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“You shouldn’t have come here. This is my family. They’re assholes but they’re not bad people. Kind of like you.”
It’s an insult, but something about it lifts my spirits. She doesn’t really hate me.
“You did send your dad to jail,” I mutter. “That seems like a pretty good reason to think there might be a rift in the family. What if they wanted revenge?”
Laughter and eye rolls were the last thing I expected after that statement. Maybe her brothers aren’t sorry to see Leon gone after all. Whether that’s because he was an evil tyrant who made their lives miserable or because they want to take over remains to be seen.
“Natalie, where did you find this guy?” Mason jokes. He rolls his eyes, but there’s something other than casual interest behind the question. I doubt strangers wander in here very often. If they do, I doubt they last long.
“I didn’t find him. He found me,” Natalie corrects, speaking to her brothers but looking straight at me. “But it’s nothing I can’t handle. You boys stay out of it.”
The last part is directed at me, but something about her tone catches my attention. It’s like she’s warning them to leave me alone.
“Are you sure about that?” Mitch asks, one brow raised, still talking about me like I’m not here, even while he casts another assessing glance over me. Natalie nods and turns away, patting her brother’s shoulder as she passes him. “Tell Mum I’ll stop in and say hi over the next couple of days.”
Mitch’s voice stops her. “Dad was wondering when you’ll be visiting him. You’re the only person who hasn’t been to see him, yet. Well, apart from Bodhi.”
Natalie’s shoulders go stiff, lifting toward her ears as her entire body tenses. “I won’t be going. Ever.” There’s no equivocation, no hint of uncertainty in how she delivers those words, and I believe her. I want to think it’s because she hates him, but I still can’t be sure.
“He’s paralysed, Nat. He’s not going to last long. Go and say your piece. You might not get another chance.”
When Natalie says nothing and refuses to look his way, Mitch grunts, his disapproval clear, before stomping inside. Natalie’s shoulders droop before she pulls herself up and gives me a teasing wave as she disappears around the corner.
I hear the slam of a trunk, an engine starting, and the crunch of gravel as she drives away. Damn it.
Mason steps right in front of the bars and grins at me, nodding to the chair in the middle of the floor behind me. “Better get comfortable. You’ve got hours to kill.”
Plenty of long hours to plot my revenge. Because you’re going to pay for this, Natalie Lennox.
CHAPTER 17
NATALIE
This is too much.
As I continue back to Grey Ridge, my thoughts of Chase are all-consuming. He’s all I can think about and it’s driving me nuts.
“Thank god,” I mutter when I picture him trapped behind those bars. It might just be for a few hours, but I’m finally alone. My grip on the steering wheel is tight and my palms sweaty when I pull up outside my house, relieved that the drive is over. I can barely remember any of it, my mind pre-occupied.
Calling Leah and putting my phone on speakerphone, I go straight to the fridge and pull out a cool can of soda, pressing it against my forehead. He has me completely frazzled, and I don’t like it. My bear is normally so calm and collected but she can’t handle him, or whatever is lurking inside of him.
Maybe it’s just my imagination, but it feels like it’s getting stronger.
Or maybe it’s just his effect on me that’s getting more and more powerful. Those penetrating eyes, the square jaw always set in a hard line, a complete contrast to those full, sensuous lips.
“I’m done.” I don’t give Leah a chance to say a word. “It’s too much. He’s too much. I can’t…” Flustered, I yank my top over my head and toss it onto the laundry pile. I can smell him on it, and it’s making me feel all hot and bothered.
Don’t you dare.
Fuck! My brain replays his husky voice but once again, instead of being freaked out by the consequences of what I just did, my libido is ecstatic, jumping for joy at the anticipation of what his pay back will be. Because there will be retaliation. I have no doubt about that. It’s just whether he’ll drag it out to torture me or be swift.
“No! No, no, no,” Leah’s frantic voice comes down the line. “Just two more days! Blake’s holding the Alpha Games launch tomorrow at the brewery, and the council is coming to town. Chase can’t be anywhere near that, for obvious reasons. He’s trying to make me go to the police and make a statement about my attack. Could I pretend I’m doing that with you to buy us some time?”
I feel like crying.
“No Leah. No more convoluted stories or lies.” It doesn’t feel right that everyone else knows more about his life than he does. My bear is feeling protective of him. She didn’t like the interest Mitch was taking in Chase and is majorly pissed at me for leaving him behind.
Without realising it, Chase was broadcasting major alpha vibes, and my brother is anything but dumb. Aware of how powerful, but yet also somehow clueless, Chase is, Mitch could try to pull him into his inner circle and use him. I love my brother, but that place is a cesspit, and a dangerous, volatile one at that.
