Beautiful Catastrophe

Chapter Sixteen:

"You're not wearing that."

"But Nathan... Why not?" Kim almost whined as she looked at him through the mirror facing her.

They were currently out shopping for suitable clothes for both Kim and Nathan. It had been easier to find things for himself, but now was proving to be difficult to find things that he thought were appropriate for Kim to wear. She had already tried on five dresses but he found something wrong with each one of them.

"Because it doesn't suit you."

"But it's red. Red's my favourite colour. Red is sexy."

"Another reason why I don't like it." She had to roll her eyes at his statement then.

"You're being ridiculous Nathan. At this stage we're never going to find something for me to wear on Friday night."

"Why don't I go and pick something out for you?"

"If you bring back something frumpy and grandma-ish, I'm not putting it anywhere near me." She crossed her arms.

"I won't." he nodded at her before going off out into the shop again.

There was no denying that Nathan was being more than a little overprotective of Kim. He already felt jealous of others looking at her body in any of the dresses she tried on so far but he didn't want his emotions to show. Nathan flicked through the racks of dresses and found two that he thought were the best possible options without Kim thinking they covered too much.

"That one looks good on you."

"It's navy. I don't like navy."

"Well... why not try on the other one then."

"I'll be right back." She entered the dressing room again and came out with the black floor-length gown he had picked out. They would both be attending an event with Stephen on Friday night that would be very important and crucial for his plans. Nathan's breath hitched in his throat for just a second at the sight of her. But then again, that had happened each time she came out of the room with a dress on.

"I'm not sure." He found himself saying, although he knew he shouldn't have.

"You're never going to be happy." She said, a little distractedly as she looked in the mirror at herself at all different angles. The dress was okay, better than the last one he had brought for her. She decided this was the best she was going to get with Nathan.

"Just get that one, it looks good." He said with finality.

"Really? Are you sure it doesn't show off too much of my neck?" she asked, sarcasm dripping from her tone. He narrowed his eyes at her and then spoke again.

"Do you want me to buy you the navy one instead?"

"No." Kim replied straight away.

"Then shut up."

"You shut up."

"No you shut up."

"No you." Nathan decided to let her have the last word this time.

They shopped around for more outfits for Kim and then headed back to their hotel room to get ready for the night they had ahead of them. Once dressed smartly in the new things they had bought, they went downstairs to meet Stephen in the lobby of the hotel before going out to dinner.

Again, Kim listened carefully to everything both men were saying and felt like she was being kept in the dark about a lot of things. She was interested; she wanted to know Nathan's plans and also didn't want to sit there not opening her mouth all night. But something was holding her back, she wasn't quite sure how to act with Stephen around since Nathan had been so hot-headed the last time. Then, further into the night, Kim could care less about Nathan's reaction later on when she heard her name being mentioned.

"So where does Kim come into all of this?" She instantly perked up at the sound of her name leaving Stephen's lips. Her eyes flickered from one man to the other when she spotted Nathan giving Stephen a dark and intense look.

"Nowhere."

"But you said-"

"She's not part of the plan anymore."

"So I was before?" she asked, earning a glance from both Nathan and Stephen. Nathan felt slightly caught off guard and was unable to say anything for a minute.

"No. Stephen doesn't know what he's talking about."

"Yes she was, don't try to make me look like an idiot." Kim could see the quiet rage within Nathan's eyes then, but he took another moment to take a deep breath and calm himself down.

"Initially, yes. But not anymore."

"Why?" She didn't understand why he had lied and not mentioned anything to her.

"Because we were going to use you to honey pot Kevin Green."

"Who's that?" Stephen scoffed at how oblivious she was.

"The person Nathan came here for."

"Stephen..." Nathan warned.

"She needs to know your plan. Who else are you going to use to slip something into Kevin's drink while he isn't looking?"

"Stephen that's enough. You're here to help me not to spill all of my secrets."

"Well I'm just annoyed that we aren't sticking to the original plan and the fact that you haven't figured something out by now."

"Nathan?" Kim called his name quietly, she tugged at the sleeve of his shirt then, forcing him to look at her whilst in the middle of his disagreement.

Kim felt betrayed, but thought she should have known better. The only reason Nathan hadn't killed her yet was because he needed to use her in his plans to find the people who murdered his parents, which could only make them dangerous. She figured her life was probably on the line if she did whatever it was Nathan wanted her to do.

"Kim we can talk about this later." He brushed her off, still angry at Stephen.

"Why don't you want her to do the job?"

"Because she isn't needed for that anymore." He spoke quickly.

"So what exactly is she needed for now? To be your toy? What's suddenly made you change your mind Nathan?" Stephen challenged his friend.

"Kevin Green is a very dangerous man. If Kim was to poison him and she was found out, that would put her in jeopardy and that's something I don't want. I'll figure something out by Friday; just let me deal with it. My decision is final."

