09-10-2024, 09:05 PM
Her days were filled from dawn to dusk, and still lacked sufficient hours. In fact Natalie could not recall the last time she’d slept in her own bed rather than caught naps on her apartment sofa. The Northbrooks owned an old property in Switzerland, so she’d known a little of the restorative process, but there was a reason these old Russian estates, abandoned since the Bolsheviks, had remained in ruins for so long. They were money pits.
Natalie poured everything in; sensible with the investment, but reckless with the amounts. Had she asked, her mother would have been in ardent support of the project, and likely relieved to see her daughter so rooted in something productive, but Natalie was still ignoring her calls – and the family money. Instead A K Holdings supplied the shortfall. She hadn’t seen Adrian since she’d brought him here and made her impulsive offer, and Belizna was now far from the ruin it had been that balmy summer night. He hadn’t been wrong to remark the manor’s suitability for a destination hotel; between the grounds and the austere gothic castle, an unusual sight in this part of the world, there was an unrivalled grandeur to its sense of history. But as she’d told him then: this wasn’t about profit.
Adrian’s office was responsive, even at the unusual hours Natalie worked to sometimes, and she was content not to deal with the man himself. She availed of his contacts as well as his money, and it had undoubtedly helped expedite the work to have both. The manor was structurally secure, much of it habitable if still largely empty. Several rooms were furnished now, and she spent more time here than the sterile apartment in central Moscow. It would likely take years to see it fully finished, but what had been completed in the relatively short time was nothing short of formidable.
Pushing Belizna to be ready to open its doors commanded much of her time, and if Natalie was not managing the ongoing project, she was networking – work she liked less, honestly, though it was easy to be charming and sow the seeds she needed. Zhenya had been a surprisingly vocal and vociferous ally there, being much loved already in the most elite circles of Moscow’s social scene, and with grudging acceptance that she could not do everything by herself, Natalie was slowly letting the woman do more to flutter rumour of the cause in the right ears. For some nights she was simply too exhausted to don the mask herself.
Amidst her busy schedule, today’s particular job had not exactly been planned for. Natalie had had no intention in informing the Channeling Consulate of her plans, let alone Brandon’s sly military arm, but Mexico’s machinations were all rapidly coming to a head. She kept abreast of the changing politics, though she remained distant from her own witness of their foundations. Jessika Thrice paid for her title in blood, as did Scion Marveet, but it was the discrete arrival of a Mexican delegate that urged her hand to interfere. She’d known little of Commander Vellas before then, and that little comprised of things she sometimes wondered if Jay was actually supposed to impart, or realised he did. Gaining access to him had not been easy, even for a Patron’s granddaughter, but Natalie was persistent, not least with sufficient motivation. If she could gain an audience with the Ascendancy himself in order to discover what had happened to Jay after his arrest, she could certainly find the man he trusted to lead his men now Jay was a Dominion among them.
Michael had given little away over the call, not least whether he had been surprised to receive it. Reaching out to him was not without risk, and she disliked the notion it was a tentative bridge which might prove dangerous to her down the line. He was a generous and eloquent speaker, though, and Natalie reasoned it suggested he would be amenable to the request she would make of him. Charm and certainty were her tools, though she would use leverage as necessary. And he agreed to the meeting at least, intrigued by the project she described, else by the woman who moved mountains to speak to him directly in the first place.
Snow coated the grounds, obscuring quite how overgrown it all still was. The steps had been cleared, and she perched on one to wait at the agreed time, a number of privately opaque holos arranged across her lap. Natalie had a desk inside, but beyond the cavernous marble foyer and hallways, she never would have heard an arrival. The sounds of workmen were distant, but aside from that there was no one else here. Unless Toma was lurking, though Natalie saw less of her these days; presumably because she was staying out of trouble.
She was dressed for the winter, a fur-lined hat over light-gold hair, and a thick coat belted snug around her waist. Alarmingly pale eyes sat in a face currently flushed by the cold, though by her neutral expression, the temperature did not seem to bother her. For once it was not Belizna that occupied her attention while she waited for Michael’s arrival, but a matter more personal. Natalie was rarely idle. Jay had not asked for her help (and it was undoubtedly very illegal) but it hadn’t been difficult to use her position as ambassador to pull the strings to deal with his family’s estate back in the US. The animals had already been cared for, but it seemed he’d ignored every other communication from the lawyers concerning the property and what was left of the farm. Ensuring the family belongings were packed up into storage had been simple enough. It was doubtful he’d ever want to go back there, but it felt wrong to leave it all to rot. If not for Jay, then for Cayli. But his father’s debts were eye-watering, and the financials were all tangled. She had no doubt Jay would never want to know, and she never planned to tell him; she was settling what needed settling, but probate was a glacial process.
