by Newbiel
"You are amazing at this Miss Lombardi." Nathaniel complimented.
It was a lot later when the two exit the restaurant hand in hand. They were very close to each other and for the last half hour were touching each other's hands or feet.
"So you are leaving tomorrow morning, right?" She asked again.
"Yes, first light. Why Miss Lombardi? Want to come tuck me in?" He said playfully.
Valentina chose to not answer with words and just start kissing him deeply until they were both breathless. In that moment, Nathaniel who was hoping that he could sleep a little before leaving just threw that away, they were things more important than that, he thought, kissing her back fiercely.
*****
The next morning, Nathaniel disentangle himself from Valentina embrace, taking special care of not waking her up. They had spent the whole night enjoying each other's body and finally fall exhausted an hour ago. Even if he didn't want to leave her side, he still has to pack his things before they take the car in the direction of the airport.
It was not long until he had everything in order, with a last longing look at Valentina enchanting sleeping form, he exited the room. They had talked about this and it was better for the two of them to leave like that. Moreover, she needed to be in court in a couple of hours so she needed sleep. Meeting back with his grandfather and the rest of their security detail, he was glad that everyone was on time. Even if the jet was his grandfather's, they could not miss the time that they were scheduled to leave or they could have to wait an hour for another opening in the timeline.
Chapter 146: :
It was a long ten hours flight home but luckily Nathaniel passed the whole time sleeping in one of the chairs. Between everything that happened the last few days plus the night he passed in Valentina arms, Nathaniel really needed the sleep. That was maybe why even with the turbulence and the people talking around him, he did not even wake up once.
It was only when the plane touched the ground that Nathaniel finally opened his eyes and straightened in his seat. Rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, Scott who was sitting not far from him realised that his boss finally woke up.
"Good morning sir, it seems you need sleep." He said, smirking.
"Indeed Scott, what's up with the smirk?" He asked, rolling his neck until he heard it pop.
"Let's just say that you and your… friend… were not really quiet last night. There were also a number of complaints made against you for the noise and one of the managers of the hotel came to make you stop. We take care of it of course to not disturb you." Scott said. Nathaniel could see that it was taking anything that he had for him to not explode in laughter.
"Ah. Sorry about that, we got a little carried away." He said, putting his hand on his neck self consciously.
"Don't worry about it but you should know that your grandfather was not really happy to have the room next to yours."
"Great." Nathaniel sighed, he could already picture what was waiting for him.
Looking by the window, he could see that the plane was rolling on the tarmac in the direction of the private hangar they were renting. Unlocking his seat belt, he got up, preparing to exit the plane. Seeing that his grandfather was doing the same, Nathaniel chose to speak.
"Did you manage to sleep grandpa?" He asked.
Robert looked at him unhappily and just grunt without saying a word. It seems that Scott had downplayed the state of mind of his grandfather. Usually, he had not calmed into talking or more often complaining to him but not talking at all was a new one.
It was not long before the plane stopped completely and the co-pilot opened the door. Descending the stairs behind Amal and his grandfather, Nathaniel had the surprise to see his mothers and grandmother here, waiting for them with excited expressions. Smiling brightly, seeing his grandfather being hugged by Diane, Nathaniel was fiercely hugged by his mothers.
"Sweetie! Finally, you are home." Mary cried happily.
"I missed you moms."
It was now that it was in the arms of his mothers that Nathaniel could truly let it go. That did not last long as Mary hugged in turn her father and Diane took possession of her grandson as fiercely as his mothers did a little earlier. He was pleasantly surprised to see his grandfather hugging Karine however. The relation between the two of them has always been tense even if it had started to get better recently.
"My beautiful dear, you did it. You really did bring him back." She said with adoration, taking his face between her hands.
"I told you I would grandma." He smiled back.
"You promise me something else also, I hope you did not forget." She said, looking at him intently.
"No I did not forget, let's just go home and I will tell you both everything, alright?"
"Alright but Robert has a meeting with the board in an hour and a half that he can't miss."
"That's right, I hope whatever you have to tell us is not going to take much time." His grandfather jumped into the conversation.
"Let's just get home before we talk about this." Mary said.
It was at that moment that a black SUV parked in front of the hangar and two people wearing suits that were screaming 'feds' came out. Seeing them, Nathaniel made a step on the side to take place in front of his grandmother to protect her. It was only until they were closer that Nathaniel recognized one of the two men and relaxed slightly. He was the one who had come when he was in the hospital with Scott sometimes ago.
"Nathaniel Lyndon, This is the Secret Service. I'm going to ask you to come with me, sir." The one on the left said, showing his badge.
"What is the meaning of this?" Robert shouted unhappily.
"Grandpa, let me handle this please." Nathaniel said, stopping him in his rant before turning to the two agents. "Guys, come on. I literally just came back."
"We know, sir but we have strict instruction, you need to follow us right now." He answers with an emotionless voice.
Nathaniel was afraid of something like this happening. It was not hard to guess that what he did in two different countries had bothered Tobias and even the President and now they wanted answers. But he had made a promise to his grandmother that he would explain everything once he came back and now they were threatening to take him away before he could do so.
