Obsessed: Part Three (The Obsessed Series) by Deborah Bladon Page B

the bed. He sits next to me, holding my hand in his lap. "You were so intent on wrestling those shares away from me." A light smile crosses his lips. "I was thankful when Gilbert told me you'd given up on that."
    He's throwing so much information at me that I'm having difficulty absorbing it all. "But before I saw the video, but that night…" I pause before I continue, "you agreed to sell those shares to me."
    "You fought so hard for that." A ghost of a smile waves across his lips. "If the deal would have gone through that way I would have just bought Madeline out and closed the business."
    I feel overwhelmed. He's controlling everything. He's been hiding so much from me. It's as though I'm the puppet and he's pulling all of the strings. I pull myself back onto my feet. "I need to go. Nathan is waiting for me."
    He nods in agreement. "Signing those release documents today is a fantastic start. Then we'll work on getting you a studio and maybe a shop of your own. Do you think Tribeca is good or something closer to Chelsea?"
    "I put an offer on a space in Boston," I whisper while holding my breath.
    "You didn't say Boston, did you?" His question makes me tremble inside. I knew we'd need to have this conversation but I wasn't expecting it to be this morning.
    I face him directly. I don't want to appear meek to him. "Yes. I've made plans to move there."
    "You made those plans before last night?" He motions towards the bed. The sheets are still rumpled, casting a hint of what took place there.
    I stare at the bed for a moment before I respond. "Yes, I did, but I'm determined to make it on my own and Boston is home to me."
    The veins in his neck tighten and I can tell that the territorial part of him is quickly sprinting to the surface. "You can't just pick up and move there."
    "Don't tell me what to do." My response is quick and intuitive. The words shoot out.
    "Why would you leave me?" There's pain in his voice.
    I sigh heavily. "My decision isn't about you, it's about me." I cast my eyes down to the bed. "We had a beautiful night. I understand more but I still have a million questions."
    "Like what?" he snaps. "What do you want to know?"
    I shake my head. "Much more than you can explain in the next five minutes. I need to get to my meeting."
    His face hardens before he speaks. "Fine. We'll have lunch afterwards and you can ask me anything you want."
    "I hope you realize what that means." I pick up my phone from the bed, turn towards the door and march out of the apartment.
     
    ***
     
    "My mom was talking about your sister yesterday when I called her." Nathan reaches over his desk to point to yet another dotted line that I need to sign on.
    "How's your mom?" I smile brightly when I ask about Gloria. She was the mom that everyone could depend on to have an open door. Her refrigerator was always full of lemonade and brownies and her heart filled with love when I was a kid.
    He turns the page scanning the document. "She's really good. I told her you're moving back and she's excited to see you."
    I hesitate before I respond searching for the right words. "I'm reconsidering that move."
    "Because of Jax?" The question is loaded and comes with just the right amount of spite in his tone.
    "I thought you were on his side."
    He puffs out a breath. "He was pretty torn up at our meeting. I take it you watched that video that he was talking about?"
    I nod. "I did after coaxing by you and my neighbor."
    He cocks an eyebrow. "Your neighbor?"
    "Not important," I say quietly.
    "What was on it?"
    I stare out the window behind him. "Jax and a woman." I finally answer. "She was plotting to take over the company with him."
    "Mark's company?" He pushes back into his chair.
    "Yes or Jax's father's company I guess depending on who you ask." I shrug my shoulders.
    "So blackmail was mentioned?" he asks tentatively.
    "Off the record?" I joke.
    "I hereby evoke client, attorney privilege." He laughs as he waves the pen in his hand in the air mimicking a