52. The Natalia Effect
The Natalia Effect
Natalia
The knocking starts again.
“Nat!” Kasia calls through the suite door. “We’ve been trying to get ahold of you.”
Kiri and I stare at each other. Then we both launch out of bed.
“What time is it?” I whisper.
“I don't know. Shit. My phone’s in the other bedroom.”
“So are all your clothes.”
“Fuck.”
He bolts toward the doorway on the tips of his toes, completely naked, as though the lack of sound somehow makes the rest of him less obvious.
“Kiri, you forgot something.”
He looks back. I’m standing beside the bed just as naked as he is, hair everywhere, every inch of my body still warm from him.
His eyes drop the same time mine do too.
In that singularly catastrophic moment, neither of us remembers that my sister is outside.
Kiri crosses back to me, catches my face, and kisses me.
My hands immediately travel over his shoulders and down his chest, reaching for everything I already want again.
His arm locks around my waist, pulling me against him until the familiar heat of his body makes my whole body go slack.
Kasia pounds harder.
“Anytime today, siostra.”
We rip apart.
“Oh my God,” I whisper.
“This is your fault.” he whispers back. “You were standing there naked.”
“So were you,” I protest.
Another knock rattles the door.
I shove him toward the first bedroom. Just before I shut the door, he reaches across the bed, snatches up my phone, and tosses it to me. I barely catch it.
“Get dressed, stay in there, and don’t make a sound.”
Then I close the door between us.
“Oh my God, siostra, I’m naked. Give me a chance to get dressed,” I call with theatrical outrage, snatching the fancy complimentary robe off the floor and wrapping it around myself.
“I passed out and was finally getting some beauty rest. Do I have to leave? Is Stefan kicking me out? Is that why you’re waking me up like this? ”
“No one is kicking you out. Open the door.”
I tighten the belt, sweep my hair forward to cover whatever evidence Kiri left on my neck, and hurry toward the entrance.
I paste on a smile and open the door. Kasia stands there with worry written all over her face.
Rafe is behind her, which I wasn’t expecting.
I really wish I’d known before opening the door in nothing but a bathrobe, but it’s too late now.
The sight of both of them makes my stomach drop.
I step aside and let them in.
“So, good morning to you too.” I look between their expressions. “You look like a puppy just died. A puppy didn’t just die, right?”
Kasia touches my arm.
“Nat, you should probably sit down.”
Kiri
I lean against the bedroom door, clothes bundled against my chest with my phone in one hand.
Four percent. Almost noon?
How the fuck did that happen?
The Natalia Effect.
My entire life has been upside down since she stepped into it, but I can’t exactly complain. I pull on my boxers, then my pants, moving as quietly as I can while voices carry through the suite.
Outside, Natalia says, “You look like a puppy just died. A puppy didn’t just die, right?”
“Nat,” Kasia says, “you should probably sit down.”
I hear Natalia lower herself onto the couch with a sigh.
Then Rafe speaks.
Rafe? What the fuck is he doing here?
“So,” he begins, already sounding uncomfortable, “Stefan was going to come over himself, but he figured this might be easier to process coming from us. From me, since I’m sort of representing the label right now.”
Sort of.
I push one arm into my shirt and scoff silently.
“He said the formalities they’d normally employ might feel a bit aggressive here. The intimidating office, all the paralegals, the boardroom full of lawyers.”
Yeah, yeah, get on with it.
“So, anyway.”
Jesus Christ, Rafe.
“Julian is stepping down. Officially, he’s chosen to accept a similar position with another label.”
I stop buttoning my shirt.
Bullshit.
Julian was far too smug last night to resign voluntarily.
He knew I’d thrown the first punch. Knew he had enough power to make my life miserable even if he couldn’t destroy the band outright.
Men like him don’t surrender before lunch the next day.
Radhika. The Malhotra's. It has to be. Julian insulted their daughter in a room full of important people while assuming he was still the most powerful person in the room. Apparently, someone's corrected him.
