Chapter 18
A clicking sound behind them caused Jarek to loosen his grip as he turned to look. Cassie took advantage of the moment, dropping down to her knees and rolling away. He dove on top of her; cold metal once again at her throat.
“Don’t you move another inch,” warned Jarek through what sounded like gritted teeth. “And don’t you ever threaten me again, bitch.”
Beau dismounted his horse. He kept the gun pointed at Jarek. “Put the knife away, and no one gets hurt.”
One slip from Jarek or finger twitch from Beau, and her life could be over. The gravity of the situation punched her. Not without meeting my son or seeing Hudson one more time.
“Stand up,” Jarek hissed in her ear. “But do it slowly.”
Cassie did as told, careful not to slip or move too suddenly.
“This is what’s going to go down. We’re walking out of here.” Jarek forced her to take a step backward. His free hand swept toward the other men. “You won’t follow.”
Another step.
Beau didn’t move. He just glanced over at Marcus and back.
Marcus was a statue. The threat of getting tangled up with a notorious crime syndicate had been enough to mute him.
Cassie couldn’t blame him. He wore a gold band on his wedding finger.
He might have kids. There was no shame in self-preservation.
“Stay right where you are, and she lives.” More steps back.
Beau frowned. His gaze searched hers like he might be able to find a good next step in there. Or was he searching for forgiveness because he couldn’t save her?
The fact he’d shown up meant the world. A little piece of her wished Hudson was here instead. But wishes were for kids with coins to throw into fountains. Cassie’s life didn’t have storybook endings.
A few more steps made Beau and Marcus shrink a little bit more.
And then a hard stop. Cassie’s back nailed Jarek’s chest.
“Sonofabitch.” Hudson’s voice came from behind loud and clear as the knife flew away, and Jarek was wrestled to the ground. “You didn’t expect me to show up, did you?” he asked a wide-eyed Jarek.
Someone deadlegged her. She fell on top of them.
Jarek thrashed around like a shark as Hudson struggled to keep the upper hand.
Cassie dove toward the glint of metal and came up with the knife a few moments later. She rolled away from the men so Jarek couldn’t accidentally take the weapon from her.
She stood by, helpless, as she watched the men fight for control. Beau and Marcus were beside her, the three of them looking for an opportunity to help while standing idly by.
Hudson grunted as he took a knee to the stomach. He reacted with a punch so hard that it caused Jarek’s head to snap back.
They were on the ground, on their sides, with fists flying.
She had to do something. She searched the ground and saw something that might work. A broken limb had the thickness of a baseball bat. Could she get off a swing and hit the correct target?
Cassie tossed the knife and yelled for Marcus and Beau to take a step back. Out of the corner of her eye, she glimpsed something golden moving with athletic grace through the thicket. The mountain lion?
Shit.
Locking gazes with Marcus, she pointed to the area where she’d seen it, but she couldn’t be certain it wasn’t a ghost. With an understanding nod, Marcus took off in that direction. Beau stayed with her, his face pinched in pain.
Hudson glanced over at her. The move cost him a punch in the side, but he saw the bat-like branch in her hand. She lifted it, ready to strike, and prayed he’d caught on.
In a pre-emptive strike, he brought his boot up to Jarek’s chest and kicked.
Cassie saw her opening, aimed, and then slammed the branch down on Jarek’s forehead. His head fell slack.
Hudson popped up, rolled Jarek onto his stomach, and brought his hands up behind his back. He looked at Beau. “Find cell coverage and get Travis here.”
“You got it,” Beau said.
“Thank you.” Hudson’s sincere tone brought a warm smile to Beau’s face. “I mean it.”
“No problem, Hudson.”
“Don’t you mean, ‘No problem, brother?’”
Now, Cassie was in tears.
The last drops of adrenaline must have worn off because a wave of dizziness threatened to knock her down. She sat and leaned against the nearest tree for support.
“That’s your blood,” Hudson said after muttering a few choice words under his breath.
“Don’t worry about me,” she said. “I’ll be fine.”
The last thing Cassie remembered was the look of fear on Hudson’s face before everything went dark.
Hudson paced the hospital halls. He’d taken a shower, mainly to kill time, and drank one too many cups of coffee, toggling between Cassie’s and Beau’s rooms. Beau’s injury was minor in comparison to Cassie’s.
Beau woke first, surrounded by the family.
“Where’s Cassie?” he asked.
“She’s in recovery and isn’t allowed visitors,” Kade supplied. “How are you feeling?”
“Better,” Beau said, taking in each person in the room. His gaze landed on Hudson. “You look like hell.”
“Thanks, bro,” Hudson responded, appreciating the attempt at humor.
“Do you need to take a nap?” he asked. “So you can be ready for her when she wakes up and asks for you.”
“How do you know she will?” Hudson had no idea what to expect, but he intended to tell her about her son.
“I saw the way she looks at you, bro.”
