Chapter 23

Michael

I opened the door to my front office, and before it could close, someone attacked me. Two strong arms wrapped around my shoulders and a chunk of black hair flew into my mouth. A wet sensation pressed against my cheek.

“Michael!” Natalia’s voice filled my ears.

I leaned my head back and spat her hair out of my mouth.

“Damn, Natalia. You scared the shit out of me.”

She dropped back down to the floor. Her hair was much shorter than it had been the last time I saw her. Her physical appearance changed as quickly as the cars she drove.

I caught my reflection in the mirror across the room. A big lipstick stain took up most of my cheek.

“I told you not to kiss me when you wear that stuff,” I said.

She pouted her thick red lips. “I missed you, darling. And I have so much to tell you.”

I crossed the room to the sink in the small bar nook. I grabbed a towel and wet it under the stream of water then rubbed at the lipstick stain. Natalia knew that annoyed me yet she always did it whenever I saw her. She was lucky I loved her like a sister and let it go every time. If she had any romantic interest for me, she would have been long gone a while ago. I despised looking less than presentable, even in the comforts of my home office.

I turned around and saw that Natalia was now crying. Her mood shifts were like night and day.

“What’s going on?” I asked her, grabbing a glass from the cabinet. I poured her two fingers of scotch to calm her down.

She flopped down into one of the leather chairs. I grabbed a tissue from the box on my desk and handed it to her.

She blotted at her cheeks and sniffled. “Michael, everything is ruined.”

I closed the door to the office completely so Rainey wouldn’t hear anything. I hoped Sam had brought her elsewhere. The feeling of her lips on mine still lingered. I wanted to get back to her, but Natalia obviously needed my help. I sat in the chair next to her. “Now, now, I’m sure nothing is ruined. Let me see if I can fix it.”

“Do you think you can fix my marriage?” she asked, taking the drink from me and downing it one gulp. She placed the glass on the table next to her.

Shit. “What did Teddy do now?”

She took a steadying breath. “Well, this morning was terrifying. Teddy failed to tell me that one of his investors was found dead over the weekend. And two men came to the house early this morning to ask me a million questions about it. Why would I know anything about his business dealings? I could tell they were fishing for something, but I told them what I knew. Which was nothing.”

I forced a strong poker face. I had a feeling Natallliiia was talking about Sal. When Sal was alive, he never mentioned who exactly had recommended him to me.

Teddy Carter wasn’t my favorite person in the world. And I doubted I was his. But with Natalia’s happiness on the line, I always kept my mouth shut about him, and now was no different. I had to play dumb so that Natalia would be safe. If she knew my involvement in Sal’s death, then she might be an accomplice. Granted she was already one because of her relationship with Teddy.

This was all going south too fucking quickly. I thought I’d been in the clear this weekend when I went away. Demetri’s guy hadn’t worked hard enough to make Sal’s death look like an accident. It was only a matter of time before they came to me because of my recent involvement with his business investments.

“So, why is your marriage ruined?”

“I went to his office to tell him about the men, and I caught him screwing his secretary.” She groaned out of frustration as if reliving the experience.

I always knew Teddy was a scumbag. I reached over and took her hand, squeezing it lightly. “Natalia, I’m sorry.”

She scoffed. “Don’t feel sorry for me. I hate that. It’s his fault this happened. It just sucks. I thought I was giving him everything he wanted. Now I have to go through a divorce. I never wanted to be that person.”

“Some men are pigs, Natalia.”

“I know,” she said sadly. “I really thought he would be different.”

Natalia had a history of being with men that weren’t good for her. She found the ones who wanted to fix her or perhaps the ones she wanted to fix. No one had ever been on equal footing with her. And as much as I tried to warn her about a few boyfriends, she tended to drift toward the ones with bottomless pockets of money and the tendency to cheat. At least this was only her first marriage. She had time to smarten up before the next one.

“But that’s not the only reason I came here,” she said.

“Okay. What’s the other reason?”

“The men who came to my house asked about you.”

“About me?”

“Yes. The investor who died was Sal Rossi.”

“Oh, I heard about that,” I said evasively. “Sal was a new client of mine. I didn’t realize he knew Teddy.”

“Teddy recommended you to Sal for some deal.”

Natalia knew the nature of our business and client confidentiality. I doubted whatever men asked her about Sal cared about that. If they already had my name, I wondered how soon they’d show up at my office or my home.

“Yeah, we were working together,” I said. “I’m sure this will all blow over soon. From what I read, it seemed like an accident.”

Natalia shook her head. “I’m not so sure. The men were pushy about me giving names of any associates of Teddy.”

“Why didn’t you ask for a lawyer?”

She shrugged. “I’m innocent in all of this. Teddy and I went to his house in the Hampton's this weekend. And if I asked for a lawyer I might look guilty.”

