All In (44 page)

“Eight weeks. And I'm planning to keep it,” she said, belligerence coloring her voice, giving it strength and resonance.

Something started to come loose and break apart inside David, and he knew it would just keep going.

This was what he'd seen, this strength. Natalia was going to be a magnificent mother.

“But you said you couldn't get pregnant,” he reminded her.

“Yes,” she said slowly. “But apparently nature is unreliable in this regard.” She tilted her head slightly. “How do you feel? Are you mad?”

Mad? David didn't really know how to describe the feelings that welled up inside him, but
mad
didn't come close.

“You should have told me sooner,” he said. “I should have known. And you shouldn't have had to be alone with this.”

She smiled wanly.

And he knew. There was a now for them, and there would be a later. There was a later for him and Natalia, and that meant he could lift mountains if he wanted to.

Something spread through his body.

A feeling he hadn't known he could feel.

Happiness.

“I want to have kids,” Natalia said, as if to remove any potential doubt about what she wanted. But David had no doubt.

He smiled. “Obviously this matter is already settled,” he said and decisively took her hand again. He squeezed it, and this time she squeezed back.

“I very much want to have this child,” he said.

“Okay,” she said. Her voice was a little dopey-sounding, as if she was having trouble catching up. He decided to take advantage of that.

“Was there anything else?” he asked.

“Huh?” She looked at him, confused, and squeezed his hand, hard. Her eyes were enormous.

“Is there anything else stopping us?” he asked.

“Stopping us?”

“From becoming a couple.”

She looked at him with that look that always found its way inside him, and David didn't dare breathe.

Natalia didn't say anything. She furrowed her brow and looked away.

“Natalia?”

“Yes?”

“Do you love me?”

She looked back at him again.

“Yes,” she said simply. “I love you.”

David exhaled an enormous breath. He felt himself dissolving into a smile, a joyous grin that spread across his whole face and might never go away.

Natalia loved him—thank goodness. He squeezed her hand and planned not to ever let it go.

She sniffled. “And now I think I'm probably going to start crying,” she continued. “I hardly ever used to cry, before, but now I do it all the time. Hormones, you know.”

“Okay,” David said, his voice trembling a little.

“Yes,” she said, her voice not trembling at all.

He lifted her hand and kissed it for a long time. Natalia put a hand on his cheek, and he breathed in the scent of her. There wasn't anyone else, just the two of them. He leaned over and her lips met his. It was a new kiss, a for-real kiss about serious things and the future.

And everything was perfect.

65

 

“H
i, sorry you had to wait, but I'll see you now. Come on in.”

Natalia stood up, straightened her purse over her shoulder, and followed the assistant into a brightly colored office. She'd never been here before, but she recognized the room number from several magazine articles. Its occupant often posed for photos here.

Meg Sandberg, with her bright-red hair and purple jacket, smiled and shook her hand. “I'm glad you could come. Are you done considering?”

Natalia nodded.

“And?”

“I'm very flattered by your offer. I have tremendous faith in my abilities, but what made up my mind is that I'd have you as a mentor.” Natalia smiled at Meg and added, “I've always admired you.”

“I'm so pleased. You should know that you were my first choice for this position.”

“Yes, so I heard.”

“When the headhunters said you were interested, there was no one else I wanted.”

“Yes, you made an offer very quickly,” Natalia said.

“Working for me is going to be different from working for J-O or for Gustaf.”

“I know.”

“Well then, welcome aboard.”

And so it was decided. Natalia had a new job.

She was the new major accounts manager at Nordbank, one of the two largest banks in Sweden. Without asking anyone for advice, without hesitating, and without knowing whether she might be suffering from delusions of grandeur, she'd accepted this unbelievably prestigious, demanding position. Because it was a really high-level job, she thought, as Meg shook her hand again and smiled at her with those bright-red lips. A significant step up, considering how young she still was. Not to mention that she'd be part of the bank's managerial team, responsible for almost a fifth of the bank's earnings, with fifteen hundred employees reporting to her, and would answer directly to this fantastic boss, managing director Meg Sandberg. Basically, it was a job a lot of people would kill for.

“I'm looking forward to an inspiring collaboration,” Meg said.

“Same here.”

“Then I'll see you in two weeks. What will you be doing in the meantime?” Meg asked as she walked Natalia to the door.

Natalia smiled. “I'm getting married.” She glanced at her watch. “In just a few hours, actually.”

 

Later that same day Natalia stepped out of the shower, dried herself, and rubbed on lotion before pulling on her new French underwear. She carefully undid the cotton fabric that the hairdresser had wrapped around her head to protect her freshly styled hair.

