I grabbed whatever I could and left with Nathaniel. Roberto picked us up outside. It started raining when we got to Nathaniel’s place.
‘Listen, I appreciate what you’re doing, but I’ll be out of here as soon as I can,’ I said as we were just about to leave the car.
‘Julia, you’re being silly,’ he said, kissing me. ‘We are in a relationship and I wouldn’t want you to stay anywhere else.’
I smiled and decided to shut up. Maybe I was being paranoid. He didn’t want to get married, but I was still his girlfriend and he was going to take care of me. Once we were inside I put my stuff away and we both made dinner. It was late and I still couldn’t get over the fact that I was going to live with him, even if it was only temporary.
‘I’m sorry that I have to bring this up again, but I know that you like your independence and I’ll only distur—’
‘All right, enough. Tell me what’s on your mind.’ He was serious, standing in his pristine kitchen holding a knife.
‘Listen, here is the thing, maybe someone deliberately started a fire in our hotel? Then I arrive home and my whole apartment has been vandalized?’
‘I can check that,’ he said. ‘Stop worrying about your apartment. I’ll get people there tomorrow. No one is going to hurt you. McGregor lost his power and resources.’
‘How do you even know? I mean, Rufus is still out there,’ I protested.
‘I’ve got my people that are looking for him,’ he said, tensing his jaw. ‘Stop worrying and leave this to me and your father. You’re safe.’
‘I don’t have any clothes here, the stuff you bought me is nice, but I can’t wear it to bed’
‘There are clothes in my wardrobe that you can use,’ he said. ‘I asked my assistant to get something for you while I was stuck in traffic.
My jaw dropped and I stared at him bewildered for several seconds.‘Thank you’
He smiled. Indeed in his bedroom I found bags with a new nighty, underwear and some office clothes. Nathaniel’s assistant knew my style and size. Nathaniel thought about everything. I had a long, relaxing bath and then we had a fabulous steak for dinner with wine. I had an early night, feeling slightly agitated sleeping in Nathaniel’s apartment. I fell asleep, and when he slipped in next to me later, I felt happy.
***
Next morning was hectic. We both woke up late and after a quick shower, Nathaniel dropped me at work. Two undercover officers followed us and watched me as I ran into the office around ten o’clock in the morning. Dad probably asked them to be more vigilant about what was going on around me but I felt as if they were just stalking me.
‘Morning, Kate. I’m sorry that I’m late; it’s a long story,’ I said, breathless to Kate who was already in the office going through some of her files.
‘Don’t worry, you can’t be that late. Sara isn’t here yet.’ She chuckled. ‘So… spill, how was Paris?’
‘Fantastic,’ I said, smiling. ‘Apart from the fact that we had to be evacuated from our hotel. A fire broke out on our floor. Then it was great again and then I turned up at my door and discovered that I’d robbed.’
‘What? Someone broke into your apartment?’ she asked in disbelief.
‘Yes, and trashed all my stuff.’
‘Shit,’ she muttered. ‘Is anything missing?’
‘Some magical objects,’ I explained. ‘My father doesn’t think that it was just a random robbery. Whoever had done it, must have known that I was out of town.’
‘It’s easy, then, McGregor or your mental ex-boyfriend.’
‘I thought about him, but that is not his style.’
‘He looks like that sort of scum,’ she muttered. ‘So where did you stay yesterday? Your parents’?’
‘No, I stayed with Nathaniel in Canary Wharf.’
‘Lovely, so I guess the trip to Paris went well?’
I smiled, remembering the happiest days that I spent with Nathaniel. It didn’t matter that he didn’t want to get married right now. Who knew what future could bring to both of us?
‘It was amazing.’
‘Are you sure?’ she asked. ‘You don’t seem yourself.’
‘I’m fine, just worried. I mean I enjoyed myself, but Rufus is still missing while I was out having fun. His wife must be going through hell.’
‘Don’t beat yourself up over this. Everyone needs a break once in a while,’ she said. ‘I’ve got some news as well.’
