Katherine felt her body tensing with both anger and real, honest-to-god fear. The idea that heâd gotten him arrested crossed her mind, but she didnât dwell on it, because what she was more scared of was the thought that maybe Nate had only taken the gun out of Frankâs mouth last night just to appease her, and had never really had any intentions of letting him live. The way he unfolded his napkin so leisurely and began cutting into his sausage made her blood boil. âChloe went to pick up and said heâs gone,â she bit out, watching him with a stare so intent she thought lasers might shoot out of her eyes any moment. âPompidou is still there. Frank doesnât go anywhere without that dog.â She paused, giving Nate a chance to say something, anything, to affirm or deny it (the latter of which she was hoping for, although she clung to that hope feebly. This was Nateâs doing, she knew it). And then he did deny it, and Katherine was brought up short. âHave I talked to him?â she repeated incredulously. âObviously not, or I wouldnât be asking you where he is.â She hated that for as much as she really didnât care about anyone else, Nate was even more ruthless than she was. She didnât know why he wasnât owning up to having something to do with Frankâs disappearance, just that he was enjoying how flustered she was becoming. âI told you I wouldnât talk to him anymore,â she said, her voice rising, soup cooling off to the side. âWhy couldnât you just leave him alone, Nate?â That smug look on his face was almost too much for her, and despite how much she loved him, she knew that in a second she would reach across the table and slap him in the face out of frustration. That would end badly not only because she knew she would eventually feel guilty after her temper had cooled, but also because Nate was liable to lash out violently if she did so. She glared at him a moment longer before grabbing her purse and sliding out of the booth. She folded her coat around her and marched out of the diner in a flurry of emotion, something which was incredibly rare for her, considering her emotions were generally subdued. It was this back-and-forth between Nathan and Frank that was driving her madâshe knew she couldnât talk to him anymore despite how much she wanted to, but she could at least live with that. Knowing, however, that Nathan had gone behind her back and done something to him anyway? It made her feel sick. With angry tears in her eyes that she absolutely refused to let spill over her cheeks, she pulled her phone out again and began trying to contact Frank. Half her mind was focused on that, and half was wondering if Nate would come after her, well aware that a majority wanted him to do so, and to force her to stop what she was doing.
The subject of Frank was becoming more and more annoying, just as quickly as it had been brought up. With the older man dealt with, Nathan didnât give a flying fuck about what the future held for Frank or what he was going through right now. All that mattered to him was that there was no way the events that occurred between Katherine and Frank could repeat, now that he was back in town and could officially put a stop to it, once and for all. But the fact that Katherine seemed to be still so hung up on the guy caused that burning jealousy to make a comeback with every concerned comment she made in an attempt to piece together the few clues she had. âWell, now that heâs fucked off without a trace, you really wonât ever be talking to him again, huh?â He finally snapped, taking a moment from his hot meal to shoot his own glare across the table, right back at Katherine. That seemed to be the end of the conversation, as nothing else was said between the two of them, and Nathan went back to his meal, more than happy to leave it at that. It wasnât until she abruptly gathered her things and stood up from the booth to leave that his jealousy and anger subdued any sort of calmness that may have started to root itself in his mind. Feeling the few stares at his table, Nathan lifted his gaze, only to meet Joyceâs -- out of everyone else in the room. After staring at her for a moment as he finished chewing and swallowing the bite of food in his mouth, he tore the napkin from his lap and stood up from the booth, simultaneously pulling out his wallet from his back pocket to leave a few bills on the table, which was more than enough to pay for both his and Katherineâs meals, before he stormed out of the diner.
âKatherine!â Unlike the diner, the anger in his voice carried much louder outside once his icy glare landed on the girl, making a beeline over the pavement as he briskly approached her. âWhat the fuck are you doing?! Gimme that fuckinâ thing--â he basically growled once he reached her, aggressively snatching the phone out of her hands to see what she was doing. When he saw Frankâs name on the screen along with multiple unanswered calls and texts to him from Katherine, Nateâs blood was practically boiling beneath his skin and, without a second thought, he used all his strength and might to hurl her phone out over the parking lot, disappearing behind the building wrapping around the parking lot before he turned on Katherine. âI shoulda fucking killed that scuzzy son of a bitch when I had the chance! I shoulda done it. I shouldnât have listened to you, youâre a fucking liar just like everybody else!â His eyes were wild with emotion, mainly reflecting the betrayal and uncontrollable anger he was feeling, but he couldnât just stand around there on the sidewalk with Katherine -- in public -- while he had the urge to break everything he set his sights on, but that didnât necessarily mean he wasnât done talking. âYou wanna know what happened to Frank? Huh? Fine. The cops raided his fucking trailer today. So, heâs probably getting fucked up the ass behind bars, as we speak. But the drug addicted fuckers in Arcadia Bay donât have to worry -- I already have a new supplier lined up.â












