Chapter 201
Natalie gasped for air as she sat up in bed, fumbling for themp switch. Her hand found the bottle of
painkillers she kept on her nightstand, which was a constantpanion. She washed down a pill with a
gulp of water from the ss on her desk.
As shey back down, she noticed the sweat from the pain had drenched her shirt. Out of habit, she
reached for her phone to check the time, only to remember Brian had smashed it into pieces.
Maybe it was for the best. After all, Natalie had been trying to figure out how to get rid of the tracking
app he had installed without arousing suspicion. As the painkillers kicked in, her hand’s throbbing
eased, and she drifted back into a fitful sleep.
Outside her room, a bodyguard addressed his employer in a hushed tone. “Mr. Howard…”
Brian motioned for silence with a finger to his lips, listening to Natalie resettling in bed. After a moment,
he pushed the door open and stepped inside.
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Natalie was asleep, her face creased with difort as if she could still feel the pain. Brian stood by
the bed, his gaze lingering on her for a long moment before quietly sitting at the edge. Bagot had
mentioned Natalie’s hand was injured. Brian gently picked up her bandaged hand sticking out of the
covers. The dressing was poorly done, stained with blood seeping through the gauze.
He unwrapped the soiled bandage to find her fingertips swollen at the cuts. She hadn’t taken any
antibiotics. Even after all these years, she still didn’t know how to look after herself.
He redressed her wounds with care. As he let go of her hand, Natalie stirred. He looked up, his eyes
meeting her calm face. She didn’t wake but seemed to be caught in a nightmare, her body shuddering
slightly.
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“Brian…” she murmured in her sleep.
Brian froze, a wave of protectiveness washing over him. He took her into his arms and whispered into
her ear, “I’m here.”
Reassured by Brian’s familiar voice, even in her dreams, Natalie rxed, and soon her breathing
evened out as she found a morefortable position and fell into a deeper sleep.
When she was a child, the little mute girl he remembered would often have nightmares and climb into
his bed, seeking the safety of his presence. Only then, wrapped in his scent, would she find peace and
fall back asleep.
Brian gently smoothed out the furrows on her forehead before nting a kiss on her brow.
She had no idea how jealous he felt whenever he saw another man near her. Even if she hadn’t lied
and there was nothing between her and Gavin, Brian couldn’t stand her closeness to any other man.
The thought of Michael wanting Natalie to be part of the James family was
Chapter 201
unbearable.
He knew how men thought. Any pretense of friendship was just a covetousness for her body.
Natalie could only belong to him. He wouldn’t allow them the chance to get close to her.
When Natalie awoke, she found Rosie in her room, her presence as bright as the morning sun.
Trying to sit up, Natalie winced at the pain in her hand and instinctively nced at it, only to notice that
the bandage seemed neater than before.
“Rosie, did you redo this?” Natalie asked, surprised, looking up at her friend.
Rosie was unpacking a bag of breakfast goodies when she replied with a hint of annoyance, “You say
that as if I can’t put on a decent bandage.”
After a pause, Rosie nced at Natalie’s hand. “I did it just like that yesterday. Maybe the bow got
squashed while you were sleeping.”
Natalie examined her hand again. No bow, no fraying. She only saw the kind of bandage someone
inexperienced like Rosie would attempt with a bow.
Despite Rosie’s insistence that she had wrapped it just so the night before, Natalie couldn’t shake the
feeling that something was off. But since she hadn’t paid much attention, she let the suspicion slide.