Damage Control

Chapter 56

A small smile played on his lips. "They can't touch you, and you know that as well as they do."

"Oh, so you thought that was a good enough reason to go behind my back and do whatever you please without talking to me first?"

My breathing became uneven again, and I wanted nothing more than to punch that smirk off his handsome face.

"Will you let me explain?" he asked, cocking his head to the side as he backed up to sit on the edge of my desk.

I crossed my arms against my chest and rolled my eyes. "No one stopping you."

"I didn't want you to hide us just so you could prove yourself to the board or to your father," Nathaniel began, but I was quick to interrupt.

"That wasn't your choice to make—"

A low growl resonated from the back of his throat, a warning to let him continue without interruption, or there was going to be consequences.

"I've been where you are, love," he continued. "It was exactly my choice to make because I refuse to sit around and let you go down this dark path of blindly making decisions solely to please others."

I opened my mouth to speak again, but he narrowed his eyes and motioned for me to come here.

I wanted to say no, but I found my feet moving towards him until I was positioned directly between his legs, his arms automatically wrapping around my waist pulling me closer.

"And the stubborn Anastazi I know couldn't care less about a bunch of stranger's approval no matter who they are," he murmured, gazing up at me, eyes filled with regret. "Don't lose yourself like I did."

As much as I didn't want to admit it, I knew he was right. Even before my father died, all I ever wanted to do was make him proud, so he could see that my mother's death wasn't in vain. But, most of all, I wanted to show him that I wasn't a failure. And even though I lost Faye Industries due to his poor money management skills, after he died, my hunger for his approval only intensified. Eventually, I would've dug myself a hole I wouldn't have been able to escape, which is exactly what Nathaniel did when his mother died.

I sighed heavily and wrapped my arms around his neck, pressing our foreheads together. "Since when did you get good at pep talks?" I asked jokingly.

Nathaniel chuckled lowly. "I've been practicing."

I gripped a handful of his hair and tugged his head back so I could look into his sapphire eyes. "But don't do that shit again without talking to me first," I demanded, putting all jokes aside.

"I love when you boss me around," he muttered, a smirk forming on his lips.

"I'm serious, Nathaniel."

"So am I."

I clenched my jaw in annoyance and was getting ready to untangle myself from him so I could leave, but he quickly tightened his arms around me, restricting my movements.

"I'm sorry, love, it won't happen again," he murmured sincerely, trying not to smile, knowing it would piss me off even more. "Forgive me?"

"Whatever."

Nathaniel gripped my chin roughly, his face growing serious. "I'm sorry, amore mio," he repeated in a firm tone, not wanting me to be angry with him.

"It's fine," I mumbled softly, averting his intense gaze.

"It's not, but I'll make it up to you."

My eyebrows raised slightly. "How?"

"Let me worry about that," he smirked. "There's a ball tomorrow night; I want you there with me."