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I rushed downstairs to meet him.
Much to my surprise, he wasn't alone. Instead, he held a sleeping Eric in his arms. His eyes went straight to lustful. He came in for a kiss. "Sorry I'm late, but there was a situation."
Talk about an understatement by the sounds of it.
"Let me put Eric to bed, and we'll catch up."
Chapter 39
Spencer
Ihated seeing Natalie look so upset, especially when she was dressed so sexy. I hated how so many people thought it was sexy to be in lingerie and makeup. Give me a girl who was all natural and in something so comfy and cozy. Besides, with the lack of anything on her lean legs, she looked oh-so good.
I quickly placed Eric in one of my guest rooms. The kid looked so tiny and helpless in a bed meant for an adult.
Feeling bad that we didn't have much for the kid, I went to my closet and dug out a box that I kept tucked away in the very back. It was a few mementos from my childhood that my mom insisted that I keep. I dug through the photos and the clothing to get a battered polar bear. It was my favorite stuffy that I used to cuddle whenever I was scared. As I came out of the closet, I also grabbed one of the promotional toys that the Legacy gave me to put in the next batch of backpacks for the kids.
I went to the guest room and stuck Bear and the teddy bear, which was wearing a Legacy jersey, next to Eric, who didn't stir.
As I exited the room, I nearly ran Natalie over, but using my quick reflexes, I pulled her close and steadied her. She used her head to point to my bedroom, and I nodded.
After the emotions of tonight, all I wanted to do was to update my woman and then collapse onto the bed. I didn't give a shit what I was wearing, although I was glad that while on the team plane, we were allowed to get into something more comfortable, so if I did crash, I was at least in a pair of sweats.
We fell onto the bed, and she asked, "What happened tonight?"
I sighed. I didn’t know how to answer. I wanted to protect my girl from the problems of the world, but she already knew all the players and had gotten dragged in.
"Want the short or long version?"
She sighed, "Whatever version you want to give me. As long as it's the truth."
I shook my head in disbelief. It was a dagger to the heart for her to think I would ever lie to her. I could be an asshole, but I wasn't ever a liar.
"Well, as I got off the plane, Eric called, saying he thought his dad was going to kill Annette. I did the only two things I knew to do. I came to save him and told him to call the police. In some ways, it was a good thing Carmie's car battery died, so I had some backup. But when we got there, the police were already arresting Luke. But Christ, Annette's in bad shape. It's a miracle that she's alive at all, and when we go to Mount Saint Joseph’s tomorrow, I wouldn't be surprised if she's been placed into a medical coma. And before you worry, the police know that Eric's with us, and it was approved by Annette prior to her trip to the hospital. Although, they did talk to Eric for a bit."
I hoped she would be okay with us being his temporary guardians. I hoped it would last for more than twenty-four hours, but who knew?
Natalie's eyes closed. It was a lot to process, even if you weren't there.
"I knew it was going to be her or that it could be me." She bit her lip. It was one of her tells that she had a secret, and she wanted to let it out but wouldn't unless you got it out of her.
"What aren't you saying? What's going on through your pretty little head?"
"What if it's all our fault?"
"What do you mean? You know shit like this is always the abuser's fault."
There was no way in hell we were responsible for anything. The things coming out of Luke's mouth were utter nonsense.
"Last week, she freaked out on me about how Scuba can't contact her even for dog walks since he's Eric's real dad. What if he found her other phone?"
I just blinked as I processed that mic drop moment.
I still couldn't see Scuba as a dad.
Okay, in this case, maybe I could since he was a player, and condoms do break. Nat was always convinced that those two were related, but that was just conjecture. How did she know from the very start?
Although if Scuba was Eric's dad, maybe there was a way to prevent Eric from ever going back to that controlling freak. I couldn't imagine Scuba stepping up to the plate and submitting for paternity and everything else. But it made me wonder if Annette was the one who got away?
