Fierce Possession (Touched By You 9) (6 page)

She couldn’t sleep all day. There was a lot to do. Showering and dressing, she stepped out onto the terrace and joined Tanner for coffee.

“Been working already?”

“Some, and I have to go the office, but I didn’t want to wake you.”

“You should have. I have to work too.”

Tanner frowned.

“What? You aren’t the only one with a business.”

“Yes, but you are my wife. You shouldn’t have to work.”

Natalie still wasn’t used to the idea that, as Tanner’s wife, she shared his wealth. She guessed she wouldn’t have to work if she didn’t want to. But she did. Fashion design was her passion, and she’d never give it up. “I want to work, silly.”

Tanner furrowed his brow.

“What now? You think because I married you I’m going to stay home and just wait for you all day. You must know me better than that.”

“Unfortunately, I do.” Though he was kidding, there was an edge to his voice Natalie didn’t like. Hoping her career wasn’t going to become an issue, she sipped her cappuccino and looked out at Manhattan, refusing to encourage the conversation in the direction it was going.

Tanner’s phone beeped and he glanced at the screen.
“Gotta go, baby. I shouldn’t be too late.” He stood and pulled her into his arms. “I’m going to miss you. I’ve been spoiled, being with you every second.”

He leaned down and kissed her, but it wasn’t a quick goodbye kiss. It was more a taste of what he had in mind when he came home. Natalie breathed in the scent of soap, men’s cologne, and Tanner, feeling a little weak. “I like to spoil you,” she said when he released her.

The hot look in his eyes made her want to beg him to stay home. Somehow, she resisted. Watching his ass in the tailored slacks as he walked away, she tingled. Whew, he was so gorgeous. Working wasn’t going to be so easy; she’d just be looking forward to evening to be with him again.

Natalie went into the kitchen, looking for a distraction, and found Sara putting dishes in the dishwasher. “Good morning, Mrs. Clarke.”

Holding up her finger playfully and wagging it back and forth, Natalie said, “Now, we aren’t going to start with formalities. I don’t care what Tanner told you, we are on a first-name basis around here.”

Sara smiled, and looked truly happy. Suspecting it had something to do with Andre, Natalie decided to ask. “I see you and Andre are getting along.”

Sara had cooked for Tanner for years. When Natalie had first met her, she’d seemed like an older woman. But then, arriving in New York for the first time, barely twenty-two years old, a lot of people looked older. Guessing Sara was in her forties, she noticed that her hairstyle was different, a little longer with soft layers. It made her look younger.

“Yes, we get along very well,” Sara said.

“Uh-huh.”

Sara blushed. “I didn’t know he liked me at first. But when Tanner posted him as your personal guard, we saw each other more often. And, well, one day he asked me to go for a walk with him. It was sweet, really. And I think he didn’t want to get personal while I was on duty.”

“And you caught my bridal bouquet.”

“Yes, I was thrilled, although I don’t know if it will go that far with us. I’m older than Andre, you know.”

Natalie thought of them together. An age difference had never occurred to her. Sara was petite, maybe five feet two. And Andre was at least as tall as Tanner, and well muscled. Well, he had to be; he was a bodyguard. “There can’t be much difference in your ages.”

“Five years, so…I don’t know. But for now, we are seeing each other.” The look on her face told Natalie that she hoped for more.

“It will work out. I’ve seen how Andre looks at you.”

“Thank you…Natalie,” she said, using her first name cautiously. “I hope so.”

11 – Mystery Gift

Natalie worked for a while in her home office, refining some of her sketches. She spoke to Brandon about operations at Natalie Baker Designs. Although administrative tasks fell under his control, she made sure to know what was going on. Brandon’s advice on what the new trends were, and how they differed from country to country, was vital. Her CEO made it his business to know, since steering an international fashion design company required him to keep all the new lines on the cutting edge.

In the afternoon, after changing into workout clothes, Natalie went to the in-home gym, a large room serving as both exercise and yoga room. Since Tanner had a gym at his office building too, she assumed he wouldn’t use the room as much as she would. It was a great room with high ceilings. The polished wood floors had large areas of soft rubber matting for floor exercise.

A part of the space was closed off, making a quiet area for yoga. One wall was a window to the city, giving it a spacious view. Turning on some music, Natalie went through her routine, needing to limber up and enjoying the meditative time. Remembering the wedding gifts, she finished up and went to find Sara. She didn’t want to open them alone; it would be more fun to do it together.

Ideally, Tanner would open them with her. But she couldn’t imagine him involved in such an activity. Just not a guy thing, she thought. With Sara in tow, she made her way from room to room. Cheryl had informed her that the gifts were in the room waiting for her. But she didn’t say
which
room. The home was huge, and she wasn’t used to it yet.

“You check the rooms that way, and I’ll look here. Call me if you find them,” she said.

“I will.” Sara disappeared around a corner.

Natalie was moving slowly, spending too much time admiring each room, until she heard, “Over here.”

Following the sound of the voice, she found Sara sitting on a sofa. Gifts of all sizes and shapes were piled on a low table in front of her. “Ah, you found it.”

Natalie sat beside her. “Okay, let’s get to work. I brought a notepad so we can write the name of the person and what the gift was. Sending thank-you cards will be a whole other project.”

For what seemed like hours, they unwrapped presents. Most were exactly what Natalie wanted, since she’d taken the time to register at some local stores. That made it easy for the wedding guests to choose from the list.

Cheryl and
Dani had given them a set of Dyatkovsky crystal vodka glasses. The company was one of the oldest in Russia; Natalie had seen their glasses when she shopped in Moscow. “Well, these will be perfect when we have Dani over.”

Sara smiled. “Not every family owns vodka glasses.”

“Especially not by Dyatkovsky.” Natalie smiled.

