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“I need to speak to Natalia.” My fists balled, but miraculously, I managed to keep them at my sides and not punch the asshole in the face.
Garrett squinted and looked me up and down. He stepped into the doorway and pulled the door closed behind him before folding his arms across his bare chest. “We’re a little busy right now.” He lifted his chin. “Whatever you were to Nat while I wasn’t here, you aren’t anymore, buddy.”
I had two choices: Push past him—which I knew from a quick glance at his physique wouldn’t be an issue—and demand to speak to Natalia, or turn around with my tail between my legs and leave, because there was no way in hell this guy planned to let me in.
I wasn’t leaving without seeing Natalia. I didn’t want a fight with this guy. Yet I needed to talk to her.
Luckily, Garrett wasn’t prepared for how dead set I was to speak to her, so it didn’t take much effort to brush past him. I caught him off guard, but his hand was already on my shoulder as I yelled Natalia’s name inside the apartment.
“Get out. Whoever you are, my wife doesn’t want to see you anymore.”
I pushed his hand from my shoulder and turned to face him. “Ex-wife. And I’d like to hear that from Natalia directly. I don’t want a scene. I just want to speak to her.”
The sound of a door creaking open from down the hallway interrupted our stare-off, and we both turned in the direction of the noise. I was expecting Natalia, but instead Izzy walked down the hall, pushing a set of Bose headphones from her ears.
She either hadn’t heard the confrontation brewing with her father or didn’t care. Her face lit up when she saw me. “Hunter! What are you doing here?”
I caught Garrett studying our interaction from my peripheral vision. “I stopped by to talk to Natalia. Sorry if I woke you, honey.”
She waved me off. “I wasn’t sleeping.”
I used the opportunity to push for what I’d come for. “Is Nat sleeping? Would you mind telling her I’m here?”
She furrowed her brows. “Nat’s not here. Didn’t Dad tell you? She’s staying at her mom’s this week.”
I looked at Garrett as I responded to Izzy. “No, he didn’t mention that.”
Izzy was a smart kid. She picked up on what was going on. Rolling her eyes, she shook her head at her father before looking to me. “Dad wanted to spend time with me, but Nat didn’t want to interrupt my school routine.” Her gaze shifted to her father. “My father offered to sleep on the couch. But Nat didn’t want him under the same roof as her because he would try to play games.”
“Isabella,” her father warned.
“What?” she said. “It’s the truth.”
I smiled. Love this kid. “Thanks, Izzy. I’ll see you soon.”
She grinned. “You will?”
I winked. “If I have anything to do with it, I will.”
***
I’d been sitting on the stoop since dark.
I’d watched the dark blue night sky give way to yellow and orange as the sun rose. It had been years since I’d taken the time to watch a sunrise or sunset. This is living—not fucking my way through California waiting for a twitch in my finger to show up. I’d decided over the last three hours that if I was lucky enough to get to have Natalia in my life, I wanted to get up an hour earlier each day so I had sixty minutes more to spend with her.
At almost eight o’clock, I heard the door unlock behind me. I stood from the second step down where I’d been waiting and turned to find Bella. She took one look at me and glanced back over her shoulder, pulling the door closed behind her.
“My daughter is in pain.”
I looked down. “I know. I’m sorry.”
“Is there another woman?”
“No, ma’am. There is no other woman.”
She pondered that for a moment.