Chapter 41: Thinking with your stupid dick

Nathaniel stumbles backward, one hand immediately flying to his nose as blood slips between his fingers.

Olivia stares at both of us like she has just witnessed a car crash and is trying to figure out which person she should save first.

Nathaniel slowly lowers his hand and looks at the blood covering his fingers.

Then his eyes come back to me.

"What the hell was that for?"

My jaw tightens.

"You really have the audacity to ask me that?"

His brows pull together.

"I just walked into a room and got punched in the face."

"You got punched because you got my sister pregnant!"

"Nerissa!"

Olivia immediately steps between us.

I point at Nathaniel.

"You. Inside. Now."

Nathaniel looks at Olivia then at me for a moment, I think he’s going to argue. Instead, he sighs and wipes the blood beneath his nose with the back of his hand.

"Fine."

He walks past Olivia and enters the room.

I follow him and Olivia comes after us.

The moment we’re all inside, I shut the door and lock it.

Nathaniel is standing near the center of the room, looking at me with one hand still pressed against his nose.

He looks far too calm for a man who just got a broken nose...That annoys me even more.

"What did you do to my sister?"

"Nerissa, please stop."

Olivia comes between us again.

I stare at her.

"Move."

"No."

"Olivia."

"Please."

Her voice is soft, almost pleading.

I look at her stomach. At the small curve beneath her clothes.

My anger twists into something else.

Fear.

She is carrying a child, a child that belongs to a man who should never have been involved with her in the first place, a child that could get both of them killed.

Nathaniel reaches forward and gently takes Olivia by the shoulders, pulling her away from the middle of us.

"Never stand in between me and danger. Tesoro mio."

*my darling.*

Olivia looks up at him.

"Nathaniel..."

"Besides, your sister’s punch is weak. I can take it."

I blink.

He actually has the nerve to say that?

Now I’m royally pissed. My hand moves before my brain can stop it, I step forward and punch him again right in the face.

This time, the sound of impact is followed by a sharp groan.

Nathaniel stumbles sideways, catching himself against the edge of the table as more blood immediately starts flowing from his nose.

"Nerissa!"

Olivia’s horrified voice fills the room.

"Fuck!"

Nathaniel groans, covering his face.

I fold my arms.

"Who punches weakly now?"

Nathaniel slowly looks at me through narrowed eyes.

For a moment, I expect him to finally lose his patience.

Instead, he looks at Olivia.

"I’m fine, mi amore. Your sister just wants to talk I get the memo now, It’s okay."

*my love.*

Olivia hovers worriedly over him.

"You’re bleeding, your nose..."

"Still attached."

"Nathaniel!"

He gives her a small smile.

"I’ve survived worse."

I scoff.

"Unfortunately."

He glances at me and I glare back.

There is a strange silence between us.

Olivia looks exhausted, I can see it in her eyes. She has spent the last few months carrying this secret alone, pretending everything is fine while living in a marriage that was supposed to unite two families.

And now everything has exploded.

I take a breath.

"Do you have any idea what you have done to her?. To both of you?. Our families?."

"I love her."

I stare at him.

Olivia’s eyes drop to the floor and I look between them.

"You love her?"

"Yes. Very much"

"And you thought that was enough?"

"No."

Nathaniel lowers his hand from his nose.

"I know love isn’t enough to fix this."

"Good."

"I know what I’ve done."

"Do you?"

His jaw tightens.

"Yes."

"Because from where I’m standing, it looks like you slept with my sister, got her pregnant, let her marry another man, and then continued seeing her behind everyone’s back."

Olivia flinches.

"I never wanted her to suffer."

"But she is suffering!"

"I know."

"You don’t know anything!"

"I know enough."

"You should have protected her."

"I tried."

"You should have married her."

His eyes flicker as I step closer.

"Then why the hell didn’t you marry her?"

Nathaniel looks away for a second. Then he says the thing I already know is true.

"Because your uncle would never have allowed it."

I laugh bitterly.

"Of course."

Lorenzo.

Everything somehow comes back to Lorenzo.

Nathaniel continues.

"Even if I had gone to him, do you honestly think he would have handed Olivia over to me?"

"No."

"He would have killed me."

"Probably."

"And Olivia knew that."

I look at my sister.

She nods silently.

"So what happens when they find out you fathered the child?"

Nathaniel goes still.

"I..."

"Yes."

I point at him.

"What happens when they find out?"

He opens his mouth but nothing comes out.

I let out a humorless laugh.

"I..."

I imitate his hesitation.

"Yes, you didn’t think that far, did you?"

"Nerissa..."

"You were too busy trying to get into her pants."

"That isn’t fair."

"Fair?"

I almost laugh again.

"Nothing about this is fair."

I point toward Olivia.

"She is married to a Sanchez."

Nathaniel’s face tightens.

"But she’s is carrying your child."

"I know that already Nerissa."

"And when people start asking questions about when she got pregnant, what are you going to do?"

He says nothing.

"What happens when Lysander realizes the child isn’t his?"

Silence.

"What happens when Lorenzo decides he wants someone to pay for this?"

Still nothing.

I shake my head.

"Just thinking with your stupid dick like all men do."

"Nerissa!"

Olivia’s voice cracks.

When I look at her, she looks hurt.

Not necessarily because I’m wrong, because I’m being too harsh.

Maybe I am but I’m scared....Terrified, actually.

I’ve already watched her get trapped in a marriage she didn’t want, now she’s carrying a forbidden man’s child.

And somehow I’m expected to stand here calmly and figure out how to fix everything.

I drag a hand through my hair.

"Fuck."