Chapter 24

Christopher looks towards the door as we hear it open. My brothers walk in while giving Christopher a look makes me give them a warning look of my own to let them know to not test me today. After they sit onto the couch, I walk over to stand between them.

"Why is he here, sis?" Grayson says as he looks over at Christopher.

"I will let him explain then we will go over the plan for what to do next. Christopher?" I reply and give the floor to Christopher.

Christopher takes a deep breath as he sits forward in his seat. "I came to Natalia's office to see why she hasn't been returning my calls. What I didn't expect to hear was that I had an intruder on Saturday night after you all took care of the pest problem. To make a sound justification on the matter, I called my guard from that night who confirmed that Chelsea did show up at my home. I was oblivious of this and I have instructed the guards to start letting me know when she is there so she can be cleared to enter my property. If I had known when it happened, all of this could have been cleared yesterday."

Grayson looks at Christopher skeptically for a few seconds before he speaks up. "Why was she there then?"

Christopher shrugs his shoulders as he shakes his head. "I have no idea. She told the guard that she had business to discuss with me,"

Jaxon looks deep in thought as he rubs his chin. "Can you get the security footage from that night? I know that you have cameras outside."

Christopher nods as he walks over to my desk. "Can I use your computer to log in to the system?"

"Sure," I tell him as I log into my computer. I step back but stay by him. Christopher logs in to his security system and goes through the files from the last few days. "If it helps, it was 10:15 pm that we saw her approach"

"Thanks love," Christopher says as he sends me a wink. I hear Jaxon make a flake gagging noise but ignore him as I watch Christopher pull up the footage. Everyone gathers around my desk to watch even though we witnessed the first half of the video in person. The footage starts as the car carrying Chelsea pulls up to the gate. Unfortunately, we can't see the driver due to the visor being down. Everyone watches as we see Chelsea say something to the guard and go through the side gate. Christopher clicks another button and the video changes to another angle to show Chelsea walking towards the house. When she gets to the door, she pulls out a key and opens the door.

"When did you give her a key to your house?" I as Christopher. So far this looks like what I thought the other night but I also know looks can be deceiving.

"I didn't," was all Christopher says before looking at other angles of the house. He flips past the one pointed directly at the front of the house when I notice something that was off.

"Wait! Go back to that last camera, I tell him as he clicks the back button. I look at the screen and see what I thought I saw when he passed it. A light is on in a room on the ground floor. "Christopher, what were you doing in you're office so late?"

"I wasn't. I was asleep by this time that night," he says as I lean forward to zoom in on the window. His cologne fills my nose as I basically have to lean over him to get to the keyboard and mouse. Memories of our marriage come from the back parts of my mind where I had filed them away. Clearing my throat, I zoom in on the window where we can barely make out a silhouette behind the curtains.

"We need to set up surveillance in the house. Grayson, I need your team to go in and get it done as quick as possible," I say as I look at Grayson who smirks at me.

"You know my team was built for speed, sis. We will get it done," he says before looking expectantly at Christopher.

"I'll have my guards let them in. The password I'll give them is Tango," Christopher says. Grayson nods as he walks out of the office. Jaxon gets up as well, following Grayson to help with the installations. Huxley gets up and walks over to sit on my desk as he smirks at me.

"It looks like you both talked things out," he says as he dangles one leg from the top of my desk.

I look at the leg and cut my eyes up at him. "So far but you won't be able to talk if you don't remove yourself from my desk in the next five seconds."

Hux laughs as he stands up. Before I knew what was happening, he picks me up and sets me on the desk in front of Christopher who is watching us in amusement. "It's a good thing that you are so short or that wouldn't have been that easy."

All I do is flip him off before I get off of my desk. Turning off the computer, we all head out of the office where I locked it tight for the night. Christopher hugs me when we get to the elevators because he will have to take the normal elevator in case Chelsea is still outside the building.

"I'll call you later. I really missed you and Tucker yesterday and want to talk to the both of you. Since we have to be discrete, that is all I have for now," Christopher whispers in my ear. I nod my head as he lets go to make his way to the other end of the hall where the other elevators are located.

Everett and I get to the parking garage where my car was waiting to take us home and we get in. "Draco, take a detour to the hospital so that I can check on Zara and Hendricks." Draco acknowledges the change in our route as he steers the car in the direction of the hospital. As the car pulls into the hospital, I see Zara's mom walking up to the entrance.

