Chapter 4
CHAPTER FOUR
NATE
I sat in the living room, sneakers on and a dark green sweatshirt wrapped around me. I felt a little apprehensive. I think that was the right word. Not about helping James. But just how quick we had moved. Yes, I was the one who wanted the marriage; yes, I was the one who wanted her to move in, but there was a niggle deep inside of me, gnawing away second by second that filled me with a slight uneasiness.
She has no idea who I am.
Why would she?
I needed this to work as much as I wanted it to.
I have never wanted anyone as much as James, and I knew from the moment I met her that she was going to be mine one way or another... sure, it would have been great if I didn't need to draw a contract up to make her agree to be my wife, but that’s the way it goes... I am just grateful that she agreed so easily.
Maybe that’s where the uneasiness creeps into my chest. Maybe why I feel that niggle deep inside of me.
Because she gave in so easily.
But then again, she wants revenge and revenge can make a person do funny things. Fuck, look what it's done to me.
This has been a long time coming.
But I have to bide my time. I needed to gain James' trust and once I have it, then I can focus on tearing Secure Corp limb from fucking limb.
“Ready?” her soft voice pulls me out of my own head as I look over my shoulder, Jeff slinking across the back of the soft leather sofa.
Wild red hair pulled into a messy bun, loose curly strands framing her pretty face. Snowy white skin, cheeks cherry red and full lips to match, her deep blue eyes dance with mine.
“Yup.” My hands are on my thighs as I push up from the sofa and walk towards her, smile growing as we stand toe to toe.
Her head tilts back and my lip curls.
It would be so easy to clasp her chin and slant my lips over hers.
So. Fucking. Easy.
“Then let's go,” her voice trembles but she disguises it with a soft clearing of her throat in hopes that I didn't notice.
But I did.
I have and always will notice every little thing about her.
“Okay wife,” I step forward, making her step back and her cheeks turn a beautiful fire red, her eyes somehow deepening to a sapphire blue.
My Little Ember.
She spins quickly, masking her flushed cheeks and I hate that because honestly, I think that was the prettiest I have seen her.
I follow her, trying to be as close to her as I can just so I can inhale her scent.
She twists the doorknob and pulls it open as I swipe my keys from the wooden bowl on the side unit before stepping outside and locking the door behind me.
“Your house is decorated really nice,” the words pass her lips as she looks over her shoulder at me, brows knitted as if she is trying to work out why she just said that out loud.
“Were you thinking out loud?” I snort a laugh and slip my keys into my pocket.
“Maybe?” she whispers as she walks down the steps and onto the sidewalk.
“Well, I paid a lot of money for some top interior designer to come in and do it top to bottom...”
“Including my room?” she smirks.
“Actually,” I pause as I unlock my G-Wagon, “no, I did that myself,” and for some reason pride blooms in my chest.
“Well, thank you,” she crinkles her button nose as I open the passenger side door, and she slips in.
“Anything for you, wife, anything .” Closing her door, I walk around the front of the car with a slight spring in my step and she eyes me the whole Goddamn time. My heart jumps around in my chest and I am trying my hardest to tame the wild animal, but I don't think I can.
I can't begin to tell you how long I have yearned for this.
How long I have yearned for her.
Climbing into the car, I buckle up and my fingers trace across as I hook them under the belt to make sure she is too before I start the engine and roll the car onto the quiet side roads of New York City.
This is my favorite place. I'm an introvert, but here, being in the city, it kind of makes me go outside. Everything I want and need is on my doorstep. No one cares what other people think.
Truly.
Anyone can be anything and that right there is magic.
There are many reasons why I love it here.
Three a.m.? Door dash.
Need to clear your head? Walk the sidewalks at midnight and still find somewhere to duck into if needed.
Cabs. There are always cabs.
There is always someone nearby.
Everything is accessible.
And finally... a smile tugs at my lips, because my family are here, and I don't mean the one I was born into. I mean Kaleb, Keaton and Titus. Well, and Killian, Xavier and Dexter. Blood isn't always thicker than water, at least that's the case for me.
But now I had someone else to add to the list of why New York is my favorite city.
Her.
Pulling into the underground carpark, I find a space easily. Climbing from the car, I walk around to her side but she is already out.
