<h4>Chapter 562: Chapter 562 : Helplessness</h4>


    *Natalia*


    There was a sound cutting through the peaceful quiet and I wanted it to stop, but for an indeterminate amount of time, I couldn’t do anything about it. It was an annoying, repetitive, and high-pitched sound. I was so warm andfortable that the idea of moving my arms or opening my eyes felt absurd.


    I’d had a lot of cocktails with Mia, and I was drunk. I was just the right amount of drunk to sleep soundly and not have any bad dreams. This sound was ruining it.


    When I realized that the source of the noise was my phone, I reached across the bed to shake Tallon’s arm. It was ungodlyte, or early, depending on how you looked at it. No one would be calling me right now. Whoever was calling was probably trying to get a hold of Tallon. Sometimes if he fell asleep with his ringer off, and people called my phone looking for him.


    My handnded on a cold nket, and that was strange enough for me to crack my eyes open. I stared at Tallon’s side of the bed and frowned. I was alone in bed. I was immediately annoyed that he was no longer cuddling me. Sleeping in his arms was one of my favorite things.


    I sat up with a grumble and grabbed my phone from the nightstand. The screen lit up and blinded me for a moment. The bedroom was pitch ck, and the light stung my eyes as they adjusted to the sudden intrusion.


    I looked down at the screen and all myints fell away when I saw that it was Vinny calling. There was only one reason that he would be calling me in the middle of the night. I looked at Tallon’s empty pillow and braced myself for bad news.


    I epted the call and held the phone to my ear.


    “Hello?”


    “Are you at home?” Vinny asked in a tense voice. The tone was enough to confirm my fear that something was terribly wrong.


    “Yeah,” I said. I could hear the fear in my own voice, but I didn’t mind Vinny knowing that I was scared. “What’s going on?”


    He sighed in relief and there was a long pause before he answered my question. “Tallon’s been arrested.”


    I inhaled sharply and held my breath. What the hell happened after I fell asleep? Tallon hadn’t mentioned anything about going outter, and I couldn’t think of a reason why he would have snuck off without saying anything to me.


    It must have been something bad. I remembered the murders of Russian assets he had mentioned, and my stomach churned. Could he have gone out to deal with another death? What if he had run into the killer....


    No, I couldn’t let my imagination run wild. There was no reason to believe that Tallon was hurt.


    I exhaled slowly and forced myself to stay calm. I had to hold it together, there would be time to get upsetter. Right now, I need answers.


    I braced myself for whatever bad news Vinny might have to tell me. “What happened?” I asked.


    “I don’t know, exactly,” he said in frustration.


    The admission shocked me. Vinny always knew what Tallon was getting up to. He was his right hand and his best friend. If Tallon did something dangerous enough to get him arrested, Vinny should know all about it.


    “What do you mean you don’t know?” I asked in disbelief.


    I heard shuffling on the other end and Vinny hissed at someone to shut up. After a moment, he came back onto the line. “He left me a weird voicemail, and the next thing I know he’s booked for murder. All I know is that he was found with a body. I’m trying to figure out what exactly happened, but I haven’t been able to talk to Tallon yet.”


    I felt like I was going to be sick. He was found with a body? How could that have happened? I wasn’t sure if the alcohol in my system or the fact that I had just woken up was a factor, but I just couldn’t wrap my head around this right now.


    “Thewyer is on his way, but it seems like this is going to be bad. He’s not in for questioning. He’s booked into custody.”


    There was another sound on the line, and I realized that Vinny must have been giving orders to his men and trying to contact Tallon’s men while he was on the phone with me.


    I was so grateful that he had taken the time to fill me in, considering all the chaos that was going on and how many things he must have been trying to coordinate right now.


    If I had just woken up alone in the morning, I would have had no idea that Tallon was in trouble.


    “I don’t think we’ll be able to get him out right away. Bond hasn’t been set yet,” Vinny added. He sounded so frustrated.


    “So, he has to spend the night in jail?” I asked in disappointment.


    Tallon had to deal with the police from time to time, but it was usually a formality that annoyed him, but only cost him a few hours at a time. It was part of the cost of being the Don.


