AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I reply to Oliver, promising I will be there, then switch over to my thread with Scarlett. The last thing she sent me was the link to the crib she wants.
We’ve barely started setting up the nursery. She’s been busy preparing for maternity leave, while I’ve been pandering to investors and associates of Kensington Consolidated, trying to do damage control. Like Asher said, it’s been an exhausting, frustrating process. As CEO, I have no choice. And now that Scarlett is over eight months along, I also need to find the time to assemble a crib.
Asher glances at the phone screen. Chuckles, when he sees what I’m looking at. “Damn. Never thought I’d see the day, Kensington.”
A secretary shows up to show us to the conference room before I have a chance to respond. The meeting lasts an hour. It goes well, which is a relief. Reputations aren’t restored overnight, only destroyed. If Nathaniel Stewart had any Kensington Consolidated documents, he never released them. Slowly but surely, the whispers are dying out.
We’re all in high spirits as we pass the reception area and head toward the elevators. Isabel is chatting away, discussing improvements and takeaways. Ever since our late-night encounter on Christmas, she’s made an effort to be overly professional. And excessively efficient.
The elevator arrives. A middle-aged man steps out, and the three of us walk inside.
“Uh, Crew?” Asher interrupts Isabel’s analysis of the stock solutions.
“What?” I glance at Asher, who’s making no attempt to brainstorm and analyze. He’s squinting at his phone screen.
“Have you checked your phone?”
“No, why?”
“I have a bunch of missed calls from Celeste? Why would she be calling me…”
I’m no longer listening; I’m scrolling through thehundredsof missed notificationsIhave. “Fuck.”
I jab theLobbybutton with my elbow as I tap Scarlett’s name, as if that will speed up our descent. It rings and rings, finally going to voicemail. I swear again, then think. A quick Google search pulls upHaute’s number. It rings three times before a woman answers. “Hautemagazine, Alexandra speaking. How may I help you?”
“I need to talk to Scarlett Kensington.”
“Is she expecting your call?”
“Just transfer me,” I grit out.
“I’ll see if her assistant is available.” Cheery piano music echoes through the line as I watch the numbers tick down. Our meeting was on the ninety-seventh floor. We’re only just hitting eighty.
“Scarlett Kensington’s office. How may I help you?”
“I need to talk to her.”
“Can I take a message?”
“I’m her husband,” I snap. “So no, I need to talk to hernow.”
The pleasant tone disappears. I can’t remember Scarlett’s secretary’s name, but it turns out she’s pissed at me. “Why the hell weren’t you answering earlier?” She shouts the question, and it temporarily shocks me. People don’t speak to me like that. “I—oh my God. I’m so sorry, sir. I, seriously. I don’t think you can fire me, but she will if you—”
“Where. Is. Scarlett?”
“New York General. Her water broke forty-five minutes ago. I tried to go in the ambulance with her, but she wouldn’t let me. She just wanted me to call you.”
I pinch the bridge of my nose.Sixty-three.“I’m headed straight there.”
I hang up the phone, silently cursing the elevator to move faster.
“She’s having the baby?”
I give Asher aduhlook. “No, her secretary justreallywanted to ask you out.”
“We’re past the joking point. Got it.”
I bang my head back against the wall. “We were supposed to have another month. I have to go straight there. I don’t have time to take you two back to the office.”
