Page 19 of Brick
She gaped at him.“You can’t just come in here and tell me how to approach this.Bray’s my—Our son.I know him and Keetan better than anyone.I know what’s best.”
“You know them, but you don’t know me.”
“He’s absolutely insane.”
“So am I,” he countered.
She slumped.“Bray will be scared, terrified if you go there and fight with Keetan.”
“He’ll be safe.Once we’re both out of there he’ll start to learn who I am, and hopefully I’ll gain his trust the more time I spend with him.”Because I was robbed of the first years of his life.
Natalie laced her fingers.God, he hated the bruise on her cheek.It looked as though she’d tried and failed to cover the swollen blue area with makeup.Her lips sported a scab, and bags hung beneath her eyes.He didn’t doubt she was in pain.
The fact that a man had laid hands on her made his temper ratchet up a notch.The fact that this man was a cop made Brick see fucking red.He’d relish storming the bastard’s house and pummeling the shit out of him.Of course he’d make sure Bray wasn’t around for that.
“Then what happens to me?”Natalie’s feathery voice fisted his heart.“With the allegations he’s given the police, I’ll go to jail.I can’t leave Bray.He needs me.”
By the sound of it, Natalie was the only stable person in their son’s life.That was about to change, but the fact remained that for Bray, his mother was home, comfort, and safety.Everything he knew and breathed was Natalie.“If you don’t tell me more, I can’t help.”
She shook her head.“You can’t help in this area anyway.”
He compressed his lips.She didn’t know what he was capable of.Although he didn’t have connections with the Detroit Police Department, he surely knew someone who did.
“So what do you propose here?”he said, to keep his patience in check.He was running out of it.“What was your plan before I arrived, besides meeting with your sister?”
Her throat moved on a swallow, and she dropped her gaze.
His instincts buzzed.“Natalie?”he pressed.
“I was going to talk to Ellie for moral support and, well, for backup if things didn’t go as planned.”
“What did you have planned?”he asked, as calmly as his growing anger would allow.
She finally lifted her gaze.“To give Keetan what he wants.Which is me.He wants me back, to beg for his forgiveness.He wants me scared, and he wants me under his roof.”
Hot air spiraled from his nostrils.“And you were just going to do that?Go back to a fucking abuser?”
“To protect Bray?Absolutely.”
“The guy beat the shit out of you.Did Bray see that?”
Her bottom lip trembled, and she nodded.
He balled his hands into fists.“I don’t have a crystal ball,” he said, enunciating his words.“But I know that once a man hits a woman for the first time, there’s never a last.Unless she ends up dead.He did it once, he’ll do it again.And as Bray gets older, he’ll try to protect you.”He spoke as if he were allowing her the choice to return to Keetan, but there was no way in fucking hell she was going back to that dead man.
No way in hell he’d let his son be raised like that.
“I know that,” she hissed, without venom.“I also know what he’s capable of.Going back is just a temporary solution so I can keep Bray close to me while I figure out something else.”
“Then what was Ellie for?”
Natalie lay her shaking fingers against her lips, as if attempting to hold in her words.Then she curled her fingers beneath her chin.“In case Keetan was too far gone.Then Ellie would have a chance to get to Bray.”
He gave one nod.“Well, I’m happy to blow that plan to hell.”
She froze.“I wasn’t asking your permission.There’s no other way.”
“There is.I told you—I will get our son.”