Stephen had then decided to talk about something else. Kim was still trying to figure him out, and why he had called his friend out on his lies in front of her, a girl he knew barely anything about. A while after their meal had ended, they decided to part ways. The car ride was quiet the whole time, a tension was almost visible in the small space they were sharing.

Kim didn't know what to say. She couldn't expect anything else from Nathan that to bring her here in order to use her for his own good. It wasn't like they were anything to each other, and so the feeling of betrayal Kim felt was ridiculous in even her own eyes. But she could not help how she felt and that was the problem.

Nathan knew she was processing the conversation she heard over dinner, she appeared to be getting more upset by the minute. He knew she was going to over analyse all of the information she gathered.

All of the previous events were running through her head since that day in the car when Nathan announced they were going to Las Vegas. Was the fact that she would have to do something important for him the only reason he gave in to her? She had no reason to think otherwise.

As soon as they entered their suite, Kim walked briskly into the bathroom. The sound of the door slamming made Nathan flinch and then sigh. He walked towards the door and knocked gently. Nathan waited patiently for her to answer but after a minute or two of silence he knocked once again, louder this time.

"Kim, come out here please."

"No." she called back, her tone was troublous.

"Kim, just let me explain."

"No. f**k off." He knew she was quite annoyed, and he needed to give her time to calm down but all he wanted was to give her an explanation. Or else her mind would wander and she would make mindless assumptions.

"Kim you're being silly now-"

"No I'm not! God you're such a dick."

"Open the door before I kick it down." His voice was calm and collected. She decided it was better not to answer him. She didn't want to talk to him right then because she was more than a little angry at him. "I decided to make you a part of the plan when I was assigned this mission. There was a possibility that Kevin Green would be in Las Vegas while we were on our trip to D.C so I thought it would be a great opportunity."

"Good for you."

"But once we were actually on the way here, I changed my mind. You heard what I said back at the restaurant Kim. It would be too risky."

"Bullshit Nathan!" Kim stormed towards the door, unlocked it and threw it open. She was surprised when she saw he was so close but stood right in front of him, staring at him angrily. "You were trying to butter me up all this time so that I would honey pot some random guy for you. Don't take me for a fool."

"I knew you would think that." He pinched the bridge of his nose as he spoke.

"Because it's the truth." She shot back in a rage.

"No it's not."

"And you know what I find very f*****g funny about all of this? You would've gladly let me to seduce some man once you were benefiting from it but I'm not allowed to wear a red f*****g dress?"

"Kim, it's just a dress."

"Well red's my favourite colour!" there was a silence for a minute until she spoke again. "That's not even the point. The point is you had s*x with me so I would do something in return for you."

"Can you even hear yourself right now? You're being ridiculous. If that was my plan all along why would I change it?"

"Maybe you grew a conscience. I don't know?" she shrugged.

"You have to trust me Kim-"

"I don't have to do anything. I've been screwed over too many times in my life to listen to another asshole like you talk to me about trust." Tears pricked her eyes as she spoke and all he wanted to do then was take her in his arms and hold her.

"Please just- please believe me Kim." He took the step between them and wiped away her tears with his thumbs, holding her face then. "I changed my mind once we were on the way to D.C. It's too dangerous now and I don't want to risk anything."

"Why didn't you want to tell me? Back there in the restaurant you started to pretend like Stephen wasn't telling the truth."

"I don't know, I guess I didn't want you to find out. I knew you would take it the wrong way."

He began to caress her cheek. Nathan looked at her beautiful face, her features filled with sorrow and an unsureness he detected clearly. She could not look at him, her mind and heart going in different directions. She wanted to believe Nathan, but after a past full of betrayal and pain, trusting someone was a difficult thing for Kim to do.

"Look at me Kim." He urged her gently, his voice just above a whisper. He tilted her head up a little so she could make eye contact with him but she only shrugged away from him and went to find something to wear to bed.

Kim could feel Nathan's eyes on her as she walked around the room. She went around to her side of the bed and stripped down in front of him, quickly getting changed. He gulped at the sight of her and felt tightness in his chest at the thought that she was upset because of him. Kim felt conflicted and torn in two.

She wanted to yell and get angry at him for lying to her, but the rational side told her that would be wrong. They were nothing to each other, only acquaintances that slept together a couple of times. Although it was cliché, Kim felt this pull towards Nathan, a connection that she never talked about with him. She was too afraid to face what she was feeling and although she was sure it wasn't love, it seemed to be more dangerous than that. Nathan felt the same as her, the intensity of what they had between them already after only a couple of days was difficult to confront and risky.

Kim wanted to believe him, she wanted his intentions to be good but she was too afraid. Nathan understood her apprehension. She was a girl who was scarred, but Kim would never admit that. He too got into bed and turned to face her back. He knew she wasn't asleep, but also was aware of the fact that Kim needed some space. There was nothing else he could do right then to make her trust him and what he was saying.

He just wished the night had gone a completely different way.