Page 52 of Broken

“Yeah, I’m fine. Families, huh?” I say, forcing a smile.

“Do you need anything?”

I bite my lip and nod. “I could really use a hug.”

Seemingly without a second’s pause for thought, he steps forward and wraps his giant arms around me. I bury my face in his suit jacket. “Thank you, Tedward. Will you please take me home?”

“My pleasure, Mrs. James.”

Chapter

Twenty-Eight

NATHAN

“Is everything okay?” I say into my phone after answering my driver’s call.

I hear him take a deep breath. “I’m not sure, sir. Mrs. James just left her mother’s house, and she seemed quite upset.”

“Did she say what happened?”

“She said she was fine, but then she… She needed a hug, sir.”

I roll my neck and clench my free hand into a fist. I can guarantee her reaction had something to do with her asshole brother. “Bring her to me.”

“She said she wants to go home, sir.”

“You can get her here faster than I can get home to her. Bring her to me.”

“Of course, sir.”

I end the call and look up to find my dad and brothers staring at me. “Mel just left her mother’s house upset. I told Teddy to bring her here.”

My dad offers me a reassuring nod. “I’ll set another place for dinner.”

Elijah frowns. “Did he say what happened? Is she okay?”

I shake my head. “Teddy didn’t know. She didn’t say, and I know better than to push her on it. There’s some weird dynamic there that I need to get to the bottom of.”

Mason shivers. “Her brother gives me the fucking creeps.”

“He’s a dick,” Elijah adds.

“Well, she’ll be okay here with her new family,” Dad adds, his gray eyes shining. “Maybe you should both stay over?” I don’t miss the plea in his tone. He must be really lonely in this big old house without my mom and us kids. I get now why he’s so desperate for grandchildren, and my heart aches for everything he lost when our mom died.

Stepping away, I dial Mel’s number, and she answers after a few rings. “Hey, corazón, my dad and brothers are giving me shit for not bringing you here today. They miss you. We haven’t eaten yet, so I asked Teddy to bring you here.”

“Oh. I was gonna go home and have a nice long bath. I’m kind of beat.”

“You can soak in the tub here. We’ll stay over and watch one of those cheesy movies you like in bed. I’ll make sure you’re back in time for work tomorrow morning.”

“Okay. That sounds nice.” I can almost hear the smile on her face, and after I hang up, I spend a long moment thinking about how nice it will be to have a family dinner with my wife by my side.

“Wow!”Mel gasps when she walks into the bathroom. “That is a huge tub.”

“Seems like a shame for one person to sit in it alone.”

She folds her arms over her chest and smirks. “Aren’t you supposed to be helping your dad with dinner?”

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