"Mrs. Cynthia!" I called out as I got out of the car. Cynthia turns to me and sees me jogging over to her before she stops. She pulls me into a hug when I get to her and I hug her back tightly.

"What are you doing here, honey?" Cynthia asks as we walk inside.

"I had to come check on my favorite girl and little man. Well second since Tucker is my main little man so don't tell him I said that," I told her with a smile holding my finger to my lips.

Cynthia laughs at me as we head past the reception area. "Your secret is safe with me." She pushes the button on the elevator when we arrive to the doors to go up. Stepping inside, she hits floor eight and the elevator jolts in motion. "I wanted to tell you that I can't thank you enough for saving Zara's life. If you hadn't got there when you did, she may not be here with us today." Tears appear in her eyes as she thinks about her daughter leaving to soon. I know how it feels to lose a child to early so I know what she is feeling at just the thought of it.

"You know that I would do anything for her. Hendricks as well. They both are very special to me and Zara is my best friend. I don't know what I would do without her," I tell her as I give her a half smile. "I can't take any credit though. It was all the paramedics that saved her as she was on her way here."

Cynthia looks at me like I just told her the biggest lie of the century. "What are you talking about honey? The paramedics as well as all of the doctors told me that you immediately pressurized her wound and wouldn't let go until help arrived. They all said that if you didn't do any of that the way you did, she would have lost more blood than she had already did and would have died. To me, you were the first person to save her life."

Cynthia pulls me into another hug before we reach our stop. I follow her out of the elevator and down the maze of halls in this giant hospital. We come to a door that read '845' and she opens the door slowly. The sound of beeping from the monitors reach out into the hallway as we step inside. Cynthia shuts the door as I walk towards the bed where my best friend was laying with wires hooked up to her. A heart monitor beeps as her heart rate is observed on the screen. There is an IV in her left hand as well as other cords hooked to her chest. These doctors are not letting anything happen on their watch from the looks of it. Hendricks is curled up in the chair beside his moms bed while playing on his iPad when he hears the door shut. When he turns to me, my heart squeezes at the sight of a bandage on his little head where he was hit.

"Aunty Natalia," he exclaims in a whisper as he rushes to me.

"Slow down little man. You have to take it easy with that boo-boo on your head," I tell him as I reach down to pick him up.

"I'm sorry aunty. I was just so excited that you were here. Is Tucker with you?" his little voice asks with big eyes.

"Not this time, bud. I will bring him with me next time if you are here," I tell him as I boop his nose.

Movement from the bed draws our attention as Zara wakes up. "Mommy," Hendricks exclaims still quietly as he can without giving her a headache. He goes over to the side of the bed and climbs up on the chair to see her better, not wanting to mess with her tubes and wires.

"Hey baby. How's your head?" Zara asks him. She reaches out her hand to cup his cheek in her palm.

"It's fine mommy. The doctor said that I was going to be just fine but wants me to keep this on for one more day," he tells her as he points to his bandage. "Aunty Natalia is here to see us."

Zara looks over and sees me before her eyes fill with tears. "I'm so sorry Nat. I couldn't save him that night. You son is taken because I couldn't defend all of us."

I quickly walk over and grab her hand as I squeeze it without hurting her. "Hey, hey, hey. Don't say that. You did all that you could do. Do not blame yourself for being ambushed." Cynthia is looking at us in concern as I sooth Zara.

"What does she mean that Tucker is taken," Cynthia asks as she looks back and forth between Zara and I.

I look at her before turning back to tell Zara the news. "He was taken but I was able to get him back. The people who took him was the ones who hurt Zara. Don't worry though, I am taking care of it."

"So Tucker is safe and sound?" Zara asks as she looks at me in hope.

"Yes he is. Wrecking havoc and annoying Grayson everyday," I tell her with a smile. "I wish I could have got here sooner so you weren't beating yourself up. The hospital wouldn't let me in to see you yesterday so I had to wait until today after my first day at work."

Zara nods before her eyes get wide. "Why didn't you tell me who you were? I have been over here acting like a complete weirdo half of the time. If I had known..."

"If you had known, you would have treated me differently. I wanted people to meet me without my family name to actually meet who I really am. We became friends regardless of our origins. I would not trade our friendship for the world. You are a true best friend," I tell her as I hold her had tightly still.

Cynthia looks like she is thinking of something when her eyes widen to look at me. "Your the daughter of Darius and Isabella Anderson!" I nod at her with a smile as she looks like she wants to faint.

