Zac got a call later that evening from Taylor himself, and he learned of what was going on with Natalie and the kids. It pissed him off as well that she could put the kids in that situation. Not knowing that his wife had any idea of what was going on, he went to her as soon as he got off the phone. She was in the living room, playing with their son George. It put a smile on his face to see her so happy, but he knew he had to tell her about her best friend.
" Honey, we need to talk." Stepping furter into the room, he looked down at his son, who was on the floor, giggling from being tickled.
" What's up? Is everything okay?" She looked up at him worriedly, seeing how serious he looked.
He sat down on the floor next to her, and took her hands in his. " I just got off the phone with Taylor. He..."
" Is he okay? What about..."
" He is okay, and so are the kids and Ashley. It's Natalie, sweetheart. But before you go crazy on me here, she is fine. It's just... Nathan has been abusing her. That's why she left in the first place. She thought that leaving town would keep them safe, but he followed her."
Kate looked up at him, trying to act totally surprised by the news. But she must not have succeeded, because he saw something inn her eyes that gave her away.
" Kate, please don't tell me you already knew this, that Natalie told you everything and... just don't..."
" I'm sorry, Zac. But she confided in me, and she is my best friend. You have to understand that!" She threw her hands up in the air. " If this was the other way around..."
" I would not keep it a secret, and especially not from you!" He screamed at her. " We're supposed to be honest with each other, Kate. You... you promised me you had changed!"
His sudden outburst scared both her and George. She saw his face turn red with anger, and watched as he punched a hole in the nearest wall. George began to cry, and she took him in her arms. " Zac, stop it! You are scaring our son and me too." She exclaimed.
" How could you watch her take my nieces and nephews knowing they could be in danger, Kate? Could you explain that to me?" He continued to scream, absolutely furious with her.
She stood up and began to leave the room. " We'll talk about this later. George is all upset thanks to you."
He grabbed her by the arm tightly, not realizing he was hurting her. " Do not walk away from me, Kate! You explain this to me, try to make me understand."
She winced in pain by his tight grasp. " Let go of me, Zac. I will take the kids and leave if you don't." She spoke angrily, trying not to show her fear. At the moment she didn't know what he was capable of.
Releasing his grip on her, he took a step back. " I... I'm sorry. But I do not understand this, Kate. You knew he was dangerous, yet you watched her leave. How could you?"
Tears formed in her eyes. " She... she's pregnant, Zac. I thought if she left it was for the best, so he wouldn't find out. I... I had no idea... please try to understand that I was only looking out for my best friend."
He shook his dead in disbelief. " This just get's better. She's pregnant?"
" Yes, and she doesn't need him to find out. Who know what he may do to her if..."
" All she has to do is file for full custody, Kate! She didn't have to go on the run." He exlaimed. " How far along is she?"
" About two months." Kate told him, barely above a whisper. She tried to calm George down by rocking him in her arms, but it just wasn't working. " Can I please just take him upstairs and find a way to calm him? We can discuss this in a bit."
" Whatever." He walked out of the room, taking out his cell phone. He called Taylor back to tell him what he had learned from Kate.
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The night got more interesting out in Georgia. As soon as he got off the phone for a second time with Zac, Taylor confronted Natalie about it. He took her out into the hallway of the hotel so they could talk, just the two of them. He wasn't going to discuss it with the kids in the room.
She confessed to him the truth, not denying it. Knowing there was no way she could keep lying to him, it all spilled out. She saw the anger in his eyes, yet they were filled with worry too. " I'm sorry I didn't tell you, Taylor. But I figured it was my problem, not your's. I trusted the wrong guy."
" That's for sure. Natalie, I... I get why you felt the need to keep it to yourself, but believe it or not I still care about you. There is a part of me that will never stop. If something were to happen to you, I would go nuts." He took her hands in his. " You should have told me what was going on. He would have been in jail sooner if you had."
Tears came to her eyes. " I know. But I was so scared he would kill me if I told anyone, Taylor. Or even worse, maybe hurt the kids. I couldn't let that happen."
Pulling her into a hug, he kissed her cheek. " I get it. But you put our kids in danger by taking off. You can't ever do that again, Natalie. I can't defend you or the kids if you do."
She nodded to say she understood. " I... I need to lay down. I am so tired. It's been a long day."
" Go ahead. I'm going to give Ashley a call and tell her what's going on." He took out his cell phone, and watched her go into her room before dialing the humber. Talking to Ashley for almost an hour, he explained everything to her that had happened since his last update to her. She couldn't believe all he had to say, and the two agreed that with how serious it all was that they needed to upgrade their security system. He wanted to hire a few guards to watch the house, and to watch Natalie and the kids at all times.
She told him that Arielle and Christopher had figured out something was up, and that she had told them what was going on. He wasn't thrilled to hear that, but he knew how smart they were. They would have figured it out anyway, since they had been through a smiliar situation themselves.
When he finally climbed into bed, as stressed out as he was, he fell into a deep sleep within just a few minutes.
