Page 13 of Princely Agreement
“It’s been days, tell me you have good news,” I plead with Flynn when he walks through my front door.
After our last conversion, I’ve tried not to get my hopes up, but here I am once again on the edge of sanity. Clearly my hopes are more than up.
“Let’s go” is all he says before turning around and walking right back out.
I don’t hesitate or ask follow-up questions before my long strides catch up to him, and we get in his car parked out front. Once he starts the engine, I finally let them all out.
“What’s happening? Did you find her? Where are we going? Does she know we’re on the way?”
“Simmer down or I’ll leave you behind,” he says, but we both know he’d have to pry my cold fingers from his body before I’d let him leave me behind.
“I’m dying inside, Flynn. I don’t know what’s wrong with me, but the more time that passes, the worse it feels. I have to see her. You don’t understand.”
“Maybe I understand more than you think.”
His cryptic statement is said mostly to himself, but I have no idea what he’s talking about. I’ve never heard him talk about being with anyone, let alone this crazy for a woman. It doesn’t matter, because at this moment I’m laser-focused on finding my girl.
“Flynn, where are we going?”
“I’ve managed to get a meeting with the chef of Cinder estate. His name is Oliver.”
“Oliver?” The name sounds familiar, and then it finally clicks. “He’s the one that’s been with the family so long.”
“Yep, so if anyone knows the girl, it will be him.”
“What about the Vault twins? I can’t imagine they’d let us speak to him alone without a million questions asking why.”
“That’s what’s taken so long to arrange. I explained to Oliver that we had a sensitive issue we needed to discuss but would prefer for it to be private. Luckily for us, he doesn’t seem to have much affection for the dynamic duo.”
“Does anyone?” I roll my eyes.
“Evermore Holdings has a meeting with them this afternoon.” Flynn seems annoyed by this.
“And?”
“I thought for sure after the party and the whole incident with your mother getting hit that Evermore wouldn’t meet with them.” He grips the wheel tighter, and I can see this isn’t good news.
EH is Flynn’s family business, although he doesn’t have any say in what goes on. His father runs the board with a group of executives, and although Flynn has a seat, he refuses to play by his father’s rules. That’s a whole other story, but if EH is taking a meeting, then there must be something his father wants from them. Most likely it’s Cinder Financial.
“So while we’re at the estate, the twins will be meeting with Evermore?” I ask, and Flynn nods. “All right, we’ll make this quick, and if you need me to make some calls about their meeting today, I can.”
“Thanks,” he says then nods up ahead. “There it is.”
The estate comes into view, and it’s truly stunning. The gothic structure is surrounded by large iron gates, but Flynn doesn’t pull up to the main entrance. Instead, he goes around the back to where deliveries are made and the gates are less opulent. The tiny keypad nearby buzzes when we pull up and the gates swing open.
Once we’re parked, an older man wearing an apron comes out, and I recognize him right away. Flynn holds out his hand to shake, and then I do the same.
“Thank you for meeting with us,” I say, and he nods behind him.
“Come inside. I’ve got some breakfast if you’re hungry.”
“Always,” Flynn hurries to say because he never turns down food.
As nervous as I was on the way here, for some reason, I’m starting to relax. Maybe it’s being back here or knowing that I’ll get some kind of answers today, but the worry and anxiety that had me in knots for weeks is beginning to loosen.
The kitchen is massive, and there are several people milling around as we enter. Once inside, Oliver points to a couple of stools near the bar and says something in French to the people in the room. They all nod and then quickly make their escape, leaving the three of us in the kitchen alone.
“Help yourselves,” he says kindly as he places a basket of fresh croissants in front of us and then pours coffee.