Chapter 477

477 Dirty Little Secret

Many years back...

Regalo was dead and Natalie had never been more scared in her life than now. The man was no other than her father’s strongest opponent in the upcoming election and his death was widely broadcasted in the news. Of course, suspicion should have moved to her father based on the fact that he was the one to benefit most from his murder, but that wasn’t the case.

Apparently, Regalo was working with the Cartal and they had a fall out which resulted in his murder. It seems the Cartel had been backing him until they had the dispute that led to the loss of his life. Nonetheless, her father was under investigation as well, however, Natalie knew nothing was going to come out of it because he had immunity – he had the support of that man, Daniel.

Natalie finally understood Daniel’s business with her father, he helped him eliminate his competition and she didn’t know what to make of that. Her father was turning into somebody that she couldn’t understand anymore due to his political ambition. Just how far was he going to go? Until he won? Then what? Arianna knew for sure that there was no going back once one had a taste of darkness. It was luring, sweet, intoxicating yet dark.

She couldn’t see her father in the same light as before and what made it worse was the fact that she couldn’t talk to anyone about it. Penelope was still spooked from that accident and it was made worse now Daniel literally walked in and out of their house as if he owned it. Natalie didn’t know the deal between her papa and Daniel, but they upped security as well, filling it with Daniel’s people and making it hard for her to sneak out.

However, Natalie was not the type of person to give up and already found a loophole in their security and a form of escape. She was going to see Edward today and no one was going to stop her. Penelope was not coming with her today, she had merely accompanied her that day to ensure that Edward was not a bad person.

Her job was fulfilled and Penelope might have subtly pointed out that her boyfriend was jinxed, hinting that they might stumble upon another psychopath like Daniel on their way home. Of course, that comment didn’t sit well with Natalie, but to avoid an argument, she let her be – her loss anyway. She was the one alone in there, not her.

Natalie was standing on the wedge she had created from a bunch of stuff she had gathered around and was ready to climb over the wall. She grabbed the edge of the high wall, grateful for her tall height. She pushed herself up, grunting with the effort as she successfully pushed one leg over the edge while the other one dangled from the inside.

She swallowed a deep breath, her leg having scraped across the wall in the process but she sucked in the pain, no success comes easily. Done catching her breath, she was about to lift the other part of her body over the wall when someone said,

.....

“I didn’t know you could scale walls too, princess?”

Caught red-handed, Natalie was startled and lost her grip. Before Natalie knew what was going on, she found herself stumbling back down with a curse on her lips and hit the ground or so she imagined because Daniel caught her at the last minute.

Still reeling from the shock, Natalie didn’t say anything until her brain reminded her about the fact that she was currently wrapped in Daniel’s arms. Shit! She cursed and scrambled to get off him and unintentionally made herself aware of the strength of his arms and the pack of muscles beneath his jacket.

He didn’t let go of her at first, making her squirm like a fish out of water until she reacted instinctively and bite down on his arm, chomping on leather at first, making sure she bit furiously on the little flesh she caught in between her teeth.

“Damn it!”

Daniel had no choice but to let go of her before she bit off his flesh. Natalie landed on her feet unsteadily but managed to right herself at the end. She expected Daniel to be mad at her, considering she had bitten him hard, but instead she found amusement in his gaze which was kind of ridiculous. He was a criminal, and she thought he would lash out at her – or even hit her.

“The next time you want to plant a love bite on me, try the neck,” He teased her, flashing his white teeth that would have made any other girl fall under his charm, except her.

“In your dreams,” Natalie sneered, disgust written all over her face. He was in for a big shock if he thought he could use the influence of her father to date her. She didn’t fancy him – even though he was sexy as hell.

Banish that thought, Natalie.

“Dreams can always turn to reality,” He grinned suggestively.

Wait a minute, was he seriously flirting with her?

Weird.

Natalie shuddered inwardly.

“You seem to be going somewhere?” He raised an eyebrow at the item she piled high to aid her climb the walls.

But Natalie blocked his view, “No, I wasn’t.” She lied even though the truth was staring right at their faces.

“Of course,” Daniel chuckled, “I should have known that you would study the guards’ routine , enough to know when this spot is free.” He ran his hand through his hair, “I must say I’m impressed. ”

Natalie narrowed her gaze at him, he was definitely confusing as hell. What does he want from her?

“Since you’re willing to leave unseen, I bet that whatever you’re about to do would not be approved by your family. But don’t worry princess, I’ll keep your secret and you can claim this spot for your secret getaways.”

She glared at him, “Stop calling me that, I’m no princess...” Natalie paused as if trying to form the thought that was confusing her, “Why would you help me?”

And to answer that question, Daniel began to step towards her and that made her walk back until she hit a dead end, the wall. He then caged her in and smirked like the predator he was.

“Why, you ask?” He smirked devilishly, “Because keeping your dirty little secrets makes us besties, don’t you think so?”