Chapter 26
*****
Natalie heard a knock on her door, but she wasn’t expecting anyone. She wondered who it could be and quickly set down her tray of food to answer the door.
She turned the doorknob and opened the door to find Kate standing there. She was surprised to see her. “You didn’t tell me you were coming, Kate,” Natalie said, walking back into her room and leaving the door open for Kate to enter.
“Do I need to ask for permission before coming to my best friend’s house now?” Kate replied, giving Natalie a stern look as she slumped down on the couch.
“I didn’t mean it that way. I just wish you had called me first, and then I could have made food for both of us,” Natalie explained, sitting on her bed with the tray of food on her lap and taking a spoonful of cereal.
Kate stood up and looked at Natalie’s plate of food. “You still eat this, even though you’re married to a billionaire?” Kate exclaimed in surprise.
Natalie sighed. “Point of correction, Kate. I’m not married to him yet. Even if it’s just a contract that will end in a year, that doesn’t mean I will be extracting money from him. I’m content.” She pointed as she continued with her meal.
“Even so, you need to eat good foods so that you will look presentable to his family,” Kate advised, rolling her eyes.
Natalie dropped her spoon, feeling insulted by Kate’s words. “Hey, what do you mean by that, Kate? Do I look unattractive to you?” Natalie questioned, her brow knitted.
“I didn’t mean it that way, Nat. Don’t get me wrong,” Kate said, bursting into laughter when she saw how serious Natalie’s expression was. “Okay, I’m sorry.” She raised her hands in surrender when she saw how hard Natalie was glaring at her. “But you should learn to get money from him, though.” She added, and ran into Natalie’s kitchen, coming back with a spoon to join Natalie in her cereal, ignoring Natalie’s glares.
“I don’t care about money like you do,” Natalie replied, pointing her spoon at Kate, and they both burst into laughter.
“Eat up, let’s go to the club, it’s been a while,” Kate said with her mouth full.
Natalie nodded. “Oh, that explains why you’re all dressed up. I was wondering why. What’s the occasion?” she asked.
“You’re getting married, and I don’t know if you’ll have time for me. So let’s go to the club and spend more time together,” Kate explained.
Kate’s words made Natalie smile. “Just because I’ll be living in Javier’s house doesn’t mean I’ll forget about my best friend. Forever is the deal, remember?” she assured, and Kate nodded in agreement. “Let me go freshen up,” she added, heading toward her wardrobe.
****
The taxi driver stopped his car in front of the club. Music was blasting from the building, and various cars were parked outside. Natalie and Kate got out of the car, and Kate paid the taxi driver before he drove away.
Natalie and Kate stood outside, looking around. Suddenly, they heard someone shout their names and turned to see Shakira running carefully towards them in his high heels.
“Kate, Natalie!” he called out again.
“Shakira!” Kate pulled him into a hug as soon as he got closer.
“Hey babes, it’s been a while. I actually came here because my boyfriend asked me to,” he said quickly, twisting his body as he spoke in a sexy, feminine manner.
The ladies burst into laughter at his girlish gesture. Shakira was known for his flamboyant personality, as he was openly gay and unapologetic about his sexuality . Everyone knew him and his boyfriend, Alfred, and no one dared to question him because of his outspoken nature.
“Come on, let’s head inside,” Shakira said, motioning for them to enter.
Natalie and Kate walked into the crowded club, where everyone was dancing to the music. Shakira found an empty table and they all sat down. Soon, Alfred joined them, and Shakira ran to hug him before they sat down together, holding hands.
Kate got up and started dancing, singing along with the music. Natalie stayed seated, swaying to the music in her chair.
Elvis and Javier sat at the other end of the club, sipping their drinks. Elvis noticed Kate dancing and muttered, “What is she doing here?”
Javier noticed Elvis was not paying attention to him, as his gaze was fixed in a different direction. Just as Javier was about to turn around to see what had caught Elvis’s eye, a familiar voices interrupted his attention.