Jazzy and Ellis, knowing that they likely received all kinds of expensive crystal or other such fine-quality gifts, went practical and gave them a popcorn popper. “Now there’s something I can use.” She knew Ellis had arranged a donation to Tanner’s foundation, a gift Natalie appreciated a lot, so even the gift of the appliance wasn’t needed. But it was fun.

Emma’s gift was touching. She’d had three weeks to make it. It was a huge photo album for the wedding pictures, and with her talent as a seamstress she’d created a satin cover with elaborate stitching. Natalie would get her help going through the wedding pictures to see which ones to include in the album.

There were many more items: vases, picture frames, and even some exotic-looking knives. But a small gift Natalie opened was a mystery since there was no card with it. Ripping off the paper and opening the box, she lifted out a framed photo.

As she stared at the picture, the room seemed a little unsteady. It was an old photo, and she recognized Emma on a sofa. Natalie was cradled in her mother’s arms; she couldn’t have been more than a year old. She rested atop her mother’s round belly; in the photo Emma was pregnant with Jazzy, it appeared. But all that wasn’t so surprising.

Behind Emma, with his hands on her shoulders, was a man. Natalie had seen pictures of him before and recognized Nicolas Hughes, her father. The word “father” felt strange. All these years, she’d never felt like she had a father. Nicolas Hughes was a man that didn’t seem real. Her mother had described how she loved him, and she’d never remarried.

But the man didn’t have any connection to Natalie. She didn’t remember him at all. Holding the picture in her lap, she tried to think why her mother would give her a picture of them. It seemed out of character for Emma.

And Jazzy didn’t seem any more likely. She was just as distant from Nicolas, even more so, since she hadn’t even been born when he’d abandoned them. And Tanner was out of the question. He was many things, but not a jokester, and if this was a joke it was a poor one.

Sara looked over, but Natalie didn’t look up. “What is it?”

“I don’t know, Sara. Someone gave me this picture. Look, it’s my mother holding me and she’s pregnant with my sister. The only people who would have a photo like this would be us.”

Sara looked at the photo, but didn’t say anything.

“Or…” Natalie stopped mid-sentence.

“Or? Who else?” Sara asked.

“It couldn’t be. Well, my father could have taken some pictures with him when he left. But he’s been gone, well, let’s see… He left before Jazzy was born; she’s a year younger than I am. So twenty-three years ago, he disappeared.”

Natalie didn’t feel emotion about it. So many years had gone by, and she’d never formed any attachment to her father. Sadness was all she felt, and that was for her mother, who’d continued to love him despite his poor behavior.

“How would he even know where I was? It’s been so long. I don’t even know where he’s been, or if he’s still alive.” Natalie couldn’t take her eyes off the photo, looking at her father like he might come to life and appear in the room.

“I’m imagining things. There must be another explanation. I’ll ask Jazzy; maybe she knows.”

Puzzled, Natalie went back to unwrapping, but the mystery gift disturbed her. For a long time, she’d felt emptiness in her life because of Nicolas. Even though she was close to her mother and sister, the lack of male influence left a void. At first she’d felt rejected, until she was old enough to know it had nothing to do with her. She was just a baby, at the time.

Now she had Tanner, the first male in her life other than Ellis. But that wasn’t quite the same. And Tanner was all she needed. There was no way she wanted her long-lost father to reappear, just when her life was going so well. It was impossible, anyway.

12 – Finding Out

The text reply from Jazzy didn’t provide an answer. She said she didn’t know about a picture as a wedding gift. Natalie didn’t want to text anything alarming, so intended to wait and show her the picture in person. Meanwhile, it bugged her.

“Where did you go?” Tanner said, holding his wine glas
s to his mouth without sipping.

Natalie had met him at Flute, a chic but comfortable bar with red leather chairs and velvet sofas. She leaned into Tanner, needing him close.

“Sorry, just thinking about something.”

“I can see that.”

With an abundant champagne list and gourmet small plates, the lounge had become one of Natalie’s favorites. She sipped the Taittinger Cuvee Prestige, a champagne blend Tanner had ordered for them. It tasted like creamy honey with bubbles.

But it did nothing to distract her from the gift that preoccupied her thoughts. She glanced at Tanner and back at the bubbles in her glass, mesmerized by the delicacy, and hoping for a reason not to t
hink about the picture anymore.

It just wasn’t going away. The picture was there, an unwelcome reminder. Until she knew who thought it made an appropriate wedding gift, she’d never put it out of her mind. “I was opening gifts with Sara, our wedding gifts.”

“Oh, good. I was hoping you wouldn’t be upset if I didn’t sit through that.”

“No, I knew you wouldn’t feel left out. But there was something strange.”

Tanner waited, watching her.

Natalie described the picture, and as she recited the details, Tanner’s posture stiffened. To anyone else, he would have looked normal. But she knew him too well. The news affected him; that much was clear. Of course, he wouldn’t want to see her upset.

“So you have to help me figure out who gave it to us. There are only so many people that it could be, and I’ve ruled out Jazzy and Emma. Since it’s impossible that…” Natalie stopped mid-sentence when Tanner looked away and ran his hand through his hair.

“Why are you reacting that way? I have the distinct feeling you aren’t telling me something.”

Tanner leaned back and looked up at the ceiling, as if it would offer an escape.

“Tell me now. Before I get more upset.”

“I didn’t think he’d do something like that,” Tanner said.

“Who?”

“Nicolas.”

“You know him?”

“Yes…no…not exactly.”

Natalie felt a little faint. It was one thing for a picture of her father to show up in the wedding gifts, but the horror was magnified by the idea that Tanner was involved. She put her champagne glass on the table and glared at him, feeling anything but confident.

“Tanner?”

“I know all about him.”

“You do? How could you? He’s been gone for over twenty years.”