A/N: Thanks for reading! As always, if you want to skip straight to the saucy stuff, look out for the three asterisks (***) throughout the story. All characters are 18+.
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Violet tapped her foot on the marble floor of the elevator in the sleek office building impatiently. She was late for an important lunch date (as usual, if she was being honest with herself) and the elevator was moving frustratingly slow. She took the time to smooth the white sundress she was wearing and to adjust some of her white-blonde hair behind her ear. She wanted to look polished, adult, when she stepped into Mr. Fontaine's office. He might be an old family friend, but he was also their lawyer and her parents had always told her to treat him with respect.
The elevator finally opened at the floor of Mr. Fontaine's law practice and Violet saw Mr. Fontaine waiting in the lobby in a crisp suit, his hands clasped behind his back. When he saw that it was Vi getting out of the lift, the older man smiled broadly, taking Vi's hands and kissing her knuckles softly.
"Miss Kenvier, you look as lovely as always," the older man smiled at her like a proud father, his silver hair neatly coiffed.
"I missed you so much while I was in France, Puppy!" Violet gasped breathlessly, wrapping her arms around the man who had been an incredibly important figure in her life since she was a little girl. Mr. Fontaine caught her easily and smiled fondly at her, stroking her hair as he set her down to the floor. Vi had been calling him Puppy since she was a girl and his regular staff were used to the term of endearment.
"So enthusiastic, Violet," he teased her, catching her chin with the crook of his finger. "You can't have missed this old man that much, surely."
Mr. Fontaine, known as Pierce to his friends and Puppy to others even closer than that, enjoyed playing this little game with Violet whenever she returned from jetsetting. They always arranged to have lunch the day she returned so that she could fill him in with the details of her travels.
Vi's parents had died in an airplane crash in the Swiss Alps when Vi was seventeen and as the executor of the estate and a close family friend, Pierce felt responsible for Violet's wellbeing. He encouraged her to finish school, letting her study in his office for company and for help with any particularly difficult lessons. Violet's gratitude was enormous and she invited him to attend both her high school and her university graduations in lieu of her predeceased parents - Pierce happily attended both, ensuring she had the biggest bouquets of any girl on the night. He wanted her never to feel like she'd gone without.
In return, she had been dutiful to her family name, never getting involved in the scandals that other rich girls her age did: she steered clear of drugs and seemed to be bored by boys her own age. Pierce understood her boredom: many of them were either out for her fortune or her body, not understanding the clever and kind woman that Violet truly was. He'd consoled her through a few heartbreaks, trying to provide the guidance and fatherly presence she needed during such heartwrenching times.
"Puppy! Don't be so mean about yourself," Violet laughed, her arms still around Pierce's neck. It didn't matter that his suit was designer and she was rumpling it, he was just happy to have her close to him again. He took her arm tenderly and looked back at his receptionist, a slim man named Bryce.
"I'll be back in a few hours, Bryce. If anyone, and I mean anyone, calls for me, tell them I'm in a meeting with a client and not to be disturbed."
Bryce smiled slyly and nodded. He understood discretion and he was under the distinct impression that Miss Kenvier had her 'Puppy' wrapped around her little finger. He'd caught Pierce on more than one occasion with women who looked like Violet and although Bryce was entrusted to buy gifts for anyone else, as a good assistant was, Violet's gifts were always personally handled by Mr. Fontaine himself.
On the elevator ride down to the parking garage, Violet nuzzled her head against Pierce's neck as she chattered about the weather in France, her flight home and how she hoped that he would be able to take some time off at Christmas this year 'for her'. Pierce's heart fell: he knew that Christmas was a tough time of year for her as her parents had died on the 27th. Last year there was an emergency with one of his other clients that required his direct handling and despite many of those billable hours going to purchase a lovely necklace for Violet - one she'd worn every day since then - it had upset her greatly to be alone at Christmas.
"I have plans for us this Christmas, unless you'd rather spend it with your beau?" Pierce smiled at her as Violet rolled her eyes and made a face.
"You're my beau, Puppy, I keep telling you that," she giggled, her sapphire blue eyes gazing up at him adoringly. He smiled down at her and kissed her forehead chastely, brushing some of her pale hair out of her face.
"Now, now, Violet. You mustn't say such things, you'll start rumours." Pierce chided her gently, watching her pout. "You know I'll always love you, sweetheart, but it isn't the same."
"I know you love me, Puppy, and I love you too. Isn't that enough?" She looked at him earnestly as the elevator doors slid open to the parking garage level, saving Pierce from having to answer that difficult question.
As Pierce and Violet arrived in the underground parking garage, a sleek black car turned up and a tall man got out of the driver's side. He nodded to Pierce and smiled at Violet, who smiled warmly back. The driver was Liam, Pierce's right hand man, a man who looked like an assassin and might actually be one. Pierce was foggy on the details of where he'd met Liam, but a scar on Liam's neck that looked like someone had tried to slit his throat and Pierce's protective nature over the young man's provenance led many to speculate. He was dressed in a sharp designer suit that showed off his slim, athletic body.
"Good to see you again, Miss Kenvier," Liam said in a soft Irish accent.
"And you, Liam. Please, call me Vi," she said, sliding into the leather backseat of the car after the door was opened for her. Liam smiled and looked to his boss for askance. Pierce chuckled and shrugged, following Vi into the back seat as he responded.
