Empty Net (37 page)

“Well, Dad took the back roads and was coming around a corner when these guys in a truck bigger than his came around the same corner but in my dad’s lane, hitting him head on. It killed Mom and Dad instantly. Matilda made it to the hospital but died minutes before I got there. There were five guys in the truck, and they all survived with only minor injuries. They were all high and drunk, being stupid instead of driving.”

“Oh Tate,” Audrey said softly.

He shook his head and went on. “I had to do a legal identification of the bodies.”

“Surely not, they knew it was your family,” Audrey interjected, tears streaming down her
cheeks.

“I know, but apparently they had to have the next in bloodline to do it for it to be official,” he said, shaking his head. “It was horrible … I ended up puking all over the side of the building,” he whispered, tears escaping his eyes and rolling down his cheeks. “Seeing my baby sister bruised and lifeless was worse than seeing my parents, for some reason. She was going to be a famous dancer. She had planned to go on this dancing show in Europe as soon as she turned eighteen. She missed her birthday by thirteen days. All because some stupid idiot wanted to be reckless. He took her life and my parents from me. Three of the most amazing people were ripped from me, and I still haven’t recovered from it.”

Tate looked up at the ceiling, swallowing the sob that wanted to escape before he went on. “That’s why I freaked out tonight. I have an intense car anxiety. That’s why I really don’t sleep at night, because I see them lying there, cold, dead, when I close my eyes. I miss them every minute of every day.”

“Tate, I’m so sorry,” Audrey said, squeezing his hand while wiping her cheeks. “I wish I could make it all better. I promise, I’ll never drive like that again. I’m so sorry,” she cried.

“Thank you, love, but you have to understand that is why I freaked out on you. I would never scream at you like that, and I apologize, but I was scared for you. I’ve spent the last year and a half, empty, missing my family while trying to figure out how I was going to go on. Thankfully, I got this chance to come to the United States, and then to the Assassins. If I hadn’t, I never would have met you.” He cupped her cheeks with his hands, wiping away the tears with his long thumbs. “Audrey, I felt like I had nothing left, but you came along and changed it all. I can’t imagine losing you. I need you to know that.”

Shaking her head, she cried, “I couldn’t imagine losing you.”

“Then please, be careful, it takes a millisecond for something to go wrong.”

“I know. I’m sorry about that, and about your family. It must have hurt so much when I would bring them up.”

Tate nodded. “It did, but it was my fault. I should have told you a long time ago, and I am sorry I didn’t.”

Audrey wrapped her arms around his waist, snuggling her face against his chest. “It’s all out in the open now. Everything will be okay. We can only move forward from this.”

“You are right, and I don’t want to move forward with anyone but you, love.”

She nodded, squeezing him before she placed a kiss against his collarbone. Nothing was said as the two held each other for a long time, and Tate wouldn’t have wanted it any other way. He expected her to have more questions, but she didn’t. She only held him, which was what he needed. Finally, Audrey moved away, standing up before she slowly undressed. He watched as she kicked off her heels. Then she unzipped her dress and threw it on his dresser. She looked back at him and said, “Let’s go to bed.”

Tate nodded, standing up and undressing as she went into the bathroom. He crawled into bed, feeling the strain of the evening as he got under the covers. Audrey came out, sexy as hell in a gray lace bra and panties, but for the first time, he had no desire to have his way with her. Instead, he wanted to hold her and never let her go. He watched as she turned the light off and crawled into his bed. His hands itched to be on her, and when she was finally under the covers, he took her into his arms, kissing her temple.

“I’m sorry again,” he whispered in the darkness. “I should have told you a long time ago.”

“It’s fine,” she whispered back.

“I feel so much better, now that I have told you.”

Audrey nodded, moving closer. “Good, I’m glad.”

Tate slid his hands into her hair, moving her mouth to his and kissing her hard with all the appreciation he had for her. He couldn’t believe that she had come into his life and taken over his heart. It hadn’t been easy, but he was grateful it happened. Even if it scared him one second and made him the happiest man the next. Kissing his jaw, Audrey sighed, moving her hands up around his neck.

“I’m falling in love with you, Tate,” she whispered. “Don’t ever feel you have to hide anything from me. I will always be here for you, whenever you need me.”

He pulled his head back so he could see her face. Her eyes were bright in the darkness. Her lips parted and he could feel her heart pounding against his chest. He leaned forward, kissing her lips softly, then ran his nose against hers as he said, “And I’m falling for you, love, it’s hard not to.”

Something was different.

Audrey didn’t know what it was, but when she came downstairs and looked around her living room, she knew something wasn’t the same. In the three weeks since Tate told her about his family, their life had happily settled into a routine. Now, Tate sat at the counter, eating cereal as he played on his laptop, which was normal when he wasn’t on the road with the team. So it wasn’t that. Glancing around the room, she took in the chic pink Christmas decor that he had helped set up, even if he did complain it was too girlie. But nothing was standing out. So what could it be? Glancing at the bright pink tree that touched the ceiling and was covered in pretty white lights, she finally figured it out. Under the tree she saw a pile of presents wrapped in pink Santa paper that was different from the neon green paper on the presents she had bought for her family and Tate.

Stepping off the bottom stair, she walked to the tree, crouching to pick up one of the presents. The tag said it was for her, and from Tate. Looking over her shoulder, she saw him grinning at her.

“You know, back home,” he said, “my mom would call you a ‘present gnome.’ ”

Audrey smiled. “What does that mean?”

“It’s when you always know there are new presents under the tree and have to hold and inspect them,” he said. “She said I used to be one, but I don’t remember that. I actually like the surprise of Christmas.”

“Oh yeah, totally a present gnome right here,” she said, laughing and standing up with the
present. “What is it?”

