54

His plane landed at the airport, and he was dressed in jeans and a black T-shirt, sunglasses, and a cap.

He took a taxi and stayed at a hotel, deciding to move around in such a way to remain unnoticed.

He didn’t want the media to find out he was there, because if they did, his photo would be on the front page by morning, and the last thing he wanted was to alert Suzanne.

She woke up from her nap and looked around, realizing she was in her old room. Then she thought it was a dream because it was impossible for Nathan to be there.

She got out of bed, and her body protested; she felt weak and had been feeling like that for a couple of days. She didn’t want to alert Grandpa Strong, but she would have to, maybe she was missing some vitamins.

She was carefully going down the stairs when she heard footsteps. She thought her father or Mark had returned, but the little color she had drained from her face.

She started trembling so violently that Nathan got scared.

This was harder than he had thought. She looked at him with terror, as if he were a monster. She was pale and seemed exhausted.

His eyes fixed on her small, rounded belly, and an immense joy filled him to see that his child was alive and there in his mother’s womb.

But his joy vanished when Suzanne protectively placed her hands on her belly.

“I won’t let you harm my baby,” she said with the firmest voice she could muster.

He was stunned to hear her; she thought he had come there to get rid of the child.

God! How much he had hurt her, what a deep wound he had caused.

“Suzie,” he tried to approach her, but she backed away.

That fearful look in her eyes was tearing Nathan apart. He couldn’t stand her looking at him like that.

“Leave, get out of here, leave us alone!”

“I won’t leave,” he said firmly.

He had come there for her, and he wouldn’t leave without his woman.

Suzanne was desperate, wanting to buy time for her father or cousin to appear. She couldn’t let Nathan take her to any place he thought of.

“Grandpa won’t let him. I have to get a message to him,” she thought anxiously.

She couldn’t falter now, even though terror had her nearly paralyzed, as she looked at the man who had hurt her so much, raising her hands in a gesture of surrender.

It had been just over three months since she had visited her father again, although Mr. Yarek had never agreed to it, all for her safety.

Suzanne thought with a lump in her throat that he had been right. She shouldn’t have gone back there, and now these were the consequences.

“You have to come with me, Suzanne,” Nathan tried to use a pleading tone, but it sounded like a command.

That terrified her even more; she felt her throat dry and her legs weakening. She had been feeling unwell for days, but she couldn’t let it go any longer. She had to do something.

“No one knows this baby is yours,” she said, frowning. “I don’t want anything from you. Leave my baby and don’t hurt him, please.”

“Begging, maybe he’ll leave, maybe I’ll have time to escape,” she thought nervously.

That plea brought tears to Nathan’s eyes, but Suzanne didn’t notice, as she had started crying just thinking that he was there to hurt her and her baby.

“Hurt me even more,” Suzanne thought.

Fear drove her to run up the stairs, but Nathan moved much faster and caught her in his arms, carrying her directly to her room and locking the door behind him.

It was time to talk.

She sat in the middle of the bed, looking so fragile, about to break. The fear was evident in her eyes, and it was killing Nathan. He could bear her looking at him with anger or hatred, but not with fear.

“Please, don’t hurt me,” she whispered.

"I'm not here for that, Suzanne," he said as he slowly approached her.

She shot out of the bed like a rocket to get away from him before he could touch her.

She looked at the man in front of her with terror, and her heart sank a little more. Her wounds were too fresh; she never imagined she would see him again.

“Then why have you come?”

“To get my woman and my child back,” he said confidently.

She looked at him, astonished, unable to believe what she was hearing.

“He's not your child, he's mine, only mine,” she shook her head, frowning.

“Suzie, I know I said unforgivable things and I'm sorry,” he swallowed uncomfortably, “but now all I care about is you and that baby you're carrying.”

“I don't want anything to do with you,” Suzanne denied over and over. “Go away, Nathan, go and never come back!”

She shouted at him with a broken, hurt, and furious voice. How dare he say that to her, what the hell was he playing at?

She no longer trusted him, no longer loved him.

He had hurt her so much that she had nightmares at night, terrifying dreams where the main protagonist was the man standing in front of her.

“Damn it, that child is mine too and you’re coming with me!” Nathan roared.

“I’m not going anywhere with you, leave!” she screamed.

He thought that being gentle wouldn't get him anywhere. God forgave him, but he had to do this; he had to exert his power, and only then would she return to his side.

Maybe not of her own will, but later he would show her how much he loved her and cared about the baby.

“I'm not asking you. You either come back with me, or face the consequences,” he said coldly.