He nodded. “Yes sir. A little over forty minutes ago.”
He proceeded for the elevators but he saw that the bellboy wasn’t finished talking yet. “Well?”
“I believe she’s waiting for you at the bar, sir,” the bellboy added.
The bar? But she didn’t drink… He nodded and said a curt thank you and walked for the bar. What would she be doing there? Its interiors screamed it was a gentleman’s bar, but then again, she was American and didn’t know about places like these. He passed by two concierge talking to themselves in hushed tones as they pushed a trolley.
“She’s a real pretty one, ain’t she?” one man whispered.
“Prettiest by far to walk here in weeks,” the other nodded in agreement. “I’m guessing it’s her smile.”
Her smile. That could mean only one person. Unless another guest had that dazzling smile at Rosewood. Being in a bar meant that she was either drinking alone, or had been invited to drink. Mikaela was quite gullible to some extent, and this thought annoyed him.
He stopped at the door seeing Mikaela at the end of the room, standing by the bar, surrounded by four, no, five men, businessmen by the looks of it. His temper flared, although he did his best to control it. She was having a grand time by the looks of it, laughing at the morons’ adlibs and antics. They were all vying for her attention, circling on her like vultures set on eating prey. He was here to prove he was alpha male, he was the ultimate hunter.
He strode to their direction, detesting the tinkling sound of her laughter. Were they even that funny that she should laugh at every little thing they said?
“Sweetheart,” he said in a voice louder than usual.
The group looked to his direction in unison. Justin sized everyone up in an instant. They all wore department store brand suits by the looks of it, and they all had polished shoes, and distinct Scandinavian accents. Juniors at some big corporation.
Mikaela was looking at him like she had seen a ghost. For a split second there, he thought she didn’t see him. Was she drunk? Drunk on attention, more likely. The men surrounding her were all smiles, obviously charmed by her. She wasn’t even that charming, right?
She was at a loss for words at first. She hadn’t seen him so controlled but she knew he was pissed. “Hi,” she said lamely. “I thought you were busy today.”
“Change of plans. Am I glad you have company,” he said this with poison in his eyes and in his tone of voice. “Who are these gentlemen?” he asked, walking closer to her.
Without saying anything else, the men moved aside to let him through, with just enough space for him to squeeze in.
Mikaela forced herself to act like everything was all right. “Oh, hey. Well, this is Klaus, Erik, Aksel, Frederik, and another Klaus,” she said with a nervous laugh.
“Pleasure to meet you, gentlemen,” he said with a nod. One man extended his hand to shake it. He decided to introduce himself. “I’m Justin, Justin Henderson.”
Their eyes widened.
“Henderson Steel?” Frederik said.
“You’re Justin Henderson? Sir, it’s an honor,” another greeted, shaking his hand.
“Did we meet before?” Justin asked good-naturedly.
“Never had the honor, Sir. We’re with Vanguard Insulation,” Erik explained.
“Ah, so our companies have done a bit of business together.” Justin smiled. “Well, gentlemen, order anything you want, tab is on me. We just need to get some shut-eye now, it’s been a long day.”
They thanked him profusely and said a polite farewell to Mr. Henders
on’s girlfriend, unable to believe their luck, meeting a really hot woman who turned out to be Justin Henderson’s girlfriend, the number one steel manufacturer in the world. They idolized him to some extent; Justin found it obvious.
He walked arm-in-arm with Mikaela all the way to her bedroom. Once they were in, he let go of her quickly, albeit harshly.
“What the hell was that?” she snapped, flinging off her heels to a corner, her gown wafting a little as she did.
He walked up to her, towering over her once more. “That wasn’t a very smart thing to do.”
“I only had one drink. One drink. God, you can see it on the tab if it bothers you so much.”
“Your drink didn’t bother me. Your company did.”