Georgia turned, her pretty face furious. “And who do I have to blame for that?”
“Watch the fighting around the kids.” Sam’s voice had gone dark, proving he could alpha up when he needed to.
“It’s okay, Daddy.” Olivia Barnes-Fleetwood piped up from her place beside her father. “Josh and I don’t mind the fighting. It’s funny.”
Josh frowned. “As long as the fighting don’t lead to kissing. So many times it leads to kissing and that’s just gross.”
Abby got to one knee and started explaining grammar to her son, but Chase walked in, his big body filling the doorway, and Nat couldn’t think of anything else.
“Hi.” The greeting came out way breathier than she’d meant it to. It had come out sounding like an invitation. She’d fallen asleep on the poor man. She’d backed off from him. She’d slept with his brother. Tonight she wanted to make up for all that.
But he didn’t look interested. His eyes scanned her from her head down to her toes, and she could tell so easily that he didn’t like what he saw.
“I don’t like it. Take it off.”
She took a step back. “What?”
Chase followed her. He didn’t seem to care that they had an audience. “I don’t like it. Go back to the guesthouse and take it off. I want you properly dressed without all that makeup on before we have dinner. Do you understand?”
“You told Georgia to experiment.” Hurt burned at her gut. Maybe she didn’t look as nice as she thought she did. She’d thought she looked exotic and mysterious, but underneath it all she was still just plain old Nat. She’d known all along that she wasn’t in their league.
“I don’t like the experiment. Take it off.” He was in full-on Dom-prick mode, and Nat wondered briefly what had happened to turn him back into the remote, cold man she’d seen that first time. She’d thought they’d connected. She’d thought she’d gotten past his barriers.
“She looks awesome.” Georgia stepped up.
Logan put a hand on her elbow, pulling her back. “Not now, Georgia.”
The whole room had gone silent, every face watching them. Everyone was watching Chase completely humiliate her.
“Come on, kids. Let’s go make sure Benita doesn’t need help.” Sam reached out for his daughter but simply picked Josh up.
“I think I should stay with Nat. I don’t like how that man’s talking to her, though I didn’t like all that stuff on her face either. I was more polite.” Josh kept pleading his case as his dad carried him out.
Nice that the four-year-old knew how to be polite, but Chase Dawson hadn’t figured it out. “I think I’ll just have dinner first. I can take all this off before I go to bed.”
Alone. She didn’t have to do what he told her. She could stand on her own.
Chase crowded her. “You’re flunking the test, Natalie. You’re behaving like a disobedient little brat, and I won’t stand for it.”
Test? He was testing her? “You take your test and shove it right up your ass, Dawson.”
Arctic blue eyes stared down at her. “Get to the room now. Take off the shit on your face and get rid of that wig. Clean yourself up then come back downstairs. I haven’t decided if I’m going to allow you a place to sit or if you can sit at my feet and take what I choose to feed you. I think it will all depend on how nicely you choose to apologize.”
Anger flooded her senses. He thought he could pull this shit on her? She’d completely misjudged him. She’d thought there was a soul under all that Alpha-Dom BS, but he was just like the rest of them. The minute she did something he didn’t like, he turned on her.
She looked back, and Ben stood in the doorway with Jack Barnes at his back. Ben’s eyes were somber, but he didn’t move forward to defend her.
“You in on this little runaround, Ben?” Nat asked.
His mouth tightened. “I think you should do as he says, Nat. We can talk about this in private. Right now, you’re making a spectacle of yourself.”
“Fuck you, too, Ben.” They wanted to treat her like dirt, and she wasn’t about to put up with it. “How about you, Barnes? You want to heap a little shit on me, too?”
If she thought Chase was cold, Jack Barnes could freeze the world with the look he gave her. “I think I would like for you to remember that you’re in my home, and I deserve a little courtesy.”
She laughed, a bitter huff coming out of her mouth. She’d spent the afternoon trying to make herself prettier and this was what she got. Sure, maybe she’d failed, but she didn’t deserve this. “Sure, Barnes. Hey, how about I get the fuck out of your house and then you don’t have to worry about the brat.”
She pulled the wig off her head and handed it back to Abby. It wasn’t Abby’s fault her husband was being a prick. “Sorry. I don’t think he’ll want me to babysit anymore. Please tell Josh and Olivia good-bye for me.”
Abby sighed. “Oh, hon, please think this through. Something is going on here.”
“Bye, Abby.” She started for the door. She could walk back to the freaking spa. Sure, it was fifteen miles away, but she wasn’t about to let one of them drive her home. She could call Gretchen. Gretchen would be thrilled to know she’d fucked up.
“Stop right there, Natalie.” The command in Chase’s voice actually stopped her for a moment.
“Fuck off, Dawson.” She wasn’t going to allow any man to tell her what to do ever again. Not ever. They could all fuck off.
His hand came out, grabbing for her elbow, pulling her back. “You’re not going anywhere, sweetness. We need to talk.”
She barely registered his softer tone. All she knew was that he was grabbing her. Grabbing her to put her someplace where she didn’t want to be. A cage? Did he think he could put her in a fucking cage and she would just go quietly? She kicked out, every instinct in her body screaming at her to get the fuck away and do it now. She wasn’t thinking. She was reacting. Pure fear coursed through her. It was like she was right back in the moment.
She hauled off with her free arm, punching at the man trying to hold her down.
“Natalie! Natalie!”
In her mind, she could hear another voice. The one that ordered her to stay still while he beat her, raped her, used her like she was nothing. She couldn’t be nothing again. Not ever again.
“Please, sweetness.” Two sets of big arms wound around her, pressing her in and catching her between them.
“Calm down. Calm down. It’s over, baby.”
Ben was behind her, one arm around her waist. Her vision started to clear. Chase had a scratch on his neck from her nails. She’d hit him over and over, kicked him and scratched. And he hadn’t fought back. Not once.
He stared down at her, his eyes cloudy with some unnamed emotion. “You have to understand we can’t take you with us.”
“Abby, why don’t we take everyone to the dining room and let our guests sort this out.” Jack Barnes put an arm around his wife’s waist and touched his head to hers, an intimate gesture. “It’s all right, baby. She’s going to be safe.” He turned back. “I asked them to test you. This whole thing is moving too fast. You can’t go in with them.”
Chase had said something about a test. They were testing her? By being cruel?
The crowd fled, Logan pulling Georgia out with him. Finally they were alone, but it was far too late.
“Let me go.” She pushed at them.
“Please, Natalie.” Chase’s arms tightened. “Don’t be mad. I couldn’t let you come with us without knowing. Don’t be mad. I’m trying to protect you. God, I need to protect you, sweetness.”
He kept trying to get close to her, but she couldn’t stand it.
“Let me go, Chase. Let me go now or are you as bad as the rest of them?” She just wanted to get away. Her heart was thundering, blood pounding. All the ugliness she’d survived was right there at the surface. It boiled and bubbled, threatening to scald her.