25 Chapter 25

Christopher POV

After I left Natalia's home Saturday, I went home to start planning a surprise for Tucker and her. Halfway home my phone rings and I see that it is my sister calling me. Do I really want to answer? My mom probably had already told her about what happened. Making up my mind, I hit the green selection on the screen and place the phone to my ear.

"Hey, Tammy. How are you?" I greet in a light tone.

"Don't 'Hey Tammy' me, Christopher Micheal. What is this I hear about me having a nephew?" My sister asks getting straight to the point.

"You do. His name is Tucker and he is so smart. He actually looks like me when I was his age," I tell her as I smile at the thought of my son. My son. It's hard to believe that I am a father still. If this is a dream, then I never want to wake up.

"Who is his mother?" Tammy asks in an odd tone. She first liked Natalia until my mother got in her ear from what I have seen in the last few hours.

"Natalia is his mother," I tell her as I wait on her explosion.

"WHAT? Natalia is the mother of your son? Are you sure that he is even yours, Christopher?" Tammy almost yells in her phone. I have to pull the phone away from my ear so he doesn't bust my eardrum.

Putting the phone back to my ear, I get the same tone I had with my mother earlier. "Yes I am sure. He is a carbon copy of me and I will not keep repeating myself to everyone in this family who wants to say otherwise. If you don't want to claim him as a part of this family then go right ahead. I will not have him around anyone who will poison his mind," I tell her as I try to keep my temper under control.

"Of course I want to claim him, Christopher. I just wish his mother was someone else. Hell, I would be fine with it being Chelsea. Someone other than that cheating gold digger," Tammy says in what is supposed to be a gentle tone.

"Does this family not watch TV anymore? Natalia did not cheat on me five years ago. I know that Chelsea showed you the pictures back then because you called me first thing the next morning before I told anyone. For your information, I would NEVER want Chelsea to be the mother of my child," I say as my anger starts to push against my mental barrier to keep it in check.

The line is silent for a moment. "Why not? She's very beautiful, smart, very good at what she sets her mind to. She would be the perfect candidate for that title. I haven't been home since this morning so I have not turned on the tv," Tammy says on the other end of the line. My stomach starts to feel queasy at my sister saying that Chelsea was the perfect mother for my kids.

"If you would get your head out of all of the online shopping you do everyday and actually pay attention to what is going on in the world today, you would realize how stupid you sound. Pull up the local news either on the TV or on your phone. You will see what I am talking about," I tell her as I put my phone on speaker.

A few minutes pass as I wait for her reaction which didn't take long. "WHAT IN THE...? SHE'S AN ANDERSON?" Tammy yells through the speaker. I hear a snicker from the front seat and see my driver trying to keep himself from laughing.

"Actually, she is THE Anderson. The pictures that was said to be of her cheating was actually her looking at business properties with her brother. There was even a picture that wasn't even her but was her sister-in-law," I tell her as I see the car turn onto my road.

"Well that is better. Not only is Natalia not the gold digger we all thought she was that cheated on you. She is actually the richest person in the city. I know that I should have not let mom tell me she was this horrible person. I have missed her as being my friend," Tammy says in a chipper voice.

"I will tell you this right now little sister. If you are only saying this to become friends with her for the extravagant perks and shopping trips, you can just forget it. Natalia isn't like that and uses her money to help others. Not go spending it on things she will only use once then throw to the back of the closet to never be touched again. There is also the fact that she will know that your change of heart is not genuine," I tell her as I catch on to her plan.

"That isn't true. I liked her at the start until our mother decided that she wasn't allowing that type of bond between the two of us," Tammy defends herself.

"Well, you have your work cut out for you then. Anyways, I have to go. I am about to be home," I tell her as we get near my front gate. "I love you, sis."

"Love you to, big bro. I will call you later," Tammy says before she hangs up the phone.

The driver pulls in to my driveway as I motion for him to stop. "Any sightings yet?"

