"Nothing is so painful to the human mind as a great and sudden change."

~ Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley

Aaline Jensen stood proud in front of her father, her face void of emotion though inside she was a raging storm. Her back was rigid and her whole body was tense. She felt like she did before a fight, her instincts kicking in and her adrenaline pumping. Her father was looking at her with something akin to fright and pity.

She swallowed thickly before speaking. "What am I supposed to say?" Her voice didn't shake as much as she thought it would. It was a lot stronger than her fathers was when he'd told her the news. She'd barely spoken above a whisper but her voice seemed to echo throughout the room, hanging between her and her father like ice.

He winced and rubbed hard at his forehead, leaving it red. "I don't expect you to say anything, Aaline." He met her eyes and cringed. She was sure they reflected her inner turmoil and rage. Emotions her father was familiar with but they had never been directed at him. He'd really only ever heard stories of her rage.

Now he was the focus of it. The feelings that she kept just under the surface shined behind her eyes and it was directed full force at her father.

She hummed and narrowed her eyes, taking a good look at her father for the first time in a long while. His hair was greying at the temples and the lines around his eyes were deep. The shine that she remembered seeing in them as a child was long gone, replaced by something she didn't have a name for. An emotion she didn't recognize. His face was thin and haggard and his lips were pale. The suit he was wearing didn't fit. He had lost weight. A large sum in a short amount of time. Which made sense, given what he'd just told her. He probably had been sick with anticipation. Maybe he lost his appetite or couldn't keep anything down. Either way, her father no longer resembled the spirited man she remembered from her youth. At least, the parts he'd been around for.

She traced her eyes back up his form and locked him into place with her gaze. His knuckles turned white as he gripped the back of his chair. "Let me see if I've got everything. You used Jensen Construction money, our company money, to pay off personal gambling debts and, to keep the board members and the shareholders from finding out that you embezzled company money, you asked, who was it again?" She paused and waited for her father to fill in the blank. She knew very well who her father had negotiated with.

He closed his eyes as if in pain and shook his head. "Ragnar Lothbrok." The name trembled from his lips and he hung his head.

She smiled vindictively and nodded slowly. "Yes, Ragnar Lothbrok, the King of The Northmen, the largest shipping organization in the Midwest whose activities range from one end of the spectrum to the other. You asked Ragnar Lothbrok to lend you millions of dollars guaranteeing him that you would pay it back a year and one day after he gave it to you. 366 days, to give him back millions of dollars and you never did? Am I correct?"

His shoulders had started to shake and she could hear the quiet sobs he tried to contain. No part of her felt sympathy for the man standing in front of her. He'd effectively ruined her life with this decision and she would not feel sorry for him. "A year to pay back millions of dollars and you couldn't do it. So, when Ragnar Lothbrok comes to collect, you have nothing for him except the graying hair on top of your head and Jensen Construction. How am I doing so far?" He remained silent so she continued.

"He was going to kill you." She nodded when his head came up at her words. She hummed and watched his eyes widen. "He was going to kill you and make it look like an accident before finding some way to insert himself into our company." He shook his head as she said this and she slammed her hands down on his desk. He jumped back and clasped his shaking hands in front of him. "You're delusional if you think your death was not part of the plan but you're a cockroach, dad, and you always find ways to save yourself."

She stood up straight and walked slowly back and forth in front of his desk. "You decided," He shook his head and she pointed a threatening finger at him. "Yes, you decided that the best way to keep yourself alive was to step down as CEO of Jensen Construction, pass the reigns to me, sign over your 51% of Jensen Construction shares to Ragnar Lothbrok and, as added insurance to make sure you don't tell anyone, you marry me off to one of his sons. Did I get everything? Did I leave anything out?"

Her father had collapsed into his desk chair with his head in his hands, shaking with silent sobs. His fingers flexed against his scalp and she could see the teardrops on his desktop. She took a step back and waited for him to control himself.

He sat up and wiped his eyes, looking at her before tearing up again. She rolled her eyes and turned her back on him. His bar cart was on the back wall and she made herself a whiskey. "I'm your only daughter, your only child and this is how you treat me?" She took a long drink and whirled back around to face him. "You've never been the same since mom died and I let you have your grief but at the cost of our relationship." He recoiled and looked away from her. She ignored him and continued.

"I was naive enough to think that you'd eventually pull your head out of your ass long enough to remember that you had a child but the only time I ever heard from you was when I transferred boarding schools and graduated from Oxford. You kept our relationship distant at best and made a point to interact with me as little as possible." She downed her whiskey and slammed the glass back down onto the cart it came from.

She sniffed in disdain, feeling hot tears of betrayal and anger well up in her eyes. She pushed them back and stared down at her father. He couldn't even look at her. "Even now, you can't even look at me." She pressed the fingers of her right hand on top of the glass desktop and waited for him to look up at her before delivering her final blow.

"I'm my mother's daughter and, for some godforsaken reason, she loved you so I'll do this for you." The shine of hope started to rise in his eyes and she had to hold back her smile. "I will save your life this one time but know this." She leaned down until her face was level with his and the careful hope that had sprung up in his face began to disappear. "This is the last time that I will ever see your face again." His face crumbled but she reached her fingers out and held his face level with hers. "You will never again attempt to see me or speak to me for the rest of your miserable little life. If you do, I will ruin you more than Ragnar Lothbrok ever could."

