One thing I didn’t care to analyze at all was why I hadn’t told Hayden about the drinks with his father. It wasn’t that I was deliberately keeping them a secret – I just didn’t want to give Hayden anything else to get upset about. And besides, Henrik was an interesting guy no matter what Hayden thought.
“Are you close to your family?” Henrik asked. The first couple of times we’d met for drinks he hadn’t asked me much about myself, presumably because he didn’t care. Instead, he’d seemed to want to confide in me. I sensed that he was lonely there in his big mansion and perhaps he needed someone to lend an ear. But lately it seemed I’d piqued his curiosity.
“Not really. I see them a couple times of year during the holidays, usually, but that’s about it.”
“Why is that?”
I shrugged. “My parents have always favored my sister.” To say she and I had sibling rivalry was an understatement. But rivalries are no fun when you know your opponent will come out on top every single time, at least as far as one’s parents are concerned. It was a sore spot, but I tried to downplay it.
“That’s absurd,” Henrik scoffed in a way that made the corners of my mouth turn upward ever so slightly. “They mustn’t realize how lucky they are to have a lovely girl like you for a daughter, the damn fools! I would have loved to have a daughter like you.” It was affirming to know that he was so vehemently on my side.
Early on, I’d warned myself not to let my guard down around Henrik. But there was something so endearing about what he was saying that I couldn’t help but feel a little affection for him. He was most certainly rough around the edges and sometimes his personality could be downright abrasive. But every so often I caught a glimmer of the man Hayden must have spent his entire childhood wishing his father could be.
He was in there. He was just buried deep.
It was a shame Hayden had never been able to see that. Maybe if he had, their entire relationship could have been different. It still probably wouldn’t have been all sunshine and rainbows – I doubted Henrik was a sunshine and rainbows kind of man. But maybe they could have come to a mutual understanding. Maybe their relationship didn’t need to be filled with such contempt for one another.
I felt a twinge of guilt over having an agenda, but I rationalized it by telling myself Henrik had left me no other choice. Hayden was right about one thing: his father was a control freak. But I was confident I could beat him at his own game.
Henrik might be unusually skilled at recognizing bad acting, but I’d had a lifetime worth of clumsiness to prepare me for this performance!
I picked up my martini to take a pretend sip. Then I had a momentary change of heart and actually did take a sip. It was a shame I wouldn’t be able to finish it because it was delicious! But getting drunk wasn’t in the plans…getting Henrik drunk was. Over the past few days I’d seen how his defences began to come down once he had some alcohol in his system. Having his defences fall away completely once he’d consumed a lot of alcohol was exactly what I was counting on.
“Oh!” I cried out as I fumbled with the glass and spilled the drink all over my silk dress. “No!”
Henrik’s eyes widened and he quickly offered me a neatly pressed, monogrammed handkerchief from his suit pocket, but it was no use. I’d ruined my lovely silk cocktail dress. Conveniently, I didn’t even have to feign my horror at destroying such a beautiful garment – it was one of the designer black dresses Hayden had given me and it was something I’d have never been able to afford on a college instructor’s salary.
“I loved this dress,” I sighed as I dabbed at the stained fabric in vain. “I’m such a klutz.” Since both those statements were very much true, I was confident Henrik’s suspicions wouldn’t be aroused. Why lie when the truth will serve you just as well?
Henrik opened his desk drawer and pulled out a checkbook. “It’s pointless to waste time agonizing over problems money can easily solve,” he advised. “Go buy yourself a new dress.” He scribbled something on the paper, scrawled his signature and tore the paper free. When he handed it to me and I got a glimpse of what he’d written, I basically had to pick my jaw up off the floor.
“This is too much,” I gasped.
Getting money from Henrik had been my objective all along, of course, but I would have been happy with a much smaller amount. It appeared Henrik was in a particularly generous – and intoxicated – mood. He’d written me a check for fifty thousand dollars. Suddenly any regret I’d felt over ruining my dress was gone. It had been well worth it.
“I’ll be the judge of that,” he said firmly. “Buy yourself a whole new wardrobe if you like. If that isn’t enough you just let me know. There are some ladies shops on Rodeo Drive that you might be interested in. I can have one of my drivers take you to Beverly Hills tomorrow. I expect you might enjoy an outing after being cooped up here at the mansion, no?”
Despite Henrik’s generosity – and what it meant for my plan – I couldn’t help but feel a bit crestfallen. I’d thought the fact that he was giving me so much money meant he cared, but if he was encouraging me to leave the mansion and be out in public…
“Isn’t it dangerous?” I asked in a small voice, trying not to let on how hurt I was. Maybe it didn’t matter to him if I was murdered on the street amidst all the fake tanned, busty blonde trophy wives who were out to spend their surgeon husbands’ earnings on fur coats, leather handbags and snakeskin boots.
