Page 126 of Sven

Natalie took her clothes, stood, and got dressed.

He pulled her into his arms and held her close. “How are you feeling?” he said as he rested his chin on her head.

Her arms wrapped around him.

“Better,” she said on a sigh. “I’m still mad, and I’m not sure what to do... but it feels manageable now at least.”

He kissed the top of her head and breathed her in.

“I would do anything for you,” he said barely above a whisper, and her arms tightened around him, holding him close.

“Let’s go,” he said as he took her hand and guided her back to their room.

She stopped outside of their door.

“I think I’m going to hop in the shower. Processing all that anger followed by the hottest sex of my life worked up a sweat.”

“Best sex of your life, huh?” Sven said, wagging his eyebrows at her.

She rolled her eyes at him, and just like that, everything was right with the world. “You’re incorrigible, and I’m going to shower.”

She went to make her way down the hallway, but Sven grabbed her hand and pulled her back to him for one last kiss.

As Natalie made her way to the bathroom, Sven carefully opened the door and found a sleeping Winnie safe and sound and crawled into bed.

This night had been rough, but they would get through it.

43

Natalie

The next morning, Natalie stretched and reached for Sven only to find a cold empty space next to her. She sat up and looked for Winnie but found an empty Pack-N-Play. When she reached for her phone, a smile found her face. It was well after nine. Sven had let her sleep.

She got out of bed and pulled on some clothes. She was a little sore from last night, whether it was the punching bag or the fucking. Her body had gotten a workout. She smiled as she remembered it. The day before was awful, but whatever was happening between her and Sven was quite possibly the best thing to ever happen to her.

She knew when she went downstairs there was still all kinds of bullshit to deal with, but with Sven by her side, she thought she could do just about anything.

As she opened the door, the smell of coffee drifted up the stairs, along with multiple voices.

Once she came down the stairs and turned the corner, she saw a sight that warmed her heart. Sven was on the floor with Winnie and Cash, one of the biggest and burliest on the team, held her above his head and blew raspberries on Winnie belly while she squealed in laughter. Sasha was in the kitchen, pulling out some breakfast casseroles and Hillary, Sydney, and Alice were at the kitchen table poring over some papers and ideas.

“What’s going on?” Natalie asked as she came into the room.

“You’re up,” Sven said as he stood and came over to her and wrapped her in his arms. “I thought you could use the extra sleep.”

“What is all this?”

“Well,” said Hillary, looking up from her computer, “we decided to get a jump on the day and deal with things.”

“Nat, I’ve been researching the group that came after you. They suck. Like, theyreallysuck,” Alice said.

“I know they do,” Natalie agreed. “Any ideas?”

“Well, I want to beat their asses,” Sydney said. “But Hillary says that’s not how we handle things.”

“Do you want some coffee?” Sasha called from the kitchen.

“Please.”

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