Page 24 of King

I spend the next hour going over my notes and reviewing budget reports for O'Connor Enterprises.Around three in the afternoon, the front door opens, and Natalia arrives home.

"Honey, is that you?”I close my laptop.I leave my office and go and stand in the hall doorway and watch as she hangs up her coat and removes her shoes.

"It's me," she says and comes over to me, slipping her arms around my neck and pressing her body against mine.We kiss briefly and warmly.I'm thinking it would be nice to have a quick or slow escape from reality in the bedroom, depending on Natalia's mood and interest, but she sighs heavily, and I can feel the tension in her body.

"What's the matter, my love?"I stroke her face and run my hand over her shoulder."You seem upset."

She exhales and fiddles with my collar.“I met someone this afternoon, and,” she says, her voice hesitant."You're not going to be happy with me."

I frown, and I’m immediately concerned.She met with someone?What does that mean?

“Tell me.”

She takes in a deep breath and then looks into my eyes."I received an anonymous text, and I looked into it.There's someone with information about my parents’ car crash.I went to meet with her.I can't tell you anything more, except that she has inside information.She confirmed what we already know.That the brakes were tampered with.The investigation was shut down prematurely," she says, her voice low.“That the official who closed the investigation has family ties to Giordano, the Highway Patrol cop that my father identified.Both have blood ties to the Italian mafia.That confirms he closed it down for a reason.To protect his own family member."

I rub my eyes and think for a minute.“Yes, it’s likely a family member, or it could be a family operation that they're trying to protect."

“This confirms it.She said we could do with it what we wanted, but that she couldn't be involved."

“Damn," I say.“She must have someone in with the FBI if she knows the name.I’ll do some research.This gets more involved every day.So much compromise is going on in the FBI as they try to get the big fish.They have to let the little fish go, and I guess that's us, right?"

Natalia laughs ruefully.“Wearelittle fish.But we're necessary to catch the big ones if I remember Gramp’s lessons about fishing."We kiss again briefly and then move into the kitchen, where I had started to prepare dinner for us.

"There's something else," she says and reaches for her bag."She gave me some information about my mother."

“What information?”I ask, curious.

Natalia sighs heavily.“Apparently, my mother had two children when she was under 16.She was looking for them before she died.Can you believe that?She was only fourteen and fifteen when she gave birth.The person I met with works in genealogy, in addition to her other work.She saw the death notice in the newspaper about my mother and the crash and connected the dots between the two cases.She thought it would be good to talk to me and let me know what my mother was doing before she died.Gramps never said anything about it.It must be one of those really deep family secrets no one admits to."

Natalia smiles, but the smile falters, and her eyes brim."My poor mother.She never told me much about her life before she met my father.I have no idea what happened to her, but two pregnancies before she was sixteen… That sounds very suspicious."

I go around the island to where she is sitting and pull her into my arms, embracing her warmly.

“Oh, Natalia," I say and hug her, pressing her against my body."I'm so sorry to hear that.Yes, it does sound like she was in trouble in some way before she met your father.Did she never say anything about her own family?"

Natalia wipes her eyes and shakes her head."She used to sayThe past is the past.Let's leave it at that, like she didn't want to talk about her own family.Gramps never talks much about it, and I never asked."

“It must've been hard for her to hide her past, but your father must know.You could ask him."

She shakes her head."Why wouldn't he have told me before?Maybe he doesn't even know the details.”

I sit on the stool beside her and take her hand in mine."Maybe they really fell in love.That's always possible.Maybe Stepan really did love her, and she left because she wanted to escape the whole underworld.I don't blame her if so."

Natalia looks out the window at the skyline, her expression thoughtful."I don't know whether to talk to my father about this or not.It might be something that we best leave in the past, but I have to find my brother and sister, whoever they are.They're all I have left besides Gramps, my stepbrother and Stepan.”

"And me, of course," I say with a smile.

"Yes, of course you.”She strokes my cheek.“Of course, you."

I lean over and kiss her.When I pull back, she's smiling.

I clear my throat, which is slightly choked with emotion.“Your father said something to me that really hit home.He said, and I quote, ‘Family is everything.’He was right.It is everything.And you, Natalia, are all I have left besides Ryan and Tommy.And I'm not sure which one of them I can trust anymore."

We put our arms around each other and just hold each other for a moment, both of us caught up in our own worlds of family and betrayal.

Natalia pulls back and glances at the kitchen counter.“On a lighter note, what were you planning for supper, now that we've gotten all the sad stuff out of the way?"

I laugh and hear my stomach grumble.“I was planning on something Italian, but given the news of the day, maybe I prefer something American.Like pizza."