Chapter 532
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“What now?” Natalie groaned when a knock came on the door. It wasn’t Penelope because she was sitting right beside her, nor was it her family members because they don’t knock but bang in. There could only be one person responsible for that and her heart picked up speed instantly.
Natalie and Penelope shared nervous looks before their gaze moved back to the door. Her best friend was the only person she had opened up to about what was going on between her and Daniel. Of course, her friend was scared for her because they didn’t know what to do.
Her mother was too absorbed in pleasing her husband and making sure her children didn’t ruin the family’s image and cause a setback right after her papa won the election, hence she couldn’t see what was happening right in front of her nose – that her daughter was in a threatening relationship.
Her papa on the other hand was too busy and Natalie could count the number of times she had seen him since he won the election. ‘He was busy with things, he would say, and didn’t know that his partner in crime was messing around with his daughter. Not that her father would do anything even if Natalie told him the truth and that was what scared her the most. Would the man even believe her? Not to mention go against Daniel and jeopardize his political career? Perhaps, she knew the answer inwardly, which was no wonder she hesitated opening up to her papa.
And Daniel knew all that which was why he was confident she wouldn’t tell on him, at least, until he comes out with their relationship – as he claims. As far as Natalie was concerned, she knew nothing of what he was talking about. This was all on him and she was an unwilling victim and she was unlucky to have gotten tangled with such fate.
“You don’t need to go,” Penelope grabbed her arm the moment she stood up to answer. She shook her head desperately, “You can make your stand clear, you don’t belong to him,” Her friend tried to convince her.
However, Natalie swallowed, “Avoiding Daniel only makes things worse. He’s good at deflection and he would always find a way to get what he wants. I don’t want to get you involved in this, Penelope.”
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Her friend wanted to stand her ground and say she wasn’t scared, but she was. Penelope hadn’t forgotten that first encounter with Daniel and all of this would have been over if only Natalie had left him to die. But she didn’t listen, and now, all of them were suffering the consequences, Penelope blamed her inwardly.
“He would not hurt me, I’m sure of that,” Natalie assured Penelope when she wasn’t even comforted by it at all. The fact that Daniel wouldn’t hurt her meant that someone else would bear the punishment and she didn’t want to see that happen.
“I’ll just see what he wants and I’ll be back, I promise. It’s not as bad as it looks, ” She chuckled as if it was easy, gently peeling off Penelope’s grip on her. The girl’s grip was surprisingly strong on her as if she didn’t want to let go.
Without a second thought, Natalie walked over to the door, and with a deep breath, she summoned the courage to open the door. It wasn’t Daniel outside her door, but it was one of his people.
“The boss wants to see you now,” The man said to her and she nodded in understanding.
“Give me a minute,” Natalie went back to her bed and picked up her purse and after giving Penelope one final hug, she left with him.
Daniel’s men were crawling all around their residence and Natalie did not doubt that they would cover up like usual when her mother asked around for her. Her mother was foolishly dumb and for once, Natalie was grateful that her intelligence came from her father’s side – even though she loathed the man.
They drove in his Lexus LS400 and Natalie was silent throughout the entire journey. She didn’t want to bond with any member of his team because friendship resulted in sympathy and she was the victim here. There was no way on earth she would understand Daniel’s reason for compelling her into a relationship with him.
No, she would never understand. She would not love him even though her body was a betrayal and she was a raging hormonal teenager. But she loved Edward and she had dreams to fulfill – dreams that Daniel doesn’t understand. She wasn’t cut out for his Mafia world and actually wanted to do something meaningful with her life.
And because she loved Edward, she was going to break up with him. He didn’t deserve this. Edward deserves someone better than her who would remain faithful to him and doesn’t have to deal with all of the shit she is going through right now. Not to mention that he was in danger of Daniel and that was enough to make Natalie do something. Moreover, it was the right thing to do. She owed him that.
They arrived at Daniel’s place which was quite nice honestly, not that she was going to tell him that before he had the wrong idea that she was settling into his world, because that would never happen. Natalie was taken to the backyard where she found Daniel making a barbecue and his face split into a wide smile upon seeing her.
Natalie didn’t even have the chance to say a word before he swallowed up her entire frame in a hug and she got to realize just how small she was. With his broad frame, Daniel could easily break her into two if she pushed him to the limit.
“You’re here,” He said, leaning down to place a kiss on her lips, but Natalie turned her face to the side at the last minute and it ended up as a chaste kiss on her cheek or so she assumed.
After Daniel pecked her cheek, he didn’t pull away and instead, took her skin in between his teeth and bit her. Natalie yelped from the pain, but he kissed the spot, soothing it with his tongue before he trailed small kisses down to her neck, and her breath caught in her throat.
Natalie pushed him away and Daniel stumbled back laughing maniacally which infuriated her. She didn’t get to see the look he gave her was that of a predator who knew he had his prey cornered. His prey just doesn’t know that yet.