Chapter 23 #2
I step around Jake and glare at Lucas. “Whatever I let Ethan do to me is none of your business. You lost the right to speak to me the moment you laid hands on me. You’re nothing to me.”
He spits at my feet, and I hiss, “You know what your problem is? All these years, you and Mom did your best to break me, to show me that I had no value. And Ethan came along, and he saw something in me. He loves me, and you can’t handle that someone—no, not someone, but the man you betrayed—values and loves me.
You are pathetic, Lucas. You always were. I was just too browbeaten to see it!”
He lunges again, fury breaking loose, but I don’t hesitate this time.
My knuckles slam into his jaw.
He goes down hard .
Jake grabs my arm and pulls me back as building security rushes around the corner.
Lucas scrambles to his feet and bolts, disappearing into the crowd which has gathered around the entrance of the alley.
Jake curses under his breath. “Are you okay?”
I nod, shaking, heart still racing. “I will be.”
He guides me inside, shielding me from curious stares, never letting go. But I don’t look back. I’m not scared anymore. Not of Lucas. Not of my past. Not even of the future.
Because, for the first time,I know I can fight for myself.
And win.
“What the hell were you thinking?”
I keep my head lowered as Ethan paces before me. I’ve never seen him so angry.
“I told you not to go anywhere without Caleb!” he roars.
I press my lips together. “It was just across the road. And Jake was on his way.”
“And what happened in those few minutes?” he demands.
I glance at Jake, and Ethan snaps, “Don’t look at him.
Look at me. Tell me you’re not this reckless with your life, Natalie, because if you can’t control your impulses, I’m going to put you under lock and key till I have dealt with every single threat! ”
“It was my fault, Ethan,” Jake begins.
“Not a fucking word out of you!”
His twin falls silent.
“I did kick his ass a little,” I offer tentatively, only to be glared into silence.
For a few minutes, the heavy silence that fills his office has me on edge.
Ethan has never raised his voice at me before.
I don’t entirely like it, but I know I could have been more cautious.
If I hadn’t had those brass knuckles, I wouldn’t have been the only one who suffered.
I’m responsible for another life right now.
Ethan leans against his desk, his fingers running through his hair.
“Alright. Okay. The police are already looking for him. We have plenty of witnesses who saw him pull Natalie into the alley and try to strangle her. But then, there are also a lot of witnesses who saw Natalie attack him with a weapon.”
“It was self-defense!” I explode.
“That’s not the point. Get out, Jake.”
Jake shoots me an apologetic look, and my shoulders slump. Now I’m really going to have it.
I hear the door close behind him, and my heart sinks, “Etha?—”
His arms wrap around me, his voice rough. “How can you be so reckless with yourself? Didn’t you think for one moment that I can’t lose you? What if he had a knife, Natalie? What if he stabbed you? What if Jake never got there in time? What if?—”
I cover his mouth. “There’s no room for what-ifs. I’m sorry, Ethan. I wasn’t thinking. I didn’t realize the danger would be so close to home. I’ll be more careful from now on.”
“No lunch, no going anywhere.” He clasps my cheeks. “Promise me. Stick by my side.”
“I’ll be careful,” I promise him. “I’ll arrange my lunches to be in one of the conference rooms.”
He tilts my head back and studies my neck. His voice is whisper-soft, a chilling edge to it. “I’m going to make that bastard regret even breathing on you.”
“You do that. I’m pretty sure I broke his nose, though.”
His hand slides around my hip in a way that has my breath catching.
His eyes hold mine, dark and intense, as he dips his hand into my pocket, retrieving the brass knuckles.
He examines them for a brief moment, his fingers brushing against mine and sending a shiver down my spine.
“I’ll get you better ones made. They have sharp spikes on them. It’ll tear his face open. ”
“Ethan!”
I snatch my weapon back from him, trying to ignore the heat blooming where his fingers touched my skin. “This works just fine. I don’t need that much violence around the baby.”
His hand grabs my jaw, holding me in place, his thumb caressing my lower lip.
“I want to kill him. I want to rip him to fucking shreds. He laid his hands on you. I’m going to not only press charges for this assault, Natalie, but also for the one from five years ago.
I’m going to put him away for as long as I can. I’m going to ruin him financially.”
My stomach is in knots, yet I can’t help but respond to the possessive hunger in his eyes. “Do it. I won’t stop you. I won’t let him or my mother push me around anymore. Do whatever you have to.”
He lowers his mouth to mine and kisses me fiercely. My arms wrap around his neck, my body melting against his. I ignore the slight ache in my back as he pulls me closer, one hand sliding to the small of my back. His mouth is hot and sends streaks of pleasure down to my core.
I can feel myself grow wet, but he pulls away within the next heartbeat, his voice ragged. “No. You’re going to get a checkup first.”
“W-What?” I gape at him, reeling, still feeling the ghost of his lips on mine.
“A checkup,” he says, firmly now. “You’re going to your OB. Right now.”
“Wait, what?”
“Get your things. I’ll drive.”
I swallow. Great. Now I’m going to be poked and prodded all over again.
Three days .
