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133|Crosshairs-Part 2
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2024-10-29 19:42:56
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Save Him 134|Different Paths-Part 1
Levi was already halfway across town to the Civic Theatre in Forrest Creek for the press conference when he received a text from Natalie informing him of her meeting with his father.He knew whatever his old man had planned wasn't anything good. But as much as his gut told him to cancel the press conference and head straight to Rock Castle to sort this shit out, he couldn't. A herd of press agents was already waiting for him, and he had major damage control to do.And that's what he did.For forty-five minutes, he answered all kinds of inane questions about Speed Freak, confirmed Chassis' plans to branch into mobile gaming and sold a game that didn't exist yet.Liam had spared him two hours from his diary, and he was just as fantastic. Levi would not have expected anything less from his friend, though. After all, they'd attended the same master classes and learned the art of working a room from the time they were eighteen.By the time they wrapped up the briefing, sometime after 7:30 P
Save Him 135|Different Paths-Part 2
All the things that had bothered them, things they'd glossed over and danced around and hoped their passion and desire for the other would cover up, spilt forth.Natalie admitted that aside from her chat with his father, she found his wealth frightening. It made her uncomfortable. She couldn't, wouldn't adjust to his life. She didn't belong in his world, and it was becoming more apparent every day. Her meeting with Leviticus had made their differences all the more obvious."Who closes an entire store for one person?" she asked, bringing up their shopping spree on Saturday. "What about other people? How do you inconvenience other people like that?""I'm sorry, I wanted my girlfriend to have total privacy.""At the expense of other people?""For your safety and privacy, Natalie, I'll always put your needs first!""I'm sorry, but I can't live like that.""Bullshit! We were fine this morning. We were happy the whole weekend. What did my father say to you to make you believe we'll never wor
Save Him 136|All Kinds Of Mad
Levi was all kinds of mad after he left Natalie's place in Beacon Hill sometime after 6:00 AM.Calming down before he confronted his father was the sensible thing to do. But then again, he was never sensible when it came to Leviticus.So he instructed Zachary and Carlos to take him wherever his father was supposed to be that day.Both men thought it was a terrible idea. He should head home first, get some sleep and calm down. But, Levi nicely reminded them he didn't take orders from them.After sitting in traffic for over two hours, they finally parked in the staff parking area at The Castle, and Levi headed inside.As he moved through the lobby and a few familiar faces stopped him to make small talk, Levi didn't even know where he mustered the energy to entertain them when all he wanted to do was to rip everyone's heads off.At last, they all let him be, and he headed straight for the private elevator, where he collided with Bailey Holloway as she was leaving."Levi, what a wonderful
Save Him 137|Time And Distance-Part 1
Levi had been at work for over an hour now since Zachary and Carlos dropped him off, but hard as he tried to settle down and focus, he couldn't. To say he was restless from all his pent up rage was an understatement. So to keep himself from going on a rampage and doing something he'd regret, he decided to stay put in his office.He drifted off to the window and gazed at the buildings across. One of them housed a dying, daily newspaper. The other was once a thriving hotel but had now been reduced to cheap accommodation for college students. It had a nice rooftop garden, though— the hotel college—and that was what Levi was staring at now, at the group of boys of around eighteen or so, weed out their vegetable garden when a soft knock on his door pulled him away from the window.Without waiting for an invitation, Angela came in. The sour expression on her face matched the dark pantsuit she wore. She set a macchiato from Rise, his change of clothing and Natalie's backpack on the coffee ta
Save Him 138|Time And Distance-Part 2
Half an hour later, all freshened up and feeling more like himself again, Levi joined Seth on the couch while Mark caught up on the financial markets on his iPad.The PI brought up an Excel spreadsheet on his laptop and shoved it at Levi."What am I looking at?" he asked as he scanned through a long list of series of numbers."That's Colleen's client list," Seth explained."Should I even ask how you got it?" Levi asked, already dreading his response."How else were we supposed to get it?" Mark confirmed his suspicions, and Levi suddenly needed a very strong drink; Angela's now cold macchiato wasn't going to cut it."What the actual hell, Mark?" he pushed the laptop away, stalked to the bar to pour them both a generous amount of whiskey and grabbed some water for Seth."Calm down! It won't trace back to us. Seth's guy is a pro." Mark retorted as he took the glass and knocked back his drink.Levi hoped he was right. There was still a very real possibility he might be booked for assault i
Save Him 139|Restless As The Sea
For two weeks, Natalie went through the motions. She went to work, did what she needed to do, sat in her game-planning meetings and typed up her reports. Soon, though, her listlessness began to seep into every aspect of her work.Norah called her in a few times, did the standard check-in, and Natalie assured her everything was perfectly fine.The second week when she messed up yet another report, Anna from HR had to intervene. She took her across to Rise for a coffee chat. Natalie saw through the whole thing, though. Just because their chat wasn't in Anna's office didn't make it any less of a verbal warning."Is everything okay?" Anna asked for what felt like the millionth time, and Natalie answered with her usual standard response. She was perfectly okay.What else was she supposed to say?She couldn't tell her that she was pining for their boss and she missed him terribly.Cutting off communication with Levi this time around was way more brutal because she'd become too emotionally i
