Read Because of His Fortune (For His Pleasure, Book 25) for Free Online

getting distracted by thoughts of Liam, Easton, Kennedy,
Scott, Anne Houston, even Exley and Vera.
    Her mind was going in a million different
directions and she was losing focus.   Meanwhile, she’d hardly gotten half a page of meeting minutes written
down, and she wasn’t very confident that what she did have was any good.
    Sitting back in her chair, she put her face
in her hands and moaned with a discouraged pain.  
    Why?   Why is this all happening? She wondered.
    She heard the door squeaking open yet
again and pulled her hands off her face, only to find Red Jameson entering the
room, looking at her with a curious expression.
    Grace couldn’t believe it.   In just a few hours, it felt like
everyone she’d ever known had walked through that door.   It was like dealing with the ghosts of
Christmas Past, Present and Future, like someone was intentionally messing with
her.
    “Everything all right?” Red Jameson
asked, wearing a dark coat that extended to his knees, and a light gray suit
with a violet tie.   “You look upset,
Grace.”
    “Oh, no,” Grace said, shaking her head
and laughing.   “Just having a moment
is all.”
    Red nodded, his lips compressing.   “I know you’re close with Liam.   So I take it you’re aware of what’s
happening with him.”
    “Yes,” she said.
    Red nodded again.   “It must be difficult for him right
now.”
    “I’m certain it is,” Grace replied.
    Red seemed to pick up on her attempt to
remain professional and removed from the situation.   He stuffed his hands in his coat
pockets.   “Is Easton in?”
    “No,” she said.   “He went with Kennedy to a doctor’s
appointment.”
    Red checked his watch.   “When’s he due back?”
    “He didn’t say.”
    Red’s eyes grew a little cold.   “Well, what time was the appointment
for?”
    She hesitated, then smiled
uncertainly.   “He didn’t say.   I’m so sorry.”
    “And you have no idea when he’s coming
back.”
    “No, he didn’t mention it.”
    Red sighed, took out his phone and
punched some keys, then raised the phone to his ear.   “Hi Easton, this is Red Jameson calling
about a very urgent matter.   Please
return ASAP.”
    Red hung up the phone and scratched his
jaw.   “He’s not picking up his
phone.”
    Grace was feeling more and more
incompetent as her boss’s boss—the man who’d hired her—stood there
in the office and waited to be told even the most basic information about Easton’s
whereabouts from his assistant.
    “Let me try him, Mr. Jameson.”   Grace realized that she didn’t actually
have Easton’s cell number—only his office line.   But then she thought perhaps he was
checking his office voicemail, so she called the number.
    When Red heard the phone ringing in the
office, he got a bemused, but almost disbelieving expression on his face.   “Is that you calling his empty office?”
he asked.
    Grace nodded.   “I thought I’d leave a message in case
he checks the office voicemail.”
    Red chuckled.   “I think my message on his cell phone
already covered that base.”
    She hung up, her cheeks aflame with
embarrassment.   “I’m sorry, Mr.
Jameson.   I should’ve done a better
job of asking him for his itinerary.”
    “In the future, you should definitely try
to assert yourself more in that area,” Red told her.   “I can’t have my top man out of pocket with
no way of reaching him—ever.   It’s unacceptable and I expect you to have knowledge of his whereabouts
so I can access him when necessary.   I’ve got an emergency to do with our largest account and time is of the
essence.   If you’re able to reach
him or he contacts you—please tell him to be in touch with me
immediately.”
    “Yes, of course,” Grace said.
    Red nodded, looking around, seeming to
want to leave.   But then he looked
at her.   “How are you finding things
so far, Grace?   Is the position to
your liking?”
    “Oh, absolutely,” she said, smiling and
nodding.