Maybe it was because it was reminiscent of her screen name, or maybe it was because it was something only Blood Wolf used.
Maybe it was because Canaan was fun to hang out with even though she had never actually met him.
Elizabeth dragged herself to bed, scared that she wouldn’t be able to fall asleep. She replayed her whole exchange with Canaan and fell asleep with the image of his face in her mind.
* * *
The clockon her bedside table had to be wrong. Could she really have slept until ten? Sure, she had gone to bed a couple of hours away from dawn, but she hadn’t gotten up so late since her teen years.
Elizabeth dragged herself to the kitchen and brewed coffee. She was surprised to see an email from one Rylee Wolverton, a lawyer who had to be Canaan’s relative.
That wasn’t the biggest surprise on her phone.
There were messages from Jordan. He hadn’t even texted but rather blown up her voicemail withfourmessages.
Elizabeth considered deleting them without listening to what Jordan said, but she thought he was calling to apologize. Maybe he wanted to make amends for stealing her intellectual property because it had most certainly led Mr. Evans to fire her.
The first message began with a long sigh. “Liz … Elizabeth, look. I’m really sorry for the way things ended between us. I never wanted to hurt you. I know it was a shock that I was engaged so soon after we parted ways, but I promise. There was nothing between Bella and me until after we broke up.”
“Are you kidding me?” she growled at the phone.
The second was no better, and by the time the third ended, Elizabeth had heard enough. She wanted to delete it without listening to Jordan’s weak excuses that weren’t excuses at all.
In fact, she wasn’t sure why he had called to begin with. He hadn’t once texted or called after leaving her apartment that day six months ago.
It was purely curiosity that made her listen to the fourth and final message. “I can’t believe you would endanger a whole company to get back at me. I thought you were better than that, Liz. I really did. I guess it just goes to show that I didn’t know you at all. I’m sorry you felt you had to harm others to get back at me. Anyway, I wish you well.”
Elizabeth looked down at her phone. It took her all of her self-control not to send it sailing across the room to let it crash into the wall. It wasn’t the device’s fault Jordan was such a tool.
“How did I ever fall for that guy?” Clearly, she needed to spend some alone time with herself because her bullshit radar was definitely broken.
Elizabeth wanted to call Rylee, the lawyer, but she was apprehensive, especially after those messages from Jordan. Was she going to let some man she didn’t even know help her through this bad spot?
No.
She couldn’t.
This was her problem, and she had to find her own solutions.
“I just have to see it as a quest,” she muttered to herself as she sat in front of her laptop and started to do some research. She had to find her own corporate law lawyer.
It only took Elizabeth a bit of digging to realize that Rylee Wolverton was one of the most respected … and feared … corporate lawyers in the whole of New York State.
“Of course she would be,” she mumbled. Elizabeth contemplated calling, but she needed money for a lawyer. Her first logical step was to find a new job.
And so, Elizabeth was on a different quest for the rest of her day.
Finding work with the stain of espionage on her name turned out to be way harder than crossing the Field of the Undead with only one remaining health unit and all by herself.
It was a fool’s errand, but it was her reality.
Needing a break, Elizabeth slipped on a baggy pair of jeans with a cardigan. It wasn’t quite her shabbiest look, but it was definitely not how she usually left the house. Jordan would give her shit if she didn’t make some effort. But she was just heading out to grab more ice cream and possibly something a bit more nutritious, like a salad.
Had she known that things were about to get worse, she might have slipped on herFantasy Warriorsreplica armor she kept hidden in storage.
SIX
CANAAN