Latvis Security Services

by Lexie Ray

  Natalie waved down a passing waiter and snatched up a fresh flute. She already felt lightheaded, her limbs loose and easy, but at this point in time, another glass seemed like a fantastic idea. The noise of the party was grinding on her nerves, and even the sweet tones of the string quartet couldn’t prevent her irritation from growing.

  Glass in hand, she turned back to the crowd. The spot across the room was now empty. She glanced around, trying to catch sight of Jai once again. The glass almost slipped from her fingers as Jai suddenly appeared next to her.

  “You’re jumpy,” he smiled. The hint of amusement in his voice only added to her foul mood.

  “Most people are when someone leaps upon them from the shadows.”

  “What shadows?” he chuckled as he eyed her glass. “Should I be cutting you off?”

  “I do not need to be cared for as a toddler.”

  “I know what you’re trying to say, but I’m still a little concerned that someone let you drink as a toddler.”

  “Knowing what I do about my family, I can understand the confusion.”

  “Do you mind if I give you a helpful hint?”

  She kept her eyes on the crowd and hid her scowl behind the glass. “If you feel you must.”

  “Guests feel a little uncomfortable when their host glares at them from across the room.”

  “I am not glaring.”

  “My mistake,” he said, hiding his smile behind his glass. He waited until he spoke again before taking a sip. “I was just confused by the abundant amount of staring in a ferocious and angrily piercing manner.”

  Natalie turned to him sharply. “That is the definition of glaring.”

  “Is it?” His attempt at innocence failed miserably when accompanied by his smirk.

  She huffed an angry breath and turned back to the crowd. “I may, possibly, be slightly upset.”

  “But you hid it so well,” Jai teased. When she narrowed her eyes on him, he smiled and continued on. “Sorry. I’m just not all that surprised.”

  “What is that supposed to mean?”

  He gestured to the room with his champagne flute as he leaned back against the wall behind them. “You’re not exactly a social butterfly. Small talk isn’t really your thing.”

  “Then why would I agree to host this event?” she challenged.

  “Because shop talk is most definitely your thing. And this way, you don’t have to commute.”

  Natalie watched him for a long moment. “I told you that?”

  He nodded.

  “How do you remember that?”

  “Because I have a great memory,” he said. “And before you give into the urge to insult me again, it’s completely normal to remember things about friends you’ve had for years.”

  “I know.” A slight unease worked through her stomach, and she found herself looking only at her glass. “I have always considered you a friend.”

  Even from the corner of her eye, his surprise was clear. A smile tilted his lips, and her face flushed in response. The sensation caught her by surprise and left her with a sudden nervous energy.

  “Thanks, Natalie.”

  “You’re welcome,” she mumbled.

  Jai’s easy smile tightened, the casual posture of his shoulders tensed, and he subtly lifted his chin. Natalie only realized how closely she was watching him when she needed little else to capture her attention. Following his line of sight, she spotted Malcolm making his way through the crowd. He hadn’t spotted them yet, but it was only a matter of time. She let out an involuntary groan at the thought.

  “You really dislike him,” Jai noted.

  “Is this when you tell me how horrible I am and start listing his virtues?”

  “Not exactly,” Jai said. “I can’t put my finger on it yet, but there’s something about that guy that puts me on edge.”

  “You feel threatened?”

  “I feel like I need to watch my back,” Jai corrected. “Although, that’s just my hang up. He might be a great guy.”

  “I understand the sensation,” Natalie said, suppressing the urge to tell him that it was pretty much what she had been telling him earlier.

  It just seemed too close to ‘I told you so’ to say with any kind of dignity. She watched Malcolm pass by again. Once more, he didn’t notice her, and she was left with a few moments of peace.

  “You know, Mads’ rule states that you can’t be left alone.”

  “I fail to see your point.”

  “He never said that you had to be in this room,” Jai said with a hint of a smile. “Here’s my offer. We take one of your hidden passageways, drop by to pick up my book, and then ride out the hours to dinner in your lab.”

  “What about all of your admirers?”

  Jai had the nerve to look at her with what seemed to be actual confusion.

  “Do you mean my friends?”

  “If that is what you insist on calling them.”

  Jai chuckled softly and shook his head. The sound was a little too indulgent for her tastes. It was too close to him mocking her.

  “They’re here all weekend. We can catch up later.”

  Natalie finished her glass of champagne as she thought through her options. As much as she had wanted to get out of here, she was hesitant to spend another evening with Jai. There was something intimate about him being in her laboratory. It was forbidden for people to enter the room without her expressed invitation. And that only ever arrived when she needed help moving something particularly heavy. Even though Jai didn’t attempt to interact with her at any point, doing little more than simply existing alongside her, it felt personal.

  Eventually, she licked her lips and nodded. “Very well.”

  “Wow. It’s an escape plan, not a root canal. I can get you Jaimie, if you’d prefer. He was a sniper for a bit, so the boy can sit silent and motionless for hours.”

  “No,” she said too quickly, “you will suffice.”

