Page 50 of The Agent
“Right?! I told him that I can’t control you anymore.”
His statement hit her like a sucker punch. He hadcontrolledher. And she had allowed it.Never again.
“What did he look like?” The information might be useful.
“I don’t know. Regular height, muscular. Dark hair. Some kind of accent. Dead eyes.”
“A Spanish accent?” she prodded, remembering what Regina had said about her pursuer.
“Maybe.” Matt swept his hands out from the chair arms. “Look, I don’t know what you’ve gotten yourself mixed up in but you need to stop.”
“Sometimes you have to help people, even if it stirs things up,” Natalie said.
“Well, it’s sure as hell stirring things up for me,” Matt said, his hands clenched in fists. “I don’t like being threatened in my own office.”
A stab of guilt hit her in the chest.
“It’s upsetting for my staff and it’s bad for my reputation,” Matt continued before he pointed at her. “Whatever you’re doing is affecting my business, so it’s a big problem.”
She shoved the guilt down. He hadn’t come here because he was worried about her. He had come because he was worried about his image. “I can’t control other people’s actions,” she said.
“You can tell those guys to quit bothering me.” A vein stood out in his temple. “Seriously, Natalie, I have a good life now, and I don’t want your shit interfering with it.”
Rage boiled up in her throat. He’d blamed every problem he’d ever had on her and expected her to fix them for him. At least this time the issue reallywasrelated to her actions. “I will not stop doing the right thing,” she said in a calm voice.
“The next time one of those goons shows up, I’m calling you to come deal with him.” He must have heard how petulant that made him sound because he stood up abruptly. “Obviously I’m not going to be able to talk any sense into you.”
“It must be hard for you to lose control of me,” Natalie said with a serene smile as she also stood.
He spun on his heel and stomped out the door. She could hear his footsteps pounding down the hallway.
She sat back down again because her knees felt shaky. Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes and focused on holding the air in for a count of ten before she let it out slowly. She opened her eyes and turned her chair to face the window, letting the sun’s warmth soak into her skin.
She needed to tell Tully about the second visitor to Matt’s office. He might be the same man who’d been asking after Regina at her motel. Which meant that Dobs had definitely connected Natalie with his runaway wife. Even if he was just acting on a suspicion, it had the same frightening effect.
In a way, it would be a relief if Dobs was her stalker too. Then they could take action against him. But what would he have to gain by tormenting her if he was just trying to get his wife back? Was it sheer revenge?
She shook her head in frustration and pushed up out of her chair. She had a client waiting.
As she walked down the hallway, Matt’s words about controlling her gnawed at her. It had taken years of subtle manipulation for him to gain that power, but she still got angry with herself. She should have been smarter, should have seen what was happening.
Now it would take more years to rebuild the person she used to be. That was why she was so sure getting involved with Tully long-term was a bad idea. She still felt tentative about herself. He would roll right over her without meaning to.
She needed to limit their relationship to sex and protection. When the need for protection was over, she’d have to give up the sex too.
Tully strode across the blood-red oriental rug in Dobs Van Houten’s office to where the other man stood in front of his desk. “I appreciate your seeing me on short notice,” he said, shaking Dobs’s hand.
“I was intrigued by your call,” Van Houten said with a faint smile. “May I offer you a drink? I have scotch or coffee.”
Tully chuckled. “I like the menu, but I’m good.”
“Please, have a seat.” Van Houten sat in one of the two black leather armchairs positioned to face each other in front of his desk. He arranged the crease of his gray wool trousers to center perfectly on his knee and shot the cuffs of his pink button-down shirt.
Tully eased down into the other chair with its brass rivets and oak frame. Sitting in front of the desk was a calculated statement of confidence. Van Houten was saying that he didn’t need the massive mahogany barricade to protect his self-importance.
Tully unbuttoned his navy suit jacket while he studied the man sitting across from him. Dobs Van Houten had the bland face, straight blond hair, and pale blue eyes of a preppy, but something seemed slightly off. The eyes were flat and set too close together and the hair was thinning, even though he was in his thirties. He looked like a wholesome apple pie with one slice missing.
Van Houten was also scanning Tully with narrowed eyes. It was the look of someone searching his memory. Tully waited a moment but there was no flash of recognition ... yet.