“Do you want to see it?” she asked Åsa, who was sipping champagne and lounging in an armchair. Åsa had already changed, and she looked even more stunning than usual, in a knee-length Elie Saab dress in cool colors. Lebanese things suited Åsa, Natalia thought to herself, in more ways than one. They'd spent the last few hours getting their hair and makeup done before returning to the suite David had reserved for her, the finest suite the Grand Hôtel had, complete with complimentary champagne, a Jacuzzi, and a 360-degree view of Stockholm.

Natalia carefully opened the protective cover that surrounded her wedding dress. She held the dress up so Åsa could admire the craftsmanship.

“It's amazing,” Åsa said breathlessly and without any hint of sarcasm.

“Like a dream,” Natalia agreed.

The lines were clean and timeless. The dressmaker's studio had worked hard to get it ready in just four weeks. Small covered buttons, details in the finest Solstiss lace, and a masterful cut made it a world-class work of art.

“Any princess in the world would want to wear that,” Åsa said. “And the shoes,” she continued, staring covetously at the accompanying shoebox. “Lord almighty, those would be exactly my size if I cut off a couple toes.” She moaned at the slender, high-heeled creations. “I'm
dying
of jealousy.”

Natalia hung the dress up on a hanger over a door frame.

Åsa refilled her champagne while Natalia stood in front of a mirror and started touching up her lip gloss.

Suddenly they were enveloped in silence.

“I'm doing the right thing, aren't I?” Natalia asked. She bit her lower lip. She hadn't planned to say anything, but now the words were out there.

Åsa sat up. “What?”

Natalia stared into the mirror, and her own serious face stared back. Was she doing the right thing? It had happened so fast. David absolutely wanted to get married before the baby came, and given his sensitive history, she understood. And she was vain enough that she preferred to get married before she was a blimp, so it was going to happen like this: the wedding at the Grand Hôtel with just their closest friends present, dinner, and then a brief honeymoon. She and David were flying to Nice tomorrow. They would rent a car and then spend ten days in the French Riviera. Maybe it was cheesy, but she'd always dreamed of doing that, and September was the perfect time. But she and David had only known each other for two and a half months. What if she was making the mistake of her life?

“
Now
you get wedding jitters!” Åsa said, sipping champagne. “Whatever happened to ‘Åsa, I've never been so sure about anything in my entire life'? Because that's all you've been saying the last few weeks.” She leaned back again, and the pale colors in her dress shimmered in the autumn sun. “Although I'm glad you're having a little bit of cold feet. Marriage is actually a ghastly idea. I'm certainly never going to get married.”

“Don't say that,” Natalia said, stopping, her hand in midair. “Not now. You're against marriage? Am I making a mistake? Åsa?” She wondered if she were experiencing some sort of hysteria.

“Probably. But you learn from your mistakes. Or so I hear.”

“Ugh, I can't focus,” Natalia said, going back to studying herself somberly in the mirror. She fluffed up her hair and straightened her new underwear before putting on the dress. “You're not much support.”

“I know, but I love you,” said Åsa, getting up. “And I really want what's best for you,” she continued, holding up the dress while Natalia carefully stepped into it. It was a short dress that came down to her knees, simple lines, but still very definitely a wedding dress.

“But?”

“No buts. This
is
what's best, that's what I mean. It doesn't get any better than this.” Åsa started buttoning the small buttons down Natalia's spine. “I've never seen two people love and respect each other as much as you two do.” Åsa wobbled a little, and Natalia heard fabric stretched dangerously tight.

“Are you drunk?”

“A little. Now stand still.”

Natalia stood still while Åsa buttoned the tiny buttons, muttering to herself.

“My mom hasn't answered any of my messages,” Natalia said over her shoulder as Åsa concentrated on the last button. “She's not coming.”

“That's really sad.”

Natalia nodded. It stung.

“And I assume there hasn't been any word about your biological father?”

“No.”

She was going to have to deal with that, Natalia thought, but there were so many things changing right now, she could hardly keep up.

“I got the job,” she said instead, turning to look in the mirror and playing a little bit with a loose strand of hair.

Åsa sank back down into the armchair again. She filled her glass and raised it as if for a toast. At this rate Natalia's maid of honor was going to be soused.

“Congratulations,” Åsa said. “At least a dozen men are going to be seriously pissed off that you got that specific job. I love it when you outdo those finance boys. You're a real role model.”

Natalia nodded, pleased.

It had been unsettling to shake hands with the powerful Meg, who had the energy of a blowtorch. And a little bizarre that she'd said yes so quickly. Afterward, she'd gone straight to the bathroom and thrown up.

Although of course that could have been because of the pregnancy.