"Mrs. Cynthia, breath please. I am still me you just know my background now," I tell her with a chuckle.

She starts to pace at the foot of the bed as she holds her hands out. "I have had someone who is basically business royalty in my home. You now basically run the city since the Andersons own a little more than half of the city. I am so sorry that my house was always a mess."

I stop her mid stride as I place my hand on her shoulders. "I am still me, Cynthia. All of that other stuff doesn't matter because you all got to know me as a person. That is all I could ever ask for. That means more to me than any dollar amount or company," I tell her as I look directly into her eyes. "And I love your home. It is actually my dream style home that I have wanted for almost my whole life."

"Nonsense, why would you want to live in a three bedroom and two bathroom house when you could have a mansion?" she says as she looks at me like I have lost my mind.

"Because a home isn't measured in size or square feet. It is measured by who lives in it that matters. Why have a mansion with more rooms than you will ever need when you could have something that is enough for a family?" I say as I keep eye contact with her to let her know that I am not joking around. "My parents home is big but I wouldn't call it a mansion. It is more like an oversized farm house. My brothers and I always asked them the same question that you just asked me. Their answer was near the same as what I just told you. They didn't want some big fancy mansion that they would only use maybe a quarter of but a home with the room to raise a family and not have a lot of dead space."

Cynthia nods at my words and pulls me to her for a hug. "Why can't everyone see things your way? You are the most humble and selfless person I have ever met. You should look into motivational speaking," she tells me making me laugh.

"Please, they wouldn't be able to handle me," I tell her making everyone laugh. The sound of the door opening has us all turning our heads to the door. Zara's ex, Lance, was standing in the doorway looking like he would be elsewhere than here. "If anything happens, shield Hendricks from it all," I whisper to Cynthia who nods as she moves over to Hendricks.

"What are you doing here, Lance?" Zara asks as she tries to sit up.

"I came to get my son. You are not fit to care for him," Lance says in a snappy tone at Zara as he makes his way into the room towards Hendricks.

"Excuse me?" I ask as he gets closer. Lance stops when he notices me in the room and runs his eyes up and down my body. "My eyes are up here dipshit."

His eyes snap back to mine before he turns his arrogance on me. "I came for my son. Now move."

He tries to push me to the side but I plant my feet to stand my ground. "I don't think so. You can't just come in here and take him. Zara has full custody and let's you get him from time to time since you are his father. If you leave this hospital with him, you will be kidnapping him. So, if I were you, I would think twice about what you plan to do."

"Get out of my way, bitch. This doesn't concern you," Lance says as he puts his hand on my arm. Wrong move buddy.

I grab his arm and bend it back to cause discomfort but not breaking it. Cynthia moves past me with Hendricks' face in her chest as she leave the room. Taking his hand I twist it back behind his back as I kick his knees out from under him, making him crash to the tiled floor. His other hand reaches back to grab me as I grab it as well and put it in the same position as his other one that is secured tightly to the middle of his shoulder blades.

"Listen to me and listen good. As far as I am concerned, you are nothing but a let down to that young boy that barely even knows who you are. Instead of being there for him, you were off chasing skirts and taking care of other children instead of your own. You only want him so you could get money for taking care of him to spend on your women and wanna be kids. I'll be damned if I let that happen to that sweet child who has a mother considerate enough to still let you see him even after you signed him away. If I ever hear you threaten her like that again, I will make this look like child's play compared to what you will have coming. Do you understand me?" I ask him as I apply a little more pressure to his arms.

"AHHH! OKAY! YES I UNDERSTAND," Lance yells as he tries to free his hands from my hold.

"Now get out of my sight before I change my mind," I tell him as I let him go.

Lance gets up and runs out of the door as fast as I have ever seen that man run. Zara looks at the door in shock as well as disbelief at the fact that her ex just got his ass handed to him by a woman. "Why didn't you do that sooner?"

I smirk at her as I walk over to her bed. "Because the man would always run or hide from me if he ever saw me."

"Why didn't you use your name to scare him?" she asks as we see Cynthia enter the room again with Hendricks.

"Because I am not going to use it as a means to an end. My name doesn't make me who I am so I don't want to use it on trash such as him," I tell her before I hug her good bye. "I will call you later and be back tomorrow."

Walking out of the hospital, I set out to the house to change and get ready for surveillance duty. Chelsea needs to be dealt with sooner rather than later.