"Yes, she's alive, living an unassuming life," Aunt Viv replied at last."That's great. I'm so relieved," Natalie nodded and released a shaky sigh, her eyes shimmering brightly with tears.Aunty Viv clutched her hand tightly. "Promise me you'll stop looking into Jewel. Some roads lead to nowhere good, Noelle. Jewel is one of those roads.""But—" Natalie tried to say.Aunty Viv quickly cut her off, though. "No buts, Noelle! Drop this business about Jewel and leave the fucking client list alone. I won't have this chat with you again. The backers wanted you to know they've allowed you to keep your life because there are no names on that list. But if you do anything crazy again, no one can stop them from coming after you."Aunty Viv stood up, threw on her infamous leopard print coat and picked up her clutch before she drained her martini and sashayed out of the room.Terrified out of her head, Natalie ran to the bathroom and locked herself in one of the stalls.She quickly pulled out her
It was late, and they were both tired when they made it back to Green Point.Natalie ran straight to the guest room, but Levi was only too happy to dash her plans."Our room is over there!" He pointed at the master bedroom and promptly took her suitcase there. Her books and TV were still in the car. Mr Ackerman, his butler, would take care of them during the week.Like he knew she would, Natalie tried to argue with him. "But that's my room.""No, that's Colleen's room." Levi smiled and pushed her inside the walk-in closet. Mrs Ackerman had cleared some space, and the outfits he'd bought Natalie were already on the hangers and the shoes and handbags on the shelves."Don't you think things are moving too fast?" she asked, stepping deeper into the closet.Levi thought they were moving too damn slow. He wanted to fast forward to the parts where they were happy and without a care in the world. But there were still too many issues between them, like the upcoming visit to his folks' ranch an
They were discussing Vivienne Lume—Seth had finally figured out her surname from the clothing boutique invoice—when Natalie came in, dressed in one of his shirts.Mark and Seth hugged her after scolding her for her stunt earlier."Guys, I'm okay!" she assured them. "I'm not made of glass."Levi's anger eased some when his eyes travelled down her small frame appreciatively. She really seemed to have a thing for his clothes, specifically his shirts. But he wasn't complaining. They looked good on her, and he loved that even when she was upset with him, she still wanted him close to her.His stomach flip-flopped when he remembered her words earlier about wanting to be his person. How could she even think she wasn't?"I'll just sit in. I won't work the case," Natalie mumbled as she leaned on the doorframe and crossed her arms.Levi stared at her, convinced she was testing his patience. The earnestness in her eyes, though, softened the knot in his heart, and he found himself nodding."Great
Natalie was gone when Levi woke up the next morning. He reached for his phone on the end table and called her, but she didn't pick up.He sent her a text. She read it but didn't respond.Frowning, he rolled out of bed and strolled to the bathroom to take a leak, thinking back to last night.Sure, the romantic evening he'd planned didn't pan out so well, but they'd kissed and made up, so he couldn't understand why she'd just up and leave him in bed, especially when they were going to the same office.With his most urgent business out of the way, he headed back to the master bedroom and called Angela to check Natalie's whereabouts."Yes, Mr Van Holt, she's at work. I just saw her now in the elevator with her friend," his assistant assured him."Thanks, Angela. I'm meeting my parents shortly; I'll head to the office straight after."Forty minutes later, Levi sat in his parents' suite at The Empress, the animosity between him and his father palpable as he updated them up on Colleen's case
Angela was waiting for Levi at Rise after he left his parents, and they spent an unnecessarily long time trying to decide what to get Natalie for lunch."What does she like?" Angela asked."Ice cream, pizza and wine, Alfredo pasta and mutton curry," he rattled off everything Amber had told him, happy to put his gruelling confrontation with his parents aside and focus on something mundane, like ordering lunch for his girlfriend.He knew he'd have to deal with all their revelations at some point, but until Linda Swartz's receptionist got back to him, he'd have to neatly compartmentalise his feelings in a mental box and try not to peek inside."—Well, they don't sell any of that, sir," Angela informed him as she looked through the menu. "How about a chocolate croissant or a bran muffin?"Levi looked at her doubtfully, but agreed, adding a few more items."We'll be working on the third floor today," he told her as they made their way to the office."I don't think that's a good idea," Ange
Levi spent the rest of his morning with the developers sorting out the patch. He was eyeballs deep in code when Mark came to pick him, and they set off for Riversands.Seth had decided to stay behind and follow up on Aunty Viv's other properties.Mark sat behind the wheel for a large part of their six-hour drive, and Levi was grouchy the whole time. He still thought a chopper would have saved them both a lot of time."Where's the element of surprise?" Mark asked softly.Levi pulled his attention away from the laptop long enough to throw him a concerned look.Ever since he told him about the meeting with his parents, Mark had slipped into some far off place, and no matter how hard Levi tried to reach him, he couldn't.But he had to try again. Otherwise, it would just eat away at his partner away if they didn't get it off his chest, so he asked him, "Do you want to talk about it? The stuff with Colleen?"Mark shook his head, and they drove in silence for some time until Levi screamed an
"Oh, Snap!" Emily couldn't hide her excitement when they walked into Levi's penthouse Wednesday evening."Mr Scissors doesn't fuck around!" she gushed as she dumped her bag on the couch and ran up the glass staircase to the entertainment room on the first floor.Natalie ran after her. "Em, I don't think we're supposed to be here."She'd only been up here once when Levi took her on the tour of the house. They usually spent most of their time downstairs, in the master bedroom, situation room, or open plan living area."What do you mean you're not supposed to be here?" Emily giggled as she jumped on the massage chair and turned it on. "This is your house."Natalie shook her head. As much as she'd love to call it hers, she still felt like a guest. But it wasn't Levi's fault. He'd gone out of his way to make her comfortable. She just wasn't used to his life. Everything was expensive and fancy, and she was afraid if she so much as touched something, it would break.Emily, though, had no issu
They left work earlier than usual, and Emily complained the whole time they drove to the meeting spot, an industrial town two hours away.It wasn't Natalie's idea. She'd wanted to pass along the information to Levi and Mark and let them follow up on the lead. But Colleen had made it clear she'd only talk face to face and only with her.If Natalie so much as tried something stupid like call the police or involve third parties, Colleen had threatened to vanish without a trace again. She'd done it before and had no problem doing it again.Caught between a rock and a hard place, Natalie had agreed to her demands.Hunched over the steering wheel, Emily asked. "So, what's the plan?"Natalie shrugged. There wasn't a plan. But convincing Colleen to return to Rock Union seemed like a solid start. If all went well, they'd be back in Green Point by 10:00 PM latest."I think we're walking into a trap. This has Paul written all over it," Emily said for the hundredth time since they left Chassis.T