Save Him 140|On The Run
Since the prosecutor who'd held the party in Glen Eagles was still on vacation abroad, and they didn't have any other new leads on Colleen, Levi decided they should go back to the drawing board and do things the old school way. They couldn't just sit back and twiddle their thumbs for another two weeks while they waited for the man's return.So immediately after his walkthrough of What If, Levi went home, had a nap that somehow turned into a few hours of solid sleep, and when he woke up sometime after 7:00 PM, they canvassed the streets of the western suburbs.Their searches in the past had centred around the north and surrounding areas. Branching out to areas that Colleen wouldn't normally go to seemed like a good way to help breathe new life into a case on the verge of turning cold. But, none of the transient groups they came across had ever seen Colleen, and their luck didn't improve when they hit the homeless shelters."How does a whole human vanish without a trace?" Mark asked, hi
Save Him 141|Ik Heb Je, Liefde
All the big shots of the gaming industry and Chassis' fans came out and showed up for the beta access launch of Speed Freak.By the time Natalie and Emily arrived at Rock Castle's Convention Centre, fashionably late because it was the only way to make a statement—according to Emily—the black carpet was ablaze with cameras and microphones as reporters tried to get the most iconic shots and memorable quotes from those they deemed worthy of their time and attention.Natalie called Jamie and Amber to give them a glimpse of the launch. She headed inside the venue and panned her camera around while Emily remained outside and took hundreds of photos on the carpet.Amber was underwhelmed. She couldn't understand what the fuss was about. As impressed as Jamie was, he wanted to get back to the live stream."What live stream?" Puzzled by his announcement, Natalie asked."The live stream Chassis set up for some of their fans." Jamie couldn't keep the impatience from his voice. "Nat, I want to cat
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Save Him 214|Follow The Sun
"Something's different," Natalie murmured as she flicked her gaze through the room.Levi gave her a back hug and kissed the top of her head. "I installed shutters.""Why?""This is our second home, Nat, and I wanted you to feel safe and comfortable.""Thank you," she turned around and hugged him, resting her head on his chest. "The windows don't look as scary and frightening as they did when I first stayed over.""That was the plan. To make them look less frightening." He tapped her nose and asked, "are you hungry?""For something else.""I was hoping you'd say that!" he replied and promptly threw her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes as he carried her to their bedroom."You sexy brute!" Natalie scolded him. "Put me down. The housekeepers will see us!"But he paid her no mind and only set her down once they were in their room."Say it again," he commanded as he moved over her on the bed and nibbled her lower lip. "Tell me all the filthy things you want me to do to you."Natalie
Save Him 213|Precious Love
Natalie had to blink a few times at the picturesque scene before her. It was hard to believe this place, decorated splendidly in ivory and silver motifs, was the same town hall used by Sparrow Beach's residence association to host their weekly meetings."This is amazing," she whispered as she swept her gaze through the room, at all the tiny details, the little things she would never have thought of if she was left to her own devices. Cynthia and the wedding planners had done an incredible job transforming it into a venue fit for a grand wedding reception. Natalie couldn't pry her eyes away from string fairy lights draping the ceiling. But the smell of white lilies permeating the room transported her back to her balcony at The Empress the night Levi proposed to her, and she turned him down. It felt like a lifetime ago, and as she gave him a sidelong glance and caught him looking at her, she couldn't help but be glad he never gave up on her, and she had the sense to say yes on his sixth
Save Him 212|Runaway Bride
At the altar, Seth and Mark seemed to be way more nervous than Levi."Are you sure about this?" Mark asked for the hundredth time, and Levi gritted his teeth for the hundredth time."How many times should I tell you? I love Nat, and I want to spend the rest of my life with her.""Well, I'm just saying marriage is forever, you know." Mark dabbed his forehead with his handkerchief."Why are you sweating? It's not even your wedding," Seth said as he pulled out his own handkerchief and patted his face."Can I have some water?" Liam asked. "God, I need some water. What did that crazy Russian do to me last night?""You fell for his dare again," Mark tried to fill in the blanks for him. "He made you a Russian fuck bomb—that's what he called it. Still don't know what was in it. But you were a goner after you drank that shit, and we had to help Eden carry you back to your room at the B&B.""No wonder she's mad as fuck at me," Liam whispered. "Is she looking at me right now? Guys, I can feel he
Save Him 211|Heart Is At Ease