    There was another long pause before Vinny answered. “I think it’s going to be more than a night,” he said sympathetically. “I’ll call you the second I know more,” he promised.


    “Thank you,” I managed to say.


    The line went dead, and I dropped my phone as the reality of the situation started to sink in.


    Tallon was in jail, and I didn’t know when he was going to get out. It felt like the world had just dropped out from beneath me. I could feel tears streaming down my face, but I felt like I couldn’t move. I was frozen.


    Tallon was in trouble and there was nothing I could do.


    For the police to hold him, they must have something damning against him. They were too smart to arrest a man like Tallon without strong evidence against him. No one was stupid enough to pick a fight with the family unless they were confident that they could win.


    How could this have happened?


    I stared down at my dark phone screen and tried to keep my crying from turning into sobbing.


    I felt ridiculous. My crying in the dark wasn’t going to help anything. Vinny was hard at work trying to help Tallon, but all I could do was sit here and be sad. It made me feel so powerless.


    On the other hand, I knew that Tallon wouldn’t want me to get involved in this at all if I could avoid it. He would be so worried about me being implicated in some way. If I inserted myself into the issue, the police might bring me in for questioning, and that would send him through the roof. I didn’t want to make things worse.


    Staying out of it was the best thing I could do, but I wanted to help. I wanted Tallon toe home. It made me sick to think of him being locked up for an extended period of time.


    I managed to force myself to move long enough to put my phone on the side table andy down. I pulled Tallon’s pillow tight to my chest and stared at the ceiling.


    Murder?


    What was he thinking? That couldn’t be right. Tallon wasn’t new to this, and he was too clever and too careful to get caught in the act. Even if he decided that someone needed to be killed, why would he go out in the middle of the night to do it with his own hands? It was so unnecessarily risky.


    I would know if he was doing something so risky, wouldn’t I?


    I didn’t believe that Tallon would do something like this without giving me some kind of warning. This couldn’t be right.


    I tightened my grip on his pillow as a new wave of emotion overpowered me.


    I let myself sob this time. I hadn’t been this scared in a long time. My chest heaved as I sobbed openly. There was no one to hear me, so why shouldn’t I let it out? I knew that trying to hold this in would be too much.


    We had to find who was really responsible for this. I knew that it wasn’t Tallon, so there had to be some evidence that would exonerate him.


    No matter how thoroughly someone tried to frame him, there would be some proof that he didn’t do it. We had to find that proof. We had to find who was really behind this and force them to take responsibility. If we didn’t, then there was no telling what could happen to Tallon.


    Hiswyers were the best, but that might not be enough to protect Tallon from the police. It was not an exaggeration to say that the police and the local prosecutors hated the family. If they could take out the Don, then they would do it in a second. We couldn’t give them the chance.


    That was ignoring the possibility that Tallon had in fact killed someone.


    If he had done it, I didn’t believe for a second that it was nned. It must have been a self-defense situation. But who would believe that about him? Who would take his word that he was innocent?


    I pressed my face into his pillow to stifle the sound of my own sobs. I just couldn’t get a hold of myself.


    This could drag out for years, I thought. The courts weren’t exactly known for being swift and well-organized. I could see a world where a prosecutor would choose to dy as much as possible, just to make sure that Tallon stayed in custody and weaken the family.


    I could end up having a prison wedding.


    It was a selfish thought, but it shed through my mind without warning. I forced it away and embraced the guilt I felt for my moment of selfishness.


    Tallon was in trouble and I was thinking about how it inconvenienced me. I felt so stupid. I rolled onto my side and clutched his pillow as my breathing finally started to slow.


    My exhaustion returned in full force, and I closed my eyes. I doubted that I would be able to sleep any time soon, but if I did manage to fall asleep it would be a weed reprieve from this waking nightmare.


    If this was a setup of some kind, then Tallon could be in real trouble. I didn’t want to think about what would happen if he was found guilty of murder, but I couldn’t stop myself. If he was convicted, the courts would want to make an example of him. He could go away for life.


    I could lose him forever.