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

necklace, my eyes fixed to my image in the mirror.  I wasn’t sure I believed my words but I said them anyway, hopeful that they’d prove to be true.
    Hayden had given me that necklace, buying it and earrings to match the bracelet he’d gifted me back before our relationship had really taken off.  Those exquisite pieces of jewellery were among the few items I’d made sure to pack before leaving my life in Burlington behind.  They were a reminder of happier times, before I’d been dragged into the tangled web of lies concocted by Henrik Slate. 
    The connection Hayden and I had shared had been new and much less complicated then, full of excitement and wonder.   I hadn’t expected to think back on those days with nostalgia so soon.  It stung a little to know that the relative simplicity that had once been was now gone.
    Maybe we could recapture that, I thought to myself hopefully as I fumbled clumsily with the delicate clasp.  I wished Hayden was standing behind me to unfasten the necklace for me before setting it aside and taking me in his arms… 
    Hayden would be livid when he found out what his father had done.  That was a given.  But later, once his anger had subsided, he’d see that we were finally free.  No one was after us , nor had anyone ever been.  We wouldn’t have to hide or look over our shoulders any longer.  We could live our lives together exactly as we saw fit, two people coming together to unite as one.  It was like a dream come true.
    But first we needed to deal with the ugly truth.  I knew there would be pain before there could be any pleasure.  I hated the thought of Hayden being hurt even more than he already had been…but there was no way around it.  All I could do was be there to console him when he learned just what his father was capable of.  Sadly, I wasn’t even convinced Hayden would be all that surprised.  He’d come to expect bad behavior from his father.  It was just a pity that Henrik kept proving his cynical son right.
    “Shit!” I exclaimed as the clasp of my diamond encrusted necklace broke.  I fumbled for it but missed catching it and the gorgeous piece fell to the floor with a clatter.  I fell to my knees in front of it, afraid of what I might find.  If it was badly damaged I’d be devastated.
    Thankfully it appeared the only part that had broken was the clasp.  The rest of the necklace remained intact, still every bit as beautiful as it had once been.  But what good is a gorgeous necklace without a working clasp?  I tucked it into my purse carefully and made a mental note to take it to a reputable jeweller as soon as things settled down.
    Maybe I couldn’t repair the fractured relationship between Hayden and his father, but I could at least get the necklace fixed.
     

Chapter 07
    “I’m here,” I announced, my arms crossed tightly over my chest.
    It was mid-morning and I was standing in the doorway of Henrik’s office.  I doubted very much that anything he said would change my low opinion of him but I nonetheless wanted to hear him out.  Besides, I still hadn’t been able to reach Hayden and I needed something to distract me or I’d go crazy dialing his number over and over only to hear voicemail pick up.
    “I can see that,” Henrik said.  He was seated behind his desk with an untouched cinnamon bagel and neatly-folded newspaper in front of him.  He had bags under his eyes and a bottle of painkillers was sitting on the desk next to his coffee mug.  “I must say, I expected you to be here much earlier.”
    “I had things to do.”   My answer was deliberately vague.  My comings and goings were none of Henrik’s business, and particularly not when I knew he’d disapprove of what I’d done.  My morning had been busy indeed.
    He didn’t press the matter.  “Come in, sit down.”
    “I’d rather stand,” I retorted just to make it clear that I wasn’t about to take orders from him.  Henrik might think he could control everyone