My head security guard shakes his head. "Not yet but we have seen a vehicle pass by a few times," he says then hands me a description of the vehicle. I thank him before I send the information to Natalia for tonight. Getting to the house, I go about what I normally do before I decide to head to bed. I do my normal nightly routine before I lay in the bed, waiting on Natalia to text me.

Finally she texts me that they have taken care of the stalker and I fall asleep right after I text her that I wanted to be a part of her army. That night I dream of Natalia and Tucker until my alarm goes off for me to wake up. With a little pep in my step, I head downstairs and get breakfast before going to the office to do some work that needed to be caught up. Throughout the day, I text Natalia but she doesn't reply. Calling her ended in voicemails and not one answer. I decide to call the house phone and talk to Isabella a few times to see if I can speak to Natalia. Why is she avoiding me? Her brothers are the last resort and I was able to talk to Huxley. He doesn't tell me anything other than that Natalia doesn't want to talk.

The day ends without one word from her. I am now starting to worry. What made her suddenly do a turn around in talking to me. Deciding to call it a night, I go up to my room and think about everything in the last few days to see if there was anything that I had done wrong. As I lay there, I remember that I had a meeting at Anderson Records tomorrow to meet Gianna. I will stop by Natalia's office to try to talk to her while I am there.

Getting ready the next morning, I make sure that I wear the suit that Natalia got me for my birthday one year. I have kept everything she has ever gotten me. Adorning almost all of the best items she has bought me, from my suit to my watch, I head out to the office before I have to head to Anderson Records.

Walking out of the elevator, I see Chelsea standing by my office door. I should really set a strict dress code when it comes to being professional in my office. She is wearing a tight dress that barely covers her bottom half. It looks more appropriate for a club or a stripper to wear when working than to be in an office.

"Good morning, Mr. Lane. I have you scheduled to do a conference call at 8:30 then a trip down to the printing department to go over the latest software upgrades," Chelsea says as I unlock my office.

"Cancel the conference call and push the print department to tomorrow evening," I tell her as I walk into my office. The only thing I need is to get the paperwork and mockups for the book design to take with me to Anderson Records.

"But I told them that this was your only time to take the call. How am I supposed to tell them that I was misinformed?" Chelsea quickly asks in a whining tone. Putting the paperwork in my briefcase, I turn to her as I head out of the door again.

"Figure it out. I already told you that my day was to be cleared since I have the meeting with Anderson Records today to go over everything as well as get their input on ideas that we can use instead," I tell her as I motion for her to leave my office.

She walks out and I lock my door again before she speaks up. "Maybe I should come with you to take notes for you," she states as she moves to gather her things.

"No you will stay here. I am going alone and there is also the fact that Frank Anderson stated that the deal would fall through if you were to take part in the deal. I will not have you ruin this because my business is counting on this deal since some of my associates withdrew their deals for some reason," I tell her sternly. In the past few years, I have had many deals fall through for some reason and the company has taken a little bit of a hit because of it.

Chelsea goes to argue with me but I just ignore her as I head back to the elevator. Getting down to my car, I set off to Anderson Records. When we arrive, I see Frank Anderson standing outside talking to his daughter. I get out of the car and walk toward them.

"Good morning, Mr. Anderson," I say to Frank before turning to Emily. "It is nice to see you again Miss Emily."

"Good morning Christopher," Emily says as she smiles at me. Turning back to her father, she hugs him. "I need to get going before my new boss fires me for being late."

Frank laughs at his daughter as he lets go of her. "We have the same boss, sweetie. She won't fire us on her first day."

We head inside to see everything in a buzz from the news of the new boss arriving today. Natalia taking over has everyone excited but nervous at the same time. The elevators take us up to the nineteenth floor where the studios are located. Talking to Gianna was different than the other artists I have worked with. Most are divas who are all about money, themselves, or both. Gianna is different by a landslide. She is all about the message she conveys to her fans through her music. I was surprised when she said that the first four years of her career she had given all of the money to charities for families for struggling families as well as children hospitals.

Frank has his assistant bring us all food for lunch as we continue to work on the book ideas. As I am finishing up the last of my notes, Frank stands up as he looks at his phone.

