Page 42 of Her UnBearable Protector

Natale’s steps stuttered on the hardwood, nearly tripping her. “Caprice, wow. I didn’t expect to hear from you. I was really sorry that I couldn’t get to the storage and-”

She heard a bit of laughter on the other end of the call. “Yeah, well, things happen.” There was a moment of silence and then Caprice continued. “Look, I’m sorry about the other day. I know that I was a little pissed off when I called and left you those messages.”

Natale cringed. ‘Those messages’ were more than a dozen angry, yelling, ranting messages that left Natale shaken, especially on top of the attack in the park, but she didn’t tell Caprice any of that. No one, except her father knew that she’d been attacked, and even he didn’t know the full extent of it. But, maybe it was time to tell her, so that she’d understand. “I wish you’d let me explain. I was-”

“Busy,” Caprice sighed and Natale could almost see her cousin rolling her eyes, “I know. Look, I wanted to apologize. I know I’ve been an ass to deal with, Natty. I’ve just been mad since Uncle Gio made the decision to go with Bellezza instead of my line, but that’s behind me now. Durante needs all of us working together.”

Natale caught sight of her pale reflection in the surface of her oven door and smiled. She was beyond Caprice’s petty comments now. She had put it all in the past. All she was going to do was look forward. “That’s great. Anyway, I have to get going. I have to be at the venue in about an hour.”

“Oh, I know,” Caprice rushed on, “I’m already here.”

Natale was nearly stunned into silence. Nearly. “Oh?”

“Well, I had to find a way to make it up to you, right?”

“Sure,” she tried to smile, but could only manage a confused stare at the wall, “that’s really sweet of you.”

An awkward chuckle was her only answer for a long moment. “Yeah, sure. Anyway,” She sucked in a breath. “I was going through all the boxes that the delivery crew brought over last night and you’re missing a box.”

Natale grabbed a hold of the phone with both hands. “Which box.”

She could picture Caprice shrugging. “I don’t have the list with the contents. You know Ericka has that.” She scoffed. “You’d think she would have checked each and every box when they delivered it.”

The gnawing ache in Natale’s stomach eased for a moment. Ericka. “Hold on, Caprice.” Natale dialed her friend and waited for the call to pick up. One. Two. Three rings. The answering machine clicked on and Natale hung up.

Immediately, her phone clicked back to Caprice. “Is Ericka there?”

A huff of sound. “If she was, Natty, I’d just ask her. I’m not stupid.”

“No, no,” she winced, “I didn’t say that, I was just wondering. I was just thinking...”

Something like a murmur came through the phone.

Natale was already opening up the Dropbox on her phone. “What’s the number?”

A moment, then, “Twenty three.”

A gasp escaped her lips. “The jewelry!” All of the jewelry that the models were going to use had been a collaboration with Benita Morales’ company to promote both lines. Without the jewelry, they wouldn’t have any accessories on the models.

“I know we set everything out yesterday.”

“Sure, I guess,” Caprice sighed, “but look, you’re closer to the workroom than I am. And my car is in valet parking. You know how long they can take to find the car. You can stop by on your way and pick it up, right?”

“Right.” Her mind was awash with a half-dozen plans to get the box to the venue, but Caprice was right, if Ericka wasn’t answering her phone, she was likely putting out any number of fires for the show. If she wanted to make sure that the jewelry got to the fashion show, Natale was going to have to go get it herself.

It would be just fine.

“Okay,” she said the word as she organized the thoughts in her head, “I can do that. I need a few minutes to get dressed and then I’ll grab a cab.”

“A cab?” Caprice was momentarily stunned. “What about your boyfriend?”

Natale laughed, enjoying Caprice’s discomfort. It was nice to shock her cousin for once. “I’m sure he’ll come to the venue when he wakes up.”

That got a reaction. “Sleeping?” Caprice laughed. “Falling down on the job, huh?”

“Well, he’s tired,” Natale sighed, looking back toward her bedroom door, “so I left him in bed when you called.”

That was it.

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