“I hope you’re right.” Hudson didn’t have a clue how she was going to react to what he needed to say to her. Minutes ticked by as they made small talk. Still no word about Cassie’s condition. He was about to wear a path in the sterile tile when a nurse peeked her head into the room.
She glanced around the room at the faces. “Hudson Sturgess?”
“Yes, ma’am,” he said.
“A patient is asking for you.” Those words were music to his ears.
With each step toward her room, the tension knot tightened in his chest. By the time he made it across the hall and four doors down, he’d worked himself up into believing she wanted to thank him before saying goodbye.
Time to lay his cards on the table.
He knocked on the door before stepping inside.
“Hudson?” came the voice he’d grown to love.
“I’m here,” he said as he made a beeline for the bed. He took a knee beside her and searched her face for any signs she might welcome what he was about to say.
“Nikki?” was her first question.
“Her and the baby are fine. She escaped through a window while someone named Enzo watched her. She was pretty sure he left it open on purpose. Anyway, she showed up a few hours after you left. Turns out, the keys were in a vehicle parked two doors down from the house where she was being held hostage.”
Cassie exhaled a slow breath. Then, locked gazes with him. Her smile gave him the courage to keep going. But first…
“Before I go any further, you need to know something,” he said.
She sat up a little straighter, like she was preparing for the worst.
“We found your son in Oklahoma.”
“Wait. What?”
“He lives on a small ranch, and by all accounts is living a happy life with loving parents.”
“That’s amazing.” The look of relief on her face caused his heart to swell. “He’s okay.” A few tears pooled in her eyes, and then fell, splashing her cheekbones.
He thumbed the wet streaks away.
“He’s doing great. And he hopes to meet you someday. His parents told him everything on his twelfth birthday earlier this year. Said he was old enough to handle the truth. He wrote an email to you.”
More tears streaked her cheeks. He thumbed those away, too.
“If this is too much—”
“They’re happy tears, Hudson. Very happy tears.”
“Everything is in the file that I had my private detective put together. The information has been verified. Just tell me where you want it sent and you’ll know everything I do.”
She reached over and touched his arm. The familiar jolt of electricity no longer surprised him. He welcomed the heat.
“I don’t know what to say.” She caught his gaze. Those glittery emeralds saw right through him. “But I’ll start with thank you.”
“There’s something else I need to say.”
“Go ahead.” She sucked in a breath like she was about to be hit with the bad news.
The right words didn’t come to him, so he just started talking.
“I’ve experienced real loss in my lifetime, and I thought it took everything from me.
Most of all, I thought it took away my ability to feel anything for anyone else.
” He paused for a beat, gathering more courage.
“And then I met you.” He smiled. Couldn’t help it.
“And you turned my world upside down. You turned me inside out. You’re smart and beautiful and kind.
And you have no reason to trust anything anyone ever tells you, except that I hope you’ll trust me when I tell you this.
“In these past couple of days, I’ve learned that I can fall in love again.
Better. More mature. And very real. What I feel for you runs deeper than anything I’ve ever known.
You carved out a permanent place in my heart, and I’d like you to carve out a similar place in my home.
I haven’t fallen in love with you. I’ve crashed into love with you because that’s what it took to break down all those walls I had built up.
Walls that kept me from loving anyone until you.
” He reached for her hand and linked their fingers.
“It’s okay if you don’t feel the same way.
You can thank me and move on with your life.
But I had to tell you how I feel, or I would always wonder if you maybe felt a little bit the same way.
I love you, Cassie. And I hope you’ll let me love you for the rest of my life. ”
He’d said his piece. Now, it was her turn. The knot tightened to the point of barely being able to breathe as he waited for her response.
“I don’t feel a little bit the same way, Hudson.
” She looked right at him, and his heart stuttered.
“I’ve crashed all the way in love with you.
My whole life, I’ve moved from place to place, never staying long enough to call any place home.
” It was her turn to pause. “I think I fell in love with you the first time I looked in your eyes—really looked in your eyes—and saw something I’d never experienced before.
A place that felt like home. So, I’ll move into your house because you’ve moved into my heart.
And I intend to hold onto you for the rest of my life.
Because you’re my home, Hudson. I’m madly, deeply in love with everything that you are. ”
Moisture had formed in Hudson’s eyes by the time Cassie finished. He leaned over and pressed a tender kiss to her lips.
Losing Adina had broken off pieces of his heart, creating permanent cracks.
However, he was a better person for having loved her.
He’d heard about the Japanese craft of kintsugi, where broken pottery was mended with gold, highlighting the breaks and cracks instead of hiding them.
He and Cassie, together, formed one of those rare broken vases.
Their love was the gold. And those cracks made them hold onto each other a little bit tighter and love each other a little bit better.
Because that’s what soulmates did for each other, they filled in the broken bits and created beauty out of imperfections.
“I will love you until I no longer have breath in this body,” he said to her. “And then I’ll find you again for whatever happens next.”