Chapter 3

Christian was sound asleep. Natalie crept down the stairs and curled up on the couch in the living room. It had been a long day, and she was exhausted. However, for reasons she couldn't explain, she couldn't fall asleep in her own bed. You need to stop kidding yourself, Natalie thought to herself. You know that you feel guilty sharing a bed with Chris when all you can think about is the look in John's eyes when he saw that you were hurt. The look in his eyes had brought back all of the memories of times he had held her in his arms and comforted her. She knew that he had wanted to do that today. It made her love him even more. Natalie froze. Love. Where had that come from? There's no way that I can love John because I'm a married woman, she thought. I'm married to Chris.

Natalie played with her hair, finding ways to hide her bruised forehead. Viki and Jessica would completely freak out if they saw it. That was the last thing she needed. After a few minutes, she drifted off to sleep.

"Natalie, Honey, wake up."

Natalie reluctantly opened her eyes. "Mom?" She looked at her watch. It was only ten o'clock in the evening. She'd only been asleep for forty minutes. "Is something wrong?" She swung her legs over the edge of the couch and sat up. She saw that Kevin was standing behind her mother.

"Baby, I heard what happened at the Palace. Bo called me and told me," Viki said. She sat on the couch beside her daughter and brushed her hair off her forehead so that she could examine her injury.

"It's nothing, Mom. Really. I can't believe Uncle Bo called you," Natalie said.

"It sure doesn't look like nothing," Kevin said, "What the heck happened to you, Sis?" No one hurt a Buchanan without suffering the repercussions.

Natalie lay back down on the couch. "It was an accident, Kev."

"John and Chris got into fight at the Palace, and Chris accidentally hit Natalie," Viki explained.

"What?! That little….I'll kill him if he ever lays a hand on you again—whether it's an accident or not," Kevin declared.

"Don't say that," Natalie said. "It was an accident. This bruise is just going to remind me to not try to break up any more fights. Just don't tell Jess."

"She probably already knows. You know how fast news spreads. It will probably be in the newspaper tomorrow. Anything to do with our family always is," Kevin said. He crossed his arms across his chest and glanced toward the stairs.

"Don't even think about it, Kevin," Viki said. "Leave Christian alone."

"For now," Kevin said, trying to conceal his anger. This was far from over. Wait until Asa found out about this.

Natalie sighed and stood up slowly. "I think I need to go for a walk so I can clear my head." She really needed to get out of the house. She felt like she was suffocating.

"It's late, Natalie," Viki protested. "If you really insist on going out, go get Chris. I'm sure that he wouldn't mind walking with you."

"I'm only going out for a little while. I need to be alone," Natalie said. " I'm going to have my cell phone on if you want to reach me. I'll be okay, Mom." She needed to go to Angel Square because it was one of the few places she could go and remember the way that Chris had been before his alleged death. He had put everything he had into the design for the angel statue. Now he was a different man. She didn't see the passion in him that had once existed when he worked on a piece of artwork or … made love to her.

"I'd come with you, but I have some business to take care of," Kevin said. "Be careful, Baby Sis." He kissed her cheek and left.

John sat on a bench at Angel Square. He couldn't sleep. He had been having these bouts of insomnia a lot lately. Even lying in bed with his arms around Evangeline had not cured him. He was so deep in thought that he did not notice that Natalie had just arrived.

Natalie ran her fingers across the smooth surface of the angel statue. She didn't even notice John at first, and it was obvious that he was just as oblivious to her presence. She pulled her coat close to her body. John's scent still lingered on the coat he had given her when they had talked at the park shortly after everyone discovered that Chris was alive. They had talked about a lot of things that night. Most of it had been about how she didn't want Chris to know that she had even been friends with John.

She backed up when she caught sight of John sitting down. Why was it that every time she started thinking about John; he came out of nowhere? She couldn't be anywhere near him. She ran so that he wouldn't look up and see her. Tears streamed down her cheeks. She had gotten Christian back, but she had lost John in the process.

"Where do you think you're going, Little Lady?"

Natalie's eyes widened. She had been so preoccupied that she hadn't even realized that she'd wandered off into an isolated part of town. Two men clothed in all leather approached her.

Natalie instinctively backed away from them. "I don't have any money." She had left her wallet at home.

"I'm sure we can work out some other form of payment," one of the men said. He was a tall, beefy guy with a thick mustache and beard. His dark eyes were steadied on her face. He wondered why a beautiful, young woman would be out at night alone. The answer didn't really matter to him. It was his lucky day.

When he was right in front of her, Natalie made her move. She kicked him in the groin as hard as she could and tried to make a break for it, but the other man grabbed her by her coat and yanked her back. Her hair was matted down to her head by the rain. Her tears mixed with the rainwater. She tried to scream, but a hand clamped down over her mouth.

The man she had kicked had somewhat recovered. He yanked open her coat. The only thing that Natalie was wearing was pajama pants and a silk zebra-print top. She had been so anxious to leave Llanfair that she had not bothered to change out of her sleepwear. Her attacker's eyes fell on the thin gold chain around her neck. Her family's crest hung from the chain.

"Hey, Richie. I think we have the cream of the crop here. We have us a Buchanan brat."

Natalie bit down on the hand covering her mouth. "My grandfather is going to have your head on a plate if you don't let me go!" Natalie burst out in a fit of anger. She knew that she sounded like a spoiled brat, but she didn't care.

Her attacker grabbed her hair and yanked her head back. He planted a wet, sloppy kiss on her neck. Then he ripped her necklace from around it. His hand lingered on her neck, then traveled downward and rested on her breast.

Natalie struggled to free herself, but her efforts were in vain. She gave up struggling and closed her eyes. "Please let me go. I won't tell anyone about you," she said. She said a silent prayer as he started to pull her pants down over her hips. She opened her eyes and saw Paul's face looking at her. She closed her eyes again. When she opened them this time, he was gone. Her mind was playing tricks on her.

The man holding her suddenly let go. Natalie dropped to her knees, letting the rain wash over her. She tried to stop the tears from falling.

"Natalie, are you okay. I'm here now. Those men are gone."

Natalie looked up. "John?"

"Yes, it's me, Honey," John said.

Natalie threw her arms around his neck. He helped her up, but her legs were shaky, and she collapsed against him.

"I've got you now, Natalie. They can't hurt you," John said. He held her for a few minutes.

"John, I remember."

"Remember what?"

"I…" Natalie opened her mouth, but no words came out. She leaned against John and soaked his shirt with her tears. John picked her up and carried her to his car. He would ask her what she remembered later. For now, all that matter was that she was safe now that she was with him.