This bonus chapter is courtesy of Powy. Thank you for the castle reward!
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After taking the suit jacket off, Eric plopped down to his seat with a sigh while tugging at his tie till he loosened it and tossed it to the side. He could finally breathe again.
He had a long day at work today and was extremely stressed. With the Mafia, there was never an end to their trouble and violence and as the head of the Commission, he had to keep everything and everyone balanced.
He was in the process of rubbing his forehead where he felt a strong headache when the door to his office was opened and Natalie stepped in looking elegant and beautiful in her nightgown.
Eric watched as she first looked around the room before her eyes fell on him, “I thought I heard someone come in. Turns out, I wasn’t wrong.”
“Nope, I’m very much awake because I was worried over your annoying ass,” She said, walking over to him with her arms folded across her chest. Natalie then stopped in front of his desk, “You’re back and late. Your daughter called, and I had to assure her for over thirty minutes that you’re alive and definitely a tough man to kill,” She hinted that it was a distressing call.
Upon hearing that, Eric repositioned himself in his seat, saying with a deep breath, “Don’t worry about Rose, I’ll call her later. I’m sorry for the inconvenience.”
.....
“No, you don’t have to worry about it,” She waved off his apology, “The girl was simply worried for her father and she’s quite a darling anyway. After she was able to calm down, we had a great conversation.” She tilted her head to the side, assessing him, “And you do look stressed out. Tough day, wasn’t it?”
“Don’t worry, I’ll be fine,” He added under his breath, “After this annoying headache goes away.”
Eric then opened one of his drawers and pulled out a painkiller which wasn’t hard to find since he always kept them close, while Natalie left the room and returned minutes later with a glass of water.
“Thank you,” Eric thanked her as he received the glass and drank it after he popped the pill into his mouth.
Done, he placed the glass cup on his desk and then leaned back on his sweat, his head thrown back with his eyes shut close. He needed the rest.
So even when he heard her footsteps coming closer, he didn’t react until she was standing behind him and placed her hand on both sides of his head.
“You know what would help more after the medicine? A nice head rub. It would help alleviate the pain and you would feel better even before the rest.”
“Please,” He begged her to commence.
With a deep breath, Natalie commenced the exercise. She was very confident in her skills since this wasn’t the first time she had done something like this. His brothers had always loved her head rubs and usually came to her whenever they needed one.
As expected, It wasn’t long when Eric groaned out in relief, “God, that feels good. You should start charging for your services.”
She chuckled at his words, Eric was a good joker.
“Yeah, this is nice. You’re my superwoman, Natalie. You know everything I need, no wonder I like you.” Eric only realized what he had said when she suddenly froze and the rubbing action stopped as well. His eyes popped open, the words were out already.
Natalie took her hands off him as well as if she had been electrocuted, while taking a step back. What did she just hear? No, that can’t be possible. Eric must be pulling her legs or something, right.
However, the man didn’t say anything and simply stood up to his feet. His hands were in his pocket and he faced her, towering over her in the process.
“You’re joking, right?” She tried to confirm. The air was getting thicker and thinner with the tension and Natalie didn’t like it because it made her skin prickle with awareness. His awareness.
But Eric’s face was passive when he said, “Do I look like I’m joking.”
At that statement, her jaw dropped, unable to believe what she just heard. Did Eric like her? The thought of it made her feel a bit lightheaded.
“No,” She shook her head, unable to believe it, “Eric, we’ve talked about this already. It’s just -”
“Don’t you dare tell me that it’s infatuation, Natalie,” He growled at her warningly, slowly stepping towards her, “You told me that when I was younger, however, I’m a grown man now and I know what I want.”
“Eric, don’t -” Her words were broken when she stumbled into the wall and realized she had nowhere else to go. He cornered her into the wall and like a trapped animal she was helpless against him.
Eric placed both of his hands on either side of the wall so she couldn’t escape. He then leaned closer and she turned her head to the side. But that didn’t stop him from whispering into her ears, “And what I want is you.”
A shiver danced down her spine, Natalie was affected by both his proximity and words. But she couldn’t give in to those feelings. She couldn’t risk it.
“Eric, you don’t understand -”
“No, I completely understand, Natalie. Have you forgotten that I have known you for half of my life?” He asked her, and she couldn’t keep staring at the side any longer.
She met him straight in the eyes and Eric didn’t back down either as he went on to say, “You’re hurt and afraid to love again because you think it’s going to end up being a disaster like the first time. But that’s all in the past, Natalie. How long are you going to wallow in your regrets? We don’t have much time to live on this damn earth anyway, and shoot me in the ass if I don’t want to spend the rest of my days with the woman standing right in front of me!”