"We have a mandatory meeting to get to and we will be back in a little bit. Try not to annoy Raylan to much while we are gone," Frank says to Gianna. She blushes as she looks over at the studio engineer that is turning red.

I decide to tag along with Frank to the meeting since he invited me to join him if I wanted to. He must know that I want to see Natalia and offered for me to come. We get into the elevator that we surprisingly have to ourselves.

"Is this meeting about her taking over the company today and her vision for the company?" I ask as we descend to the first floor.

"I want to say yes but this was just planned a few hours ago. There is a number of things that could be talked about in this meeting so be prepared," Frank states as the elevator chimes signaling that we made it to the lobby.

Everyone gathers in the banquet hall at the far side of the building and I am in awe. This room is beautiful. It is basically a ballroom with modern design as white, gold, and silver colors the room.

The doors open, making everyone look at the vision walking down the center of the room. Natalia is in a blue pants suit with her hair flowing down in curls framing her face as she looks straight ahead. Her brothers and another man that I don't know surround her as they walk to the end of the room where the podium stands.

Natalia speaks to her company in a very professional but inviting way that most business owners only dream of being able to achieve. When she finishes her speech, I lock eyes with her for a moment before her brothers and the other man surround her again and exit the hall. Everyone starts to exit through the many doors that branch off from the room and the room rapidly empties.

"Let's go. I know that you are wanting to see her while you are here today," Frank says as he pats my shoulder.

We walk out to find Natalia and the guys still in the lobby. What surprises me is that Chelsea is here when I told her to stay at the office. I see Natalia's body language change to defensive and we both rush over. I am excited to see her but I have to keep it from showing since Chelsea is here. She almost ruined this deal for me today and made Anderson Records question my ability to keep my word. Sending a reluctant Chelsea back to the office with a threat of being fired, I see Natalia entering the elevator as I talk to Frank to assure him that Chelsea will not be back and asking him to put her on the no entry list.

When we get back up to the studio floor, we hear music playing as we step off the elevator. The employees on this floor are at their doors listening with smiles on their faces. Nearing the door, I recognize the voice singing and look inside to see Natalia singing with a group of artists. I couldn't take my eyes off of her as she got into the music. Natalia notices Frank and I in the doorway as she finishes the song. The unknown man from earlier steps up to her and tells her something before they head towards the door. When they get into the hall, Frank and I make our way to them. Natalia and Frank do their normal love/hate banter before laughing. I asked to talk to her but I was told that we would later. When she walks off with mystery man, Frank asks if everything was okay to which I told him that I didn't know.

After we finish up our meeting, I head up to the executive floor above us to talk to her. It is bothering me that she is ignoring me. When I am directed towards her office, I see mystery man at her assistant desk and realize that he is her assistant. Up close he looks familiar though.

Barging into her office, I demand an answer for her behavior. What I didn't expect was to find out that Chelsea has been sneaking into my house. Natalia sends a team to install cameras on the inside of the house so that we can find out what Chelsea did that entire night as well as why she was in my office.

Feeling better now that we have sorted the misunderstanding out, I head home and do some work before calling it a day. Just as I am about to fall asleep, my phone dings. Reaching to get it off of my side table, I see it is a text from Natalia and my heart starts to race.

My Goddess: Stay in your room. Chelsea is in your house. We are monitoring her from the street.

Me: Is there anything that I can do?

My Goddess: Just stay there so you don't scare her off before we can see what she is doing. She is in you office right now. What ever happens, stay there until I say otherwise.

Just as I am about to text Natalia back, the sound of breaking glass and an alarm jolts me from my bed. As much as I want to go downstairs to see what happened, Natalia said to stay here. The sound of rushing footsteps in the hallway pull me from my thoughts. They stop at my door before my door knob starts to turn. Why didn't I lock the door. The only thing I can do at this point is to get ready to attack whoever is on the other side.

When the door opens, I relax when my eyes meet the beautiful green eyes of Natalia. What she says next has relief flood my body as a weight being lifted.

"We got her."