Chapter Four: Safe Keepings
Tommy woke up anxiously the next morning, knowing that he'd see Natalia again. Something about her had lit a fire deep within him. For once, after all the killing and death, he felt alive. Rubbing his hands over his face, he swung his legs over the side of the bed. He looked over his shoulder to the empty, untouched side of his bed. What I wouldn't do to have her in it...
He rubbed his hand over his face once more as he heard his phone ring. He answered it, already knowing who it was.
"What, Ken?"
"Tommy! Good morning, Tommy!" said Ken in a boisterous voice. "Listen, Tommy, I don't know what came over you last night."
"What do you mean?" Tommy asked, furrowing his eyebrows.
"Never mind, listen, we have some issues to be tended to in Little Havana," continued Ken. "The Robina family has asked for you to go over to their cafe."
After hanging up, Tommy showered and dressed, then was on his way to Little Havana.
Natalia arrived at the Vercetti Estate. Stepping out of the taxi, she wore simple jeans and plain white T-shirt. Her hair was tossed up into a tight ponytail, and she wore no makeup. She handed the taxi driver some money, and made her way up the steps to the mansion. One of the guards that had been at the Printworks was standing at the top of the stairs.
"Hello there, Ms. Ramirez," the guard said politely.
She smiled at him. "Is Tommy here?"
"I'm afraid not, Miss," he said with a slight frown. "However, he will be back soon."
"Okay, thanks, Mario." She waved to the other guards standing there, and went up to the double doors of the mansion. She pulled one heavy door toward her, and slid her way through the opening. Wondering her way through the upstairs, she peered into every room she could find. Coming full circle back to the top of the grand staircase, she settled with going into what appeared to be Tommy's office. She had only been sitting in one of the chairs in front of his desk for a few minutes before Tommy came into his office, reading some papers.
She looked up at him, watching him walk to his desk and sit down, all the while reading the piece of paper. When he finally put the paper down, he froze at her stare. He couldn't help but grin.
"Like me that much, huh?"
She gave a slight smile, then turned attention immediately on her work. "I see your office here is just as bad as the Printworks was."
Tommy looked around at the messy sight. "Uh, yeah," he chuckled. "I guess I kind of let it go."
"No problem. We can fix it."
They began to organize all of Tommy's files, and were almost finished when his office phone rang. He excused himself as he went to answer his phone.
"Is Natalia there?" a rough male voice asked.
Tommy became alerted. "Who is this?"
"Is Natalia there?" the voice asked again, ignoring Tommy's question.
"Are you going to tell me who this is?" Tommy asked, becoming slightly irritated. He waited, listening carefully, then the phone line went dead. He placed the receiver back on the hook, and sat down heavily in his office chair.
Natalia looked up from her work to ask him was was wrong.
"It was a man," he said blankly. "Asking for you."
Natalia stopped in her tracks, her throat becoming dry.
"What?" she asked swallowing hard.
"It was some man asking for you," Tommy repeated, as if she didn't really hear him.
She stared at the file she held in her hands. She must have been shaking, because Tommy placed his large hand over hers to steady it. Slowly, she looked up at him, then took her hand from underneath his, dropping the file.
"I – I'm sorry," she apologized, straightening up the scattered papers from the manila folder. Tommy took the folder from her fingers, setting it down, and held onto her hands. She stared at his hands.
"Who's after you?" he asked her in a soft voice.
She continued to stare down at his hands as she barely whispered out, "No one."
"Natalia..."
His voice, so sharp... So concerned. Why? He barely knows me. Her stare on his hands clasped over hers was broken by a knock on the office door.
"Mr. Vercetti, Mr. Rosenberg is on the line," the guard informed.
"I'll take it, thanks," Tommy said, then reached over to answer his phone once more.
Natalia studied her hands as though she had been injured by his touch. Not again... Never again will I fall for this type of man. Before Tommy hand the chance to hang up, Natalia had finished cleaning up all the loose papers, and had neatly put them in order in his filing cabinet. She noticed Tommy watching her intensely, even while being engaged in conversation on the phone. When she heard the phone cling down on the hook, she turned to Tommy with a smile on her face.
"All done. Is there anything else you'd like done?" She stood in front of his desk.
"Yes," he said with a hand up to his mouth. "Sit."
She complied, feeling like dead weight.
"Who is after you?" Tommy asked slowly once more.
She refused to lift her head as she spoke. "An ex of mine. I didn't want anything to do with him anymore. So, I left. I had no choice. He would have killed me." She looked up at Tommy with tears in her eyes. " I swear, I didn't know he would find out where I was. I thought I would finally get rid of him." She looked back down. "I swear." A tear trailed down her cheek.
Tommy took in a deep breath, thinking about the situation.
"Where's your house at?" he asked.
"Over near the shipping docks. Those apartments just before it. They were the only ones I could afford to get."
"We need to find you a safer place. Even though, the ship dock is my property, I'm not able to watch you at all times there."
She shook her head vigorously. "No," she stated boldly. "No, I couldn't. It's too much trouble. There's no need to involve anyone else into my mess. I'll deal with it myself." She stood to leave, when he quickly stood himself and held onto the sides of her arms.
"And what will you do? Run again?" he asked. She could feel his dark eye pierce into hers. As she continued to shake her head, he told her, "You can't keep running. You're to stay here, where it's safe. The guards will look out for you."
"No, Tommy. I can't."
"What other options do you have?"
"I don't know!" she cried out, snatching her body away from him. "But I can't put you in danger for my stupid mistakes."
He leaned against his desk, crossing his arms. "You think some wannabe tough guy will scare me? Trust me, he doesn't know what real danger is."
She backed away from Tommy until her back hit the door, and jumped when one of the guards knocked. Tommy had a small grin on his face as he answered it. The guard handed him mail, and Tommy gathered Natalia before him.
"Take her to my suite. Make sure she's comfortable. And get Richard on door watch."
The guard nodded, and Natalia followed him up two flights of stairs before seeing the entrance to Tommy's master bedroom. She couldn't stop her jaw from dropping as her eyes wondered around the majestic room. A massive king sized bed rested on a two step platform. Rich reds and burgundies coated the room, giving Natalia a cozy feeling. As she stepped up to touch the sheer curtains that surrounded the bed, she heard the doors click shut.
"NO!" she called out, going to the doors. After a while of pulling and tugging at the door's handle, she gave up, sliding down to the floor, and weeping.
Tommy finished checking all the security about a half an hour after sending Natalia to his room. Once he was done, he sprinted up to his room. Natalia heard the click of the door unlocking, and frantically stood up, nearly escaping through the open door as Tommy came in.
"Whoa, whoa." He pulled Natalia by her waist back into the room, then closed the door once more. "If I'm going to help you, I'm going to have to trust that you won't run back out to the wolves."
"No, I don't need your help... I don't need it," she cried, hitting his chest. Tears flooded her eyes, and she sank to the plush crimson carpet once more.
He crouched down beside her. "What do you need then?"
Her only response was to put her face in her hands and cry.
"Right," Tommy said, sitting down close to her, and wrapping his arms around her.
She placed her head into his chest. She felt safe in his arms, and she felt like she belonged there.