Damage Control

Chapter 74

He pressed his forehead against mine and sighed heavily. "You are the most selfless woman I've ever known, and I'm the one who's undeserving of you."

He lifted his head to gaze deep into my eyes, a flash of regret flickering across his face.

"I thought you hated me."

"Anastazi," he murmured in disbelief, cupping my face in his giant palms. "I could never hate you, my love."

I quickly blinked back the tears threatening to escape feeling relief flood through my body.

He continued. "I wasn't in my right mind, and words cannot begin to explain how sorry I am for speaking to you that way and—." His hands started trembling on my face as he thought about his actions, and I knew he was seconds away from putting all the blame on himself as if I didn't contribute to any of this.

"Nathaniel," I whispered, touching his hand gently that was still resting in my cheek. "You had every right to be angry, and I don't blame you for anything."

He sighed heavily brushed his thumb against my lips as an internal battle went on in his mind. "So, Gallery of Phoenix?"

I sucked in a deep breath and nodded. "I remember Nonna telling me Isabella loved Phoenix's, and I also remembered your tattoo and how you named all your clubs after the bird, but if I overstepped, we could always change it to something else—"

"It's perfect," he murmured, wrapping his arms around my waist, his eyes flickering down to my lips. "Everything's perfect."

"You say that but before you went missing, I couldn't help but notice that you didn't take a look at any of the paintings like you were purposely avoiding them or something, and I know I should've gotten your permission to take them from Italy but—" I stopped mid-sentence watching as a sly smirk stretched across his face.

"What?"

"You were watching me?" His eyebrows shot up in amusement.

My eyes narrowed. "That's not the point; the point is—"

"I was waiting until you were alone, love," Nathaniel confessed, interrupting my rambling. "After Carter explained everything to me, I realized I fucked your entire plan up for tonight, so I waited until you were alone so we could celebrate my mother together, just the two of us."

Tears pricked my eyes, but before I had a chance to say anything, he continued.

"I know how hard you worked to make this night happen, how you barely slept since I left," he brushed his fingers against the bags hanging low under my eyes that I tried to conceal with makeup. "All while running Creed Industries at the same time. I don't think you fully understand—" He cleared his throat and looked away, not wanting to finish his sentence, but I knew he wanted to say how much this means to him.

"Every year around this time, I would lose myself, lose all sanity," Nathaniel continued, clenching his jaw tightly as if he couldn't believe he was saying these words aloud. "I thought this year would be no different, but—" He gritted his teeth, gazing down at me lovingly. "Then you happened, and then you made this museum happen, fulfilling her life-long dream, something I never had the courage to do all these years."

"You were mourning," I whispered, touching his cheek gently. He sighed heavily, his eyes fluttering shut as he leaned into my warm touch.

"There aren't enough words to explain how utterly sorry I am for the way I treated you last night," Nathaniel whispered again, regret evident in his voice.

"I would be too if I were in your shoes—"

"That doesn't excuse anything," he snapped, gripping my waist tightly as he glared off into the distance. "You deserve better than that—than me—"