I sat on my desk and raised my eyebrow. ‘Yeah and what’s that?’
‘I had a date’ She smiled waving her magic wand to switch the kettle on. ‘Kelsie introduced me to him on Friday. He is a shifter, works as an accountant.’
‘Really? Wow.’
‘Yeah I know, I didn’t see this coming either, but he seems intelligent and down to earth, so I decided to go.’
We were soon interrupted by a client, so our conversation had to wait. An hour later, I asked Lucinda to let me know if she was willing to hire Kelsie. I managed to get through to her after eleven. She wasn’t very much impressed with her, but after some convincing she decided to give her a chance. Sara showed up in the office apologizing for being late. I couldn’t deal with her today, so I waved it off.
I called Kelsie straight after my conversation with Lucinda and gave her the good news. After going through important matters I told her about my trip to Paris and the robbery in my apartment. Kelsie also had some news: she was dating a new shifter. She even mentioned that they were already pretty serious. I had done a lot of eye rolling during this conversation, but hey, that was Kelsie, so I shouldn’t be surprised.
Dad called in the afternoon. Apparently one of my human neighbours heard a group of women in the late hours of the morning, but no one could describe what they looked like. The police found some traces of magic. Dad’s phone call only made me more confused because one of his wizards discovered that that all the spells had been cast by a fairy. This didn’t make much sense and Dad seemed as lost as me. He was going to go through all the CCTV around my blocks, but I doubted very much that he would find anything on any of those recordings. I began to wonder if I was missing something. I didn’t know any fairies apart from Nicky, and she didn’t have a reason to break into my apartment
I went for lunch around one o’clock and bought a bowl of pasta. When I got to the office a half an hour later I felt exhausted.
‘You need to look at this,’ Kate said as I stormed through the door. She was holding Daily Secret. The paper that focused on the lives of the most famous paranormals. When I saw the title I nearly fell off my chair.
Pharmaceutical millionaire brings his date to Paris.
Chapter thirty-seven
Please tell me that you are not going to move to Geneva? Please tell me that this is a lie.
What the fuck?
I started reading, narrowing my eyes. This article was based on the one that came out in Paris. Under the headline, there we were, madly in love under the Eiffel Tower. I was labeled as an elf who obviously wasn’t afraid to be drained by a rich vampire. From the article I found out that our romantic trip had been interrupted by a fire. It questioned if I was really in love with Nathaniel or was I just after his money. Then the reporter went through all the places that we both visited.
And we are all wondering if Miss Taylor is ready to make a move to Geneva with La Caz, where he plans to open his next pharmaceutical factory. This remains to be seen.
I sunk into the chair, feeling nauseous. I read the article a few more times just to be sure that I didn’t miss anything. That last sentence hadn’t magically vanished—it was still there. I felt like this author was poking me in the eye laughing. ‘You are a fool, a fool!’
Yep, officially I was a fool.
Nathaniel was planning to move to Geneva. I had no idea that he’d been thinking about it. Surly I couldn’t be the last person that knew about this? This had to be some kind of mistake.
I looked at Kate. ‘How did you get this?’
‘Some child brought it in saying that it was supposed to be for you. I read the article in case you were wondering.’
‘Do you think that this is true?’
Kate bit her lips looking down at her nails. Of course it was true. It was a gossip magazine, but they were always right with all their stories. I was ready to throw up.
‘They were pretty clear about the fire,’ she mumbled.
‘I can’t believe this!’ I yelled, throwing the magazine on the floor. ‘This bastard is planning to move to different country and I know nothing about it?’
‘Are you sure that he never told you about this?’ she asked. I narrowed my eyes. ‘Sorry, forget that I asked.’
‘I’m such an idiot. I thought that it was all great, going to Paris, meeting his family, and all of the sudden, boom. He is moving to Geneva!’
‘Calm down, Julia, just talk to him. He offered for you to live in his apartment, he must be serious,’ she said, trying to convince me otherwise.
