Valorous(77)

I’m not sure I like being told. I decide to let it drop for now so we can enjoy this special evening, but the subject is far from closed.





Chapter 15





My beautiful, sweet wife is worried about money? It makes me f*cking crazy to hear her say she can’t buy me dinner. She has no idea what she’s married into or the resources that are now hers—and that’s entirely my fault. Why didn’t I think of it sooner? Of course she’s worried about money. She lost her job because of me, for f*ck’s sake.

I feel like I’m learning every lesson with her the hard way, and once again I’m berating myself for not anticipating her concerns. She’s gone quiet, which means she’s pissed. My Natalie is a fighter, and she doesn’t back down. Silence, where she’s concerned, is not golden.

“Nat.”

She looks at me.

“I didn’t mean to say it that way. You have to understand where I’m coming from. To have what I have and then to hear that my wife is worried about money… That sort of hits me right here.” I lay my hand on my heart.

“I’m not worried about it. I’m just out of it because I’m not getting paid anymore.”

“You’ll be getting paid soon from the foundation work, and you’re far from out of money, sweetheart. We’re married now. Your worries are my worries. If you have bills to pay or things you need to take care of, you only have to tell me and it’ll be done.”

“I don’t want to take advantage of you.”

“I’m your husband. It’s my job to take care of you.”

“This is not the Stone Age, Flynn. I’ve always been independent, and I’ve always taken care of myself. I don’t know how to be any other way.”

“I understand and respect that tremendously. It’s extremely refreshing to be with a woman who wants to earn her own way. I’ll never stand in the way of you following your dreams. What you want, I want. But you will never, ever, ever worry about money again. Are we clear on that?”

“I suppose I’ll eventually get used to my change in circumstances, but it’s not going to happen overnight. I appreciate that you want to take care of me, but you have to understand that taking care of me doesn’t mean buying me diamonds for every occasion. Put that money toward the foundation. That would make me much happier.”

“I hear what you’re saying. I really do, but you have to let me spoil you a little bit.”

“I have a feeling your idea of a little bit and mine are vastly different.”

I nuzzle her neck, focusing on all the spots that make her sigh. “We’ll find common ground. Eventually.”

“Until then, no more diamonds.”

“No more diamonds. Now, about your student loans…”

“Flynn!”

Laughing, I squeeze her tight and kiss the indignation off her lips.

“You messed up my lipstick.”

“I’ll buy you more.”

“You’re incorrigible.”

“I love my wife.”

“She loves you, too, even when you’re incorrigible.”

“I have more fun with you than I’ve ever had with anyone, Nat. Even when we’re bickering. Especially then.”

“I keep waiting to discover something about you that I don’t like.”

Her words are like an arrow to my heart. God… she can’t ever know about the one part of me that she’d definitely not like or understand.

“But so far, there’s nothing not to like.”

“Same here, sweetheart, although I’m not waiting to find something bad. I know there’s nothing to find.”

When we arrive a short time later at the Shrine Auditorium, my anxiety kicks up a few notches. Our security detail has been in close touch with the event security to ensure there won’t be any issues with getting us into the building. But after I was stabbed in a rope line at an event last year in London, public appearances aren’t what they used to be. People are f*cking crazy, and I expect the crazy to be a thousand times worse than usual since this is our first public appearance since we tied the knot. The thought of exposing Natalie to that level of crazy makes me extremely uneasy.

We’ve been told to wait in the car until the security detail comes for us.

Natalie holds my hand between both of hers. “You’re vibrating.”