Crossing Paths

Chapter 1: The Enemy

Copyright 2014 © Rosesareforever

This book contains material protected under International and Federal Copyright Laws and Treaties. Any unauthorized reprint or use of this material is prohibited. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without express written permission from the author / publisher.

***

Author's note:

This story is a part of the Henderson Empire series, but can stand alone. You do not have to read ‘A Fight without Remorse’ to understand this book, though I would recommend to check it out. The first book in the series is about Jade’s older sister Alexis.

Without further ado, enjoy the first chapter of 'Crossing Paths'.

***

Crossing Paths

Chapter 1

'The Enemy'

Sometimes in life, you have to make choices. There are always two choices. Two paths to take. One is easy. And its only reward is that it's easy. If you limit your choices only to what seems possible or reasonable, you disconnect yourself from what you truly want, and all that is left is a compromised version of your life. The hardest thing about the road not taken is that you never know where it might lead.

Jade has made a lot of difficult choices over the years, the hardest one undoubtedly was leaving behind her one true love. Some things simply aren’t meant to be. Her relationship with Sedric Miller never had any chance of survival, yet the romantic inside of her had demanded she give him a fair chance. Its only reward had been an incurable broken heart, shattered to pieces. Scars craved into her memory, still haunted her in times of crises.

Leaving Sedric had been the right choice, yet it felt wrong. Their love had been unexpected. She’d fallen for him in a heartbeat, in spite of all the warnings she’d received. Everyone had known the eventual outcome before they even crossed paths. It was inventible.

The early morning hour had her mind drifting to maudlin thoughts. An emergency meeting, had Jade leave much earlier in the morning for work. She usually didn’t start until eight o’clock, but her sister - aka her boss - had called her in the middle of the night to inform her she was expected for a confidential board meeting. Something bad must have happened, otherwise Alex wouldn’t have called.

Alex didn’t provide any information, besides the fact that an abrupt problem had arisen which could cause a lot of damage for the Henderson Empire Hotel Group in the long term. Alexis had sounded scared and perplexed, which only happened on rare occasions, like the time their father had been trying to execute his own daughter.

It made Jade more anxious than ever before, certainly because of her close bond with her eldest sister. They were practically inseparable. She clearly could feel something was drastically wrong. Call it female instinct.

“Jade,” someone suddenly called out from behind her, making her turn around and look up in surprise. She had been making herself a cup of highly needed coffee. She’d been too busy getting herself ready to make one at home and there was no way she would survive an early morning business meeting without caffeine in her system. She needed her latte to keep her sane.

“Good morning, Lexie,” she smiled, happy to see her sister. Her happiness was quickly abolished by concern at seeing  the dark circles underneath Alexis’ eyes, clear evidence of a bad night’s rest. Her sister had been through enough the past year, she didn’t need any more trouble than she’d already received.