Like Father, Like Son ✔

Chapter 22 - Break

CHAPTER 22

CAT

Cat didn't immediately look up from her notes when she heard Nick and Luke come into the apartment. "How did it go?" she called out, a smile forming on her lips, only to have it wiped right off again when she heard Luke's scurrying footsteps and then his bedroom door slam shut.

Her eyes darted up to Nick's face and she swore.

"Holy fuck, what the hell happened to your face?" she hissed, standing up so fast that she made herself a little lightheaded. She cupped the side of Nick's jaw and inspected the split lip a little closer, only to whip her hand away when she felt him wince under her touch.

"Your ex, he decided my face needed rearranging," Nick snarled.

Cat took a cautionary step back, her eyes going wide with shock.

"James hit you?" she hissed.

"No, we made out," Nick huffed sarcastically.

God, he looked so angry. His features were twisted in a way that made him look almost terrifying. She'd never seen him like that before. She'd seen him annoyed, and a few times they'd argued over stupid things, but right now he was really upset and she didn't know how to handle him. He clearly didn't want her to touch him... so she didn't.

"James? What? I don't understand," she murmured.

"He saw me with Luke, he—uh, got upset... I don't know..." Nick muttered, his words not quite making sense. He dug his fingers into his hair and started to pace, almost tripping over Duke in the process. "Fucking hell," he swore down at the guide dog that'd been his constant companion for two years.

"Nick," Cat whispered anxiously, placing a hand on his arm and willing him to come to a stop in front of her. "Did—?" she began to speak, but he cut her off, not seeming to have heard her at all.

"I didn't hit him back," he said almost defensively. "I wanted to, fuck knows I wanted to... but... Luke was there, and uh... I didn't want to hit his dad, you know? Not in front of him."

His dad... There was such venom in the way Nick spoke those two words that it caused chills to run down Cat's spine.

"Nick," Cat whispered.

"You should probably go talk to him," Nick dismissed her. "He saw and heard some things that... he probably shouldn't have. Cat, I messed up, I'm sorry," he added, his shoulders sagging as anger turned to something else... an emotion that Cat couldn't quite place.

Was it guilt, or shame – or both?

"What did he say to you? What did Luke overhear?" Cat asked, ignoring his last remark. She couldn't stop pacing the length between the coffee table and the unit holding the flat screen TV.

"He called me—stuff, it's not worth repeating..." Nick shrugged. "It's just the way he said it, and the way he got all up in my face. It scared Luke shitless, and... he won't talk to me now. I think maybe I scared him too... I don't know... I just... I didn't want him – James – to run off with Luke, and for a second I thought he might— freaking... Cat, I just wanted him safe and for a second there, I wasn't sure I could protect him. I couldn't have chased after them. I couldn't have fucking seen where they'd even gone to tell the cops! It would've been so easy for him to take Luke... and I would've been fucking useless. I'm fucking useless."

Cat was fighting hard to keep the tears that were prickling behind her eyelids from falling. She wrapped her arms around Nick's middle, relief washing over her when he didn't pull away this time around. How could he think so lowly of himself right now after everything he'd done for her and her son in the last few months? How could he talk himself down like that when Luke was very clearly unharmed? Nick didn't do anything wrong. Not a thing!