The weatherman had predicted strong winds and heavy rain. But Natalie's big day dawned bright and sunny. The sky was as blue as the ocean behind her house, with no cloud in sight. Amber and Colleen thought it was a good omen, and Emily, not a believer of anything really, agreed with them."You are the most beautiful bride I've ever seen," Amber said for what felt like the hundredth time since Natalie had stepped into her wedding dress.They were in one of the smaller administration rooms on the chapel's grounds, and the stylists had turned it into a makeshift dressing room."What are you talking about? I'm the only bride you've ever seen!" Natalie teased, but she really was overwhelmed by all the love her sister and friends had shown her, and she was trying so hard not to cry and ruin her makeup."Just accept the compliment already," Colleen scolded her as she fussed over the hem of Natalie's dress."Yeah, Nat, you need to learn to work on accepting compliments graciously," Emily agre
Save Him 210|Cold Feet
"Is everything okay with you two?" Colleen approached him. "I'm sensing a weird vibe. Are you guys getting cold feet?""I don't know about Nat, but I'm not," Levi replied and pushed his hands in his pockets. "How was she today? I don't know…These last two weeks, she's been so calm.""And how is that a bad thing?""Because I know Nat. A wedding is a huge, life-altering event, and she doesn't do life-altering events well. Her knee-jerk reaction is to run. I'm just scared that—Never mind.""No," Colleen refused to let him leave her with half the info. "You're scared of what?""She's too calm, Leeny. The last time she was this way was when she threw you the welcome party. The very next day, she made a run for it without telling me about the twins.""That was months ago!" Colleen reminded him. "You're overthinking this. I've seen the way Nat looks at you. She's crazy about you and your babies. She won't leave you in the lurch! Besides, where would she run to? This is her home town."Right,
Save Him 209|Midnight Rendezvous
Julian and Andrei took it upon themselves to throw Levi the biggest and craziest bachelor party Sparrow Beach had ever seen.And Levi was only happy to blame Mark for everything."What did I do? I followed your 'no bachelor party' rule to the T." His best friend held up his hands as they watched Liam, Jaxon and Matthew try to outdrink each other over a beer pong game."That's exactly why it's your fault. You didn't enforce the rule hard enough," Levi replied, his attention stolen away briefly by Julian and Andrei sipping champagne from the navel of one of the three models-slash-strippers they'd flown in for the occasion.The said model was laid out on the pool table, her half-naked body out on display for everyone to see, and Levi wondered just how Joe had allowed this debauchery to carry on at his family-friendly establishment."Seriously, Mark, as my best man, how do you think Natalie will feel about all this crap?"Ten—maybe even two years ago—this was totally his scene. But now, a
Save Him 208|One Thing Right At Least
In theory, the idea of having twins had sounded fun and appealing. But the reality was far from it, as Natalie and Levi soon learned over the next few weeks.Indeed, it was double the blessing, double the fun, and double the joy. But it was also double the work, and it didn't help that the first week after they brought them home, Juno and Mars decided to go on different sleep schedules.If she and Levi didn't have a strong support system to rely on, Natalie knew they would have lost their minds in those first few weeks.Mrs Ackerman semi-moved in with them, splitting her time between the Blue Mountains and Green Point. It was nice having her around; she was a pro at the never-ending laundry of tiny-sized human clothes and the general upkeep of the house.Levi suggested hiring a nanny full time, but Natalie wasn't sold on the idea. She wanted to be hands-on and involved in the twins' upbringing."Love, it's not working," he said after one particularly difficult night. They were running
Save Him 207|Life's Little Moments
Natalie received a clean bill of health five days after the twins' arrival, and two days later, they were all finally allowed to leave the hospital.After months of being cooped up in bed and eating terrible hospital food, she couldn't get home fast enough.She couldn't stop raving about all the stuff she'd do when they got home, like taking an actual shower and sleeping in her own bed—all the things she used to take for granted before her bed rest.Zachary and Carlos picked them up, and they spent a few minutes gazing at the twins in their double infant stroller, trying to decide who they resembled the most."I really can't tell who they look like," Carlos admitted at last."Neither can we," Levi said with a smile as he covered the twins with a light blanket and turned to Natalie. "Ready to go?"She took one last look around the ward, ensuring they had all their stuff. Satisfied everything was packed away, she nodded. "Yep, let's go home."She hooked her arm around Levi's, and he pus
Save Him 206|Juno and Mars
Levi called his assistant on his way back to the hospital and cancelled all his meetings for the week."Sir," Angela said before they could hang up. "We are all thinking of you. Norah and Natalie's team are beside themselves with worry. But she's a fighter. She'll be out of the hospital in no time.""Thank you," he smiled into the phone, praying with all his heart she was right. He'd lose his mind if anything had to happen to Natalie and their twins. They'd come too far for him to lose her now, especially after everything they'd been through.After he hung up from Angela, he called Amber. She was hysterical, and it took him a long time to calm her down and assure her Natalie, and their babies were fine, and there was no need for them to drive down to Rock Union.He was immensely relieved when he found Natalie sitting up, chatting with his folks and her bestie.Now that he was back, his parents and Emily excused themselves, promising to return later to relieve him."See, I told you I'l