Natalie poured everything in; sensible with the investment, but reckless with the amounts. Had she asked, her mother would have been in ardent support of the project, and likely relieved to see her daughter so rooted in something productive, but Natalie was still ignoring her calls – and the family money. Instead A K Holdings supplied the shortfall. She hadn’t seen Adrian since she’d brought him here and made her impulsive offer, and Belizna was now far from the ruin it had been that balmy summer night. He hadn’t been wrong to remark the manor’s suitability for a destination hotel; between the grounds and the austere gothic castle, an unusual sight in this part of the world, there was an unrivalled grandeur to its sense of history. But as she’d told him then: this wasn’t about profit.
Adrian’s office was responsive, even at the unusual hours Natalie worked to sometimes, and she was content not to deal with the man himself. She availed of his contacts as well as his money, and it had undoubtedly helped expedite the work to have both. The manor was structurally secure, much of it habitable if still largely empty. Several rooms were furnished now, and she spent more time here than the sterile apartment in central Moscow. It would likely take years to see it fully finished, but what had been completed in the relatively short time was nothing short of formidable.
Pushing Belizna to be ready to open its doors commanded much of her time, and if Natalie was not managing the ongoing project, she was networking – work she liked less, honestly, though it was easy to be charming and sow the seeds she needed. Zhenya had been a surprisingly vocal and vociferous ally there, being much loved already in the most elite circles of Moscow’s social scene, and with grudging acceptance that she could not do everything by herself, Natalie was slowly letting the woman do more to flutter rumour of the cause in the right ears. For some nights she was simply too exhausted to don the mask herself.
Amidst her busy schedule, today’s particular job had not exactly been planned for. Natalie had had no intention in informing the Channeling Consulate of her plans, let alone Brandon’s sly military arm, but Mexico’s machinations were all rapidly coming to a head. She kept abreast of the changing politics, though she remained distant from her own witness of their foundations. Jessika Thrice paid for her title in blood, as did Scion Marveet, but it was the discrete arrival of a Mexican delegate that urged her hand to interfere. She’d known little of Commander Vellas before then, and that little comprised of things she sometimes wondered if Jay was actually supposed to impart, or realised he did. Gaining access to him had not been easy, even for a Patron’s granddaughter, but Natalie was persistent, not least with sufficient motivation. If she could gain an audience with the Ascendancy himself in order to discover what had happened to Jay after his arrest, she could certainly find the man he trusted to lead his men now Jay was a Dominion among them.
Michael had given little away over the call, not least whether he had been surprised to receive it. Reaching out to him was not without risk, and she disliked the notion it was a tentative bridge which might prove dangerous to her down the line. He was a generous and eloquent speaker, though, and Natalie reasoned it suggested he would be amenable to the request she would make of him. Charm and certainty were her tools, though she would use leverage as necessary. And he agreed to the meeting at least, intrigued by the project she described, else by the woman who moved mountains to speak to him directly in the first place.
Snow coated the grounds, obscuring quite how overgrown it all still was. The steps had been cleared, and she perched on one to wait at the agreed time, a number of privately opaque holos arranged across her lap. Natalie had a desk inside, but beyond the cavernous marble foyer and hallways, she never would have heard an arrival. The sounds of workmen were distant, but aside from that there was no one else here. Unless Toma was lurking, though Natalie saw less of her these days; presumably because she was staying out of trouble.
She was dressed for the winter, a fur-lined hat over light-gold hair, and a thick coat belted snug around her waist. Alarmingly pale eyes sat in a face currently flushed by the cold, though by her neutral expression, the temperature did not seem to bother her. For once it was not Belizna that occupied her attention while she waited for Michael’s arrival, but a matter more personal. Natalie was rarely idle. Jay had not asked for her help (and it was undoubtedly very illegal) but it hadn’t been difficult to use her position as ambassador to pull the strings to deal with his family’s estate back in the US. The animals had already been cared for, but it seemed he’d ignored every other communication from the lawyers concerning the property and what was left of the farm. Ensuring the family belongings were packed up into storage had been simple enough. It was doubtful he’d ever want to go back there, but it felt wrong to leave it all to rot. If not for Jay, then for Cayli. But his father’s debts were eye-watering, and the financials were all tangled. She had no doubt Jay would never want to know, and she never planned to tell him; she was settling what needed settling, but probate was a glacial process.
