Damage Control

Chapter 72

My entire body felt paralyzed as I continued staring into the darkness, wondering whether my brain was playing tricks on me, but when he called my name again, I could hear the mix of emotions in his voice confirming that I wasn't just hearing things; he was actually here in my penthouse instead of miles away from where he should be closing a very important business deal.

"Anastazi," he called my name again, but my voice was stuck in my throat. I thought I would have more time to think about what I was going to say when I did speak to him, but this was too soon, and my mind was drawing a blank. I needed to speak now before he became angrier than he probably already was, but my thoughts were still failing me, so I blurted out the only word I could think of as I flicked on the light.

"Nathaniel."

"Come here," his harsh voice spoke again.

I sucked in a deep breath and slowly turned around to find him sitting on the leather couch in the living room, his elbows resting on his knees and face buried in his hands. My heart skipped a beat or two as I finally laid eyes on him after three long weeks. He was dressed down, wearing grey sweatpants and a maroon t-shirt, and his hair was wild and tousled as if he'd been combing his fingers through it for the last hour. My feet suddenly began to move in his direction without my permission, and soon, I was standing a few feet away from him but close enough to smell the familiar spicy scent radiating from him.

"Sit," Nathaniel commanded roughly. Usually, I would have challenged him by now, telling him not to order me around, but at this moment, I had no room to speak, only listen.

I did as I was told, sitting down on the chair in front of him, my coffee table in between us as the perfect divider. He slowly lifted his face from his hands, and when our eyes locked and I saw the deep purplish bags hanging low from them, a clear indication that he hadn't slept in days, I suddenly felt the urge to cry, knowing my actions contributed to this.

"What are you doing here?" I found myself asking, surprised I could actually form sentences again.

"Are you really that naive?" He snapped, curling his fists together.

I flinched back at his harsh words and swallowed hard, accepting the low blow. He was angry, and he had every right to be.

"I thought you were supposed to be closing the deal next week," I spoke again.

Nathaniel laughed bitterly and shook his head. "You don't think I've noticed how distant you've been since I left? How short our calls got throughout the weeks? Then a man answers your phone, and you still expect me to be miles away closing a fucking deal?"

"I already explained that mishap," I whispered, suddenly finding interest in my hands.

"Anastazi," he growled lowly, raking both trembling hands through his hair. "I have camera's everywhere inside and outside of Creed Industries. I see when every single one of my employee's clocks in and clocks out. I see when they stay behind some days to finish paperwork after they've fooled around all day, and I know when every single soul leaves that building for the day."

My heart sunk, knowing where he was going with this.

"So either all five hundred of my cameras failed to catch you and this Ryan person late that night, or you were actually home the entire time and decided to lie to me for whatever reason. Which one is it?"

We both knew the truth, so there was no point in beating around the bush.

"I lied," I finally whispered, feeling my stomach drop to my feet.

"Why?" He asked in a tight voice, his patience running thin.

I opened my mouth, getting ready to tell him everything, but I quickly snapped it shut and shrugged instead, feeling sick to my stomach, already accepting the consequences that were going to come afterward.