Chapter 773

"Are you trying to send me to an early grave? How did I raise such a lunatic!"

The moment the call connected, a furious roar exploded through the speaker. Natalie blinked, trying to get a word in, but the man on the other end didn't give her a chance.

"Have you completely lost your mind? Breaking into someone's house and kidnapping them, were you worried people wouldn't know you pulled this psychotic stunt? Cough, cough! That's not even the point! Why the hell did you take him? Release him immediately and get your ass home before I break your legs!"

After that explosive tirade, he paused to catch his breath, finally giving Natalie an opening.

"Hello, Marico left his phone at the hospital, so he can't hear anything you're saying. Also, who exactly did he kidnap?"

Dead silence hung on the line for a moment. Then, the voice spiked in pitch. "Who is this?"

"My name is Natalie Taylor. We crossed paths at the hospital a while back."

"Who the hell is Natalie?"

He seemed to be asking someone next to him. A muffled voice replied, "She's an actress. You used to watch her shows all the time."

"I don't give a damn what she does! I'm asking what her relationship is with Marico!"

"I think I saw a tabloid rumor about them once."

The father's voice boomed back into the receiver, trembling with rage. "He turned into this complete disaster because of women like you!"

Natalie was utterly speechless. What kind of logic was that?

"You're mistaken. Marico and I are just friends."

"There's only one kind of relationship he has with women like you. Do I need to spell it out?"

Hearing the sheer venom in his tone, Natalie knew trying to reason with him was pointless. She ended the call immediately and dialed Penelope.

Penelope was at her office and had no idea what was going on. She told Natalie to head straight to her house so they could figure it out together.

Natalie quickly arrived at the downtown Juxury estate where Penelope and her family were currently staying. As she walked through the door Theodore was just hanging up his phone. His

*

expression was dangerously grim; he had clearly just received the news about Marico's latest stunt.

"Who did he kidnap?" Penelope asked without hesitation.

Theodore took a deep breath. "Charley Sargent."

"What!"

Marico had kidnapped Charley, the exact same man who had ordered him beaten to a pulp.

"I knew it. He spent all those days in the hospital without mentioning the attack once: I thought he had just accepted defeat, but he was

planning his revenge the who net

time Natalie said the realizatio washing over her.

Penelope frowned. "Charley had him beaten up, so if Marico wanted payback, he should have just thrown a few punches. Why kidnap the guy and hide him? What is he trying to achieve?"

Theodore's brow furrowed. "Do you honestly think Marico is the kind of guy who settles for an eye for an eye? No. If someone lands a punch on him, he wants them dead."

A cold shiver ran down Natalie's spine.

"Are you saying he's going to kill Charley?"

"Why else would he drag him off to a secondary location?"

Theodore's blunt assessment sent Natalie's panic into overdrive.

"Can you track him down?" Penelope asked Theodore.

Theodore said he needed a little time and headed upstairs to make a few calls.

All Penelope and Natalie could do was wait. The hours dragged on until the kids finally got home from school. Kristin's face lit up the moment she saw her mother, and she practically flew into Natalie's arms.

"Mommy! I thought you already went to the film set! Are you staying with me tonight?"

Natalie gently stroked her daughter's cheek, offering an apologetic smile. "Once this shoot is over, I'll take a few days off just to spend time with you, okay?"

Kristin nodded sweetly. "I love

staying at Penelope's house!

Penelope and Uncle Handsome take great care of me and the boys play with me all the time you dont need to worry about me, Mommy Just focus on your work." .net