As the car stopped, Natalia looked around. They were in a part of the city she wasn't familiar with. When Hayden helped her out of the car, she looked at the restaurant that looked like it was from another era. It was made of grey stone with small windows and a large, heavy wooden door. The front and top were covered in ivy, making the building look almost hidden. "Wow, I like this place just from the outside," Natalia said as Hayden took her hand. He smiled when he opened the door. This was his favorite restaurant. It had a romantic atmosphere that he thought was perfect for their date. "Their food is excellent. I usually sit at the bar when I come here because I always come alone." She looked over at him with a light in her eyes. "This seems like an extremely romantic place to eat alone." Natalia looked around as they walked into the dimly lit restaurant. It was rustic Italian, and there were candles on every table. It was crowded, but there were still a few empty spots. Mos
Monday morning came too quickly for the couple. They had lived the weekend basically in their own bubble, and now it was time to get back to the real world. They took a shower together when they got up and began getting ready for work. Hayden wore a dark blue suit and a white shirt. Natalia wore a dark grey skirt suit with a pink shirt. Hayden made breakfast sandwiches while Natalia made the coffee. Neither had checked their phones, not wanting anything to interrupt their morning. They were sharing a car to their offices, and as they sat in the backseat, they took out their phones. They both had multiple missed calls, texts, and emails. Natalia groaned when she saw a text from Patrice telling her congratulations on her relationship with Hayden. She shared pictures that had shown up online of them kissing at the restaurant last night. The headline read Did Hayden Sumner thaw the ice queen? She showed it to Hayden, and he laughed. "If only they knew how hot my queen gets." Natal
Hayden walked Natalia to the elevator and gave her a long kiss before letting her go. He wanted to make sure that there was no doubt in the minds of others that she was his. After the doors shut, he walked back to the waiting car and went to his office. Natalia's face was flaming red as she felt the stares of those on the elevator. She loved that Hayden was letting the world know they were in love, but she didn't like being in the news due to her personal life. When she finally got to her floor, she walked off the elevator, and her entire staff was waiting for her with smiles. Everyone started clapping and cheering when she walked in, which embarrassed her even more. "I'm sure you have seen the news. Yes, Hayden Sumner and I are seeing each other. Also, we are going to become business partners. When we come across a company wanting to liquidate, we'll refer them to Sumner Enterprises. When they have a company that wants to be saved, they will refer them to us. We should be getti
Natalia looked at Cliff's post in disbelief. He tried to rape her, and now he's trying to make it look like she was sleeping with him to help her business. She couldn't hold back her laughter when she saw this nonsense. Patrice looked at her in concern. "Why are you laughing?" She asked quietly, thinking maybe Nat had lost it. "It's nothing more than a desperate attempt to get back at Hayden and me for making a fool of him. When he tried to rape me, I kneed him in the groin, as I told you. However, after I left, Hayden went back inside and broke his nose before punching him in the stomach. Report it as fake and put our own counter post stating that Natalia Crawford has never had a relationship with Clifford Judd. Put something about this being a pitiful attempt by a man who tried to force himself on a woman who declined his advances. You're good at wording this stuff correctly, so I'll let you handle it. Let me know if there's anything else." Natalia looked at her compu
Hayden and Natalia were on their way to the apartment when he received a text message. He groaned when he read it, and Natalia looked at him in question. "What's wrong?" She asked. "My mom wants me to go to their house for dinner. She won't let up even though I told her I'm busy." He had no desire to see them and listen to them complain about his relationship. Natalia got a mischievous grin on her face. "Don't disappoint your parents. Do you think they would mind one more for dinner? How about I go with you?" Hayden laughed before leaning down to kiss her. "Great idea. I'll text her back and tell her I'll be there. We'll let it be a surprise that I won't be alone." He quickly sent his text as the car came to a stop. When they got upstairs, they took a quick shower and dressed for dinner. Hayden wanted to go early so they could get back home. He wore a pair of black pants with a white button-up shirt. Natalia was in a dark blue dress that came to her knees. "
Two weeks had passed since Natalia and Hayden had begun their relationship. Hayden and Will were now working out of NC. Natalia had given Hayden an office, and they set up a desk for Will near him. It was working well for them even though they had agreed it would be temporary; Hayden wanted it to be permanent. He liked the atmosphere at NC. Natalia had the respect of her employees, and he could tell they all had her back. That says a lot about a CEO. Being an outsider looking in, it felt more like a family than a boss and employees. When he stopped by his office at Sumner Enterprise to collect some of his items for his office at NC, it felt very stifling to him. He noticed Will also picked up on the differences and seemed more relaxed in their current location. While looking over a contract in his office, he saw a courier with a large manila envelope at the front desk. He didn't think anything about it and went back to work. However, a few minutes later, Natalia came in
