Read Story: SEASON 2 EPISODE 100

My brother didn’t know what he had lost.

I did, though.

Standing this close to her, I could smell her perfume—earthy with a hint of spice. She chewed on the inside of her cheek as she stared up at me with some of the biggest, darkest eyes I’d ever seen. All those feelings I’d harbored for the better part of a year writhed just under my skin, trying to take me over and abandon all self-control.

I felt an urge to kiss her that was so overwhelming… it was a small miracle I resisted.

“Seriously,” Natalie said, watching me closely. It might have been my imagination, but it almost seemed like she had leaned in a little as if inviting me for a kiss. “I’ve spent a lot of time on my own trying to heal, and it’s doing me a lot of good. I’m figuring myself out.”

Her tone

“That’s good, Nat,” I said, my throat suddenly a little dry. I studied her lips—plush… moist.

She licked them.

And then took a step back, grabbed one of my hands in both of hers, and squeezed it, the intensity beginning to drain out of the moment.

“I’ve even started helping out someone else. It helps gain perspective when you’re not always focused on yourself. You remember Wendy? The girl they left behind at the vacation home?”

Bringing someone else up broke some of the spell she was holding over me, and I managed to regain control over myself.

I felt my eyebrows furrow as I tried to remember who she was talking about. “Tall? Short hair? Pretty?”

Natalie nodded. “That’s the one. Her life was a mess, and I’ve been helping her get back on her feet. I got her a job here. It’s been fulfilling.”

“I’m happy for you.”

Neither of us said anything as the moments stretched on, and I could see a pained expression in her eyes. She gave my hand a light squeeze and let it go. “Things can’t be like they were, can they?”

Could they?

The interest was still there between us. We’d just shared a moment. I could kiss her right here in this room, and I she would probably kiss me back—I knew that much, at least. There was a good chance I could leave this office in a relationship.

But…

No. No matter how tempting Natalie was, whatever dynamic that had existed between us had shifted. She had gone her way, and I had gone mine. I had changed so much since I left the country. I had grown, and I had also made commitments of a different sort. Commitments to Helen and Bobbi. I couldn’t give them up.

Charity and I had some unfinished business.

I wouldn’t give Erin up.

And I knew Natalie well enough to know she couldn’t live with that kind of situation.

We had grown too different.

I gave her a sad smile. “I don’t know, Nat. We’ve both changed so much.”

Natalie’s lips tightened. “I don’t want us to drift apart.”

“Haven’t we already?”

She stared at me in silence, chewing feverishly on the inside of her cheek and looking as if she were trying to keep herself from crying.

“I don’t have a lot of good men in my life, Marcus, and you’re a good one.”

“I’m not that good,” I protested. “There’s Bobbi.”

She huffed. “We all make mistakes.”

That made me laugh—couldn’t help it. The idea of Natalie cutting Bobbi even a sliver of slack? Not a chance.

Still… her saying it meant something. Enough to stir that part of me that wondered, Maybe.

Maybe not now. Maybe not soon. But maybe someday.

My laugh earned a fleeting smile from her, but it faded fast.

“Seriously,” she said quietly. “I don’t want to lose you.”

“Hey.”

I closed the space between us and wrapped her in my arms, hands warm against her bare shoulders. I kissed the top of her head.

“You won’t,” I said. “I’m not going anywhere.”

No more near-misses. No flares of lust. Just two people sitting with the ache between them.

She cried, and I held her until the tears were gone.

***

Friday, September 13th, 1:40 pm

Half an hour later, I exited Marduke with Chloe on my left and John on my right. We were halfway down the stairs where the SUV waited, engine running, when my phone buzzed in my pocket.

Unknown number.

I used to decline those. Now, with an ex-spook on payroll, I answered them.

“Hello?”

“Mr. Upton.”

I stopped mid-step.

Chloe gave me a sharp look. “Who is it?”

“Mr. Tanaka,” I said into the phone as I glanced at my bodyguard and put the phone on speaker.

“How was Europe?”

“Nice,” I said. “Good food. Good beer. I bought a castle.”

“Hm,” he said flatly. “I hear that is not the only thing you acquired. I am told that you found something of mine while you were there.”

Chloe gave me a sharp gesture of her hand across her neck—cut it short.

“Don’t know what you mean,” I said.

“You know very well what I mean,” Tanaka said, his tone growing menacing. “And you knew I would—”

“Hiro,” I cut in. “I’m a busy man. You want to talk? Make a fucking appointment.”

“This is—”

I killed the call and powered down my phone.

Chloe was right. I shouldn’t talk to him over the phone, where conversations could be intercepted—especially not about kidnapping Ryo. If he wanted his kid back, he could talk to me in person.

Chloe gave me a look—cool, unreadable, but with a flicker of something close to approval.

“Let’s go,” I said, heading toward the car.

I felt good after hanging up on Tanaka.

I knew I still had a lot of growing to do, but I finally felt like I was wising up and starting to take control. I could do this. It wasn’t the first time I’d taken on someone who had threatened me.

I didn’t know this world.

But I was learning.

And now, it actually felt like I was starting to call the shots.

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To Be Continued...