FORTY-FOUR

Morning came quite slowly, and Anastacia could still recall how she had forced herself to sleep the previous night after so much tossing around on the bed.

She had called Liam the moment she got into her room, after speaking to her father, to inform him all that had been said. He had been quite surprised and also nervous and Anastacia could not understand why he was suddenly nervous to meet his ex-boss.

Judging from how much her father used to talk about him, she could tell they had been very close — even during her crowning ceremony, she had seen how her father consulted him for almost everything.

Yet, she had spent over thirty minutes assuring him that there was nothing to worry about before he finally agreed to come, and now, she was sitting by her dressing mirror, trying to curl the tip of her hair. It was just Liam and her father, this she knew, but that day was special for her so she wanted to look good.