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Her back hit the floor with a thud. Couldn’t just one thing go her way? Now what?
She wiped away a tear with a rough swipe.
Mom.
Nathalie dug her phone from the back pocket of her jeans to dial her personal 911.
“My baby, it’s so nice to hear from you.” The gentle southern breeze of Vivienne Williams’s elongated vowels drifted over the line.
“My paints are dried up.” Like a dam breach, Nathalie’s emotions overflowed, and she started bawling. “Ravi got hurt. The biggest presentation of my career is next week. Ryder’s back. My life’s a mess.” More babble flowed from her mouth, half of which she didn’t understand, so it was doubtful her mother would. “And all I wanted to do was paint! Was that too much to ask?” Her rant ended in a high-pitched wail.
“I’m on my way,” her mother said.
Nathalie hung up and lay on the carpet, weeping on and off for another thirty minutes. Finally, her ragged sobs transitioned into hiccups.
She stumbled down the hall into her bathroom. Her reflection in the mirror was cringeworthy—both her mascara and her nose were running. Grabbing several tissues, she mopped her face and wiped her nose. “You will get through this,” she addressed the stressed-out woman in the mirror with a firm look.
Her emotions ebbed, leaving a strange calm that, for the moment, soothed her and provided some clarity. Once they made it through next week, Don could run the company while she took a vacation and figured out what her future would look like.
Because she was tired of living in the past.
Her doorbell rang. Nathalie raced downstairs and threw open the front door.
Vivienne Williams stood on the stoop, decked out in a long-sleeve floral maxi dress. Two tortoiseshell clips swept her shoulder-length blonde hair from her face, and bangles adorned each wrist.
Behind her stood Danny with a slightly bemused look, holding a pair of white plastic shopping bags.
“Sorry, Danny.” Nathalie threw him an apologetic look. “This is my mother, Vivienne Williams. I forgot to tell you she was coming over.”
“And you forgot to tellmea handsome man would be waiting to escort me inside.“ Vivienne turned to Danny. “You can put those bags over there, sugar.” She pointed to the dining room table.
“Yes, ma’am.” A flush of pink tinged Danny’s cheeks. He did as he was told and returned to the front door. “I’ll be outside if you need me.”
“Thank you, Danny.” Nathalie shut and locked the door behind him.
Her mother opened her arms, and Nathalie sank into them, soaking in maternal comfort.
Vivienne kissed her daughter’s cheek, her blue eyes radiating concern. “I knew Lucas was keeping something from me. You call me in tears, and you have a very attractive young man sitting in your garage, screening your visitors, with what I’m fairly certain is a gun beneath that loose-fitting tropical shirt he’s wearing.”
Nathalie grimaced. There was no hiding anything from mom. “When did you see Lucas?”
“When haven’t I seen Lucas lately? He’s come up with reasons to stop by every night for the past week, so I invite him to stay for dinner.” Vivienne clucked her tongue. “He nags me to use the alarm system and keeps checking that my windows are locked. That man needs to learn how to relax. It’s not like I live in a dangerous neighborhood.”
Lucas was worried about her mother’s safety. He’d always seemed over-the-top when it came to personal security. Nathalie figured his past as a special forces officer and his current job as an FBI assistant director had a lot to do with it.
But what if he was right? The man who broke into her computer lab had lured Ravi to the office, then threatened him and his family and knocked him out cold.
“Mom, you’ve been talking about painting the Lowcountry again. Now might be a good time for a trip to Charleston. Just for a week or two.”
Vivienne arched a brow and gave Nathalie a look down her nose that had her fidgeting like she was a teenager caught spinning a lie. “What’s going on?”
Nathalie chose her words carefully. “There have been concerns about the security surrounding our avionics software design for the Next Gen fighter since thatDefense Newsarticle came out. Lucas recommended Dìleas Security Agency. They’ve made some modifications to the office and here, at home.”
She pointed a finger toward the front door. “Danny’s part of the security team—it’s just for a little while,” she added hastily as her mother’s eyes widened.
Now came the hard part. “Last night, there was a break-in at the company. A man attacked Ravi.”
She cringed at her mother’s dismayed gasp.