His Forever (His #3) by Octavia Wildwood Read Free Book Online Page A

Apparently a vendor threatened to back out on a deal at the last minute.  An in-person intervention was necessary.  I’m afraid I don’t know all the details,” the jolly looking man said, smiling ruefully.  “I just make the food.”
    “Do you know where he’s staying or where his meeting is to be held?”
    “I’m sorry, Ms. James.  I don’t.”
    “Well who does?”
    “As far as I know he usually makes those arrangements himself despite his father providing him with a personal assistant to work out the details.  It drives the elder Mr. Slate up the wall,” the man confided, grinning a bit and lowering his voice.  “If you ask me, it seems like that’s exactly why the younger Mr. Slate does it!” 
    That was so typical of Hayden.  What I’d once found amusing and even kind of cute was now frustrating me beyond belief.  How was I supposed to reach Hayden on short notice if I didn’t even know where in Amsterdam he was? 
    “Do you know when Hayden will be coming back?”
    “ Yes.  Oh dear…yes.”  The smile was gone from the man’s face now and he looked upset.  “He couldn’t find you to say goodbye so he asked me to tell you he’ll be back tomorrow afternoon.  But then one of the new assistant chefs accidentally caused a small grease fire and, well, in all the commotion I guess I forgot to give you the message.  I’m very sorry.”
    Come to think of it, there was a faint scent reminiscent of burnt toast in the air.  I’d been too distracted to notice it until now.  That brought me down a notch or two and I came to an abrupt standstill.  “Oh.  Was anyone hurt?” I asked, genuinely concerned when I saw how nervous the portly middle aged man was.
    “No ma’am, but we’ll all be fired if you tell the elder Mr. Slate about the mishap.   He isn’t exactly known for being a forgiving boss.  He fires his employees at the drop of a hat.” 
    That wasn’t surprising at all.  It seemed so like Henrik to push everyone away.  In some ways, it was a wonder that Hayden was such a relatively well-adjusted guy given what he’d grown up with.  Maybe it was a blessing in disguise that Hayden had been sent off to boarding school instead of being raised in close proximity to his father.  At least Henrik’s personality hadn’t rubbed off on him – much. 
    “I won’t say a word,” I assured the head chef.  “But if you want to keep the fire under wraps then maybe you should open a window.”  I had bigger things to think about than a tiny grease fire, and who was I to mess with someone’s livelihood?  It hadn’t felt good when Mark had tried to destroy my career so I wasn’t about to do that to Henrik’s staff members. 
    “Thank you, Ms. James,” the head chef said gratefully.  “I’m forever in your debt!   We all are!”
    I didn’t answer.  I was too busy racing to call Hayden. 
    Infuriatingly, it seemed his cell phone was shut off.  I left him an urgent voicemail begging him to call me immediately, but the phone didn’t ring.  Chances were he was tied up in a meeting…or maybe he’d just had enough business for one day and had turned his phone off to disengage from his father.  No matter what the reason, it didn’t exactly help me.
    As irritating as it was, it seemed Henrik just might get his wish after all.
    Frustrated, I retreated to my bedroom and stripped off my ruined black silk dress.  I traced my fingertip lightly over the discolored, alcohol-sodden fabric and then gently set the garment aside.  I caught a glimpse of my reflection in the armoire mirror then, and saw my anxiety written all over my face. 
    The necklace I wore around my neck gleamed, the many diamonds in it reflecting the light.  I paused then and put my hand to my throat, feeling it.  It helped calm me down by making me feel a bit closer to the man I loved. 
    “Everything will be alright,” I whispered to myself as my fingertips gently traced the contours of the gorgeous