I nodded and covered my face with my palms, breathing heavily. Maybe this time the magazine had it all wrong. Maybe he was only planning to travel to Geneva for a bit. Someone deliberately dropped this magazine off at the agency. My grandmother still hadn’t gotten over the fact that I was with Nathaniel. Maybe it was just a joke.
‘I can’t believe that I’m in the papers.’
Kate had to take care of the phone that had been ringing for about a minute. I sunk back on my seat pissed off. Since I met Nathaniel I’d been in a vicious cycle. We were happy, then he did something to ruin everything, and then we were back together again. He never talked about Geneva or even mentioned any business there.
He arrived at five o’clock to pick me up from work. He handed me a brand new mobile phone when I climbed into his car.
‘It’s for you,’ he said, giving me a kiss.
I slammed the magazine on his lap. ‘And this is for you!’
‘What is that?’ he asked.
‘It’s a magazine; there is an interesting article that I think you should read,’ I said, watching his stunned expression.
‘I’d rather kiss you than read the magazine. I’ve been waiting for this all day,’ he said, pulling me towards him.
‘Read it first!’ I hissed ‘Before I flip!’
He cleared his throat, pulling away. We were both silent for several minutes while he went through the article. My heart rate picked up as I waited until he was done with the magazine.
‘This article is about us. I think I look rather handsome in that shirt.’
I clenched my fists. ‘Read the last sentence Nathaniel!’
He glanced over it and he shifted his posture exhaling sharply.
Please tell me that you are not going to move to Geneva. Please tell me that this is a lie.
‘Julia,’ he began, touching my palm. My heart leaped in my chest.
‘Don’t, just don’t lie to me,’ I whispered and tears welled in my eyes. I let go of his hand, wondering if maybe this was just a bad dream and I would wake up soon.
‘I would have to move to Geneva eventually but not now, not yet,’ he said, his voice husky, unnatural. I didn’t want him to see my tears, I wasn’t ready.
‘When were you planning to tell me about this?’ I choked.
‘As soon as I knew the details. I made this agreement a while ago and I can’t get out of it. I would have to go to Geneva for a year, maybe longer,’ he explained. ‘But I don’t know when.’
‘When did you make this arrangement exactly?’ I asked, wiping the tears from my eyes. I was exaggerating. We’d been together since the end of last year, only a few months. He probably agreed to this trip before we met.
He took a breath and looked away. ‘End of February’
‘We had been dating in February, Nathaniel,’ I informed him, not controlling myself any longer. He ran his hand through his hair, looking at me intensely. I started sobbing and I hated that he was seeing me like this, weak and pathetic. All this time I kept convincing myself that he was different, that he’d changed, but he never planned to commit.
You are a fucking idiot, Julia, why are you doing this to yourself?
‘Julia, please you are killing me.’
‘What?’ I yelled. ‘I’m killing you? I thought there was something between us. I thought you cared?’
‘For fuck’s sake, of course I care. I don’t have a choice. I have to move there.’
I laughed and my fingertips sparkled. ‘Did you care then? When we started dating? Or was I just one of those girls that you were fucking?’
‘Please, don’t be so dramatic,’ he growled. ‘I didn’t tell you because I knew that you had enough on your plate already. My move to Geneva isn’t important.’
‘Of course it’s important,’ I shouted.
He didn’t respond and I waited for him to tell me that we could make this work, that I could visit him in Geneva. There were options, but he was silent.
I couldn’t pretend that we were something that we weren’t. ‘Listen, Nathaniel, don’t worry about this,’ I said, feeling that I said enough. He obviously wasn’t planning to make me feel better. ‘Drop me at Kelsie’s. I won’t stay in your apartment tonight.’
‘Julia, think about this! I’m not going to Geneva tomorrow. The details are not even finalized yet. We have time to think about it.’
‘You know what hurts the most?’ I asked, taking a deep breath. ‘That you didn’t even discuss this with me, that I had to find out from the fucking newspaper!’
The air buzzed, charged with my magic. Nathaniel clearly didn’t know what to say. I was right. He knew about Geneva since February and since then he failed to mention anything. I wiped my tears away from my face and got out of the car. Two police officers were staring at me from across the road.
