_Rowena’s POV_
The Ashthorne Wine Company occupied a converted warehouse in the city’s southern quarter, three stories of dark brick and wide windows, the kind of building that had been industrial once and had been adapted into something that was trying to look purposeful without quite committing to elegance.
I arrived unannounced that morning.
That had been deliberate because the account irregularities Celeste’s lawyers had found in the wine company’s subsidiary ledgers were specific enough to warrant a visit, and a visit that was announced in advance was a visit that gave someone time to prepare the version of things they wanted me to see. I preferred the unrehearsed version.
The receptionist looked up when I came through the door and her expression did something small and