She gives me a wide, toothed grin and I kind of smile back. Little annoyed as I wanted to be the one to get the door. Sounds stupid but I kind of like to do what my brain tells me. I'm impulsive and if I don't get to do it, it doesn't sit right. Throws me out of balance, adjusts the brain chemicals somehow. I like things how I like them. Being a gentleman is one of them. I'll let it slip, but maybe tonight I can drop it into our get to know your husband chat whilst I slide the contract under her nose.
Kind of bad really, I delayed the contract as long as I could until we were married.
And now, she's mine anyway... contract or not.
Locking the car, we walk side by side towards the grocery store. I don't really need much, I had done a shop a couple of days ago, but I want her to have the things she likes, because well, there might be things that she prefers that I don't.
Like she mentioned, her brand of coffee, the way she makes her tea... those kind of things.
She grabs the red handled cart and pushes it into the store.
“What do we need?” she asks me, head turning, eyes wide and pretty and I could lose myself in them.
“Whatever you need, Ember ...” the name I thought about slips from my tongue with ease and I see the way her sapphires glisten.
“You don't need anything?” and I just shake my head from side to side.
“Nope,” my hands fist my pockets as I follow her.
“I don't need much,” she shrinks back as if this is an inconvenience for me to be here.
But it’s not.
“Don't worry about it, take your time, I'm in no rush.”
It was the truth. Because any time spent with her is better than not spending it with her.
I hang back as she walks down the beauty aisle, reaching for shampoo and conditioner, turning and reading the back of the packets carefully.
“What are you looking for?” I ask, standing behind her and looking over her shoulder at the writing on the back.
“I'm funny about what they use,” she answers, half on a sigh.
“No, I get it. Got to look after your body right?”
She spins to face me, eyes softening slightly, “Right!?” and the excitement in her voice makes my skin tingle. “And the planet of course,” her brow raises as she waits.
“Of course,” I nod, eyes closing slightly.
But the moment is short lived when she takes her eyes from mine and turns to face the bottles again.
After five minutes, give or take, she finds a shampoo and conditioner she is happy with and places it in the cart as she continues down the aisle. She stops again at the body wash, lifting the lids and smelling and it makes me giddy.
Probably because I get to find one of the things that makes her smell as delicious as she does.
“What’s your go to?” I ask, after studying for a little too long. The way her brows raise or soften depending on the scent, the way her lips curl up or down, the way her shoulders relax a little lower when one seems to hit the spot.
“I like subtle scents, but I always lean more towards a white musk kind of smell,” she smiles, dimples pressing into her cheeks as she does.
I nod, making a mental note as she slips two body washes in the cart along with a loofah. I watch as she carefully takes time to pick what she likes and sure, some people might think she is taking too long but me? I think she is perfect.
I love that she is thinking about herself and her body, love that she is taking the time to read about what is in the product and how harmful it may or may not be for not just her, but for the planet too.
Adore that actually.
She hovers down the coffee aisle, reaching for her brand and weighing up the option of what size to go for.
“Go for the bigger one,” I whisper into the shell of her ear and a soft giggle escapes her lips as I catch her off guard.
She nods, placing it in her cart before heading for the tea and eventually the creamer.
We spent about an hour all in all, and as she reached for her purse, I held my hand out and shook my head from side to side.
“Let me,” my voice is soft as I swipe my card through the reader and she smiles, but it doesn't meet her eyes.
I grab the receipt and the bags as we walk back towards the car.
“Did I upset you?” I ask, hesitation catching at the back of my throat.
“No... no,” she softly shakes her head, “I'm just not used to it... that's all,” one shoulder lifts. “Always had to look after myself,” and she turns her face to look up at me, vulnerability masked all over her face.
“Well, that stops today, Little Ember... it's my turn to look after you,” and I mean it wholeheartedly. I wanted to look after her for as long as she would let me. “After all, you are my wife .”
Something about the word wife falling off my lips has me feeling all giddy and shit. Makes my heart thump a little harder, makes it race a little quicker inside my cold, steel chest.
Opening the car door, I buckle her in, making sure the belt is secured tightly across her body. She gives a soft nod before I close the door and climb in the driver’s side, pushing the car into drive, I pull out of the parking space and head towards the busy streets of New York City. James is silent on the way home, but it's not an uncomfortable silence. It's bearable. The soft vocals of Dean Lewis fill the car, the warm air blowing on our faces as the spring air is still dampened by the threat of winter.
