33. Chapter 32
Chapter 32
Coming home at night, things were oddly dark and quiet. I hated it. Did Nat stand me up?
I opened the garage, and her car was parked there. So she was inside. That should have relieved me, but it didn't.
She wasn't one to hang out in the dark if everything was okay. No, she liked to work in full light. That way, she could see the full color contrast when working on graphics.
As I pushed open the door, I did my best Ricky Ricardo impression. "Honey, I'm home."
I wish I could say I was surprised that I didn’t get a reaction from her, but I really wasn't. Nat never reacted when I did something so corny.
I stripped off my tie and jacket. I wished the Legacy would let us just dress in anything we liked, but they were still one of the clubs that wanted us to be in a suit. Although, apparently, the owners didn't give a shit about the suit rule. It was at the behest of the PR team since it helped to bring women to the sport and lead to better social media engagement.
I tried to think of all the places where Natalie might be hiding if she was upset. I just hoped she didn't go for a long hike in the woods. I didn't have the legs to go searching for her.
I did a quick perusal of the kitchen and living room, and there was no Nat. I almost skipped over the office/den space. I never went in there, but I figured that I would check since she liked the books and fireplace.
Right as I turned to leave the room, I heard the slightest whimper, which caused me to rush in. I almost missed her since she was tucked into the wingback chair facing the fireplace. Not to mention, it was pitch black in the room.
I knelt beside her and grabbed her hand. "What's happened?"
"I fucked up so bad, and I think we have a situation on our hands."
That didn't sound like Natalie at all. She was too wicked smart to mess up.
That just broke me, and if I could have done it smoothly, I would have lifted her into my lap, but those stupid wingbacks made it nearly impossible.
So, I settled on the next best thing. I moved to the back of the chair and got into the perfect position to give her a neck massage. While the height of the chair made it a little awkward, I eased any tension out.
"I'm sure it's fine. What happened?"
As my thumbs dug into the knots and waited to hear her story, I kissed the top of her head, cursing myself for buying such high-backed chairs. Sure, they looked great, and I knew she loved them for reading books.
After my fingers did their magic, she finally said, "Luke showed up at the hockey rink."
I was fuming, and all I wanted to do was hit something—preferably that guy. But I knew the story had to be more than that, or Natalie wouldn't be so damn shook.
"Fuck." That was the last thing that needed to happen.
I had to be smart. While I wanted to wring that asshole's neck, that would only cause issues.
Cowards like him were also extremely litigious. Which meant we needed to do one thing. I already took one hand off her neck and dug in my back pocket for my cellphone. I pulled it out, and I hit Carter's number. "Get you and your fancy lawyer over to my place ASAP."
I hung up the phone and said, "We're going to talk this over once we get everyone over here. That way, you only have to tell it once. But let me make you a cup of tea."
She nodded.
I went to the kitchen and put on a teapot. As I waited for the kettle to boil, I took out one of the fun mugs that Natalie got me. It was a sloth holding onto a branch, although she altered it to make it look like a hockey stick. I threw a healthy dash of whisky into the mug before adding the tea bag. As soon as I was done prepping the cup, the kettle had steam coming out of it. I poured the water.
As I was walking down the hall, Carter came in. "What's the issue?"
"I might kill someone right now."
He practically rolled his eyes, but he followed me to the office, where Natalie was still curled up into a ball. I handed her the mug, and she just gave me an appreciative look, "You didn't make yourself one?"
I shook my head. I needed a clear mind, and if I made myself one of my special cups of tea with the whisky, I would do something exceedingly stupid. Like actually kill the fucker who made Natalie upset.
As Carter sat down in the chair next to hers, he asked, "What's wrong?"
Poor Nat. She took a sip. "Boys, you don't need to get all hands on deck for this. Nothing really happened. Eric's dad showed up at the rink and accused me of kidnapping the kid."
I looked at her to see if there was something more to the story. Carter must have been on the same page since he said, "What aren’t you telling him?"
I held my hands up. I hadn't done anything wrong. At least not yet. "When did I become the bad guy?"
Sure, I was a loose cannon, but there was a reason that I asked for a lawyer, and I didn't just go over to Eric's house to pull both Annette and Eric out. If anything, those two were the ones who were truly in danger.
Carter leveled a stare at me. "Because we both know that you're protective of her."
"I'm also not dumb enough to go after an abusive motherfucker," I said. But damn, I really wanted to do something to him, especially if he hurt Natalie. No one was allowed to touch her. "At least, not until I know the facts."
Natalie took a sip of her tea, and I waited to hear what she wasn't telling us.
"He hit me when he accused me."
I fumed. It took all my willpower not to actually launch out of my sitting position and go off on the guy.
I hated abusers so fucking much, and how I wanted to go after them.
Natalie was the sweetest girl in the world and wouldn't harm a fly. She was taking a kid to hockey practice, and she got slapped. What the actual fuck?
Carter stared at me. I kept my ass planted, but I looked at him. "Is your fancy lawyer on his way, or do I need to call mine? Cause if Luke showed up at the rink and slapped her, you better believe we're getting a protective order established, or else I will do something stupid."
Carter chuckled. "He is on the way, and if we don't get a protective order, I will be there right with you. No one gets to mess with my little sister."
I was in complete agreement with Carter on this one. "Damn straight."
Then Natalie asked in a quiet voice, "But what about Eric and Annette?"
I bit my lip since that was the part that sucked the most.
"We can't do anything unless Annette decides to leave. But we can keep an eye on them and try to protect them by reporting him to social services."
Both Carmichaels’ shoulders sagged deeply since they both knew what I was saying was true. Carter found out how hard it was to intervene safely. We just had to hope and pray that Annette would be strong enough to leave again.