Page 44 of Critical Mass
That somewhere in the middle of all those lies, he’d fallen in love with her.
And that might be the most dangerous truth of all.
Natalie stood alone in the guest room, the silence almost oppressive after the chaos of the past few hours.
The room was simple but comfortable—nautical-themed artwork on the walls, crisp white linens on the bed, a small desk by the window. It looked like a hundred beach rental properties she’d seen advertised online.
Except this one was in a secure compound run by people who claimed her father was a terrorist.
She moved to the sliding glass door and stepped onto the small balcony. The night air felt cool against her skin and carried the salty smell of the Pamlico Sound. Below, moonlight danced on calm water, peaceful and serene.
How had everything changed so completely in the span of a few hours?
This morning she’d awakened in her own bed, looking forward to dinner with Timothy. Her biggest concern had been whether to finally tell her father she was thinking about leaving Ravenscroft International and venturing out with her own PR firm. Part of her had felt like she needed to do it to prove to herself she wasn’t just riding her father’s coattails.
Now Timothy didn’t exist. Hudson Roberts existed instead—a man who’d built their entire relationship on lies. And her father, the man who’d raised her, who’d been her hero her entire life, might be planning to kill thousands of people.
Had he already killed people before?
Natalie gripped the balcony railing, her knuckles white.
God, please,she prayed.Please let me make the right choice. Show me the truth. Help me know who to trust.
The prayer felt inadequate for the enormity of what she was facing, but it was all she had.
She thought about Hudson standing in her doorway, telling her he didn’t like the plan. The concern in his voice had sounded genuine, but how would she know?
Everything about him had been a performance. The way he’d smiled at her. The way he’d listened so intently to her stories. The way he’d kissed her good night on her doorstep.
Each action had been carefully calculated to make her trust him. To make her fall for him.
And she had. She’d let down her guard completely, had let herself believe that someone finally saw her—not Richard Ravenscroft’s daughter, not the corporate communications director—buther. Natalie.
That had been her mistake.
One she wouldn’t be making again.
The door to emotions she’d felt for Timothy Shaw—for the man who didn’t exist—was closed now. Locked. Whatever Hudson Roberts claimed to feel for her was irrelevant.
He’d used her. That was the only truth that mattered.
Tomorrow she’d go back to Norfolk. Back to her father. She’d smile and act normal and gather intelligence for Blackout while trying to figure out if her entire life had been built on a foundation of lies.
She’d become exactly what Hudson had been—a spy, a manipulator, someone pretending to be something they weren’t.
The irony would have been amusing if it wasn’t so devastating.
Natalie looked out over the dark water. Somewhere out there, the men who’d shot at her were still searching. Somewhere out there, her father was either a victim of false accusations or a monster she’d never truly known.
And somewhere in this building, Hudson Roberts was probably lying awake, thinking about the mission, calculating angles, and planning his next steps.
She wondered if he spared even a moment’s thought for the woman whose heart he’d broken in the process.
Then she pushed the thought away. It didn’t matter. Her feelings didn’t matter.
Hedidn’t matter.
All that mattered was finding the truth and stopping whatever Critical Mass was, whether that meant saving her father from false accusations or stopping him from committing mass murder.
