Chapter 7

“I uh… I might need to go in there alone,” Nadia told Dean who frowned down at her.

“I think it’s a little too late to be worried about us being seen together,” he said.

“No… uh, I need to talk to Luke’s teacher for a moment, give me a minute,” Nadia insisted as she got out of the car and made her way hastily toward the school where Mrs. Payne was anxiously waiting for her at the door.

“What does he want?” She asked her and Mrs. Payne shook her head with worry.

“He wouldn’t tell us what he wanted. He asked whether Miss Talbot was here and then corrected himself to your last name. I led him to the office when I called you claiming that you agreed to see him,” She explained, and Nadia nodded with determination as she made her way into the building.

“What in the world is going on, Nadia? Why is there a reporter here looking for you,” Mrs. Payne asked as she followed after her worry evident in her voice.

Mrs. Payne was one of the few people who knew about her past. So she was evidently worried about this because she knew what it would mean if a reporter uncovered her real name. It would be a nightmare coming back to haunt her. Which Nadia had a feeling was already happening.

A shiver ran down her spine at the thought, but she braced herself, she needed to remain strong.

“I don’t have the time to tell you the details right now, but I think things are going to be a mess for a while. I need you to keep away from us, Luke and I are nothing but a parent and a student for you.” She explained to Mrs. Payne who gave her a confused expression,

“I will explain everything when I’m done with this person. There’s a man outside in the car, if he comes in, ask him to wait for me. And please call the nanny and ask her to bring Luke back,” She instructed.

“Alright, I understand. I already called the nanny to come back I will go out to anticipate her,” Mrs. Payne said with a nod as she made her way back out toward the entrance.

The school was empty except for the few remaining staff and teachers and Nadia was glad for that.

Entering Mrs. Payne’s office, she found a middle-aged man there standing behind the desk and looking through the papers.

“What are you doing?” She asked startling him but he recovered quickly smiling at her.

“You must be Miss. Nadia Rowell,” He said walking toward her and extending his hand, “Troy Rolland, I’m a reporter,”

Nadia stared at his hand before looking up at him, “What do you want Mr Rolland?” She asked.

Rolland looked at his hand then smiled pulling it back fishing his phone out and scrolling through it.

“I want to make a deal with you, Miss Rowell…” He said with a smile motioning to the sofa at the side of the room, “Please, sit down. I don’t see your boyfriend with you. Did Mr. Wess abandon you when he learned that you had a son?” He asked with a smile and Nadia raised one eyebrow at him.

He was trying to provoke her. To distress her before he began discussing what he really wanted from her. She wasn’t going to fall for his tricks. No matter how annoying the man was.

“I… Unlike before, you seem to have grown a backbone, Miss Rowell. Or should I call you, Miss Talbot? Because that’s your real name, right?” He said with a smile and Nadia’s heart beat faster at the mention of that name.

Something must have shown on her face because Rolland smiled before he sat down on the couch seeming quite pleased with himself.

“Now… Why don’t we talk about that deal? I heard that Nadia Talbot had a lot of wealth accumulated even without her father’s inheritance. Her mother’s side of the family was quite loaded I hear. And they had so few family members left that she ended up inheriting most of their money. I wonder where all that fortune went after Miss. Talbot disappeared…” He trailed off.

“I wanted to make a deal with Mr.Wess’ money but maybe we won’t need him after all…” He said with a smile.

Nadia reached for her phone and started dialing a number.

“Are you calling your knight in shining armor?” He asked, “I am fine with that,”

“I am calling the police. This is clearly a case of blackmail and you even broke into my son’s nursery school which makes it two crimes. I hope you realize that your charges won’t be light,” She answered coolly as she looked down at her phone.

Before realizing it, Rolland was out of his seat and grabbing her wrists forcing her to drop her phone. He was strong. Much stronger than her. Nadia realized for the first time that maybe she shouldn’t have come in here alone. She was so bent on keeping this a secret from Dean that she’d overlooked this detail.

Rolland leaned in toward her squeezing her wrists harder making her wince.

“Are you sure you want to play this game with me? Miss Talbot? I know who you are, and I know what you are and everything there is to know. You shouldn’t be treating me like this. You know…”

Rolland was whispering into her ear as she tried to lean back away from him to no avail. When suddenly the door burst open and Dean entered the room in a flash.

Quickly, he seized Rolland by the collar dragging him away from her and pressing him against the wall.

“What the f**k do you think you’re doing?” He growled out his voice sounding savage.

Nadia was shocked her hands trembling from the pressure that had been put on them.

“Here comes the knight in shining armor…” He said with a smile as he gasped for air against Dean’s gasp.

“What was this man doing to you?” Dean asked looking back at Nadia and she gulped at the wild harsh look on his face.

“He… he was talking about some information,” She murmured and Dean smiled.

“I see… So you’re one of those… I knew that you would start appearing by now but aren’t you a little ahead of the bunch?” Dean said with a smirk as he let the man go so suddenly that he fell to the floor.

“You’re wrong there Mr. Wess. I am not one of them, I AM them…” Rolland said as he coughed his smile never leaving him.

“What are you talking about?” He asked.

“The article who ousted you two. I was the one who wrote it. And I have so much more juicy information that I was hoping to share with you. Because it seemed like your dear girlfriend/secretary didn’t tell you anything. But I don’t like the way you treated me, so you’re just going to have to find out in tomorrow’s article. You should be looking forward to it,” Rolland said as he stood up.

A shiver ran down Nadia’s spine as he made that declaration. Her mind spun as she thought about the possibilities of what could the information she was talking about be. There were just too many possibilities.

Rolland picked up his phone again tapping on it then smiling at them as he made his way to the door.

“I’m sure there are a lot of things that the world would be delighted to know about you, Miss Ta- I mean Miss. Rowell,” He added, then as he passed her by her whispered, “And so would a certain someone. I heard he hadn’t stopped looking for you over the last five years…”

A certain someone… That could be one person. Only one person. He was looking for her, all these years. He can’t find her now.

“What was your name again?” Dean asked before Rolland left.

“Troy Rolland. Nice to make your acquaintance Mr. Wess…” He answered with a smirk.

Dean then looked back a cruel smile on his face as he walked toward Rolland.

“I will make sure to remember that, Rolland.” He said leaning into the much shorter man to the point of making him stumble back.

“Especially if I see you within reach of my girlfriend again,” He added and Rolland was shocked for a moment before he made an awkward laugh.

“Woah, that was scary… Reminds me of a certain someone… How you always end up with the truly fucked up ones is beyond me,” He told her with a smile.

Right then the door to the office opened and the bodyguard came in.

“Restrain him and hand him over to the police,” Dean said.

“Yes, Mr. Wess.” Said the bodyguard as he pulled Rolland away.

Nadia stood there in silence as she looked at Dean’s back. Her mind raced one mile per second. She heard her phone ping snapping her out of her thoughts and she looked down at it reading the message that popped up on her screen.

“I finally found you.”

Her knees buckled beneath her as the whole world disappeared around her leaving only the screen of her phone before her and the massage which she kept rereading until she could practically hear the words inside her head whispered in that person’s voice.

“I finally found you, Nadia…”