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
It took Natalie a long time to stop shaking. It took Levi's heart rate just as long to come down slowly.He held her tightly and kissed her forehead, grateful to have her back in his arms and in his bed.The past couple of weeks were torture for him.There were times when he'd been so terrified she'd never return to him.There were moments of intense jealousy and feelings of inadequacy whenever he saw her chatting with other guys in the office, smiled at them or laughed at their jokes. He wanted to be the only man who made her smile and laugh. He wanted to be the only man she looked at and thought about.Now that she was back in his arms, he planned to hold on to her forever. She said she loved him; Levi hoped she'd meant it, and it wasn't just her anger and petty jealousy talking. He knew she wanted him. Their drenched sheets were evidence of their desire for the other. But he desperately wanted her heart, too."Natalie," he whispered as he sought her lips in the dark and moved over h
"Van Holt, we can't just fire people!" Mark glared at him as he slammed the door shut. "Do you know how long it took to calm her down? She wanted to quit.""Let her. I mean, with her few brain cells, it seems all that university education has gone to waste, don't you think?" Levi clenched his jaw. "Who is she again?""She's a PR intern.""Why was an intern sitting in a crisis management meeting?"Mark rolled his eyes in frustration and stalked to the bar. He brought a bottle of whiskey and three glasses. Natalie declined. Levi was more than happy to be her white knight, so he knocked back both drinks."Are you sure about this?" Mark asked as they sipped their drinks in silence.Levi shook his head. He wasn't sure, but it had to be done. He'd acted irresponsibly. Natalie wasn't his direct subordinate, but he had to declare their relationship since a fallout from an office romance could be catastrophic for him as the CEO. It was one of the many reasons he'd never gotten involved with an
They were in the kitchen, going over their plans for the day while Levi made them coffee to jumpstart their brains.He felt it was too soon for Natalie to return to work after their meeting with Anna, and he wanted her to work from home."All the more reason I should go, don't you think? I don't want everyone to think I'm taking liberties just because I'm dating the boss," she argued as she took the mug from him and sniffed it, relishing the intense smell of coffee beans.Levi placed his cup on the counter and draped his arms around her, engulfing her in his warmth as he dropped kisses down her neck. "You can take all the liberties you want."Natalie liked the sound of that. In fact, she liked it so much, she turned around and kissed him fully on the lips, and it didn't take long for their not-so-innocent smooch to morph into a heavy make-out session."Let's go back to bed. I have a surprise for you." Levi nipped her upper lip playfully.He had her at 'surprise', and Natalie was ready
Emily was already waiting, tapping her fingers impatiently on the steering wheel.Natalie jumped in the passenger seat and fastened her seatbelt."So I met the ex," she said as soon as they pulled away from the entrance."I was there, remember?" Emily rolled her eyes."No, I mean. Today. I've just left her with Levi—""What?" Emily rammed on the brakes so hard if Natalie didn't have her seatbelt on, she was pretty sure she would have flown through the windscreen.The driver behind them complained, but Emily pretended not to see him as he overtook them and flipped them off."What do you mean you left her with Levi? Why would you do that? God, Nat! Can you honestly be so naive? You never ever leave your boyfriend with his ex!""Why not?" Natalie asked."Because there's a thing called casual sex between exes.""I trust Levi. Besides, Melissa seems nice. She's not at all like the evil blonde witch we imagined. Gosh, I feel so awful for stalking her socials and hating her for no reason, Em
Natalie rushed through her morning routine, and at 6:00 AM on the dot, she was on the bus on her way to work.By 07:00 AM, she was already logged in to her workstation and anxious as fuck, waiting for Levi to come in. She sent him a text, checking how far he was. She was dying to tell him about her little discovery.But when he still hadn't responded to her messages a couple of hours later, she dashed to the 10th floor."Mr Van Holt is out of the country. But he asked me to give you this." Angela smiled politely behind her glasses.Natalie took the envelope, puzzled by the PA's announcement. "But I spoke with him last night. He said he'll be here today.""He got a call at the crack of dawn. It seems the issue with the overseas distributor is much bigger than we'd anticipated—" Angela explained, but lost interest halfway through, leaving Natalie to fill in the blanks herself."When is he coming back?""Depends on how soon they reach an agreement.""Is Mark in yet? Can I see him?"Angel
Since the surgery was Friday, Natalie took the bus down to Sparrow Beach on Wednesday evening and spent Thursday at the hospital.There was a lot of paperwork to get through, and she met one expert after the other—from the finance side of things and all the way to the medical end of the spectrum.For some reason, everyone thought she had to know everything at once. They bombarded her with too many details she didn't need. She didn't even understand half the things they told her and wished they could just speak plain old English to her."Will they be okay?" Natalie finally asked Dr Eric Mwangi, the head surgeon Levi had flown in. She'd been locked away in one of the conference rooms with the transplant team for the better part of the afternoon, and she couldn't take any more of their rambling.She didn't care about all the fancy terms his team kept throwing around when they explained, in detail, the four-hour-long procedure.All she wanted to know was if her siblings would be okay."Th
Levi pushed Natalie into a cleaning supplies closet. It clearly stated in big, bold writing on the sign on the wall next to the door that the area was off-limits to the general public.But he didn't care.He wanted a moment of total privacy with his girl. Their kiss in the hallway was not enough for him. He wanted her in his arms."We're not supposed to be here." Natalie shook her head, but he hushed her up with a kiss, his hands resting on her waist. She'd lost a lot of weight and looked tired. Levi reckoned she wasn't eating or sleeping again. He'd have to fix that when they get home."I'm sorry I didn't call you over the past few days. Things were a little manic—" he tried to explain as he brushed her hair away from her face.Natalie stunned him, though, when she reached up and kissed him."You're not mad at me?" he asked the scepticism in his voice matching the suspicion in his eyes.He'd expected her to be fuming with him and throw every imaginable roadblock in his way. But Natal
"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
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
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
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
"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,
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
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
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
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