“Natalie,” he barked.“Where’s my son?”
A shuddering sigh left her belly.“Keetan took him.”
“What?” he bellowed.
She jumped, and her gaze flew to his.
Wild rage filled his brown eyes.His nostrils flared and he balled his hands at his sides.“Where’s Keetan now?”
She bolted to her feet.“You can’t go to him.He’ll—”
“Watch me,” he snapped.“Tell me where he is.Either way I’ll find him, just like I found you.”
Her mind reeled.She shook her head.“Wait, what do you mean?”
“Did you think this was an accident?That fate just decided to fuck up your sinister little plan?”He motioned to the dingy motel room.“I saw you on the news and had my agency track you.”
She opened and closed her mouth, stunned.
He dropped his arm and shook his head sadly.“I guess I should’ve done it sooner.”Silence fell over the room.
“I have to get Bray,” she said, physically unable to acknowledge anything else he threw at her right now.
He was gearing to fight.His body language and booming voice told her he wanted to scream and smash things.She didn’t care.He had every right to be angry, but to keep Bray safe, there was only one way out of this situation, and that solution didn’t include Brick.
“I will get him.”Brick jammed his thumb into his chest.She flinched, but he didn’t wince.
“Look,” she said, finding her voice.“You can’t.If Keetan sees you, he’ll know Bray’s yours.He’ll think I called you.”Panic filled her again.The aching bruise on her face was a cold reminder of how cruel Keetan could be.
“I don’t give a fuck what he thinks about me or you.He’s got no right to that child.”
She chuckled and tangled her fingers in her hair.“Keetan doesn’t want Bray.He barely even tolerates him.He took him to freak me out and ensure I go back to him—with the guarantee I’ll never leave him again.”And dammit, Keetan had her right where he wanted.
Watching her abusive ex storm into her apartment with his friends and tear away her screaming son was a hell she’d never willingly endure again.
“If you want to go back to him, that’s fucking dandy.But I’m here now, and believe it when I say I will fight for custody.”
Her jaw dropped.A new terror escalated her blood pressure.“No,” she cried.“Don’t you dare try to take him from me.”
“And protect him?”
Her lip trembled.Guilt washed over her.He was right.She hadn’t protected Bray.Hadn’t done enough to change her life and had brought their innocent child into a mess.
Brick’s expression softened, but his shoulders stayed rigid.“I’m not going to take a child away from his mother.But I don’t know what the hell I’m walking into.How did this happen?Why?”His last question dropped with the force of a bomb.Agony ravaged his words, and she was struck once again by the gravity of her choices.
“I’m sorry—”
“No.I appreciate you have regrets, but I want to knowwhy.Why did you hide him from me?Are you using drugs?”
Her eyes bulged.His words cut straight to her heart.“No.Of course not.I’ve never touched drugs.”She couldn’t say the same for Keetan—nothing would surprise her at this point.
She lowered herself back into the chair because her legs couldn’t hold her up any longer.“You have every right to hate me.”She kept her gaze focused on his face, even though it killed her to do so.He deserved to know the truth, and to have her not cower away.“Every choice I made was fueled by fear and...and desperation.Please understand that before you think I deliberately wanted to hide Bray from you.”
His expressions stayed firm and unreadable.
She rolled in her lips and rubbed her hands on her bare thighs.“When I met you in Fargo, that was the first time I’d left Keetan.I had to keep moving because I knew he’d come after me.”
“Why?You broke up with him and he continued to pursue you?”