  “That’s always the goal.” Jai took her now empty glass and placed it with his on a nearby table. “Okay, where is the nearest exit?”

  She fought back a smile at his spike of enthusiasm. He whispered the question like they were about to embark on a prison break. “A few feet to our right.”

  “Brilliant,” he smiled. “Here’s the plan. You grab some snacks, I’ll tell Dwayne, and we skip out before having to deal with any potential fallout.”

  The smile she was suppressing began to play on the edges of her lips.

  “So, Dwayne will be our ‘fall guy.’”

  “You don’t really need air quotations for that,” Jai said, “but yes.”

  “Agreed.”

  “Ruthless,” Jai said with a warming hint of approval.

  Without another word, they broke apart and set about completing their tasks as swiftly as possible. It proved harder than she had expected. Malcolm stalked his way around the tables, apparently sure that sooner or later Natalie would surface from the crowd for sustenance.

  The life of a baroness tends to draw attention. From the moment Natalie took her first breath, her every movement had been scrutinized and judged. It was one of the many reasons that she had decided a life of solitude was preferable. Perhaps it was because of this that she now found sneaking about to be thrilling. A little tremble shivered within her as she lurked in the corner and waited for her moment.

  A few people approached her. While it was annoying in principle, they did create the perfect shield to keep her from Malcolm’s searching eyes. When the moment presented itself, she hastily excused herself, ducked around them, and snatched up one of the plates. Eyes were still following her as she hurried back to meet Jai. It took some of the fun out of the situation. The whole point was that no one knew about the passageways or where she was going.

  Jai instantly noticed her shift in mood and gave her a smile. With one finger, he silently told her to wait. If it wasn’t for her curiosity, she would have said something, most likely scathing. But as it was, she silently c
ame to his side and watched him interestedly.

  A few seconds after she had reached him, there was a sudden scream and a drawn-out sound of cracking glass. She glanced over to the champagne tower. Dwayne stood right next to it, one of the bottom glasses in his hand, watching with an overly befuddled expression as the massive tower slowly crumbled before him.

  Natalie turned as Jai tapped her arm. He had found the secret door on his own and had opened it just the slightest amount. He held it open with one hand and waved her in with the other. She slipped inside into the dimly lit hall and let him close it securely behind them before she whispered, “Did you instruct Dwayne to do that?”

  “Sort of.”

  Natalie raised an eyebrow, “You do realize that I will have to pay for the damages incurred.”

  “Sorry,” he winced. “But Dwayne’s first option had been to strip naked in the middle of the room, so–”

  She held up one hand to cut him off, barely visible through the small pinpricks of light that seeped in under the door. “I will happily pay for the glasses.”

  “Great,” Jai said.

  His voice was the only warmth within the hallway. He kept close to her side to keep their whispers from being overheard by the crowd on the other side of the door. It put him close enough that the notes of his aftershave wafted into her attention. It was crisp and clean, but also welcoming and sweet. Taking in a deep breath, Natalie found she could only identify notes of vanilla and mint.

  “So, how do we get to my room?”

  “Your room?” she asked as she mulled over the cologne in her head, trying to dissect it into its basic parts.

  “For my book,” he pressed.

  “Of course.” She shoved the plate into his hands and led the way through the darkness.

  Chapter Twelve

  The party had expanded from the main foyer, which made it harder for Willow to find a place to catch her breath. She slipped from one room to the other, going deeper into the castle until she was actually contemplating heading outside into the rain just for a moment of peace. It wasn’t that the guests were unpleasant. If anything, they were some of the nicest people she had met in a while.

  But in the end, they were all neurosurgeons, and her knowledge of medicine was taxed after discussing basic first aid. They were all here to talk shop, and it was obvious that they had to dumb down everything they said when they wanted to include her in the conversation. Or they bombarded her with questions about Mads.

  She had known that the whole reason Mads wanted her here was to mess with people. But she hadn’t expected that so many people would be interested in his personal life. After a few hours of dodging questions and feeling completely over her head in general conversation, Willow was ready for a breather.

  Completely lost at this point, she was surprised to find herself in Mads’ art gallery. The thick walls smothered the sound of the band, and she was left with only her footsteps echoing around her. Curiosity prickled under her skin and, without thought, she made her way to the busts of Mads’ parents. The hall was darkened as the still pelting rain drenching the high standing windows. She hesitated when she rounded a corner and found that she wasn’t alone.

  Hearing her approach, Filip glanced over his shoulder to meet her gaze. “Don’t hurry off,” he smiled. “Come, talk to me a while.”

  She edged closer as he turned more fully toward her, never giving the busts his back.

  “Are you looking for a moment of peace, too?” he asked. “I do love my niece, but I don’t understand her at the best of times. Right now, I’m really out of my depth.”

  “I know the feeling.”

  A smile played across Filip’s lips, one both weary and proud. “Mads does have a tendency to leave people feeling a little shell shocked.”

  Willow didn’t really know what to do, so she spent most of her time trying not to make her search for an exit too obvious.

