Damage Control

Chapter 24

I stood there frozen, not knowing how to answer that question. Nonna told me that if Nathaniel knew that she showed me that room, he would kill her. So do I lie? But what if this is a test and he already knows the truth, he's just waiting to catch me in a lie. But what if he really doesn't know, and if I tell him the truth, I'll be outing Nonna's secret.

I glanced around, scoping the area to see if there was any way I could escape without him being able to chase me.

"You won't get far," he murmured, taking a step closer towards me.

"I don't have time for this," I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose. "I've had a long day, and I'm tired."

Please take the bait, I pleaded internally.

"Where were you?" He asked again, peering up through his thick eyelashes, not caring about what I just said.

Compassion, I reminded myself as I took a deep breath.

"Nonna and I spent the day together gardening," I finally explained. It's not like it wasn't the truth.

"I saw what time the two of you came into the house, then you disappeared for hours; where were you between now and then?"

Damn you fucking stalker.

"What are you, my dad?" I scoffed. "I don't have to explain myself to you."

"Of course not, your father is dead."

And just like that, I kissed compassion goodbye. It took everything in me not to punch the shit out of him, but I knew I would be the one that ended up getting hurt instead of him. I couldn't even begin to understand how someone who has experienced death first hand could be so cruel and inconsiderate. It didn't matter that my father and I had a very strained relationship; it was about respect, which Nathaniel knows absolutely nothing about, especially when it came to me.

But if I brought his mother up, he would probably kill me and dump my body in the pond beside the estate. The fact that Nonna thinks that I would ever get with this despicable, hypocritical, egotistical man in front of me is laughable.

To think that I sat there and shed tears for him, my heart broke for him, only for it to get thrown back in my face. I should've known better. Men like Nathaniel don't deserve compassion, but I wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt just this once.

Never again.

"Go to fucking hell," I seethed, feeling tears begin to well up in my eyes as I pushed past his solid frame to get to the door, but his hand immediately shot out and gripped my elbow firmly. Nathaniel stared down at me through dark eyes but said nothing as I stared back, waiting for a snide remark to slip from his lips. Instead, he released his tight grasp and walked away in the direction of his office without uttering a single word.

Bitch.

As soon as he was out of sight, I rushed into the room and slammed the door behind me, breathing a sigh of relief that I was able to get away without telling the full truth, this time.

* * *

I finally got to spend the next day by myself binge-watching Netflix shows, munching on snacks, and catching up with Stella, Carter, and Keenan. So much has changed since I've been gone, and it hasn't even been two weeks yet. Keenan finally got his dream job he's been talking about nonstop working at the top modeling agency in New York. The same week I left for the Italy trip was the same week he moved to the Big Apple. Even though I didn't get to say goodbye since a certain asshole dragged me across the country for no specific reason, Keenan promised to visit as often as he could.