things separate. Work is work, and my friends are in my home life. I like clear lines.”

Perfect.

“I do too,” I assured her as I moved closer and held out my hand. “I look forward to working with you. If Raquel thinks you’re the right woman to manage me personally, then I trust her. Let’s give this a try and see if it will work.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty,” she accepted as she shook my hand. She wasveryexcited and that made me flinch internally.

“The position also comes with a significant pay raise,” Raquel explained. “The salary’s on par with those of your father’s personal butler or your mother’s lady in waiting.”

“Thank you, that makes sense.” I frowned though. “I hate that outdated term. Are you fine with being called the queen’s butler even if a woman?” I smiled when Pearl shrugged.

“I’ll see it done, Your Majesty,” Raquel chuckled.

Pearl was my type of person—organized, chill, and didn’t really care the reasons. She wasn’t kidding that she separated work from her personal life… And taking care of me was a job with better pay that she wanted to keep.

“Can I ask why you were so excited for the raise?” I hedged after going over the cleaning schedule I preferred.