He interrupted her. “What money did you use to pay for that bike?”
Her body jerked and she realised, too late, where she went wrong. All of a sudden the gesture seemed silly, indeed, it was silly. He’d paid for his own present.
“I used the money you gave me,” she answered in a small voice.
She felt tears start to prick her eyes. This was not going well at all.
“Lily, I told you, that money is for you.” Again, his tone was calm, even, low and still dangerous and she could tell he was angry.
“Yes, I know,” she went on. “It’s mine, that’s why I bought a present with it, er, for you.”
He kept his body still and the distance between them. She could tell this took an effort, she could tell he wanted to approach her and, for some reason, shake some sense into her and all of a sudden she felt afraid.
“You don’t use that f**king money for me. I don’t need a goddamned bike. I thought I explained this but I’ll explain it again,” he continued, using patience, what appeared to be extreme patience. “That money is yours. You use it for you.”
“Nate –” she began only to be interrupted again and it was clear his patience had quickly run out.
“I’ve got everything I need right here in this goddamned, f**king house!”
Even though Nate’s words were beautiful (in a way), Lily winced for two reasons.
Firstly, he’d lost his temper and his voice was raised, in fact, he was shouting and she’d never seen him that angry. He was, quite simply, enraged.
Secondly, he was cursing flagrantly. He didn’t shy away from a curse word but he also didn’t use them very often. And certainly not in a raised voice that could be overheard by his daughter who he went to great pains to protect from anything he felt might be inappropriate.
Surprisingly, considering Nate didn’t talk much, he wasn’t finished and he was getting louder.
“And you don’t use it on Natasha. I’ll take care of our daughter.”
“Nate –” she tried again, using what she hoped was a soothing voice, but he interrupted her again and he was even louder.
“And you don’t use it on Fazire. It’s clear you took care of Fazire and anything you used to take care of, now, I take care of. Is that understood?”
Lily was losing her fear and beginning to get angry. Therefore she didn’t reply because she was attempting to control her own temper.
He took a giant stride forward which meant, when he stopped, he was an inch away, and he dipped his face to hers. Stubbornly and angrily, she held her ground.
“Is that f**king understood?” Nate roared and she’d had enough.
She was just trying to do something nice. She was just trying to melt his heart. She was just trying to make him happy.
“Don’t yell at me!” she yelled.
“Tell me I’m understood!” he yelled back.
“I can’t use seven million pounds on me!” Lily returned just as loudly, head tilted back, hands clenched into fists at her sides and shouting in his face. “You pay for everything! The groceries! My new car! You bought me a new cashmere cardigan that I didn’t even need just a week ago! You even paid off the mortgage! What am I going to do with seven million pounds?”
“Go shopping. Go to a spa. Fly to f**king Paris and watch the Collections and buy every stitch of clothing at Chanel. Get a manicure every day. It doesn’t matter, just use it… on you!” Nate shouted back.
Her eyes narrowed on him. “Go… go… you want me to go shopping with seven million pounds?” she spluttered (still loudly). “Get a seven million pound manicure?” she yelled nonsensically.
He took a step back, his eyes still glittering with anger but she could tell he was trying to control himself.
“I don’t give a f**k, just don’t spend it on anyone but you,” he demanded (also still loudly) and then started to turn away, toward the door, like they were done talking or, more to the point, yelling, which they were not. Then he turned back. “I’ll have the money for the bike transferred into your account.”
“Don’t you dare!” she shouted but she shouted it at his back, he’d opened the door and disappeared.
She stared at the space where his back used to be and she realised she was breathing heavily, her heart was pounding and she’d never been so angry in her entire life.
Lily took a deep breath then a second one then she heard another door slamming somewhere far away but it still shook the house.
Nate’s study.
At the sound, she stopped trying to calm herself and stomped out of her room. Then she stomped down the stairs. Then she stomped down the second flight of stairs right passed Victor, Laura, Fazire and Tash and even Mrs. Gunderson, who sat beside Tash, tail twitching. They were all standing in the hallway, their eyes, in unison, watching her progress as she rounded the ground floor landing and stomped down to the garden level.
Then she walked right up to Nate’s closed study door and without knocking she threw it open, stomped inside and then she slammed it shut.
He was standing behind his desk, papers in his hands, for some reason the brightly coloured plastic box that held her household files was opened and on top of his desk.
She ignored the box and ignored the searing glance he aimed at her.
“We’re not done,” she announced.
“We’re done,” Nate retorted.
“We are not!” Lily yelled.
Calmly, he looked back down at the papers in his hands, dismissing her.
At this, Lily threw her head back and screamed blue, bloody murder. When she was done, she tipped her chin down again and glared at him. He was most certainly looking at her now with narrowed eyes and knitted brows.
“Good!” she snapped. “I have your attention.”
Then she advanced on him, rounding his desk. He turned to face her and she halted a foot away from him and lifted her finger.
“It’s my seven million pounds. You gave it to me!” she shouted and with every verbally underlined word, she poked him in the chest. “If I want to buy you a motorcycle with it, I’ll bloody well buy you a motorcycle. If I want to buy you a prized-pedigree King Charles Spaniel that costs the moon, I’ll buy it for you. If I want to commission blind nuns in a convent in the depths of the Pyrenees Mountains to craft you the finest tailored shirts fashioned from silk spun from a near extinct species of silk worm, I’ll do it! Now, is that understood?”