“I'm starting right after we get home and working for as long as I can,” she said, studying her wedding hairdo. The stylist had left some loose strands hanging and wound the rest of Natalia's hair in a loose knot. A minimal headpiece with a veil, hardly more than a whisper of white, rested at an angle in her shiny locks. It was flat with a small veil over half her forehead. “The baby's supposed to come in March. We'll split the parental leave fifty-fifty.”

“Well, if it's good enough for the crown princess and her husband, who am I to think it sounds bourgeois?” Åsa said.

Natalia smiled. She was ready. “What do you think?” she said, turning around. The dress was slim and opulent-looking, the shoes adult and glamorous. A new era was starting now, and she wanted that to show.

“You look amazing,” Åsa said. “But I want you to promise me something now.” A stubborn look came over her face. “Promise you won't say no.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Do you promise?” Åsa got up and came over to her.

“Okay . . . ,” Natalia said, skeptical. She loved Åsa, but you never knew what Åsa was going to come up with next.

Åsa took off her gold bracelet, the one she always wore, the one that was her most treasured possession from her mother, and held it out. “I want you to have this,” she said.

Natalia knew that Åsa slept with the bracelet on. If you Googled “sentimental value” you would get a picture of Åsa's mom's gold bracelet. “But . . . ,” Natalia said and then stopped. Because what could she say, actually?

“You're my family,” Åsa said. “Without you there wouldn't be anything, nothing would have worked. I want you to have this. It was my mom's and now if you have a daughter, she can inherit it. Will you promise me that?”

Natalia nodded and swallowed with a lump in her throat, holding out her arm. Åsa clasped the bracelet around her wrist. It was still warm from Åsa's body heat, and Natalia blinked rapidly to stop her tears. Åsa's eyes were also suspiciously damp-looking.

There was a knock on the door, and they both turned toward it, relieved at the interruption. They were never going to be very good at big emotional moments, she and Åsa, but they didn't need to be.

The door opened. David stood in the doorway and did what he always did—just looked at her. Maybe it wasn't super polite, but it was terribly flattering.

And he looked so good that Natalia stopped breathing.

“Wow,” she said, admiring him and his broad shoulders in the dark-gray three-piece suit that fit like it had been sewn onto him, a lighter vest, and a white boutonniere.

David's eyes misted up as he came over to her. “I don't know what to say.” His voice was unsteady as he visually feasted on her. “You look incredible.”

“
You
look incredible,” Natalia said quietly and tried not to eat him up with her eyes.

Åsa made some sort of retching sound.

David smiled. “Do you two want to see the ring?”

The two women nodded eagerly. Everything had happened so fast that Natalia hadn't even gotten an engagement ring yet. Now she was curious, because David had asked if he could pick out the combined engagement and wedding ring himself. He opened the box.

Natalia and Åsa gaped.

It was a modern ring, square and bold, with clean lines. A yellow stone, yellow like daffodils and sunshine and much too big to be a diamond, sparkled in the middle, surrounded by white stones.

“It's a yellow diamond,” David explained.

“A diamond?” Natalia said, dumbfounded. It was as large as the nail on her index finger.

“Conflict free,” he added, looking exceedingly satisfied. “Because I know that's important to you. I won an auction and practically snatched it out from under a king's nose.”

He grinned. “It's possible that I may be unwelcome in a certain Arabian monarchy for the rest of my life.”

“Okay,” Natalia said, actually almost speechless. She hadn't known that rings or stones like this even existed.

“Respect,” Åsa said.

“Natalia?” David asked.

“Yes?”

“Give me back the ring. You'll have to wait for the ceremony.”

“I'm not sure I can part with it,” she said, but reluctantly set it back in the palm of his hand.

David stuffed the ring back in the box and then put it in his pocket.

“I have to take care of one last thing,” he said. “Are you going with her?” he asked Åsa, who waved her hand in response. “I'll see you out there,” he said, kissing Natalia on the cheek and leaving.

“Isn't he wonderful?” Natalia asked.

Åsa shrugged a silk-clad shoulder. “If you like super-gorgeous, super in-love billionaires, I guess.” She smiled. “You make a really beautiful couple. You look like you just stepped right out of an old movie. Come on, just one glass of champagne would be fine for the baby. I read that in
Vogue
.”

 

When Natalia and Åsa came down to the nineteenth-century salon, which the hotel's florist had filled with roses, the justice of the peace was waiting for them, along with Michel and David's family. Count Carl-Erik Tessin, serious in his conservative suit, pulled Natalia into an embrace. The three blond women at his side, Carolina and her two half sisters, laughed and hugged her.

Natalia smiled but squeezed her bridal bouquet of orange blossoms and orchids harder than necessary. She was happy, of course, but she wished someone from her family had come to the wedding. And then David walked into the room and had yet another guest with him.