Chapter 136: She is an important thing to me
They were halfway through complete erection of the climbing frame when a loud, aggressive, and deeply resonant engine roar violently shattered the quiet of the mountain estate.
The unmistakable, roaring buzz of a custom G-Wagon echoed straight into her bedroom windows.
April paused, her hand hovering over a plastic bracket. He made a forty-minute cross-city drive in barely fifteen minutes, she calculated, her eyes widening slightly. He must have driven like an absolute maniac.
She stood up, heading for the door, but before she could even open it, heavy, unhurried footsteps thumped down the upstairs corridor.
Just as she opened the door, Nat Collins was already standing right at the threshold, his dark coat slightly unbuttoned, his wild eyes instantly locking onto her.
Startled by his sudden, imposing presence, April instinctively took a sharp step back. But her feet caught the edge of an uninstalled scratching post, and her balance violently gave way.
Before her back could hit the hardwood floor, a powerful, heavily tattooed arm cut through the air. Nat’s arm wrapped around her slender waist as he pulled her flush against his solid chest, completely halting her fall.
A brilliant, dangerously sharp grin split across his face, his white teeth flashing in the dim room. "Did you miss me so much that just seeing me completely startled you, sweetheart? Don’t worry—I’m not a ghost."
April froze for a split second, her face remaining entirely deadpan despite the proximity. She stabilized her footing against the floor, gently pushing against his chest to re-establish her personal boundary.
"Thank you," she said flatly, smoothing down her top.
Nat slowly retracted his arm, his fingers lingering on his leather jacket as his grin widened. "You’re welcome."
"How did you manage to arrive here within a fifteen-minute time frame?" April immediately questioned, her eyes narrowing at him. "The morning traffic should have delayed any vehicle by at least forty minutes."
Nat let out a low, raspy chuckle, leaning casually against her doorframe. "When a gorgeous seer suddenly looks at her phone and tells me she needs to see me ’in all honesty,’ speed limits and red lights become optional recommendations, sweetheart."
Nat’s wild gaze drifted across the room, tracking the half-assembled pet playground before finally landing on the small, snowy shape resting near the edge of the mattress.
"Hmm. That’s new," he muttered.
He walked over with long, fluid strides sparing Rufus a glance as he did. Before April could stop him, Nat reached down and pinched Lily by the scruff of her neck, lifting the white kitten right up to his eye level.
Lily went completely wild. Her large green eyes flashed with a dark purple shimmer, and her tiny pink paws began flailing frantically in the air, trying to viciously scratch the mafia lord’s face.
But her miniature limbs were far too short; she couldn’t even reach his thick wrist. She resorted to letting out a sharp, piercing, and highly offended hiss directly at his nose.
Nat squinted his eyes, thoroughly amused by the tiny ball of fury. "This thing is absolutely tiny. Where the hell did you get it?"
April promptly stepped forward, wrapping her hands around the kitten and plucking Lily right out of his grip. She cradled the trembling white puffball against her shoulder, gently stroking her fur to ease her explosive temper.
"The old man from the Greels family gave her to me. Robert Greels," April said coldly, throwing a sharp look at the mob boss. "And be nice to her. She is an important thing to me now."
"A cat?" Nat laughed boisterously, rubbing his chin. "Sure, sweetheart. Whatever keeps you happy. Now, finish up whatever you’re building here and get ready. I’m taking you out."
April blinked. In reality, her only true objective was just to extract him from his residence so he wouldn’t get caught up in the Scorpion Gang’s impending crossfire.
But now he’s telling her he wants to take her out. Could it be he was taking her back to his residence because there was something he absolutely must protect?
She wondered, but even now, the system remained quiet which meant he was not in danger.
"Where exactly are we going?" she asked.
"You’ll see," Nat smirked, his eyes gleaming with a strange, intense anticipation. "I’ve prepared a pretty nice gift for you."
April’s internal thoughts instantly groaned. A gift again?
First, Alexander Greels and Robert Greels had handed her an armored vehicle, and a mythical kitten, then Xavier Reed claimed he had one prepared for her, and now Nat was presenting something else as well.
She began to genuinely wonder if this was how business operations worked in this life.
Everything was supposed to be a calculated transaction of information and resources, yet these powerful men kept trying to shower her with gratitude.
Either way, she wasn’t going to turn it down. A high-value resource was never a waste of storage space.
"Sure," she said. "Just wait patiently until I’m done."
Ten minutes later, April was finally done. Nat had been playing with Rufus in the time she was busy so he wasn’t being a nuisance, breathing up her neck to hurry up, and the likes.
She walked down the courtyard steps and slid into the high passenger seat of his idling, matte-charcoal G-Wagon.
The moment she reached over to grab her seatbelt, Nat suddenly leaned his entire frame across the center console.
"I’ll do it," he said, as if she did not know how to put on a seatbelt on her own but she didn’t stop him.
He entered her personal space completely, the rich scent of leather, expensive cologne, and a faint hint of tobacco filling the cabin.
His large hands smoothly took the heavy strap from her fingers and clicked it into the buckle for her.
April didn’t move an inch. She simply stared straight through the windshield, noticing the way his lips were stretched into a permanent, highly uncharacteristic grin. It looked deeply weird.
Instead of fighting him or overanalyzing his behavior, she decided to treat the gesture as a subtle, convenient favor. It saved her the energy of pulling the strap herself.
Nat pulled back into his seat, catching her entirely unbothered, practical gaze. He let out a sudden, booming laugh that rattled the dashboard, thoroughly entertained by her cold lack of romance.
"For the record, I know how a seatbelt works," she muttered, not turning to meet his gaze.
"Well... if you say so, sweetheart," he grinned, gripping the steering wheel.
He slammed his foot onto the accelerator, and the heavy tactical G-Wagon roared to life, tearing out of the Reed estate courtyard and flying down the mountain road.