Between Secrets and Seduction

No rest for the wicked

Natasha pulled into the driveway and shut off her lights as she parked. As she stepped out of the car, she was greeted by her personal valet, "Mrs. Bartholomew," the young man said curtly as he took her keys, "Welcome back, Ma'am." She forced the valet a smile and thanked him as she grabbed her purse from the car. She looked up at the cloudless night sky and the shining stars above her head. The valet watched her with an odd expression. "Ma'am, is everything OK?" came the hesitant question. Natasha looked over her shoulder, briefly, before looking at the front door. "Why wouldn't it be?" She asked in kind as she headed for her door.

She unlocked the door and went inside. Her jacket was nearly flung off her frame and yanked on the coat rack harder than was necessary. She kicked off her heels and left them on the entryway rug. Her steps take her towards her adopted daughter's bedroom. Natasha paused as she reached for the knob of the door and glanced at her rose gold watch. It was already 2:30am. She groaned softly and placed her ear on the wooden door to see if Layla was actually still asleep. The rhythm of the heart monitor was so steady inside the room that Natasha didn't think Layla could possibly be awake.

Natasha sighed again then darkly chuckled as she left the door. She was beginning to make a habit of sighing, it seemed. She headed to her own room just down the hallway and entered it. The familiar sight of half an office, half a soothing bedroom, greeted her when she opened the door. "So! I suppose I will be working from home again." She closed the door behind her and trailed her fingertips gently over the keyboard of the laptop on her office desk. Her eyes linger on a picture near the keyboard. One of her and Daniel, bride and groom, so many years ago. She softly laid the frame down on its glass to hide the picture from sight. "It also appears that I need to do some redecorating." she grumbled softly before ridding herself of her clothes.

The dirty laundry of the day is pushed into a chute to head to the laundry room in the basement two flights down. She steps into her master bathroom and turns the shower on as hot as she can stand it. She groans as the tension in her shoulders relaxes. She lathers up her hair with her favorite shampoo before piling the sudsy mound up on her head. She then lathers up her body to wash away whatever stress that she could. She felt her eyes stinging again but this time she didn't stop the tears from falling. Natasha sunk slowly to her knees in the shower. Her shoulders shook as sobs began to rip out of her throat. A fool, she decided. A voice that hadn't spoken to her since she married Daniel entered her mind, 'Yes, you were!' they snapped at her.

Natasha stops and laughs bitterly, "Oh, now you speak to me?!" the voice didn't reply. Natasha scooted under the steaming hot water of the shower while contemplating why the voice was back. "Do... Do you want to go for a run, Nixie?" Natasha asked with a shaking voice. "I would like to catch up with you." The voice was silent for another long moment. The voice that Natasha called Nixie finally rung in her head again, 'Yes, actually. I would love to stretch my legs again! Just not tonight. Tonight you need to rest, old friend.' Natasha sighed in relief, "So, you never hated me. Only Daniel?" she asked, and a rather savage growl was her only response.

Natasha dried herself off with a plush white towel. She scrunch dried her hair before doing her usual routine which consisted of: a hair mask, leave in conditioner, a medium-firm hair gel that she used with large rollers, and begun to dry her hair on a medium-low heat. Rest, she thought. How could she rest now? There was so much to prepare for. A divorce, a rejection, raising a daughter as a single mother, going back to work full-time. Natasha groaned softly as she kept running through the headaches about to happen. "Why did it come to this?" she murmured.

She pulled on a silk gown that flowed down her curvy figure and pulled a satin sleeping bonnet over her hair. She pulled herself into her gigantic four-post bed. The heavy down-filled comforter and the silk-like sheets felt wonderful after such a hot shower. Natasha nested herself deep under the bedding and laid her head upon the plush stack of pillows. Staring at the ceiling and the lazily rotating fan up there, she found her mind too tired to think but not tired enough to sleep yet. She glanced at the digital clock on her bedside table. 3:30am now. This was going to be a long night of internal debates and questions. Her gaze returned to the ceiling and traced the patterned paint above her.

The silence was deafening to Natasha. After barely 10 minutes, she sat up and grabbed her cellphone. A few screen taps on the dial pad later the phone began ringing. She bit her thumbnail nervously. "Come on, Andre, pick up!" she hissed softly. Nix crept closer forward in Natasha's mind, 'Andre? Your ex-fiancé, the one you had hoped so desperately was your mate?' Natasha hushed Nix then groaned as the voicemail prompt came up. She hung up and then put her head in her hands. "Yes, Nix. The one and only. I was hoping he might have some advice with all of this."

Natasha picked her phone back up. She really didn't want to make this next call. The name on the screen seemed to taunt her, haunt her even. She finally tapped the call button. The phone didn't even finish it's first ring before a man's voice, dripping in deep Italian accent, answered the phone, "Natasha, I'm surprised to hear from you!" She closed her eyes at the sound of his voice, slightly turned on but more annoyed at the smug sound. "Mr. Leone, I wish you wouldn't patronize me." The deep voice chuckled, "Mr. Leone, huh? That title belonged to my father, pet! It's just Matteo. We grew up with you calling me 'Matty' constantly. Why so formal, now, huh?" Natasha groaned softly, "Matteo, please... I need to call on a favor, if I still can?" The phone was dangerously silent but Natasha picked up the sound of bed springs creaking from the line.

"A favor, eh?" the man on the other end mused. "What kind o' favor, Natasha? What trouble did you stir up while overseas?" Natasha's whisper made the man go silent, "Daniel found his mate, Matty, his true mate. I just need my best friend near me, and maybe to come home once this is all over?" Matteo's voice dropped damn near an entire octave, "You don't need to call in your favor for that, Mia carissima sorella. (My darling sister)" The intensity as Matteo spoke, reminding Natasha she still had a place in that family, made tears spring to her eyes. He still looked at her like his little sister, like blood family to him.

"You will always have a home here in Italy, Natasha," he said after a pause. Natasha was nervous and he was quick to pick up on it. "Did he hit you?" He growled out. Natasha gasped and denied the idea instantly, "God, Matteo, no. He's not that stupid, thankfully. I could handle that better than this, though," she muttered bitterly. The silence on the phone prompted her to continue, "You have a niece, Matty. But Daniel refused to claim her, either." Matteo nearly dropped the phone in shock before he hissed out one terrifying word, "WHAT?!"