I needed to change the subject. If I pried too much into asking about Sal, Natalia might get suspicious. “I’m sorry that you had to deal with all of this. Especially finding Teddy cheating.”

She waved a dismissive hand. “It’s fine. I mean it sucked to see it happening. Especially because that stupid brat of a secretary was grinning like an idiot when I walked in. In the back of my mind, I think I knew it was happening but ignored it. I never expected him to do it in his office. He has no class. I’ll be taking him to the cleaners soon enough. I only wanted to let you know.”

“I’m sure it’s routine procedure. If they do suspect foul play, the police have to do their due diligence and speak to everyone in his life. Especially any business partners.” Sal’s mistake was messing with Demetri DeMarco, and he paid with his life. I was only regretful that Teddy had sent Sal to me. Even though I was the best in the area, I had a feeling Teddy knew or at least heard rumors of my involvement with Demetri. With Frederick being my brother and Demetri’s ties to Kadia, it should have been obvious. Had Teddy known this was going to happen? This was all getting too close to home. I didn’t want Natalia involved at all, and that’s the path all of this was going.

“I don’t think they were cops,” she said.

If they weren’t cops then who the hell were they? I tried to assure her they were the police as she was clearly freaking out.

“You sound like you know a lot about this,” she said.

“I watch a lot of television dramas,” I said.

Natalia giggled. I was happy I could make her laugh after the shitty morning she had. Even though I knew her heart wasn’t in her marriage, I was sure it still sucked to walk in on Teddy fucking some other woman.

“Do you want another drink?” I asked getting up from my chair. I needed a minute to collect my thoughts.

She shook her head. “No, thanks. I need a clear head when I call my lawyer. I’m sure I’ll need to make a list of everything I plan on taking from him, and I wouldn't want to forget anything.”

I looked at the door and realized that Rainey was still waiting for me. I smiled to myself, thinking of her. And thinking of kissing her again.

“Thanks again for letting me borrow the lodge,” I said. “I wanted to introduce you to my new assistant. The one I took with me.”

Natalia’s thin eyebrow rose slightly. “Is she more than an assistant to you?”

I coughed a laugh. “Let’s just say I’m very fond of her.”

Natalia stood and went over to the mirror to check her face. Then she turned to me. “Then let’s go. I’d love to meet the woman who tamed your fickle heart.”

“I’m not fickle.”

She rolled her eyes. “I’ve seen your choices in women. None of them are more than a one-night stand for you.” She stood directly in front of me and pointed her finger in my face. “And I haven’t seen stars in your eyes like that since Cynthia.”

The reminder of my wife pinched at my heart. Natalia had been right. I warmed my bed with women I wasn’t interested in pursuing. It made everything easier. That is until Rainey fought her way into my life. She had so much passion for the Christmas charity at the hospital. It was almost enough to match Cynthia’s. It was one reason why I enjoyed being in her company. And the fact that when we kissed, I felt the world shift. It was the same feeling I had when I first started dating Cynthia. Natalia had been right, I was quickly falling for Rainey, and I hoped she felt the same way.

I opened the door and looked out into the hallway. “Rainey?” I called.

It was a good thing she wasn’t there. I hoped she wouldn’t hear the conversation about Sal and Teddy. I knew she was suspicious of my involvement. And even though I squashed any thought of that, I didn’t want her to bring it up again.

Natalia came up beside me. “Where is she?”

“I think Sam took her into the living room.”

But when I went into the living space, I didn’t see her there.

I clenched my jaw. My apartment was large but not that big. Something was wrong.

“Michael, I’m beginning to think she doesn’t exist,” Natalia teased.

“She exists,” I said firmly, unwilling to let Natalia goad me.

Sam and Milly were in the kitchen.

Sam saw me first and came to my side. “What can I do for you, Michael?”

“Rainey,” I said. “Where is she? I wanted to introduce her to Natalia.”

Sam offered Natalia a smile then turned to me. “She left, sir.”

To anyone else, the comment would have been a normal one. But I saw a tiny lift in his eyes that made me think something had happened that made her leave. Had she heard about Sal and took off? Her fiery personality that I loved could be a challenge sometimes. And it seemed there were a lot of miscommunication between us. I hoped this wasn’t another one.

“She left?” I asked.

“Yes, after you took your meeting with Mrs. Carter.”

“Did she say where she was going?” That didn’t make any sense. Two seconds before Sam told me that Natalia was in my office, Rainey and I were kissing. Why would she leave? I knew it wasn’t the kiss since we did plenty of that at the lodge.

“She did not, sir.”

Natalia jumped in. “Sorry, if I interrupted something, Michael.”

“No,” I said. “You didn’t interrupt anything. Don’t worry about it. You can meet her another time.”

“I’m sure I will. Something must have come up,” she said.

I nodded, but even so, I knew it wasn’t the case.