Chapter 22: Chapter 22
“Shit! Shit! Shit!” Natalia cursed as she angrily swiped at the tears that slipped down her cheeks. She had fought hard to keep them from spilling in front of Brad, so she was proud that she managed to hold it together long enough for her to make it into the safety of her car.
It had been so long since she’d let the hurtful names get to her.
“You’re becoming soft,” she chuckled bitterly. Back in school she’d been prepared for them so she’d forged a wall of steel and kept her emotions locked up tight behind it. But now—now she wasn’t quite as prepared as she used to be. Still the words hurt just as bad now as they did then.
“What did you expect, you idiot. You knew what people were thinking,” she argued with herself. Yes, it was bad enough knowing what people were thinking, but worse to hear it from their lips.
She glanced into her rearview mirror and swore again. Brad was still following her. What the hell was he doing? She didn’t want to talk to
him. Not right now. She was too humiliated. It always seemed as if he was constantly present to witness some of her lowest moments.
“Apparently, it’s becoming a habit.” She swiped the last bit of moisture from her cheeks and pressed down on the accelerator, hoping he would take the hint and leave her alone.
She sped all the way back to the center of town until she pulled into the parking lot of the Bayside Marriot. Jumping out of her car, she stalked angrily toward the silver BMW that pulled up beside her. He barely had a chance to cut the ignition before she was flinging open his door.
“What the hell is wrong with you?”
Much to her annoyance, he didn’t miss a beat as he unfolded his large frame from his car and towered over her, his face twisted with fury.
“I could say the same thing to you. You broke every speed limit all the way back here—”
“Because you were following me. It should have been obvious that I was trying to get away from you,” she shouted, before she realized that
the parking lot wasn’t as empty as she’d thought it was, when she saw curious onlookers stopping to stare at them.
“Come on before we cause a scene,” she snapped under breath as she twisted around on her heels and stomped inside to the lobby, not once glancing back to see if he followed. She stabbed impatiently at the elevator button and waited until the metal doors finally parted. Stepping inside, she pressed the button for her floor and leaned against the wall, silently fuming as she folded her arms across her chest.
She could feel the anger radiating from Brad as he stood closer to her than she would have liked, but she ignored him. He had no right to be angry. He wasn’t the one who’d been stalked all the way back to his hotel and forced into an embarrassing public confrontation.
When the elevator came to a stop on her floor, she pulled out her key card and walked in the direction of her room. Swiping the card into the lock, she twisted the handle and stepped inside.
As soon as the door slammed shut she rounded on Brad, prepared
to lay into him, but he beat her to it.
“Why didn’t you stand up for yourself back there?” “What?”
He took a step toward her, his face red with anger. “In high school you used to just let people insult you while you stood by and said nothing and tonight you did the same thing. You just took it—”
“Brad, when you’re used to being insulted on a regular basis you learn how to deal with it the best way you can—”
“Which is by rolling over and just taking it. By letting people get away with hurting you and not standing up for yourself.”
Every muscle in Natalia’s body tensed at the disappointment she heard in his voice. He had no right to make her feel as if she lacked a backbone just because she chose to rise above the name calling. She narrowed her eyes as she clenched her hands into tight fists. If Brad thought she was a push over then he was sadly mistaken. Just because she chose her battles wisely didn’t mean she was some kind of coward.
“You are still the same self-righteous S.O.B that you always were. Don’t talk to me about standing up for myself. I may not choose to fight with ignorant and stupid people who insult me out of jealousy, but at least I had the guts to fulfill my dreams and not the dreams everyone else had for me. When it came to mapping out my future at least I had the courage to stand up for myself, unlike you.”
The color drained from his face and she knew she’d hit her mark when his lips tightened at the corners. She took a step forward, closing the distance between them.
“All your words were just a bunch of bullshit. In the end you let your parents dictate your life and you became a surgeon just like your father and your brother. I guess fixing noses and doing tummy tucks could be considered a form of architecture—”
“I suggest you stop while you’re ahead since you don’t know what the hell you’re talking about—”
“Oh, I know what I’m talking about. I know you still feel pressure
to live up to your brother and your parents’ expectations. I—,” Her next
words lodged in her throat when he suddenly seized her by the arms with both hands, his blue eyes darkening as storm clouds of anger swirled in their depths. She opened her mouth to tell him to release her, but before she could even get that out, he lowered his head and crushed his lips against hers. She was so shocked by the unexpected action that for several seconds she just stood there, stiff as a board, but when his tongue swept against the seam of her mouth, coaxing her to open for him, she melted against him.
He plundered her mouth with his hot, searing kiss as anger poured off his body like hot lava. Liquid heat pooled at her core and she had to clamp her thighs together to keep the sticky wetness from dampening her thighs. Sensing her capitulation, he shoved his hand into her hair, forcing her head back, as he deepened the kiss, his mouth hungrily devouring hers from the inside out.
Everything about him was hard and demanding as he ravished her with his lips until she completely yielded to him, her body disintegrating into a boneless, quivering mess against the strength of his muscled frame.
Her nipples pebbled against his chest, and she moaned into his mouth at the feel of his cock hardening against her belly.
As if his own arousal triggered something inside him, he wrenched his mouth from hers, his chest heaving as he stared down into her face.
Still gripping her hair with his fist, he lowered his forehead to rest against hers and closed his eyes, a weary sigh escaping him.
“Why do I always do this with you? After all these years, you would think I’d learn to control myself around you.”
Lifting his head, he opened his eyes, although he still kept his hand tangled in her hair. “I’ve always believed in you. Always thought the best of you, but you can never do the same for me.”
His words tore at her like a sharp knife, and the mixture of regret and pain that flashed across his face, caused the knife to sink in deeper.
She opened her mouth to apologize, but never got the chance when he abruptly shoved her away from him and twisted on his heels to march across the room.
“Good night, Natalia,” he said quietly and then he closed the door behind him with a soft click, effectively shutting her out of his life for good.
++++++
A gasp tore past her lips when a hand clamped around her upper arm. She spun around, her heart slamming against her chest.
“Brad? Good grief. You scared the shit outta me—” “Don’t go in there, Natalia.”
She glanced at the door and then back at him. “Why not?” “Kevin lied to you. It’s not just him in there.”
She wrinkled her brow, her lips dipping into a frown. “What are you talking about?”
“Come with me and I’ll show you.” “But Kevin is expecting me—”
Impatience flashed across his face. “Natalia, just trust me, alright?”
She rolled her eyes and sucked her teeth but finally nodded. “Fine.” She walked beside him until she realized they were headed to his car. She started to protest again, but snapped her mouth shut at the exasperated look on his face. With a heavy sigh, she let him help her into the passenger seat and waited for him to show her whatever it was that he was so determined to show her.