She walked out to where MariAnn was searching beauty product sites on the Internet, and said, “I’ll be in Jaclyn’s office. I’m not sure how long. She has some questions.”
“Okay,” the receptionist said, without glancing up.
Jaclyn’s office was as far away from Anthony’s as you could get, while remaining in the same building. Anthony’s offices on the second floor overlooked the front of the property, and were to the left of the main doors.
Jaclyn’s offices were in the opposite corner, overlooking the back of the house, and separated from the main stairway by an intervening hallway. Her offices had been bedrooms originally, but no one slept aboveground anymore.
Natalie checked her phone as she walked, tempted to call Christian again. “Right, like he didn’t get the first message, or the two hang-ups after that,” she muttered to herself. One of Anthony’s guards walked past, and smiled. Maybe he was just being friendly, but she suspected he was amused by her muttering. That was okay. Let them think she was nothing but an absent-minded number-cruncher.
She swung down the back hallway, and pushed open the door to Jaclyn’s office. Her human assistant, Lisa, was typing away—no Internet surfing for her. And Cibor was lingering in an open doorway down the hall, talking to someone Nat couldn’t see. She waved her fingers hello, then gave a questioning look in the direction of the closed conference room door. Cibor did that chin lift thing that guys did, the one that could mean all sorts of things, but in this case meant, “Why, yes, Natalie, go on in.” Becoming a vampire didn’t change everything.
Natalie opened the conference room door and froze in her tracks, overwhelmed by dueling emotions. On the one hand, she was so relieved to find Christian sitting there, looking perfectly healthy in black jeans and a sweater, that she drew what felt like her first full breath of the night. On the other hand . . . why the fuck couldn’t he have called her if he was sitting in the same damn building?
Christian was on his feet and in front of her before she could say a word, his eyes searching her face, probably seeing the dark circles and the frazzled hair. If his expression was anything to go by, he wasn’t liking what he was seeing. He cupped her cheek in one big hand, his fingers spearing back into her hair, as he stepped even closer. “Are you in trouble, chére?”
Natalie shook her head, horrified to discover her eyes filling with tears of relief that he was alive. But Christian took them the wrong way.
“Merde!” Christian cursed. “I knew I should have called sooner.” Putting his arm around her, he guided her over to a chair, as if afraid she’d lose her way, or maybe fall over, if he left her on her own.
“I’m fine,” she said, completely embarrassed. She didn’t cry, she didn’t faint, and she sure as hell didn’t break down like a hormonal teenager because a handsome boy gave her a soulful look. “Really,” she insisted. “I just didn’t sleep well, and—”
“Why not?” he asked, turning to take a bottle of water from Jaclyn. He held the cold bottle against her neck briefly, then twisted the cap off and handed her the bottle, wrapping her fingers around it next to his, and urging her to take a drink.
“Stop.” She took a small sip, then put the water on the table. “Thank you, but stop treating me like an invalid. I’m fine,” she added firmly, speaking to Jaclyn, who was standing behind Christian with a worried look on her face.
“Tell me why you didn’t sleep,” Christian demanded, his handsome face going all macho badass, as if he could compel her to answer by force of personality.
“I called you,” Natalie said accusingly, avoiding the question by turning it back on him.
“You two know each other?” Jaclyn asked.
“We met yesterday,” Christian replied without looking, and gave Natalie a hard stare. “I should have called,” he conceded. “I was going to stop by your office on my way out of here.”
“I told you we needed to meet somewhere else. It’s not safe here.”
“Not safe?” Jaclyn repeated. “Natalie, what—”
“What did you see?” Christian asked, narrowing in on her concerns with remarkable clarity.
“What did she see? See when?” Jaclyn insisted, her voice betraying more than a little impatience at being kept out of the loop.
“I saw Noriega waiting for you,” Natalie blurted out. “And I saw—” She sucked in a breath, staring at Christian, wondering if she should admit everything, even to him.
“You saw me kill him.” Christian was whispering, but she could tell by Jaclyn’s sucked-in breath that she’d heard.
“But that’s good news,” Jaclyn said excitedly. “She can tell the Council—”
“She tells the Council nothing,” Christian snarled, standing and spinning to face Jaclyn, putting himself in front of Natalie.
“But her testimony—”
“Would paint a target on her back. I’ll take care of Anthony, and whatever idiot he sends next. Natalie stays out of it.”
Jaclyn gave him an appraising look, a smile playing around her lips. “It’s your decision. But, you understand that Raphael will be told the truth.”
Christian didn’t look happy about that, but he nodded once, sharply. “I understand.”
“Well, I don’t,” Natalie snapped, jumping up from her seat. “Anthony lied about what happened, and there’s—”