41

Nathan entered the suite a bundle of nerves.

He was tired of looking for Suzanne, but he hadn't found her anywhere. He had called her cell phone, but she didn't answer, which worried him even more.

He spotted her handbag on the couch and felt relief wash over him, but then anger took over and he dashed to the bedroom.

"Why the hell did you just take off like that?" he shouted furiously, in the darkness that enveloped him. "Are you out of your mind? Do you know how worried I was?"

He got no response, then a flash of lightning illuminated the room, and he saw her there, looking like a wounded and defenseless animal.

He quickly turned on the light, and the room was bathed in clarity. Now he could see her well; her cheeks were soaked, her eyes red and swollen, and her gaze... it simply seemed absent.

He wrapped her in his arms, but she didn't even blink.

He deduced that something was wrong, laid her on the bed while whispering sweet words in her ear to bring her back to reality, but she didn't react.

Scared, he shook her until she looked at him as if just becoming aware of his presence. Then she clung to him as if her life depended on it.

"I'm scared," she whispered.

"I'm here now, darling, no one will hurt you," he cradled her in his arms.

He knew all the horrors she had gone through as a child; she had told him everything when he once asked after she got scared during a thunderstorm.

He had forgotten that she was terrified of storms like that one, as everything had happened on a night like the present one.

"Shh, shh," he said while stroking her.

She had stopped trembling, which was a good sign. Then she fell asleep, listening to the tender words he whispered to her.

Nathan thought about how the contract was coming to an end in a few months, but he wasn't willing to let her go.

«I don't care what Grandpa is up to, I won't let him take her away from me. Suzanne is mine», he thought, kissing her forehead.

They had to postpone the trip back to London, as the storm had intensified, and it was dangerous to fly in such weather.

During those days they spent in the hotel, Suzanne had nausea every morning and often vomited almost everything she ate.

Nathan thought it was because she was so nervous due to the storms, despite the fact that he didn't leave her alone for even a second; he knew it was hard for her.

He knew very well how exhausting it was to keep past memories at bay, as he had to fight his own every day.

**

That morning, when Suzanne arrived at the office, Nathan was already there. She looked at her watch and confirmed it was only 7:05 am.

She hadn't seen him since the morning before, as she had felt unwell and asked for the afternoon off. When he asked why, she simply told him she had to take care of some personal matters, but the truth was that she hadn't felt well since they returned from the trip to New York two weeks ago, and that day was no exception.

The nausea had decreased a bit, but the dizziness continued, along with other discomforts, making her suspect she might have caught a cold.

"Why didn't you come last night?" he said as soon as he saw her enter, in a casual tone, but with a hint of reproach.

"I asked you for the afternoon off, I told you I had to resolve some personal matters," she reminded him.

That afternoon she had gone to the doctor to take a pregnancy test and was very nervous, so she decided to stay in a small boarding house where she had lived before, when she was in college.

She didn't want to worry her father or Dylan, so she told them where she was, and although they reproached her, she just claimed she wanted to be alone.

The test results would come in two days, and the wait was killing her; she was scared to death.

Nathan's voice brought her out of her thoughts.

"I gave you the afternoon off, not the night," he seemed annoyed. "When night comes, I want you in my bed," he said as he stood up. He grabbed his briefcase and walked out.

Suzanne didn’t start the morning off on the right foot, and by the afternoon, she felt worse. She decided to go up to the apartment and lay down for a while without changing her clothes.

Nathan arrived at dusk and found her sleeping in his bed as he had asked.

He approached her and started kissing her neck, feeling excited and thinking only of her and the things he wanted to do to her on his way home.

Suzanne stirred in the sheets and opened her eyes slightly, as her headache was so severe that it was hard to keep them open.

She had decided not to take any medication because if she was pregnant as she suspected, it could harm the baby.

“I want you,” she heard Nathan say, but she wasn’t in the mood for that.

“Not tonight,” she said firmly, moving away from him.

“Whatever you want,” he growled and stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind him.

Suzanne settled back in bed and went back to sleep, which was the only thing she felt like doing.

Strange noises woke her up several minutes later, and she realized she was alone in the room. She got out of bed as best she could and headed to the stairs, ready to go down, until she saw him.

Nathan Strong was on the couch half-naked with two girls on top of him, in their underwear.

It devastated her. How could he dare do that to her?

Her eyes filled with tears. She silently returned to the room, put on her shoes, and grabbed her purse. The tears wouldn’t stop flowing.

She went down the stairs quickly and headed to the door, leaving without looking back. She heard Nathan calling her, but she didn’t stop for a second.

**

Nathan entered the office that morning, this time empty.

By the afternoon, Suzanne still hadn’t shown up for work and wasn’t answering his calls or messages.

He was in a foul mood, and the smarter employees avoided crossing paths with him, as the man was a beast.

He called her another hundred times, but got no response.

Annoyed, he told himself he wouldn’t look for her, but when the clock struck 10 p.m. and she still hadn’t shown any signs of life, he got worried.

He remembered the way she had left and wondered if something bad had happened to her. He knew he had messed up badly and that their contract demanded exclusivity from both parties; he himself had preferred it that way.

So why the hell had he broken that rule? For what, if in the end, he had ended up getting rid of those girls without doing anything?

After Suzanne rejected him, he had been so furious that he drank without restraint. He didn’t even know why he had brought those women to his apartment, knowing he wouldn’t have sex with them.

«Liar» a little voice in his head said.

He knew why he had brought them there; it was to show Suzanne that while she rejected him, other women wanted him.

Pure male pride had driven him to commit that stupidity.