Chapter 10 Betty
Itold the truth.
For two hours, I sat in that witness box and recounted every detail of the night Chris Greene was murdered. The sound of the gunshots. The way his body had crumpled to the ground. The faces of the two cops standing over him, their badges glinting in the dim light of the alley.
The defense attorney tried to shake me. Tried to poke holes in my story, suggest I'd been drinking, imply I couldn't have seen what I said I saw from where I was standing.
I didn't waver.
When I finally stepped down from the stand, my legs were trembling and my throat was raw. But I'd done it. I'd told the truth, and nothing they said could take that away.
Agent Torres met me outside the courtroom doors.
"You did good," she said. "Really good. The jury was with you the whole time."
"What happens now?"
"Now we wait for the verdict. But between your testimony and everything else we've got on Briggs, I'd be surprised if it takes them more than a few hours."
Hudson was waiting for me in the hallway, just like he'd promised, and I walked straight into his arms.
"It's done," I said against his chest. "I did it."
"I know, honey." His arms tightened around me. "I'm so proud of you."
We stayed like that for a long moment, just holding each other in the middle of the busy courthouse hallway. I didn't care who was watching. I didn't care about anything except the solid warmth of him, the steady beat of his heart beneath my cheek.
"Let's get out of here," he said finally. "You need food and rest."
"I need you."
His breath caught. "You have me. Always."
We left the courthouse through a back entrance to avoid the press, Santos driving us in a nondescript SUV with tinted windows. Hudson sat beside me in the backseat, his hand wrapped around mine, his thumb tracing circles on my palm.
"Where are we going?" I asked.
"Your apartment. Martinez has been there all morning, making sure everything's secure." He lifted my hand to his lips, pressing a kiss to my knuckles. "I thought you'd want to sleep in your own bed tonight."
My own bed. I hadn't been there in days. It felt like a lifetime.
"That sounds perfect."
The verdict came four hours later.
Guilty. On all counts.
Torres called to deliver the news while Hudson and I were curled up on my couch, a half-eaten pizza on the coffee table and some mindless movie playing on the TV. I put the phone on speaker so Hudson could hear.
"Life without parole," Torres said. "He's never getting out."
I closed my eyes, letting the words wash over me. Life without parole. Briggs was going to spend the rest of his miserable existence in a prison cell, paying for what he'd done to Chris Greene.
"Thank you," I said, my voice thick. "For everything."
"You're the one who deserves the thanks, Ms. Ramirez. You put yourself on the line to make sure justice was served. That took guts."
After I hung up, I turned to Hudson. He was watching me with an expression I couldn't quite read.
"It's really over," I said.
"Yeah." He pulled me into his lap, cradling me against his chest. "It's really over."
I buried my face in his neck and let myself cry. Hudson held me through all of it, his hands stroking my back, his voice a low murmur in my ear.
"I've got you," he said. "I've got you, honey. Let it out."
I don't know how long we stayed like that. Long enough for the tears to stop. Long enough for my breathing to even out. Long enough for something new to take root in my chest.
Hope.
For the first time in months, I actually believed that everything was going to be okay.
I lifted my head to look at him, and the love I saw in his eyes made my heart ache.
"Hudson?"
"Yeah?"
"Take me to bed."
His eyes darkened. "Betty, you're exhausted. You need to sleep."
"I will. After." I pressed a kiss to the corner of his mouth. "I need you. I need to feel something good after everything that's happened. I need you to remind me what it's like to feel safe and loved and alive."
He was quiet for a moment, searching my face. Whatever he found there must have convinced him, because he stood, lifting me easily in his arms.
"Hold on to me," he said.
I wrapped my arms around his neck as he carried me to the bedroom, my heart pounding with anticipation. He laid me down on the bed gently, like I was something precious, and then just stood there, looking at me.
"What?" I asked.
"I'm just... memorizing this. You, here, safe. Mine."
"Yours," I agreed. "Always yours."
He stripped off his shirt, and I let my eyes roam over the hard planes of his chest, the tattoos, the scars. He was beautiful. Dangerous and damaged and absolutely beautiful.
"Your turn," he said, his voice rough.
I sat up and pulled my shirt over my head, then reached back to unclasp my bra. His eyes tracked every movement, hungry and hot.
"The rest," he said.
I stood and shimmied out of my jeans and panties, standing naked before him. The way he looked at me made me feel powerful. Desired. Worshipped.
"Come here," I said.
He closed the distance between us in two strides, his mouth crashing down on mine. The kiss was deep and desperate, all the fear and relief and love of the past few days pouring out of us both.
His hands were everywhere. My back, my hips, my breasts. I moaned into his mouth, my fingers fumbling with the button on his jeans, needing to feel him.
"Easy," he murmured against my lips. "We've got all night."
"I don't want easy. I want you."
He growled, low in his throat, and lifted me again. My legs wrapped around his waist as he carried me to the bed, laying me down and covering my body with his.
"You want me?" he asked, his voice dark with promise. "You've got me. Every inch of me. For as long as you want."
"Forever," I breathed.
"Forever it is."
He kissed his way down my body, taking his time, kissing every inch of skin. By the time he reached the apex of my thighs, I was trembling, my hands fisted in the sheets.
"Hudson, please."
"Please what, baby?"
"Touch me. I need you to touch me."
He spread my legs wider and lowered his mouth to me, and I cried out, my back arching off the bed. He knew exactly how to play my body, exactly what I needed. His tongue circled my clit while his fingers slid inside me, and within minutes I was shattering, pleasure crashing through me in waves.
He didn't stop. Just kept going, pushing me higher and higher until I came again, then again, sobbing his name.
"No more," I gasped. "I can't. I need you inside me."
He kissed his way back up my body and positioned himself at my entrance. "Look at me."
I opened my eyes, meeting his gaze.
"I love you," he said. "I have always loved you. And I'm never leaving you again."
"I love you too. Now please, Hudson. Please."
He slid inside me slowly, inch by inch, until he was buried to the hilt. We both groaned at the sensation.
"God, you feel good," he rasped. "So tight. So perfect."
He started to move, long, deep strokes that hit every sensitive spot inside me. I wrapped my legs around his waist, pulling him deeper, and he cursed under his breath.
"Betty. Fuck. You're going to make me lose control."
"Then lose it. I want all of you."
Something snapped in his expression. He grabbed my hips and started to thrust harder, faster, the headboard slamming against the wall with every movement. I was crying out with every thrust, pleasure building inside me like a wave about to crest.
"Touch yourself," he ordered. "I want to feel you come around me."
I slid my hand between us, rubbing my clit in time with his thrusts, and that was all it took. I shattered, screaming his name, my whole body convulsing.
He followed me over the edge moments later, burying himself deep and groaning as he came. The feeling of him pulsing inside me sent aftershocks of pleasure rippling through me.
We lay there in comfortable silence, our heartbeats gradually slowing.
"Hudson?"
"Yeah, baby?"
"What happens now?"
He was quiet for a moment. "What do you want to happen?"
"I want you to stay. Not just for tonight. I want you to stay."
"That's convenient," he said, and I could hear the smile in his voice. "Because I wasn't planning on going anywhere."
I lifted my head to look at him. "Really?"
"Really." He cupped my face, his thumb brushing over my cheekbone. "I meant what I said, Betty. I'm done running. Done staying away. Whatever comes next, we face it together."
"Together," I agreed.
He kissed me softly, and I felt the last of my walls crumble.