She dropped his face and let him sink down into his desk, his forehead pressed painfully to the glass. She began to retreat from the room. "I imagine you'll be expected to attend certain Jensen Construction events, what with it being your name and all. You'll be at the wedding and any events aligned with it but those are the only times I will allow you to be in my presence again."

She opened the door and turned to look at him. He was small at his desk. His head was still pressed to the desktop and his shoulders had started shaking anew. She tried to recall a picture of him from before when her mother was still alive but nothing was coming to mind. This sad, miserable soul in front of her was just a shadow of the man that was her father and, for the life of her, she couldn't find it in herself to feel sorry for him.

"Send me the details regarding Ragnar Lothbrok and his son, the one I'll be marrying. I imagine he wishes to meet sooner rather than later." She didn't slam the door behind her. She'd made her point.

.

A glass bowl flew past Ragnar's head but he didn't flinch. Björn sighed deeply and closed his eyes when a lamp sailed by his shoulder. Ivar stalked towards the liquor cart and gripped a decanter of scotch in his fist and whirled on his father. Ragnar stood quickly from his chair as the decanter was launched across the room at his head. Ivar had been very careful up to that point to purposely miss his father but he intentionally aimed at him this time. It crashed against the mantle sending glass and amber liquor everywhere.

"Enough!" Ragnar roared. Ivar screamed back long and loud before hunching forward and glaring under his brow at his father. His eyes were hard as winter ice, aiming rage and resent at his father. "Enough, Ivar." Ragnar sighed and sat back heavily in his desk chair. Björn shifted and crossed his arms over his chest. Ragnar gestured to the chairs across from him. "Have a seat, son."

Ivar glared at his father before he shuffled forward and slumped down in his seat. Ragnar sighed and steepled his fingers, staring at his youngest child. "I understand you're upset…" Ivar snorted and shook his head. "Upset? It that was this is?" He glanced up at Björn and sniffed. He pointed at his brother. "Was this your idea? It was his idea wasn't it." Ragnar smiled grimly and shook his head. "It was not your brother's idea. It wasn't even my idea but I think this is a good thing."

Ivar snorted shook his head. "A good thing? How is this a good thing? Don't I get a say in this? What if I don't want to marry her?" Ragnar's smile only worked to irritate Ivar more than he already was. It was as if his own father was mocking him. He quirked an eyebrow and smirked. It was wicked and vile and Ragnar's smile began to fade. "I could kill her, did you think of that?"

Ragnar dropped his hands to the desk and clucked his tongue. "You won't. She's too much like you." Ivar narrowed his eyes as his father opened the drawer to his right and pulled out a file folder. He flipped it open and Ivar could see a small photograph clipped to the inside cover of the folder. From what he could see, it was a young woman. She had long dark hair that appeared to be some shade of red or dark brown. She wasn't smiling in the picture.

"Transferred out of three boarding schools before she was 17, allegations of assault, intimidation, theft, stalking." Ragnar glanced up at Ivar and couldn't help the smugness that went through him at his sons contemplative look. "None of this could be proven but her father had her moved each time. Feared legal repercussions, I'm assuming."

Ragnar flipped through the pages and hummed. "She's smart. Graduated from Oxford Summa Cum Laude with degrees in International Business and Public Relations. Sounds like she's been running her father's company since she came home. Obviously because he's been very irresponsible with their money."

Ragnar closed the file and watched Ivar. He had his left hand on his mouth and was stroking his bottom lip slowly. He blinked and looked at his father. "Why me?" Ragnar sighed and sat back in his chair. Björn shifted his weight and glanced between Ivar and Ragnar. Ragnar cleared his throat. "Aside from the fact that you're the only one of your brother's who is unmarried…" Ragnar took a long pause and rapped his knuckles against the desk.

"There have been some recent grumblings among my men. Conversations about my control of this organization." Ivar's eyes tightened at the corners and his lips thinned out. "Specifically my control over you." Ivar sat up straighter in his seat and cleared his throat. "So we'll kill them. Then they won't question your control."

Ragnar's smile was dark and he nodded. "Unfortunately, we can't kill everyone who questions me. Then we wouldn't have an organization to control. No, Ivar, it has to be you because people are questioning my ability to control you. Your unpredictability and savagery has made people fear us, that is true, however it has also made people question my control over your actions.

"It is no secret that you are largely able to do as you please but people have started to notice. They have begun wondering if it is because I allow it or if it's because I have no command over you. This decision will not only gain us power and wealth but it will tell our allies that you follow my command. You obey my decisions and that I have control."

Ivar seethed from across the desk, his teeth clenching hard. Ragnar smiled at his youngest son. He truly felt that this would work out in their favor. He had a good feeling about Aaline Jensen. She had fire, a passion that would quell his sons worst qualities. She would be good for Ivar.

"You will do this for me, my son. I am your father and you are my son. She will be here in two days time so I suggest you prepare yourself." Ragnar stood and left the study with Bjorn effectively ending the conversation. Ivar sat and glared at the flames crackling in the fireplace.