“Boss!” The three men Javier had paid to burn down Natalie’s shop greeted him, raising their hands. Javier was shocked to see them, as he had believed he had settled with them and they had promised never to show their faces to him. He didn’t want Elvis to start questioning him about who they were.
“We came to grab some drinks,” one of the guys answered his unspoken question, and they walked away without Elvis noticing anything, as his attention was on Kate.
“Where was your attention, Elvis? Looking at ladies with big butts?” Javier asked, glaring at him.
Elvis chuckled softly and shook his head. “Nothing, just enjoying the night view,” he responded.
As the three guys walked past Natalie’s table, Alfred suddenly recognized them. “Zino!” Alfred called out one of the guys’ names, causing them to stop and turn in the direction of the voice. They walked back to Natalie’s table and exchanged pleasantries with Alfred and Shakira.
After a few minutes, they excused themselves to grab a drink. As Zino was about to walk away with his friends, his hand accidentally hit Kate’s bag, catching Natalie’s attention. “Hey, dude,” she called out to him. However, Zino only turned and scoffed before walking away without apologizing.
Natalie’s eyes widened in shock as she quickly recognized him as the guy who had burned down her shop. She stood up and ran after him through the crowded club, carefully following him without losing focus. Suddenly, she found herself in the club restroom, but couldn’t find any trace of Zino, whom she had been following.
She wondered how she lost track of him when she had been carefully following him. As she looked around, she realized that there was nobody else in sight. She decided to walk back to the club, but as she turned around, she bumped into a hard chest.
She moved back, holding her forehead, and looked up to see Zino standing in front of her with a smirk on his face.
“Following me, huh!” he muttered softly, his smirk widening.
“You think you’ll get away with what you did to my shop? I will make sure you rot in jail!” Natalie fumed angrily, clenching and unclenching her fingers in rage, trying to keep herself under control and not slap off that smirk on his lips.
Zino remained unfazed by her threats, unafraid of her or the police. “And what will you do?” Zino grabbed her jaw and forced her to look into his eyes. Natalie struggled and tried to push his hands away, but someone caught hold of her hand. She turned to see the gang that had burned her shop standing behind her.
“Sexy but fierce. I love that,” Simon whispered, shaking his head as he brought her hand closer to his mouth to kiss it. Natalie withdrew her hand and took a step back.
“I will make you all rot in jail for what you did to my shop,” she threatened, pointing her finger at them.
They all burst into laughter, mocking her. “Oh… I’m shivering. I’m scared!” Hero cried, his voice filled with mockery, as the rest of the gang continued laughing.
Fear crept up Natalie’s skin as she realized they might harm her. She regretted not calling the police instead of following Zino.
“Why don’t you wait and watch as we teach you a lesson you will never forget in a lifetime,” Hero said, stepping closer to her, leaning over her face with the intention to kiss her.
But Natalie’s hand was quick to slap him across the face, scrunching up her nose in disgust. “You bastard. Let me get out of here,” she said as she tried to walk past him, but Hero hastily grabbed her hand and drew her backward, pushing her to the floor.
“Ouch!” Natalie moaned out painfully as she sustained some bruises on her elbows from the fall. “Let me go!” she screamed at the top of her voice, hoping someone would hear and come to her rescue.
Zino lustfully licked his lower lip as his gaze trailed down Natalie’s body. He crouched down closer to where she was leaning on the floor. “I finally got you, you know,” he muttered, his eyes filled with lust. “Remember me?” he asked.
Natalie raised her gaze to his face, realizing that she had seen him before apart from the shop incident. He was the cab guy who had offered her to pay him off by sharing his bed when she had no money to pay for her transport fare when she went to see her mother. She remembered punching him so hard on his nose. Now she was caught in his web.
“Watch me make love to you so passionately that you won’t be able to walk because I will make sure my men and I give you the best night of your life.” He groaned and began tearing her clothes into pieces.
“Let me go!” Natalie began to cry, as she struggled to fight his hands off her. However, Hero and Simon held her hands still, preventing her from struggling.
Finally, she was only left with her panties and her bra…