Forbidden Heat

Reiner – His Realization

“We should stop for now. I can tell that your mind is elsewhere…” Charles said gently.

I was shocked at how understanding he was. Then I was shocked that he could tell and that made me

feel very ashamed of myself. He’s so kind to me and I was just using him to comfort myself.

“I’m sorry…” I apologized guiltily.

“It’s ok. We don’t need to rush this. Goodnight, Natalia,” Charles said as he reached out and stroked

my hair softly.

“Thank you. Goodnight, Charles,” I said softly before getting out of his car.

…

Reiner woke up with a throbbing headache the following morning. He stretched as he got out of bed

and headed for the shower. His instinct told him that today would be another bad day. The event that

unfolded with Rachael last night ended in a complete disaster. He had told her to go home while she

was crying her eyes out and he was beginning to regret it right now. He looked at his phone and saw

no miscalls from Rachael. She’s probably mad right now, not surprisingly.

He took a quick shower, got dressed and left his bedroom. Regardless of what happened yesterday,

there was something that he needed to check on. It was a long walk from his room to the guest wing

where Natalia’s bedroom was. The hallway was empty and quiet when he arrived. Reiner stood in front

of Natalia’s bedroom door as he hesitated to knock.

He hadn’t seen Natalia all day yesterday. Perhaps it was also because he was busy dealing withnovelbin

Rachael from morning until night. However, not seeing Natalia and not knowing where she was made

him feel uneasy. It’s Sunday morning now so she should be in her room. He glanced at the time on his

watch to check that it wasn’t too early to knock on her door. Natalia wasn’t a morning person and if he

woke her up, she would be in a grumpy mood, and he didn’t want that.

Since Reiner woke up slightly later than usual, it was already quite late. Natalia should be up, unless

she’s oversleeping like crazy, he thought as he lifted his hand and began knocking on her door. After

three firm knocks, he paused and waited for the sound of movements on the other side of the door.

However, even after a while of waiting, Reiner couldn’t hear any sound from the other side.

He frowned slightly as he lifted his hand and knocked on her door again, louder this time. Again, he

waited in front of her door for her to open the door for him. However, that didn’t happen, and he couldn’t

sense her presence on the other side of the door.

Is she not here?

Slowly, his hand reached for her doorknob and then turned it. Surprisingly, the door was unlocked.

Reiner narrowed his eyes suspiciously as he felt that something was wrong. Pushing the door open, he

was shocked at the sight of the empty room in front of him. The room seemed inhabited and everything

that belonged to Natalia was gone. Reiner strode in and looked around the empty and deserted room.

There was nothing left in her room apart from the furniture. The bed had no bedding, there were no

clothes in the closet and the bathroom was empty.

Reiner turned around just in time to see a confused-looking maid standing in the doorway with some

bedsheets in her hands. His eyes narrowed as he approached her. She backed away in slight panic at

the look of panic and frustration on Reiner’s face.

“Where is Natalia?” Reine demanded to know in a loud voice.

“Umm…I don’t know…but Queen asked us to clean this room since yesterday…” the maid replied in a

fearful whisper.

Reiner cursed as he walked past her and headed out the door. The maid stared after him in shock with

a hand pressed against her chest. Reiner made his way out to the hallway while calling Natalia’s

mobile number.

Where is she?

The beeping sound was the only thing he heard, and the line refused to connect. Why isn’t she picking

up her phone? He growled in frustration as he redialed her number over and over again. After multiple

calls, Natalia still didn’t answer her phone.

“Where is Natalia? I went to see her in her room, but she wasn’t there,” Reiner asked as he stormed

into Queen’s personal study.

“If you’ve been to her room then you’ve figured it out already, haven’t you?” Queen asked in return,

sounding calm and collected.

“Where is she?” Reiner asked again.

Queen sighed before putting down the report that she had been reading onto the table in front of her.

Then she turned to look straight at her only son.

“She moved out already,” Queen stated bluntly.

“Since when?” Reiner asked immediately.

“Yesterday morning,” Queen replied calmly.

“Why didn’t you tell me anything about this?” Reiner demanded to know as he approached his mother

and stood right in front of her desk.

“Well, you never asked. Why do I have to tell you? If she wanted you to know, she could have told you

herself. So, she didn’t tell you anything?” Queen said with a shrug.

“Where is she?” Reiner demanded to know once more.

Queen stared into her son’s blue eyes and knew that he was greatly disturbed by Natalia’s

disappearance.

“I don’t know,” she replied frankly and honestly.

“What?” Reiner said in disbelief.

“I said, I don’t know where she is. She didn’t tell me where she went or what her new address is,”

Queen answered clearly.

Knowing that he won’t get any useful clues or information from his mother, Reiner turned on his heel

and headed for the room’s exit. Queen watched him go.

“Knight!” she called after him.

Reiner stopped in his track before turning his head around to face her.

“What?” he asked.

“She’s gone, are you happy now?” Queen said as her face transformed into a look of misery.

…

Once he left Queen’s room, Reiner started dialing another number. He was sure that the owner of this

number would pick up his call for sure. It was his job to pick up.

“I need you to find someone,” Reiner commanded immediately after the line connected.

“Send me the details,” the voice of a man replied.

“I want her found today. Don’t approach her,” Reiner instructed firmly.

“Noted,” the voice replied before the line disconnected.

This island wasn’t large so it wouldn’t take a long time to find Natalia if she was still on this island.

Reiner ran his fingers through his red hair in frustration. Why did she leave so suddenly?

He returned to calling Natalia on his phone, although he knew that she wouldn’t answer any of his calls.

--To be continued…