Nathaniel rolled his window down. ‘Get back to the car, Julia,’ he ordered.
‘I’ll stay with Kelsie,’ I told him.
‘Fuck, Julia, I’m sorry that I didn’t tell you. Can you please get back in the car?’
I walked towards the two officers. They were watching me, looking startled, but they agreed to give me a lift. Nathaniel was pissed off, and he didn’t say anything else. He rolled his window up and his limousine drove off.
My heart was bleeding but I couldn’t go back to his apartment and pretend that everything was fine. Roger and Mike had to make sure that I was safe, so they were happy to drop me off at Kelsie’s. Dad told me earlier that I could go back to my apartment tomorrow; I just had to get my place cleaned up. Once I ordered new furniture my apartment should be habitable again. Nicky was a great friend, but she had a family and her house was already full. Ella wouldn’t even look at me. Kate lived with her parents. Besides, I didn’t think that I would be able to cope with her active siblings. I wanted to avoid talking to Mum about Nathaniel, and she didn’t know about my apartment. So that left Kelsie, who lived alone.
‘Oh, Julia, hey’ said Kelsie, opening the door. ‘What are you doing here?’
‘Can I come in?’
‘Yes, sure.’
Her apartment was decent with a spacious living room. She wasn’t one of the tidiest people that I knew, but that didn’t matter.
‘The police are still in my apartment, and I had a fight with Nathaniel, so it turns out that I’ve nowhere to stay for tonight,’ I told her.
‘Don’t sweat, there is plenty of room here,’ she said.
‘I’m sorry to come here like this. I just didn’t know what else to do.’
‘It’s fine, at least you will keep me company,’ she said. ‘I’m making dinner, are you hungry?’
‘Starving.’
As she was cooking I went through my argument with Nathaniel. Crying wasn’t an option anymore.
‘So you broke up?’ she asked.
‘I don’t think that was a break up. I just didn’t want to listen to him.’
‘What are you going to do?’ she asked me. ‘He is a perfect package,
and he isn’t going to Geneva today.’
‘That’s not the point,’ I replied, irritated. ‘He made this decision when we were dating and he didn’t even think of discussing it with me.’
‘Yes, that’s lame, but you’re in love with him so it doesn’t matter.’
I looked at her horrified.
How does she even know that?
She was spot on with the fact that I was in love with him, but I was still upset about this whole Geneva trip. I was glad when she changed the subject and started talking about her new boyfriend.
After quick dinner we went to sort my wardrobe. I hated shopping, but I couldn’t go naked to work tomorrow. Kelsie’s apartment was small, but she found me a space on the floor. Lucinda wanted to see her first thing tomorrow morning, so we both went to bed early. I tried to sleep, but I was restless, my head spinning. My phone was silent. Nathaniel obviously wasn’t going to fix whatever went on between us. This was so typical of him. I couldn’t imagine moving to Geneva and leaving all my family and friends in London. He must have known that, but he still went through with this and still chased me, telling me he wanted to have a relationship. Love was punching me back in the stomach. I was suffering knowing that the man that I had fallen for didn’t feel the same way about me.
Love sucks.
Chapter thirty-eight
She will calm down. I know I can do this
Next day I didn’t get out of my floor-made bed until late afternoon. I got a text from Dad stating that I could get back to my apartment. Roberto was waiting for me outside Kelsie’s door. Knowing that Dad would kill me if I took the tube, I told Roberto to drive me home. My apartment was still a mess, but all the things that were hexed were gone. I sighed and made a list of stuff that I needed to get. I still had a few hours before I had to get to the office, and I wondered if Nathaniel was going to show up to apologize. Thoughts about Geneva had been rolling through my head all morning. As I was trying to figure out if I had anything to eat in the fridge I heard a knock. I picked up my phone and speed dialed Dad, but when I realised that it was Ella, I cancelled the call.
Paranormal Personnel Saga Box Set - Books 1-3 Page 45