“Not telling you. The whole point of presents is the surprise.”

Audrey waved a hand at him, shaking her head as she put the present back down and took a quick inventory of how many presents she had.

Twelve.

With a grin, she stood and put her hands on her hips. It was the first Christmas she had a boyfriend, and also the first time someone other than her family had bought her gifts. Usually she bought herself stuff, so Christmas morning wouldn’t be boring and lonely. It was sad, but it used to make her happy. She smiled, locking eyes with the man who made her see what true happiness was.

He was her happiness.

Things had been so great since Tate opened up about his family. He seemed less guarded in general, and talked more freely about his family. She had learned so much about them, it left her feeling she’d learned more about Tate too. Robert Odder had been the best doll maker in Sweden; his dolls were detailed and beautiful. He also had an extreme love of hockey. He was the reason Tate played. Julie Odder was a homemaker. She won prizes for her candies and cakes. Tate had gone on for hours about her many baked goods, and Audrey had actually looked up one of the recipes. She planned to make it for him Christmas morning.

Even though learning about his parents was great, learning about Matilda was amazing. She was such a beautiful, smart girl, and Audrey could tell that Tate loved her dearly. She competed all over the area in Sweden where the family lived, and was a damn good dancer. Tate showed her a video of Matilda at one of her competitions and it blew her away. She was tall and lean, like Tate, and her movements were so fluid, so free. It was a beautiful thing to watch. She
just wished she could have had the pleasure of meeting Matilda before the accident. She was sure she would have loved her, just as she loved Tate. She had fallen head over heels for him.

Audrey tiptoed to the breakfast bar, where Tate had a cup of coffee ready for her. She smiled a thanks to him and sipped from her mug as he continued to eat. Moving onto the seat beside him, she thumbed through the newspaper on the counter.

“Are you ready for tonight?”

She looked up and nodded. “Yup, got everything laid out, and I’m not going to hide the fact that I am very nervous.”

Tate rolled his eyes. “What do you have to be nervous about?”

She shrugged. “Your whole team will be there, and they are like your family.”

“They are my family.”

“Exactly, so I’m nervous.”

Tate chuckled. “Love, don’t worry about it. Everyone is really nice.”

“I’ve met some of them, and of course Lucas, and I don’t disagree.”

“So then? Why be nervous?”

Audrey nodded, even though her nerves were going crazy. “Okay.”

Tate stood up, went to the sink and dropped his bowl in it before coming back to the counter and Audrey. He wrapped his arms around her neck, kissing her temple. She let her head drop back so she could look up at him. He smiled and said, “I can’t wait to pick you up later and see how gorgeous you’ll be. Everyone at the party will be jealous of the girl I get to bring. So don’t be nervous anymore, okay? I’ll see you later?”

Audrey nodded. “Can’t wait.”

Tate smiled and placed his lips to hers upside down. When they parted, he smiled as he
said, “Good-bye, babe.”

“ ’Bye,” she said as she watched him grab his bag and head out the door. He had practice, and she needed to get to work.

Finishing her coffee, she made her way upstairs to get ready. She was only working for half the day since she had hair and nail appointments, something to look forward to. After quickly dressing in an outfit of dress slacks and an off-the-shoulder black sweater, she pinned up her hair and slid into black heels before running out the door.

Her workday couldn’t end quickly enough.

“How are things with Audrey?”

Tate looked up from the salad he was devouring to see Lucas looking at him, chewing on whatever he had just put in his mouth. They had decided to go to lunch at Maggiano’s after practice, and Tate was glad they did. With him dating Audrey, he hadn’t been out with his friends that much. Not that Lucas minded, but he knew that Erik and Phillip did. They gave him shit about it all the time. They just didn’t understand that Audrey was his world now.

Tate nodded, swallowing his food before he said, “Things are good.”

“Good, I’m glad. You guys seemed really happy at dinner the other night.”

Tate nodded again, remembering the dinner they had with Fallon, Lucas, and Aiden. He had been nervous, but once he got there, it was as if nothing had changed, except that he was glued to Audrey’s side and wouldn’t let her out of his sight.

“We are. We’re good. Great even.” Lucas nodded before going back to his lunch. “Fallon is coming tonight, right?”

Lucas laughed. “Of course she is. You’re bringing Audrey, right?”

“Yeah,” Tate said. “I wanted to make sure someone she knew would be there too.”

“Yeah, we’ll both be there.”

Tate nodded before going back to his salad. He wanted to ask Lucas something but felt stupid about it. It wasn’t that he thought Lucas would make fun of him, but that he should know the answer without asking. Tate stared at the top of Lucas’s hat-covered head, trying to decide what to do. When Lucas looked up and narrowed his eyes, Tate laughed.

“What the hell are you staring at?”

“That ugly ass hat,” Tate teased.

“Hey, shut up,” Lucas retorted as Tate laughed. He could tell he was annoyed. Oh well, he would be okay, his hat
was
ugly. Who wore a hat with a duck on it?

“I wanted to ask you something,” he said.

“Okay,” Lucas said, nodding.

“When did you know you loved Fallon?” Tate asked.

Lucas smiled. “I think I knew that first night. She walked in with a short-ass skirt on. I mean her ass was practically hanging out.” He closed his eyes and shook his head, a contented smile on his lips. “She also had a low-cut blouse, and I almost didn’t try hitting on her because she had no boobs, but then she looked at me and I couldn’t breathe. Her wide eyes were to die for, and when she talked, man, I was a goner. We spent the night together and I asked her not to leave, to tour the world with me. She did, and it was the best summer of my life. She made my life worth living when I didn’t want to live at all. I have been totally devoted to her since then.”

Tate smiled, nodding. “That is how I feel about Audrey. I think I love her.”

Lucas smiled. “Have you told her?”