My jaw falls open in surprise. I try to form words but it truly feels like my brain is failing me. I'd like to think that I have met many crazy men, but never one as crazy as Brandon. The fact that this is the response he can come up with makes me begin to question the wisdom of agreeing to marry this man. I know that he didn't exactly give me a choice, but could I really not have run away? How difficult would it have been to walk in front of a train?"What?" I ask exasperated."You heard me, Natalie. I can no longer share bed space with you. I need my space. Also, I don't care whether you're happy or bored. Cut all ties with that man. You will no longer see him.""You can't stop me from seeing him," I respond defiantly."Oh yes, I can, Natalie." He closes the laptop in his lap and leans forward. "You see, the problem with you is that you underestimate me. You have no idea what I'm capable of doing, Natalie. I wonder how you'd feel if your friend suddenly got accosted by a group of th
Sometimes, I think that I'm the only sane person among the people that surround me. A divorce? Hailey is suggesting a divorce? How am I supposed to divorce a man who threatened me into marriage, fooled me into thinking he was a good man before the wedding, and has been switching between nice and crazy since we got married? With a heavy sigh on my breath, I respond. "I can't threaten him with a divorce, Hailey. He won't buy it." "Because?" "Because we signed an agreement." "Doesn't matter. Scare him. Give him reason to think that you're going to break your end of the bargain. It is important to him that you two stay married until he gets his inheritance, Nat. You have that power over him. Use it." I think over what she has said for some minutes. She has a point. Brandon needs me. If I leave this marriage, it will not only taint his image, it could cost him his inheritance. Rebecca Martinez is known for keeping to her words. If Brandon didn't actually believe that she'd cut him o
When Brandon drops me into a chair in the living room and bends to remove the glass from my feet, the chairwoman and several of the servants have rushed down to see what the cause of the noise is. He yells for one of the maids to bring a first aid box, and for another to bring a glass of brandy which he forces down my throat before attending to my cuts.The chairwoman scoots over to my side to hold my hand while he administers treatment to the cuts. I try to hold back my tears but more fall as he washes the cuts gently with soap and water. By the time he covers the wounds with a band-aid, I am down to hiccups. Ignoring my protests and the chairwoman's confused look, he lifts me in his hands, and up to his room, leaving everyone wondering what just happened.Placing me gently in his bed, Brandon gets into bed with me and gathers me into his hands. "I'm so sorry, Natalie." He says quietly. "I'm so sorry."I don't know if he is apologizing for the cuts or for his actions earlier, but I f
Brandon's POV"Mom, I was drunk!" I respond with an annoyed look on my face. Rebecca Martinez sits gracefully at my desk staring pointedly at me. Because of the time I spent making sure that Natalie was okay, I was late in getting to the office. Truth is, I didn't even want to come in today, but I needed a form of distraction. Thoughts of Natalie have been intruding in my thoughts lately, and I couldn't be more surprised. I don't even like the girl!When I stepped into my office, my mother was already at my desk waiting for me. I knew that she would want an explanation after yesterday's drama, but I sure wasn't expecting to find her waiting for me."And since when do you get drunk?" She asks with a calmness that only Rebecca Martinez is capable of exhibiting. I run a hand through my hair and place the other over the lower half of my face. I don't have a response for her. I can't possibly tell her that I can't get Natalie out of my head. Even admitting it to myself, the thought is appa
Natalie's POVThree days after the 'bottle incidence' as I have chosen to call it, I resume back to work at Giancarlo. Brandon has been shuffling between awkwardly caring and suddenly distant for the past three days, and I have finally decided to simply take his actions as they come. To choose to react to any of his emotions would be setting myself up for a mental condition.In my absence, Mariah has hired more staff and interviewed them. I complete the formalities by conducting a personal interview with them early in the day. By afternoon, I met up with a tech guy Hailey recommended to set up the restaurant's website. True to her hype, he is really good, and he sets it up faster than I envisaged. We decide on a day for testing before he leaves.After that, I join the kitchen staff to knead dough, and prep other items, to Alfredo's delight and everyone else's horror. For me, being in the kitchen is essential. That's one thing they do not seem to understand.When I return to my office,
For the next few days, Brandon and his mother worked tirelessly to find out who was behind the chase. When he continues to hit dead ends, Brandon is frustrated beyond words. I, on the other hand, am mostly over the incident. Brandon insisted on going to work with me for a week after the incident, but I soon realized how difficult it was to work with the man.By the third day, I was frustrated beyond words. Brandon had something to say about everything! He talked too much, complained incessantly, and snapped at a couple of workers. When I couldn't take it anymore, I grabbed my bag, held him firmly by the arm, and dragged him out. That was the last time he went to work with me.Now, as I sit at my desk going over accounts, I'm reminded of the thousand and one reasons why I never liked maths in high school. I have to be honest. This is one of the few reasons why I can't let Mariah go. She might be a witch from hell, but she does an excellent job. Even though I am only going over an alrea
As a child, Sundays were my favorite day of the week. My dad would hold my small hands in his and we would often to to church together. On our way back, we would take the village route that allowed us to see and greet everyone on the island. I was always so excited about holding small conversations with everyone and having them give me a cookie, a candy, or even a dollar bill. At home, my daddy would don his apron and I would don my tiny one too, and we would bake to the ends of the earth. My daddy was such an explorer with food. His explorations mostly went well, but on days when it went south, we were happy to devour the mess. We would laugh heartily and eat just as heartily while talking about how bad the food was.Later, as I got older, I stopped taking the village route. I didn't like talking to so many people anymore. I didn't want their cookies or their money. I stopped going to church too. I was content to spend my Sunday mornings in bed with Loretta Lynn playing from the rec
Brandon's POV"You can bring me some of that cake later," I say before rushing out of the house and into my car. As a rule, home staff who do not live with us do not come in to work on Sundays, so of course I'm driving myself.You can bring me some of that cake? Why in God's name would I say a thing like that? I don't even like cake. The ridiculousness of it all has me laughing. I can't even deny it. This Natalie girl is starting to have a real hold on me. When she handed me that bread and asked me to make toast, I couldn't have been more shocked. No one's ever asked me to cook anything, not even my mom! And if not for the time when I was touring the world in my early twenties, I'd probably not have an idea how to do a single thing in the kitchen.Those years had been quite defining for me. At 23, I'd decided to tour the world before coming to take on the responsibility of CEO. I wanted to be able to move whenever I felt like it so I traveled alone. No help, no family, nothing. Just