HIS LAST ASSISTANT

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Natalie was having a bad morning. Actually, that wasn't true, bad implied temporary, this felt permanent. She stared at her laptop screen inside her apartment, rereading the latest article about herself.

The headline alone was enough to ruin her appetite.

“THE WOMAN BEHIND COLE ENTERPRISES' CONTROVERSY”

As if she were a disease, as if she had personally orchestrated the scandal.

Natalie slammed the laptop shut immediately, before she could read another comment or another accusation, another stranger explaining her own life to her.

Her phone buzzed, it was Jasmine. "Please tell me you've stopped reading comments."

Natalie groaned. "How do you always know?"

"Because I've known you for ten years."

Natalie grabbed her coffee, Jasmine continued. “I have good news."

"What kind of good news?"

"The witness agreed to meet."

Natalie froze. “What?"

"I know."

Jasmine sounded equally shocked. "I thought she'd back out."

Natalie's pulse quickened.

The woman was one of Richard's former employees, one of the names on Jasmine's list, a woman who might finally prove Natalie wasn't alone.

"When?"

"This afternoon."

For the first time all morning, a tiny hope flickered. It was dangerous, but real. "We need to be careful."

Jasmine snorted. "That's exactly what she said."

The humor disappeared quickly. Neither woman laughed, because fear wasn't funny, and apparently Richard Halston still had plenty of power to inspire it.

•

•

Natalie arrived at work shortly after nine. The moment the elevator doors opened, she knew something was wrong, people stopped talking again. She hated when that happened, the whispers were becoming routine now, employees pretending not to stare, pretending not to gossip, they stopped pretending not to know exactly who she was.

Natalie walked straight toward her desk, head high, back straight. Fake confidence was still confidence. Right?

"Natalie."

She looked up.

Samantha stood nearby holding a table, looking unusually uncomfortable. That was never a good sign.

"What now?"

Samantha almost smiled. "You're learning."

Natalie's stomach sank, definitely bad news. Samantha handed her the tablet.

"Mr. Cole wants you upstairs immediately.”

•

•

Ten minutes later, Natalie stood inside Damien's office. The city stretched behind him through massive glass windows, usually the view distracted her but today it didn't, because Damien looked irritated. He did not look cold, detached, or irritated, and somehow that was more concerning.

"What happened?"

Damien looked up from his desk, then sighed.

Natalie nearly checked for signs of the apocalypse.

"You've met my mother."

"No, I haven't."

"Exactly."

That answer made absolutely no sense. Natalie waited, Damien pinched the bridge of his nose. "My father wants to meet you."

There it was, the thing she'd been dreading since Samantha told her yesterday.

Natalie's stomach dropped. "Oh."

"That's your reaction?"

"What reaction were you expecting?"

Maybe he was expecting panic, terror, possibly screaming, instead, Natalie just felt tired.

Damien studied her carefully, then nodded once. "Fair enough."

Finally Natalie asked the obvious question. "Why?"

Damien leaned back. "Because my family is convinced you're responsible for every problem in my life."

Natalie blinked, then laughed. The statement was so ridiculous she couldn't help it.

Damien looked unimpressed. "I'm serious."

That only made it funnier to her. "Damien."

"What?"

"We've known each other for, what, two weeks?"

Three. But who was counting?

Natalie shook her head. "Your family needs hobbies."

For the first time that morning, amusement flickered across Damien's face, then his office door opened without knocking.

A man entered. He was tall, confident, and smiling. Marcus Vale.

"Good."

Marcus looked delighted. "Both of you are here."

Damien immediately looked annoyed, but Natalie immediately felt better.

Marcus dropped into a chair, completely uninvited. "Why do you always look like you're planning a murder?"

Damien didn't answer, Marcus nodded. "See? That's exactly what I mean."

Natalie laughed. Damien looked at her, then at Marcus, his expression darkened slightly.

Marcus noticed, and looked suspiciously pleased about it. "Anyway."

Marcus turned toward Natalie. "I came to rescue you."

Natalie frowned.

"From what?"

"Damien."

The answer was immediate, Damien looked ready to throw him out a window. Marcus ignored him. "As a public service, I'm inviting you to lunch."

Natalie blinked. "A public service?"

"Absolutely."

Marcus nodded seriously. "No one should spend this much time around Damien Cole."

"I can hear you."

"Good."

Natalie shook her head, these two were ridiculous. Before she could respond, Damien spoke. "No."

Marcus frowned. "No?"

"No."

Marcus looked genuinely offended. "I wasn't asking you."

Damien looked completely unbothered. "You should've."

The two men stared at each other, Natalie looked between them, then suddenly realized something, neither was joking anymore.

Marcus smiled slowly, and dangerously. "Interesting."

Damien said nothing, which somehow confirmed everything. Marcus stood, straightened his jacket, and looked directly at Natalie. "The offer still stands."

Then he glanced at Damien. "And you should probably stop glaring at people."

With that, he left. The office door closed behind him, and silence followed.

Natalie stared at Damien, Damien stared at the door. The realization settled heavily between them, then Natalie made a mistake, she smiled.

Damien narrowed his eyes. "What?"

Natalie tried to look innocent but failed completely. "You were jealous."

The words escaped before she could stop them. Absolute silence crept into the office. "No."

Natalie laughed, and somehow that only made Damien look more annoyed.

•

•

Later that afternoon, Jasmine sat inside a small coffee shop downtown nervously checking the time. The woman was late, ten minutes late, then fifteen, then twenty.

Jasmine's stomach sank, she wasn't coming. Of course she wasn't, fear won again. Jasmine reached for her bag, then froze. Someone had slid into the chair across from her.

A woman in her mid-thirties, she had dark hair, nervous and terrified eyes, the kind of eyes that looked over their shoulder constantly.

Jasmine immediately knew this was her, the former employee, the witness. The woman leaned forward, her voice barely above a whisper.

"You need to stop looking into Richard Halston."

Jasmine's pulse quickened. "Why?"

The woman swallowed hard, then said the words that made Jasmine's blood run cold.

"Because what happened to Natalie..."

She glanced around the café, as if someone might be listening.

"...happened to me too.”