48

Suzanne entered the office so cautiously that Nathan didn’t even hear her. She saw the redhead's furrowed brow and guessed what had happened.

She smiled delightedly and approached the sofa, pretending to trip over the carpet, causing the entire contents of the glass to spill over Valery’s head, who jumped up from the sofa with a scream as she felt the cold water trickling down her face.

Nathan turned around and found himself in the comical situation he had already imagined. He had to make an effort not to smile and quickly took a handkerchief from his pocket to hand it to the redhead.

“Nathan, I demand you fire this idiot!” she shouted angrily.

“Calm down, it was an accident,” he said through gritted teeth, hearing the insult towards Suzanne. The next one, he wouldn't let pass.

“Not at all, she did it on purpose!”

“I’m really sorry, dear,” Suzanne said mockingly.

That infuriated Valery even more.

“Nathan, this woman is a brute, you can’t keep her here, fire her,” she demanded furiously.

“I don’t take orders from anyone, Valery,” he said coldly, implacably. “And you better respect Suzanne, don’t call her that.”

She gritted her teeth, looking at both of them with resentment and envy.

“Now I get it, this is your new whore, isn’t it?” she replied disdainfully.

Nathan's face darkened at her words. How had he ever thought of being with such an unbearable woman?

To come and insult Suzanne like that! No, he wasn’t going to tolerate it any longer.

“This woman you just insulted is my wife, Mrs. Strong,” he spat furiously, making the redhead’s eyes widen in shock. “And I don’t allow anyone to treat her that way, so get out of here before I lose my temper. And I’d appreciate it if you never return to my company again.”

She was speechless, gaping for a few seconds, then recovered and glared at both of them before storming out, slamming the door.

He looked at Suzanne with narrowed eyes and she shrugged with feigned innocence, smiling broadly. She felt euphoric about how Nathan had defended her against that woman.

Then Nathan let out the laugh he had been holding back, and anyone who had seen him laugh like that wouldn’t have recognized him.

Even Suzanne was surprised; she had never seen him laugh like that. He wasn’t exactly a man of many smiles.

When he calmed down, Nathan approached her and hugged her tightly.

“What a little devil you turned out to be, Mrs. Strong.”

“It was an accident,” she said, smiling, caressing his cheek.

“A well-planned accident,” he smiled proudly.

“Then, Mr. Strong, are you going to fire me?” Suzie caressed his tie, moving up his throat until she reached his lips.

“I have something better in mind than that,” he said playfully.

“Mmm, and what would that be?”

“Punishing you.”

“I think that won’t be possible at the moment; they’re waiting for you in the meeting room,” she smiled, amused by his confusion.

“I don’t recall scheduling a meeting.”

“Apparently, your partners need to tell you something, according to what Emilia informed me,” she bit her lip. “Sorry, I forgot to tell you, with everything that happened.”

“Don’t worry, baby, let’s go,” he gave her a soft kiss.

Nathan entered the meeting room and immediately sensed something was wrong. Not just from the faces of those present, but also upon seeing Enzo Mancini, a good friend who managed the Strong international branch located in Italy.

Nathan greeted him and introduced Suzanne as his wife; his friend couldn’t hide his surprise.

Enzo requested to speak with him alone, and everyone left except Suzanne, whom Nathan asked to stay.

“So, what happened?” he asked, sensing it wouldn’t be anything good.

“There was a fire at the company, it started on the third floor,” Enzo informed him seriously. “The losses are in the millions.”

“Enzo, that’s the least of my worries,” Nathan said, exasperated. “Are there any casualties?”

“Yes.”

“Damn it! How many?”

“20 injured and 10 dead.”

The room fell into a terrible silence. Suzanne’s eyes welled up with tears, while Nathan clenched his jaw and furrowed his brow.
“So what happened in Paris wasn’t an accident,” he murmured grimly.

“No, the police believe the person who set the company on fire in France is the same one who did it now,” Enzo said. “Someone wants to ruin you, brother.”

“I want that son of a bitch behind bars!” Nathan roared furiously.

“The bastard is good, didn’t leave a single trace or clue,” Enzo replied.

“Nobody’s perfect, Enzo, he must have made some mistake,” Nathan said, thoughtful. “Tomorrow I’m flying to Italy; that bastard is going down, one way or another.”

Enzo Mancini wasn’t a coward, but hearing the cold determination in his friend’s voice, he was glad not to be in that guy’s shoes.

“Nathan, you need to be careful,” Mancini warned him. “Someone might not just be trying to harm you, but to destroy you.”

Suzanne shuddered at that word.

“Do you think this is personal?”

“Maybe I’m being a bit paranoid; it could just be someone from the competition,” Enzo sighed.

Nathan nodded, but he had his doubts. He didn’t want to continue the conversation in front of Suzanne, who looked pale and defeated. He felt terrible for the people who had lost their lives.

Enzo said his goodbyes and informed Nathan he would return to Italy immediately to begin the company’s renovation, but first, he left a written report with all the details of what had happened.

Nathan left the office with Suzanne by his side and decided to go home early. He felt guilty about what had happened; someone was trying to harm him and was using other people to do it.

That night, Suzanne went to bed early, while Nathan spent over three hours making calls to the countries where he had companies to tighten security, as he believed this would continue until they caught the culprit.

To Nathan’s surprise, when he entered the bedroom, he saw Suzanne was still awake. He undressed and lay down beside her, holding her in his arms.

“I’m sorry, Nathan,” she whispered, knowing he was going through a tough time.

If there was one thing she knew about him, it was that despite being an implacable man, he was a great boss who cared about his employees.

“Everything will be fine, honey,” he said to reassure her.

“I’m scared something might happen to you,” she whispered, distressed.

“I promise you everything will be okay. Now sleep, sweetheart,” he kissed her lips tenderly.

He wasn’t afraid of what might happen to him; what worried him was that this crazy maniac might hurt Suzanne to get to him.

He needed to take drastic measures, one of which was hiring two bodyguards for his wife. They would protect her without her noticing, as he didn’t want to worry her.