It’s been three days since the alley. Since Lucas. Since I fought like hell and walked away.
The bruises are still there—light purple blooming beneath my collarbone and over my shoulder, hidden beneath my thick sweater and wool coat. The ache in my ribs hasn't faded either. But I’m here. Breathing. Living. Carrying my baby. Moving forward.
Ethan has barely let me out of his sight. He tried not to hover, but it’s in his DNA. Every time I wince, he notices. Every time I blink a little too long, his hand finds mine. He’s trying to be strong for me—but I see it. The fury he keeps buried under calm eyes. The guilt.
I never blamed him. Not once. But that hasn’t stopped him from blaming himself.
Shifting the phone in my hand, I scroll through the flood of messages I haven’t had the energy to answer. But one stops me cold.
Roland Blake.
It’s been weeks since I’ve heard from him. I like Roland. He’s blunt, honest, and just sweet. I don’t believe Ethan when he says the older man has ulterior motives. But it has been a while since he reached out to me. I check the message and frown.
He wants to meet up. Urgently?
I stare at the screen, unsettled. My thumbs hover.
“What is it?” Ethan glances at me from the driver’s seat. We’re heading to a restaurant to meet his family for dinner today. It’s the first family dinner since I moved in with him. I’m already nervous.
“Roland messaged me. He says he wants to meet today.”
“Delete his number.”
“Don’t be ridiculous, Ethan. I’m not deleting his number.”
“You have no reason to talk to him.”
“I’m not flirting with him, for God’s sake! ”
“I never said you were.” He shoots me a grim look. “But whatever he wants from you, he can come to me for it.”
My teeth grit. “Ethan, everything said and done, you’re not in any position to be making decisions for me. You can make a suggestion, and I can consider it. But tell me what to do again, and you won’t like how I react.”
His eyes flicker with amusement as he looks at me, a hint of desire darkening his gaze. “Oh, yeah?”
“I’m not blocking him. I want to meet him. You’re welcome to join us. And before you say anything, I’m going to ask him to come to the office to meet me.”
He doesn’t look pleased, his jaw tightening in that way that simultaneously irritates and attracts me. “I don’t like him, Natalie. He looks at you funny.”
“You think everybody looks at me funny.” I roll my eyes at him, suppressing a smile. “Next you’ll be growling at the barista who makes my tea.”
He just shrugs, his eyes briefly leaving the road to trail down my body. “You just don’t see it.”
I choose not to answer him. Instead, I shoot Roland a message that I’m busy today, but I can meet him tomorrow. I tuck the phone back in my purse and sigh. “So, my mother really did bail him out then?”
“Lucas?” Ethan turns the corner of the street. “Did it surprise you that much?”
“No.” I turn my head to look out the window. “I just didn’t think it would be that fast.”
“Considering he was arrested the same day—” He overtakes a car. “—Lucas has connections. I’m surprised that your mother had to pay the bail. He has enough to pay it himself.”
I exhale softly. “I just want this to be over. Did you find out who sent those flowers?”
I had given Ethan the card on the flowers I had received the very next day .
“I’m working on it,” he says tersely, his hands flexing on the steering wheel.
We pull up outside the restaurant ten minutes later. A valet starts walking over, and Ethan puts the car in park, turning toward me.
“I’ll circle around to the valet stand. Go ahead inside, and let them know we’re here.”
I unbuckle slowly, adjusting my wool coat as I step out.
The sharp evening air cuts through the fabric, making me pull it tighter around myself.
Bellamy's is elegant even from the outside—glowing sconces, a gold-lettered sign, and soft music drifting from within.
I hover near the steps, waiting for him to pull into the turnabout.
That’s when I hear it.
The squeal of tires.
I barely register Ethan’s voice.
“Natalie!”
Everything slows.
A black car barrels around the corner, way too fast. Headlights blinding. Aimed straight at me.
I’m frozen. I can’t move. My feet won’t work.
Something slams into me from the side.
We hit the ground hard. My breath rushes out in a single, sharp gasp. Gravel bites my palms as I brace myself, tangled in someone else’s arms.
People are shouting. Ethan is shouting.
The car speeds away.
I push up slowly, limbs trembling, heart pounding in my ears. There’s a weight on me. Heavy. Crushing.
I recognize him.
“Roland?” I breathe in shock.
His body is slumped over mine.
“Roland,” I whisper, more urgently this time, trying to shift beneath him .
Panic courses through me as reality begins to set in.
No response.
I ease myself to the side, my stomach clenching in fear as I see his face. His eyes are closed. Blood seeps through the fabric of his coat, staining it dark and wet. His chest is rising—but barely.
“Ethan!” I scream, my heart slamming in my chest.
Ethan is already there, yanking Roland off me with trembling hands, laying him on the pavement.
“Call an ambulance!” he barks to someone. “Now!”
I kneel beside Roland, reaching for his hand. It’s cold.
His eyes open, filled with a dazed pain, lips moving, barely.
“G-Glad—Glad you’re o-okay?—”
His eyes flutter closed.
And I’m left on the ground, blood on my hands, as the man who saved me passes out.