"Can I have twenty minutes with my family alone before I follow you? I have made a promise and I intend to keep it." Nathaniel asks.
"I'm sorry sir but we can't. Our orders are to take you immediately." He said, shaking his head.
"Your orders are coming from Tobias, right? Just tell him if he says anything that I threaten to kill you if you were to go through with your orders, that should get you off the hook."
"But sir, you didn't threaten us." He said seemingly lost.
"I will if you force me to do so." Nathaniel said, his eyes making them shiver. "Scott, Amal, diamond formation around the plane, if these two come close, you are allowed to shoot."
"Yes, sir." Scott and Amal said at the same time, Amal started to give orders to Matthew and Jason to form the perimeter.
"Guys, let's get on the plane, it seems I'm needed elsewhere." Nathaniel sighed.
Chapter 147: :
Twenty minutes later, Nathaniel was coming down the plane like he had said he would to the two Secret Service agents here. They were treading on fine water in this situation. They had been given strict orders to take Nathaniel away but they also knew that the teenager that they were talking to was not ordinary by any means. The two of them were working for the Secret Service for more than a decade and they knew very well that they were not supposed to be used to fetch people, especially a teenager.
The one who had talked to Nathaniel had already interacted with him a couple of months ago and the impression that he got was that he was interesting. He was young and playful but also extremely smart and confident in himself. He also had a control of his surroundings that was astonishing to see on someone that young. It's like he could spot, remember and act on everyt
hing that was surrounding him and used that for his benefit.
Seeing the young man descending from the plane like he said he would, he released a breath he did not know he was holding. He really did not want to try to get him by force and he clearly heard him say to his security personnel to shoot them if they were going to come close to the plane and it did not look like he was kidding when he did.
"Are you alright, sir?" Scott asks, seeing Nathaniel descend with a grimace, sign that the conversation inside did not go very well.
"Yeah, don't worry about it Scott. Thanks anyway." He gave him a smile, picking his bag from where he had put it previously.
"Do you want me to come with you, sir? You could use some back up." Scott said, looking attentively at the two Secret Service agents.
Pausing a second to think about it, Nathaniel focused his eyes on the one agent he had seen before.
"Excuse me, what is your name?" Nathaniel asks.
"I'm agent Carmen, sir, John Carmen" He answers with respect.
"Okay John, you let me twenty minutes with my family like I asked you to, so I let you decide. Can I bring a plus one or you prefer just me?" Nathaniel asks in the same way.
"Our orders are for you alone, sir."
"Alright, since you were flexible with me, I will be with you. Scott just go back home and rest, I have a hunch that we are going to need it in the coming week. I will be alright, don't worry."
"Yes, sir." He nodded.
"Good man." He smiled, putting his hand on his shoulder before going in the direction of the Secret Service SUV.
"I can take your bag if you want, sir." John said.
"No thanks, it's staying with me." Nathaniel said. There were a lot of things inside that he did not want to leave out of his sight, especially with Secret Service agents nearby.
Sitting in the back, Nathaniel prepares to get back to sleep when the other man chooses to speak.
"Sir, don't get too comfortable, we are not going far." He warned, locking his seat belt.
"Ah?" Nathaniel said, surprisingly, straightening in his seat.
Until he realised it was evident. They were at JFK airport and so taking a plane to DC was way much more logical and fast. Seeing the car, he thought they were going to ride there, which was kind of dumb thinking about it. Nathaniel really needed to sleep more. When the car stopped moving, Nathaniel could see that he was wrong, it was not a plane that was waiting for him. It was a helicopter, and not any helicopter, it was a Sikorsky VH-3D. It was known better by its code name.
"Marine One? He really sent Marine One to get me?" Nathaniel asks incredulously.
"Not exactly, Marine One is it's codename when the President is inside, as he's not, it's just a regular helicopter with fancy marking on the side." John said, getting out of the car, Nathaniel following him.
"Ah, like Air Force One." Nathaniel said.
"Exactly. We should hurry, sir. We are late." John said.
Not wanting to bother them, Nathaniel hurried and got inside the chopper that was already doing pre pre-flight check, as the rotor started to turn. Taking one of the most comfortable seats inside, which was also the seat of the President when he was inside, Nathaniel locked his seat belt, the two Secret Service agents, doing very much the same.
Nathaniel then sleeps the whole way to DC, the two Secret Service agents looking at him with mixed feelings. The kid was in the personal helicopter of the President, in his very own seat, in route to meet the President himself and he was sleeping without any worry in the world. It was almost insulting in a way.
When Nathaniel woke up, it was too see the helicopter landing on the White House south lawn. Getting to his feet, he starts stretching to make the pain of his aching muscles go away. Lately, he was sleeping on chairs and he was missing a real bed, he was missing his bed at home especially. Seeing the two Secret Service agents looking at him weirdly, Nathaniel asked.
��What's going on with you two?"
"Nothing, it's just you are meeting with the President of the United States and you sleep the whole way like it was no big deal."
