Wife by Day, Boss by Night by Thalia Quillspeak

Chapter 43
“Brian, this is your son!” Natalie couldn’t fathom what had gotten into him, showing up in the dead of night to pick a fight. She
furrowed her brows and tried to push him away.
It was the wee hours of the morning, and dawn had yet to break. Her cramps were so bad they haunted even her dreams.
He was abroad and it was inconvenient to deal with Nate’s issues, so Natalie kept Nate while he got cozy with Madelyn over
there. Natalie promptly hung up the phone, sensibly stepping back. She believed she hadn’t done anything wrong!
“Yes! He’s mine!” Brian was through gritted teeth.
“So what gives you the right to come here and yell at me?” Natalie shot back without hesitation. Out of the corner of her eye, she
noticed Nate stir, seemingly roused by their argument.
Natalie immediately clamped her mouth shut and glanced over.
Thankfully, Nate was just uncomfortable in his sleep and had turned to hug his fluffy pillow, mumbling something before drifting
back to dreamland. Until Nate was sound asleep again, neither of them made a sound.
After a while, Brian let go of Natalie and walked towards the living room.
Natalie watched his retreating figure, feeling a lump in her throat that made it hard to breathe.
Then, Brian turned back around, something in his hand, and sat down beside the bed.
Natalie couldn’t make out what he was holding in the pitch–dark room.

He reached out again, grabbing her wrist. Natalie instinctively pulled away, but he held on, not letting her retreat.
“Let go of me!” she couldn’t help but resist.
Brian looked ashen, lifting his eyes to meet hers.
The next second, Natalie felt something wet touch her fingertip, followed by a piercing pain.
She didn’t even know when she’d gotten a cut, maybe when she was at the daycare.
Silence filled the room once more.
Brian’s movements as he disinfected and applied a band–aid were gentle, reminiscent of the day he attended the parent–teacher
conference.
the m
A slight tremor, went through Natalie. She pressed her lips tightly together, enduring the pain. and didn’t try to pull away.
In her memory, it was that day when she felt so utterly wretched and helpless that her fondness for Brian solidified.
When she had quieted down, Brian raised his eyes to hers.
They locked eyes for a moment, and then his gaze dropped to her slightly parted lips.
Natalie’s inner alarms went off, but it was too late to dodge. She watched helplessly as he leaned in and kissed her. His
domineering presence was overwhelming and his hand cradled the back of her neck, fingers entwined in her thick hair, leaving
her no chance to escape.

Natalie’s mind went blank.
Brian’s hand was firm on her delicate chin.
She had no chance to dodge, with her lower lip throbbing under his bite. Suddenly, she remembered that Brian might have
kissed Madelyn just a while ago. Now he was using those same lips to kiss her, which made her feel sick to her stomach.
“Let go...” Her words were muffled against his lips.
But her feeble attempts at resistance seemed like a tiny insect shaking a mighty tree to him.
He cornered her against the bed and left her no escape, pressing down his hand on hers.
“Let me go!” Natalie was nearly suffocating from his kiss. In a moment of his distraction, she desperately tried to dodge his lips,
“Brian, you jerk!”
“Isn’t this what you wanted?” His voice was a low and cold sneer, throwing her words back at her.
Natalie froze. She thought he’d let it go since he hadn’t brought it up again and his words were spoken in anger. She didn’t
realize he’d taken her seriously.