Damage Control

Chapter 47

I swallowed the lump in my throat and turned my head away from his intense stare, feeling tears beginning to form in my eyes.

"Nothings keeping me here anymore," I answered, honestly not bothering to lie anymore. "It's time I moved on."

"Is it because of what happened last week?"

I shook my head. "Last week was the final straw. I'd been thinking about moving the moment you fired me."

Nathaniel's nostrils flared as he came to the realization that my decision was partly his fault.

"What about Stella? You know she wouldn't want you to leave."

I shrugged. "She has Theo now, and I'm sure she'll understand, same with Carter."

Nathaniel's grip on the counter tightened as he continued trying to figure out more ways to get me to change my mind.

"What if I gave you your job back?"

I laughed and rolled my eyes at his desperate attempt. "So you can hang it over my head whenever shit doesn't go your way? I'll pass."

He clenched his jaw and roughly ran his fingers through his hair, becoming impatient by the second. "Then stay for me," he finally whispered in defeat.

My stomach did a complete somersault.

"Why would I do that?" I tilted my head to the side, hoping he would give me an answer that would convince me to stay but instead, he opened his mouth, then snapped it shut, and shrugged as expected. He was still too much of a coward to admit his feelings even with me days away from moving.

I laughed bitterly and shook my head, feeling a boil of fury swelling inside of me. "If you have nothing else to say, then get out; I have packing to do."

The chair scraped against the marble floors as I stood up to leave, not wanting to spend another second in his presence. After everything we'd been through, he still wasn't ready to let his guard down and face reality, and suddenly, I didn't feel the guilt of leaving him behind anymore.

Tears stung my eyes, but even after attempting to blink them away, a few still escaped. I hated how he was still capable of messing with my emotions like he's been doing since the day I met him.

Nathaniel called out after me, but I was done wasting my time with him, seeing that I clearly wasted enough.

My phone rang seconds later, and I knew it was the moving company calling to tell me that they're ready, but before I had the chance to answer, Nathaniel came out of nowhere, ripped my phone out of my hand, and pressed decline.

Blinded by the rush of emotions coursing through my body, I raised my fist to land a blow on his cheek, not caring that it would hurt me more than it would him, but Nathaniel's reaction time was much faster than mine, and in seconds he had me pressed against the wall, pinning both of my hands above my head with only one of his. The other hand gripped my chin, forcing me to look up at him, but I quickly averted my gaze to the clock hanging on the wall behind him.

"What do you want me to say?" He murmured, sliding his hand down to my waist.

"Nothing," I mumbled in defeat. "You've said enough."

"Then why are you angry with me?"

"I'm angry with myself for falling for someone who isn't capable of giving me what I was willing to give him."

A flicker of regret flashed across his face as he took in my words, and I knew I hit a nerve.

"You've done a great job at fooling the world to think that you're a man with no heart or emotions, but I've seen first hand how far from the truth that really is, yet you stand here pretending that nothing between us meant anything to you. Maybe it doesn't now, but I refuse to believe that during the moments we had, you felt absolutely nothing."