“That wasn’t something Stefan negotiated,” Rafe continues. “Julian offered.”
Definitely the Malhotra's.
Natalia asks, “He just offered to leave?”
“That’s what Stefan said.”
“Doesn't that seem a little convenient?”
“Yeah,” Rafe says. “But nobody’s objecting.”
I almost smile until he continues.
“Julian has also agreed not to press charges against Kiri if you waive any potential claim of your own and sign a binding agreement not to discuss what happened.”
“No,” I whisper to myself. The word escapes me before I remember I’m supposed to be silent. I stare at the door.
No one reacts. Thank fuck. I scramble to unlock my phone and open Natalia’s messages.
don’t let that piece of shit off the hook so easily
ill be fine give that asshole hell!
don’t sign it!!!
Her phone chimes in the other room. Silence follows as the message flips to read. When Natalia speaks again, her voice is shakier.
“Does that mean Kiri won’t get in trouble with the police or get kicked out of the band?”
Something clenches in my chest. That’s her first question, whether I’m safe?
“No,” Rafe says. “He’s not getting kicked out.
That was never on the table, but the charges were the concern.
It’s hard to tour when someone’s tied up in the court system and dealing with legal restrictions.
But with what Julian is offering, it’s essentially a wash.
We do nothing, he does nothing, and it’s over. ”
It isn’t over if Natalia has to sell her silence to save me.
“What happens if I don’t?” she asks.
“Then Julian could still pursue charges against Kiri,” Rafe says. “That doesn’t mean he’d win. There’s footage and plenty of witnesses, but he could make it brutal and very expensive to oppose.”
“And if I sign?”
“His resignation goes through quietly. He drops everything against Kiri. You drop anything you might pursue against him, and none of you discuss the details publicly.”
Kasia speaks next.
“You don’t have to decide anything today. You should speak to your own lawyer first.”
“Stefan's arranging one,” Rafe says. “Independent counsel. Someone who isn't employed by the label.”
I finish buttoning my shirt, then notice I’ve done it wrong. Natalia goes quiet for long enough that I move closer to the door.
Finally, she says, “I’m not signing anything today.”
Some of the pressure inside me eases, though I don’t let the breath make a sound.
“Good,” Rafe replies.
“But I’m not letting Julian destroy Kiri either.”
My eyes close.
“Those aren’t your only choices,” Kasia tells her.
Rafe exhales.
“Talk to the lawyer. Consider the offer. That’s all Stefan is asking, though he'd probably love for all of it to get swept under the carpet.”
“What do you think I should do?”
“I think Julian deserves worse than what happened last night. He belongs in prison, spending every day wondering when someone bigger and meaner is going to make him regret breathing.”
Kasia says, “Rafe.”
“What? He does.”
Despite everything, the corner of my mouth lifts. He's right. Fuck Julian Mercer.
Rafe continues, “But I also think you need to understand exactly what you’d be giving up before you decide. Don’t sign because you’re scared for Kiri or because it makes things easier for the band. I love him, but he knew what he was doing when he threw that punch.”
His voice softens.
“This happened to you, Nat. Or it almost did. And that asshole is counting on you deciding it’s easier to let it disappear.”
He pauses.
“So consider every option. But don’t refuse just because you’re angry, either. If you take him on, it’ll be long, ugly, and dragged out for as long as he can manage. Let the lawyer explain every consequence before you decide which fight you’re willing to have.”
Natalia sighs.
“Fine. I’ll consider it.”
“That’s all we wanted.”
Footsteps move across the floor. Kasia asks Natalia three more times whether she’s all right. Natalia insists she is. Rafe tells her Stefan will call later, but she doesn’t have to answer until she’s ready. The entrance door opens.
“Call me later please,” Kasia says.
“I will.”
“Actually call, don't just say you will or I'll be right back here.”
“Yes, siostra.”
The door closes as silence settles over the penthouse. I stand inside the bedroom with my phone in one hand and my shirt buttoned wrong, waiting until I hear the lock slide into place.