"I'm glad you're on the case," Mark said as he led her back downstairs."Why?""Fresh set of eyes. You'll bring new thinking and a different perspective. Levi and I have been doing this for so long we're kind of in a rut now. You might pick up something we've missed.""You might want to follow up on a party Colleen attended last August," Natalie said and filled him in on her discovery. "I think you guys have been trying to find out what happened to her after October 28th. But maybe you should retrace her movements before that day. Something happened before October 28th, and I'm guessing her disappearance is linked to that party in Glen Eagles.""Did you tell Levi about this?"Natalie nodded. "He wasn't too happy with me. Sometimes I don't think he wants me to help.""He's worried for your safety," Mark said as he grabbed her purse and ushered her out of the door. "It might seem like he's paranoid and unreasonable at times, but Levi has his reasons for not wanting to involve too many p

Natalie was about to text Levi to let him know she'd arrived safely at The Castle when the double doors yawned open, and Samuel came out. He beckoned her inside, and she reluctantly left her seat, dread crawling up her tummy all the way to her throat.As soon as she walked into the spacious office, the head of security left them alone, closing the door behind them.The man, in all his imposing presence, sat behind a mahogany desk. When he looked up, it was like being transported thirty or forty years into the future and seeing an older Levi.He had the same smoky eyes, thick eyebrows, wavy black hair smattered with hints of grey and chiselled features that God had certainly taken his time to carve because his face was a perfect example of the golden ratio.Unlike his son, though, there was a coldness in his eyes and meanness in the way his lips curved into a sneer as he threw her an icy glance, his gaze slowly gliding up and down her dark department store pantsuit."Ms Taylor." He nod

All the things that had bothered them, things they'd glossed over and danced around and hoped their passion and desire for the other would cover up, spilt forth.Natalie admitted that aside from her chat with his father, she found his wealth frightening. It made her uncomfortable. She couldn't, wouldn't adjust to his life. She didn't belong in his world, and it was becoming more apparent every day. Her meeting with Leviticus had made their differences all the more obvious."Who closes an entire store for one person?" she asked, bringing up their shopping spree on Saturday. "What about other people? How do you inconvenience other people like that?""I'm sorry, I wanted my girlfriend to have total privacy.""At the expense of other people?""For your safety and privacy, Natalie, I'll always put your needs first!""I'm sorry, but I can't live like that.""Bullshit! We were fine this morning. We were happy the whole weekend. What did my father say to you to make you believe we'll never wor

Levi had been at work for over an hour now since Zachary and Carlos dropped him off, but hard as he tried to settle down and focus, he couldn't. To say he was restless from all his pent up rage was an understatement. So to keep himself from going on a rampage and doing something he'd regret, he decided to stay put in his office.He drifted off to the window and gazed at the buildings across. One of them housed a dying, daily newspaper. The other was once a thriving hotel but had now been reduced to cheap accommodation for college students. It had a nice rooftop garden, though— the hotel college—and that was what Levi was staring at now, at the group of boys of around eighteen or so, weed out their vegetable garden when a soft knock on his door pulled him away from the window.Without waiting for an invitation, Angela came in. The sour expression on her face matched the dark pantsuit she wore. She set a macchiato from Rise, his change of clothing and Natalie's backpack on the coffee ta

For two weeks, Natalie went through the motions. She went to work, did what she needed to do, sat in her game-planning meetings and typed up her reports. Soon, though, her listlessness began to seep into every aspect of her work.Norah called her in a few times, did the standard check-in, and Natalie assured her everything was perfectly fine.The second week when she messed up yet another report, Anna from HR had to intervene. She took her across to Rise for a coffee chat. Natalie saw through the whole thing, though. Just because their chat wasn't in Anna's office didn't make it any less of a verbal warning."Is everything okay?" Anna asked for what felt like the millionth time, and Natalie answered with her usual standard response. She was perfectly okay.What else was she supposed to say?She couldn't tell her that she was pining for their boss and she missed him terribly.Cutting off communication with Levi this time around was way more brutal because she'd become too emotionally i