“Dangerous?” he repeated, looking genuinely puzzled. Then understanding set in. “Oh, that,” he acknowledged before taking yet another drink. “The death threats aren’t real. They never have been. You’re not in any danger. Neither you nor Hayden ever were in danger.”
I blinked. “Excuse me?”
“I had the threats sent to Hayden,” he said simply as he poured himself yet another drink. “Hayden’s so-called bodyguards were hired actors and the dangers they protected him from were entirely fictional. People will do almost anything if you pay them enough,” he slurred with a touch of disdain in his voice.
Speechless, all I could do was gawk at Henrik in utter disbelief.
My reaction seemed to tip the drunken man off that he’d said far too much. As though his words had just sunk in, he smacked his forehead exactly the same way Hayden occasionally did. “I shouldn’t have said that. Forget I said anything.” It seemed that being drunk didn’t just incite Henrik to write large checks on a whim. It also caused him to get a little too chatty…or rather, a lot too chatty.
“Uh, how can you tell me to just forget about what you said?” I demanded. “There’s no way I can do that. What do you mean you sent the death threats? What kind of father does that to his own son?”
I noticed my voice was growing shriller by the minute, a testament to my mounting indignation. Mess with the man I love and you mess with me. Maybe Hayden had been right about his father after all. Maybe I was the one who, overly eager to see some good in him, had misjudged Henrik Slate. And now I was angry.
Henrik looked mournful – and, for the first time since I’d met him, dishevelled. He began to say something but it came out as an incoherent jumble of words that made little sense. Clearing his throat, he tried again. “I’m too drunk to have this conversation right now,” he told me amidst a fit of hiccups. “Come back tomorrow and I’ll explain myself.”
Unsure of what to do, I didn’t budge from my seat. I wanted answers now but I admittedly had gotten Henrik pretty damn inebriated. I didn’t want the incognizant ramblings of a drunken man; I wanted the truth. Maybe it would be best to wait for him to sober up. Reluctantly, I stood.
“Don’t tell Hayden,” Henrik pleaded, suddenly looking like a feeble little old man whose world was about to crash down around him. “He can barely tolerate me now as it is. If he finds out about this he’ll spend the rest of his life hating me.”
A flash of anger rose up inside me then, searing hot and impulsive. “Could you really blame him if he did?” I blurted out, my hands on my hip
s. “Do you have any idea what you’ve done to him? You’ve taken away his freedom and nearly destroyed his life. Hayden has every right to be furious with you and, come to think of it, I do too.”
“At least hear me out first. Please, Daniella, I’m begging you.” Henrik buried his head in his hands then, like an insolent child that’s been caught being naughty and is about to be punished. I waited for him to stop hiding his face from me but he didn’t.
Unsure of what to do, I said his name and got no response. I said it again and he didn’t react at all. Timidly, I poked his arm, half-expecting him to sit up with a roar and go off on a drunken tirade. But he didn’t budge. Then I heard the quiet, rhythmic snoring of a man who’s had far too much to drink. He was out cold.
Deeply irritated and in total shock, I stalked out of Henrik’s office angrily in search of Hayden. I didn’t care what Henrik had asked of me. He wanted me to keep my mouth shut until I’d heard him out, but too bad. My loyalty wasn’t to him. It was to Hayden. There was no way I’d keep a secret as huge as this from the love of my life…not even for one night.
Chapter 06
After leaving Henrik’s office, I searched the mansion high and low for Hayden. The way I charged around like a bull in a china shop wasn’t exactly dignified or ladylike, but I didn’t care. My shoes in my hand, I ran barefoot from room to room desperately trying to find him. But he was nowhere to be found.
Finally I managed to find a staff member who actually knew Hayden’s whereabouts. But I didn’t like his answer one bit. “Oh yes, Ms. James,” the head chef told me apologetically. “The younger Mr. Slate had to make a last minute trip to Amsterdam to prevent an art deal from falling through.”
“Amsterdam?” I repeated, feeling my heart sink.
“Yes. 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 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 coul
dn’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 and everything, but he couldn’t control me. He’d conspired against the man I’d fallen hard for and because of that, I wasn’t about to go easy on him. I’d arrived ready to go to war against him if need be.
“Would you like some coffee?” he offered politely.
“No.” My parents had always taught me to mind my manners, but this time I purposefully didn’t say “no thank you.” I could practically hear my mother’s cluck of disapproval in my head. I punctuated my one word sentence by throwing the uncashed check Henrik had given me down on his desk. “I’ve changed my mind about this,” I informed him icily. “I don’t want your money.”
His Forever (His #3) Page 4