Galen scoffed and escorted Natalie to an armchair as he scolded his mother. “Mom, don’t lie. You realized. Now what’s causing your frown?”
“It’s Axel.” Damien patted his mother’s knee.
Galen’s eyes narrowed as he sat forward with his arms together, like he did in a meeting when he was listening. “What about him?”
Damien said, “Turns out he got married when he was eighteen but never divorced. His wife just filed—Axel admitted what happened and now he needs our help.”
Wow. Sure, she’d talk to her parents about her big decisions, but she had no siblings to know if this was normal behavior for them to be involved too.
“Never?” Galen asked. “Who did he marry?”
Mitch answered, “Some groupie from that show he was on that he met in Orlando.”
Galen turned toward her. “Natalie, do you know a good divorce lawyer?”
Well that was fast, to be included. She tapped her lower lip. “Off hand, no, but I can research it and let you know when we get to work.”
His mother pinned him down with a look. “So, you didn’t know anything about Axel then?”
Galen’s eyes widened. “Absolutely not.”
His mother slowly got to her feet. “We’ll let you finish your breakfast.”
Galen stood quickly. “Mom, this is Natalie. Natalie, this is my mom, Fiona Dupree.”
Right. She held out her hand to shake, but his mother leaned in and hugged her instead. Natalie said, “Nice to meet you.”
Fiona let her go, but then stared into her eyes like she was searching for something. “You seem like a nice girl. I hope you don’t smoke.”
Galen’s bad habit. She glanced at Galen. “Absolutely not, ma’am.”
Fiona smiled. “Good. My boy needs to quit.”
Galen crossed his arms like he needed to defend himself. “I went twenty-four hours without a cigarette now.”
The other men led Fiona to the door without much goodbye. Galen asked, “Damien, are you coming to work?”
Damien shook his head. “My wife and I are finally planning our honeymoon to Paris.”
“Have fun.” Galen followed and closed the door behind them, then turned around to her.
His family was important. He’d said that, but now she saw for herself. And there was no way they’d want him to marry after a first date. The word shouldn’t buzz through her head like it did. She wasn’t ready for marriage, not yet. Even if his dark eyes seemed to speak to her soul, marriage wasn’t possible.
Galen’s chest felt heavy. Mitch had defeated him at the gym soundly that morning, but he couldn’t concentrate. Natalie not saying yes to marriage when he’d asked shocked him, and he wasn’t capable of thinking beyond that.
Today’s workout hadn’t helped clear his head.
He arrived at the office, shoulders still tense, where Natalie sat at her desk typing, her black frames slipping down her nose.
He strolled past her, and pretended he hadn’t looked through the glass to her office.
The elevator beeped, and he waited and shook hands with his rock star little brother. “Axel! Glad you could come.”
They walked in silence down the hall, but Axel peeked into Natalie’s office on the way as she worked on the computer, oblivious to their attention.
Galen closed his office door and motioned toward the chairs. He took the seat beside Axel as Axel said, “It sounded important. That blonde in the hall was Natalie?”
Axel adjusted in his seat but lifted one of his legs, never able to sit still. Galen sighed. “Yes. That’s her.”