Three days later, Hayden and Natalia were packing his belongings in his apartment to move into hers. They had already signed the updated lease that added him as a co-tenant. While placing his knick-knacks in boxes, Natalia found pictures of him when he was a child. She smiled, looking at them and her mind went to the future, wondering if they had children would their son look like a young Hayden? "What are you smiling at?" He came up behind her, looking over her shoulder. Hayden saw a picture of himself playing baseball when he was about eight years old. "I found these old pictures of you. You were a cute child." Natalia wondered where he stood on having kids one day. "I was at a baseball camp in that picture. Those were some of the best days of my life. Anything that got me out of my parent's house was a good time. Do you like kids?" Hayden thought about Natalia walking around with his baby in her belly, and it excited him more than he wanted to admit. He would like
Hayden and Will were almost to NC when they noticed ambulances and police cars everywhere. Hayden tried to see what had happened, but there were too many people. He heard someone say somebody fell into traffic and got hit by a car. As he continued toward the office, he heard something that made his blood run cold. "It was that woman Natalia, something. You know, the one they call the ice queen." Hayden spun around and pushed people out of his way to get near the curb. He froze when he saw Natalia lying unconscious on the street. Paramedics were putting her onto a stretcher. "Natalia? No, please." He yelled as he rushed forward, only to be stopped by a policeman. "Sir, you need to step back." The officer said. "That's my girlfriend, Natalia Crawford. I'm the only family she has. Let me go with her." The officer saw the desperation and tears on the man's face, so he waved him through. "Please tell me she's okay." He cried as the paramedics lifted her into the ambula
Three Months Later Natalia finally had the casts off her legs and was working with her physical therapist, Hannah. She was able to take a couple of painful steps before having to sit back down. It was slow work, but it would be worth it in the end. Hayden came to every appointment with her, much to the delight of Hannah, who had an obvious crush on him. Hayden avoided her as much as possible while staying near Natalia. It made him uncomfortable each time Hannah accidentally touched him when there was no reason for her to do so. Natalia laughed it off, telling him he should be used to it by now with how handsome he was. However, Hayden was getting seriously annoyed and was close to saying something to her about it. "How soon before Natalia will be able to walk like she used to?" Hayden asked Hannah, rolling his eyes when her face turned red, and she fluttered her eyelashes at him. "It may be months. So you may have to come here for a while." She answered, pretending to accidenta
Nick, Colby, Teo, and Kyle sat in the van across the street from the apartment building, waiting for Simon Allegri to show up for work. It was close to seven in the morning, so they expected him soon. They were upset about not being able to take out Jon before the authorities got him, so this was a way for them to redeem themselves. A few minutes before seven, they saw Simon walking toward the entrance. He was carrying a duffle bag they were sure had his gun hidden inside. They weren't going to make a move while he was in the apartment building. Instead, they would follow him when he left and take him off the street. It was time for the hunter to become the hunted. They didn't move all day while they waited. The four men got ready for quitting time so they could follow the hitman. When he walked out of the building, Teo and Colby hopped out of the van to follow him on foot while Nick and Kyle stayed in the van. As they followed him, the four men were conscientious, knowing Simon
"I never thought they would sink that low to kill us because we got their daughter locked up. They have taken this too far." Hayden pulled out his phone, ready to call the Blacks but changed his mind. Natalia had been right. The pain medication was helping his pain, and now he could think clearly. "What do you think we should do?" Natalia asked, noticing that he was no longer grimacing with every move. "We need to talk this through. I was going to call Simon Black and give him a piece of my mind. However, I don't want him to know we're on to him. We need to make the hitman disappear and then give proof to the authorities of who hired him." Hayden looked toward Dorian, who was nodding in agreement. "We at least know he's got a job here in the building, and he starts tomorrow. We also know what he looks like, so I can have my men take care of him. Let me work on getting something to hand over to the police about Simon Black." Dorian sent a message to his men and aske