"No, nothing of the sort. I just did not have a lot of sleep this week." Nathaniel said, purposely vague.
"Got it, sorry to have ask, sir. Please, follow me."
Following John out of the chopper and into the White House, they were quickly stopped by a security checkpoint. Passing inside after showing their badge, John looks at Nathaniel.
"Sir, do you have some metallic object on your person or your bag?" One of the security officers asked, approaching Nathaniel with a detector in hand.
"I have my laptop in my bag." Nathaniel answers.
"Just put it in the tray here. Anything else?"
"Well, I have that." Nathaniel adds with a smile, making two throwing knives appeared in his hands, startling the security officer and the two Secret Service agents who had escorted him here, their hands going straight to the gun in their belt.
Chapter 148: :
"Easy guys, easy." Nathaniel said, putting the two blades on the tray that the security officer was still holding, the two Secret Service agents hands going away from their guns.
The two throwing knives were fifteen centimetre long and five centimetre wind on the larger portion of the blade. He had them custom made in Italy by one of Valentina's contacts. It was a weapon that was fitting perfectly for him considering the dexterity of his hands that he hone while doing card tricks for a while now. He also had a familiarity with knives that was almost soothing, he didn't understand it completely but since there was non danger for him, he did not question it much.
"Just don't touch the blades, there is poison on it that could kill you in seconds." Nathaniel adds, seeing the security officer wanting to touch the knives.
Hearing that, the man jerks away quickly, visibly scared, making Nathaniel laugh.
"No, just messing with you. The knives are extremely sharp, I don't want you to cut yourself. On the other hand if they were to be missing when I come back, I would hold you accountable for this." Nathaniel added with narrowed eyes.
"Don't worry, sir. They will be here when you get back, I assure you." The security officer affirmed. "Please, go through here, sir."
Passing the portico and being swiped by the metal detector, Nathaniel was allowed in without further ado. Getting back his laptop after it was attentively examined, he turned to his escort.
"John?"
"Yes, sir. Follow me, please."
It did not take long for them to reach the waiting room of the President and for Nathaniel to meet someone he already knew.
"Hello Judith." Nathaniel said sweetly to the personal secretary of the President who smiled seeing him entering the room.
"Ho Nathaniel, I was told that you were expected today."
"I didn't even know that I was but I'm happy to come here and see you again. Did you do something to your hair? The new haircut looks really good on you and I especially love your earrings." Nathaniel compliment.
"I did actually, two weeks ago." She answers happily, smiling broadly. "You are the only one with the First Lady who actually noticed. My earrings are actually an heirloom that belonged to my grandmother a long time ago. My son likes to mock me for them, he says that it makes me look like my mother."
"That's not a very nice thing to say." Nathaniel shook his head.
"Humm." John clears his throat to get the attention of the secretary. "Judith, can you announce that…" He started to say before stopping abruptly seeing the nasty look that she was giving him.
"What?" She asked coldly, it was evident that she did not like to be interrupted in her discussion with Nathaniel.
"Nothing." He said, gulping.
"I'm sorry it's my fault." Nathaniel adds to rescue the poor John. "We are late because of me, that's why John interrupted us so don't blame him. Can you call the President and tell him I'm here, pretty please?"
"Oh, of course. I'm calling him right now, I don't want you to get in troub
le because of me."
"Thank you Judith." Nathaniel smiles sweetly. "What if we continue our conversation once my meeting with the President is over?"
"I would like that. You can go in by the way, they are waiting for you." Judith said after the call ended.
Thanking Judith and stopping her for opening the door for him, Nathaniel knocks on the door once and makes his way into the Oval Office. Behind his desk, the President got to his feet a little time after Tobias did the same, both of them making their way to him.
"Lyndon." Tobias grunt as a salute, shaking his hand.
"Tobias." Nathaniel responded in the same way.
"Hello Nathaniel, sorry to take you away like that but we needed to talk to you." The President said, shaking his hand.
"It's okay sir, I was expecting to be summoned albeit not so soon."
"You could use the rest I know but we have to talk about important matters. Please, take a seat."
Sitting on the empty chair in front of the desk, Nathaniel spotted something on the side that made him pause for a second. Spreading his senses outward, Nathaniel made a find that did not really surprise him. There were agents in the next room, a demi-dozen by his estimation and one presence he already expected to be here.
"Sir, before we begin, shall we call your wife who is in the next room spying on us with the camera that is in that book shelf on the right? It would be easier and more honest that way, I believe. Moreover, you should know by now that I was already aware that she was here last time, the trick is up sir, with me at least." Nathaniel shrugged.
Exchanging a surprised stare, the two of them did not have the time to say anything before the side door opened and the First Lady entered the Oval Office with an amused smile.
"I told you he will see right through that."
"Linda! I told you to not enter the room, it's dangerous with him here!" The President shouted.
"I don't believe that, I met him alone already, he was the perfect gentleman and he never even tried to lie to me. And secondly, I can go wherever I want, I'm not your property." She frowned at him before turning to Nathaniel. "Do you have the intention to hurt me, my husband or anyone in this building?"