I want to reach across, place my hand on her thigh and give it a gentle squeeze. I want to ask her what is on her mind, what is she thinking about.
But let’s be honest, she is probably thinking about how she got herself tangled up in this arrangement. Little did she know that I had planned this over the last year. Down to every fine detail. I've watched, I've learned and mimicked her routine to an art. I know her plans, her routines, even down to her doctor’s appointments.
Yes, sure, brand me a stalker... but I have my reasons.
Everything is slotting into place, just like I had planned.
This was all perfectly executed, even us going out for dinner tonight. I knew the questions that would be asked, and how, maybe, she would answer them.
Sure, she will probably take me by surprise and throw a few spanners in the works but that's all part of the fun, right?
My fingers drum on the center armrest of my car, a heavy sigh passing her lips and I turn to look at her. She looks lost in thought, a little away from it all. It's a nice place to be sometimes when the world gets a little heavy, your thoughts get a little messy. We've all been there. But I hate not knowing what she is thinking.
I'm a planner.
I like to be in control and when something goes the way I’m not prepared for it kind of throws me out. Shifts my mood, makes me feel uneasy and wanting to look for any way to escape.
Sure, on the outside, I probably look calm and collected, but on the inside? I could be a raging, hot mess.
You never would tell.
When you have had to wear a mask for as long as I have, well, it gets real easy to hide behind and not show people the real you.
No one really knows who I am.
Deep, deep inside the crevices of my heart.
No one really knows.
Not even my best friends.
Kaleb, Keaton and Titus.
They know a lot about me, but no one knows the real Nate Spencer.
I keep my cards close to my chest for a reason, I'm not about to show all now and let my game face slip, am I?
A smirk tugs at my lips as we weave through the light traffic, and I am grateful to be pulling kerbside outside my home. I catch her door before she has a chance to which gets me a roll of her beautiful blue eyes.
“You look pretty when you roll those ocean blue eyes,” and she scoffs a giggle just as she opens the trunk of my car and grabs the bags. I try to take them off her, but she has none of it. She pushes herself in front of me but waits for me to open the front door to let her in.
She walks straight through to the kitchen that runs across the back of my house and begins to unload.
“Dinner at seven, does that work for you?” I call out around the door frame, and she nods. “I'm going into my office, if you need me...” I trail off as she waves me away, lost in her head once more as she unpacks the groceries and I take that as my cue to leave her to it.
Didn't want to.
Kind of had to.
I had so much shit to look into with Secure Corp that I didn't have a second to waste, plus I was already up to my eyeballs in new clients with Mills, Spencer and King.
Kaleb had gotten us a shit tonne of work, not that any of us were complaining, but we were already inundated. He wanted to weed out the old clients and bring in the new following the shit show that was Wolfe.
Fuck, that man still made my blood boil, and he was six foot under... I think.
Could have been burned, who knows.
I was just grateful that the worthless piece of shit was gone. It took us a long time to find him, hunt him down and all that crap.
But we caught him.
Annoyingly, he was so careless with his trail, but at the same time so fucking clever. I was a whizz kid. I knew it, so did my friends, but even that little plankton on the bottom of the sea floor managed to outsmart me.
Asshole.
Grunting as I push into my office, I settle behind my desk and switch my four screens on, because one is not enough, clearly.
One is hooked up to the CCTV in my house, the other is a dead screen. It used to house James but well, you know... I don't need that anymore. Her phone is still tracked, I will still keep my tabs on her when needed, but whilst she is in the house there is no need for the other tracking.
My phone beeps and I see a message from Keaton asking for my feedback on this quarter’s accounts and I roll my eyes, pushing my glasses up my nose as I type a quick response.
Me
Been busy. Will have over by the end of play tomorrow.
Keaton
You? Busy... give over. No worries, sweet cheeks, I'll be waiting :)
Turning my phone over so the screen is face down on the desk, I open up my emails and software system and start tapping into Secure Corp. I am so close to finally breaking through their firewall and security. There are just a few more things I need before the walls really do start crumbling. And the only person who is going to be able to help me is my wife, James.
She was the final piece to this thousand-piece jigsaw.
And it was all coming into play very nicely.