In the Likely Event(66)

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Color flushed his father’s cheeks.

“It means that you can live in it for now.” Nate shrugged.

“For now?” His brow furrowed, and his hands curled into fists.

My pulse jumped.

“For months. For years. Who knows. But one day I’ll sell it.” Nate’s voice lowered, and even the groundskeepers stopped what they were doing to watch. “And I won’t tell you, won’t warn you.” He shook his head. “No, I want you scared. I want you to wake up every single day and wonder, worry, if today is the day that what you did to her comes back to haunt you. I want you just as anxious as she was every single night, waiting to see what kind of mood you’d be in when you got home, waiting to see if she’d be your punching bag or if you’d reach for me.”

My stomach fell to the ground. Nate had boarded our flight with a split lip four years ago. What had he said about the wound? About the split knuckles?

It won’t exactly be the first time someone has swung for me, and at least this time I’ll be armed. He’d been talking about his father.

“And my biggest regret isn’t that I didn’t come home to visit,” Nate continued. “She knew I’d sworn to never breathe the same air as you ever again. My biggest regret is that I couldn’t get her to leave, too, no matter how hard I tried.”

“You little shit.” His father lunged, and before I could shout, Nate caught the fist swinging in his direction.

“It’s going to take a lot more than that to hit me now.” Nate’s knuckles turned white, and his father yelped, yanking his fist out of Nate’s grip. “I’m not a scrawny teenager anymore. I’ve spent years ending bullies just like you. You can’t scare me anymore.”

His father’s eyes widened as he cradled his hand, backing away from Nate slowly. “You’ll regret that.” The frost in his voice made me shiver.

“I doubt it.”

“You want to swing on me, don’t you, boy?” A corner of his mouth twisted.

“Yes.” Nate’s arms fell to his sides. “But I’m not going to. That’s the difference between you and me.”

“You keep telling yourself that.” Nate’s father spat on the ground, then turned and stalked away, heading for a blue F-150 parked along the curb.

Holy shit. This was how Nate grew up, and somehow he’d turned out like . . . Nate.

He pivoted slowly to face me, and for a second, I didn’t recognize him. This man wasn’t the Nathaniel I knew. I had no doubt that the man in front of me had been to war, that he’d seen things, done things, I’d never fully understand.

And yet, I wasn’t scared of him.

“I’ll walk you to your car,” he said, leaving no room for argument.

I nodded, and his hand gentled as he set it on the small of my back. We walked silently to the sedan I’d rented, because for once, I was at a loss for words. There was a tension in him, a restlessness I didn’t know what to do with. I was out of my depth.

My phone buzzed rhythmically, and I reached for it out of habit, but my fingers were stiff with cold, and I accidentally answered and managed to hit the speakerphone instead of end. “Mom, I’ll call you—”

“Tell me you did not leave a date with a promising tech developer to chase after that soldier, Isa, or so help me—”

I stabbed at the screen, taking the call off speaker, and I lifted the phone to my ear. “Mom! I will call you later.” My cheeks heated with embarrassment. Nate heard that.

“You’re showing a serious lack of judgment with your choices.”

“They’re my choices to make. I’ll call you when I’m back in DC.” I hit the end button with more aggression than necessary and chanced a look up at Nate. “I’m so sorry. She’s . . . my mother.”

His jaw flexed. “Nothing to be sorry for. She didn’t say anything about me that isn’t true.”

“She doesn’t even know you,” I argued as we reached the car and I traded my phone for the car keys.

“Where are you staying?” he asked, then scoffed. “I don’t know why I asked. There’s only one hotel in town.”

“I’m in the presidential suite,” I answered, opening the door I hadn’t bothered to lock. “It was all they had left.”

His tan jaw flexed as he nodded.

God, my entire body, as cold and waterlogged as it was, hurt for him. “I can stay.”

He looked back at the grave site. “No. I’m thankful you’re here. Really, I am. But I just want to be alone with her for a little while.” His mouth twisted in a grimace. “If I can get my aunts to leave.”

“Okay.”

“I hate that you saw that.” He wouldn’t look at me.

“I hate that you went through it.” His coat was soaked through as I reached for his forearm, desperate to touch him, to comfort him in any way I could. “Tell me what you need, Nate.”

“If I figure it out, I’ll let you know, Izzy.” He walked away, and I let him.





I tied the belt on my robe, then ran my brush through my wet hair as I walked back into the bedroom of my hotel suite, finally warm enough to feel my toes.