The Untold Story

27. In another kingdom...

The next time Natasha opened her eyes it was morning. It took a second for her to remember that the barely familiar, plain wallpaper belonged to Nathan's bedroom. She turned onto her side and faced Nathan who was still blissfully asleep. They were no longer holding hands but the memory of his promise from last night was still fresh in her mind. Regardless, she still had her reservations about trusting him again.

She quietly slipped out of bed and went to the bathroom, washed her face and swirled some toothpaste around in her mouth before making her way to the kitchen. When he woke up half an hour later, he checked on her first.

"Hey," he said in a gruff voice, wiping the sleep from his eyes.

"Hi," she said, not taking her eyes off the pan on the stove.

"My kitchen has never smelled this good," he commented.

"Probably because you don't do much cooking, judging from the contents of your fridge," Natasha snickered.

"True," Nathan agreed. "You didn't have to get up so early to cook you know. We could have gone for breakfast somewhere."

"I'm an early bird," Natasha shrugged. "And besides, it's not like I can go anywhere dressed like this."

"I think you wear the outfit well," Nathan teased with a smile. She threw a dish towel at him and he caught it easily and tossed it on the table between them.

"How's your hand?" he asked her.

"Just stings a little. Thanks for patching it up," she replied. "You should get ready for work or you won't have enough time for breakfast," she added dismissively.

"Why is everyone suddenly so bossy?" he muttered under his breath, going back to the bedroom. He joined her again, showered and dressed in a suit and happily dug into the breakfast that she'd laid out on the table.

"Thank you for last night," she said once he was done.

"Anytime and you can stay here as long as you need. Especially if you'll be making breakfast like this every day," he teased earning a small smile from Natasha. "On a serious note, if you feel like you have nowhere to go, my door is always open."

"Thanks."

He waited, thinking she'd say something else and when she didn't, he cleared his throat and spoke again. "I have a question about last night."

"What about?"

"The spare keys. Are you sure you don't remember the last time you saw them?"

"Mum and I rarely use them. We've each got a set and so does Danielle although she often forgets hers at her house and ends up using the spares when she comes over. She always puts them back when she leaves though," Natasha replied.

"Does anyone else besides the three of you know where you keep them?"

Natasha eyed him warily. "Is this some more detective work under the pretense of caring about me?"

"That's not..." he paused, trying to find the right words. "You remember that the murder weapon used on Mac was a knife from your house but there was no sign of breaking and entering that night which means whoever killed Mac had the means to get into your house. It can't be a coincidence that your spare keys are missing."

"So you think someone found out where we hide them then took them and got into the house to steal the knife?" Natasha said thinking the theory over.

"It makes sense. I'll need to talk to Danielle first then ask your neighbors if they saw anything out of the ordinary recently," Nathan said clearing the table and looking for his keys. "You're more than welcome to stay here and if there's somewhere you'd rather I take you, I will. It's up to you."