  “How long have you known my Mads?” he inquired.

  Hearing anyone refer to Mads as ‘my Mads’ just hit the ear like a bad joke. She pushed the sensation aside and busied herself by folding her hands into the warm cloak Natalie had given her for the party.

  “For a while.”

  “Forgive me for prying, but what exactly is your relationship with him?”

  “It’s…” she drew out the word and eventually shrugged. “Complicated.”

  It was hard to keep back her pleased smirk at the barely contained anger that sparked across Filip’s face. She could almost picture how Mads would react to hearing this story. It hit her then that she had never actually seen Mads smile. Not really. Nothing that would even flash his teeth. His smiles had only ever been slight, well-controlled tips of his lips. She didn’t have time to work deeper into the thought. Filip was already demanding her attention.

  “Things with my nephew often are. I hope that won’t frighten you off. Mads needs some reliable people in his life. Has he told you much about his childhood?”

  “Little bits here and there,” she said.

  Filip chuckled. “Don’t take it personally. He’s a very guarded person.”

  “I think he prefers to be called private.”

  “Of course,” he said with a warm tone.

  She watched the man for a long moment. There was something in the way he moved and the way he spoke that told her loud and clear that he was up to something. She just couldn’t pinpoint what. It made her keep one eye on the door that she’d finally located even as she talked to him.

  “Have you met his parents?” Filip asked before he hesitated. “I mean, well, has he told you what happened to them?”

  He lifted one hand to usher her closer to the busts. It seemed like she was walking a fine line between what Mads wanted her to do and what he would consider going too far. Filip watched her carefully, taking note of her every reaction. The scrutiny would have been uncomfortable if she hadn’t been exposed to Mads for such a long time. Filip seemed to notice some things. Mads noticed everything, and he wasn’t shy about letting people know he was figuring them out.

  “I’m guessing he’s told you a bit.”

  “The bare basics, I suppose,” Willow dismissed.

  “I can’t imagine I came off well in that story,” Filip said as he turned back to the busts. “I handled my grief poorly, and Mads has never forgiven me for it.”

  The words sparked her curiosity, and Filip didn’t let the opening pass him by.

  “I want to tell you my side of things.”

  Willow smiled politely. “I don’t think you should. Actually, I should probably get back.”

  She didn’t make it more than a step before Filip caught her arm.

  “Please. You’re my only hope.”

  “That sounds ominous,” she said. “And grossly misinformed.”

  “What?” he chuckled.

  “You think that I have some sort of sway over Mads so you can maybe bury that hatchet between you before he takes off your head with it. I’m telling you right now, no one can make Mads do something he doesn’t want to do.”

  “I think you underestimate how important you are to him. He’s never brought someone home before.” Before Willow could respond, he held his hands up in surrender. “Please, just listen. I have so little family left; I can’t stand Mads being mad at me. And besides, I owe it to my brother.”

  Willow crossed her arms over her chest and glanced between him and the busts.

  “Here’s the deal. You’ll have five minutes. I’m not going to betray Mads’ confidence, and I make no promises to help you in any way.”

  “Agreed,” Filip beamed. “Thank you.”

  She shuffled awkwardly on her feet. “Your time’s starting now.”

  “Right,” Filip said. “I trust that you know about their abduction. The whole sordid affair was well documented, and everyone had their own theories. It was a living hell. And what Mads seems to forget is that while he lost his parents, I lost my brother and my sister-in-law. I admit
that I didn’t handle the situation very well, but Mads has misread everything.”

  “You called him a bastard,” Willow cut in.

  “I did,” Filip said. “I never meant him to hear it. I didn’t think about what the fallout could be.”

  “You didn’t think that he might be a little offended about you slandering his mother?”

  “I hadn’t heard until that day that Maria had a stalker. Daan had never spoken a word.”

  It made a slight twist work in her chest to realize that it was the first time she had ever heard their names. The few time Mads had ever spoken of them, it was still with a child’s devotion. Mother and Father were titles spoken with reverence. Hearing their names now made them suddenly real. Maria Latvis. For months, she had been receiving photographs of Maria Latvis, an actual human being.

  “My first instinct had been to protect Mads. I thought that if the man was so obsessed with Maria that he might be an erotomaniac…Oh, um, that’s a mental disorder.”

  “Where an afflicted person believes that someone else, quite often a celebrity, returns their love. In severe cases, they can develop detailed delusions of an entire life together without the victim ever being aware of their existence.”

  Filip paused, blinked, and then smiled broadly. “Of course you know some psychology. Mads would appreciate that shared passion.”

  Willow ignored the comment. “Let me get this straight. You think that a love-seeking stalker abducted Maria but left Mads behind because she somehow convinced him that Mads was his to invoke a paternal response.”

  “Exactly,” Filip said. “And if that was the case, I didn’t want anything to risk breaking that delusion. I wasn’t trying to tell the world that Mads wasn’t Daan’s. I was trying to make sure that the stalker and possible killer of my brother didn’t come back for my nephew.”