"You've got to be fucking kidding me. Who would hire a hitman to come after us?" Hayden said with fury coursing through his veins. Hadn't they been through enough? He looked at Natalia; her face was void of emotion, as though she couldn't process this information right now. "I don't know who, but I'll see what I can find out. In the meantime, he'll be working in the building, so we need to be on high alert. He'll find whatever way he can to get to his target." Dorian sometimes hated that he was so good at doing what he did because it made him the bearer of bad news more times than not. "Do you think Jon would go to these lengths?" Krista asked, looking around at everyone. "I think he's more hands-on. It's not about us being dead for him. He wants to experience the killing for himself." Natalia spoke in a monotone. She felt as though she was ready to break. Why would someone hire a hitman? Her life was turning into something of a bad movie that seemed never to hav
Hayden and Krista helped Natalia into the restroom. Actually, Krista helped while Hayden supervised. He couldn't stop the nagging feeling as though someone was watching them when they went for their walk. When they returned to the living room, Hayden looked at Dorian. "Are you able to tap into the cameras outside the building?" He asked his cousin, who looked at him in confusion. "Yeah, were you looking for something specific?" Dorian asked as he turned on his laptop. Krista sat next to him, plastered to his side. It was their favorite way to sit together. He had never been in love before, but he knew that's what he felt for her. He just hadn't had the nerve to say it yet. They'd only been together for about a week. "When we were walking, I felt like someone was watching us. I may be paranoid, but I just want to be sure. We've had enough surprises." Hayden glanced toward Natalia, who was staring at him with concern. He hoped he was wrong. They had enough to worry
Todd got comfortable across the street from Natalia and Hayden's building. Those who hired him originally only wanted Natalia to be killed. After seeing how connected she and Hayden were to each other, they decided it was better to get rid of both of them. Todd was a hired hitman, and the people that hired him had a lot of money. He didn't understand why they wanted this young couple dead. From what he'd read about them, they were decent people. However, they seemed to have someone constantly trying to tear them down. Todd didn't need to know his employer's motivation, but he liked to have the background of those he was hunting. He knew Natalia had no family and had built her business from the ground up. After being pushed in front of oncoming traffic, a serial killer started hunting her. Hayden was from a wealthy family whose business had been struggling until he took over. Neither of them seemed to have many close friends, only acquaintances. From what he found, neither had bee
Sofia was so sure that she was going to cause a scene that she crossed her arms and leaned back with a smirk. However, she saw Hayden and Natalia look at each other before they started laughing. "You thought that was going to be breaking news that caused Hayden to suddenly want you or something? First of all, I know Hayden has never spent all night with anyone besides me. Even if you did sleep together, I'm sure it was a one-and-done like every other woman he'd been with before me. You were obviously not good because he doesn't even remember you. So if you thought this would cause some type of conflict between us, you're mistaken. Hayden and I both have pasts, and we're not jealous of them. Unlike you, we look to the future." Natalia had a fire in her eyes, causing Sofia's face to turn red as though she'd been slapped. It was then that she realized Hayden was on the phone. "Hi Paul, this is Hayden Sumner. I need to talk with you regarding Sofia Spurling." Sofia felt sick as she
Sofia looked between Hayden and Natalia wanting to bring up the fact that she was with him first. She wanted to break their happiness and have it for herself. However, the longer she waited, the more her nerve started to fade. Seeing how Hayden was with Natalia, she knew talking about their few minutes of sex that obviously meant nothing to him wouldn't matter to either of them. "What did you want to say?" Questioned Natalia with a small smile. "I just wanted to say that I am going to do everything I can to have Jon sentenced to death. He has killed too many people to skate by, with life in prison. I want his head on a platter." Sofia spoke with conviction as she pulled out a pad of paper from her briefcase. She was still going to get around reminding Hayden of who she was, but she decided it would be best done in private. Maybe he would see her out when she was leaving. Natalia looked at Sofia, not believing she was being completely honest. It felt as though she had
Jon sat in the interrogation room across from Andy and Dennis with a smirk on his face. He hadn't asked for an attorney yet, but he would eventually. He knew there really wasn't a point in having an attorney when he flaunted all of his crimes online and even bragged about them. "Do you have anything you'd like to say?" Dennis asked, letting his disdain for him be heard in every word. Jon shrugged. "What's there to say? I killed a lot of people. I think about killing people all the time because I get off on it. Think about the best orgasm you've ever had and multiply it by a thousand. That's how it feels when I cut those whores into little pieces. Although when I get out of here, I think I won't only kill women. I'll kill men, too. After all, blood is all the same color no matter who you are." He started laughing like a maniac as Dennis and Andy stared at him with disgust. "You were good at disguising yourself. Even walking right in front of several officers as a w