Chapter Six
Brianne
I awake alone in the large hotel bed Sunday morning.
Hudson has gone to meet with his father, and he obviously hasn’t disturbed me.
Given how late we’d stayed up last night indulging in unrivaled passion, I appreciate him letting me sleep in.
My body is sore from the number of times we’d had sex, using up all the condoms he’d brought with him to New York.
I will always remember this weekend as ours, and I’ve had the best time.
After a quick shower, I pull my hair into a bun and, wearing a hotel robe, step into the main area of the suite to find coffee waiting for me along with a basket of muffins.
My cell rings just as I sit down with my caffeine and blueberry muffin. Macy’s name flashes on the screen, and I take the call. “Hey!”
“Hey yourself! So how’s your weekend going?” Macy asks.
I feel my smile grow wide. “Amazing. I mean, Hudson is everything I could want in a man.”
“Oh, Bri, I’m so happy for you!” Macy exclaims loudly.
“He’d better be keeping his hands to himself,” my brother Jaxon speaks up in the background.
“Sorry. I should have been quieter,” Macy mutters. “Go away,” she says to her husband. “This is none of your business.” A few seconds pass and she utters, “Go!” again.
I laugh. “If I wasn’t used to my brothers and if I didn’t know they meant well, I might murder them.”
Macy chuckles too. “Did I interrupt anything?”
“No. Braden has a meeting with his father this morning, so I stayed back at the hotel.” I take a long sip of my coffee and all but moan. I need the caffeine so badly.
“That sounds so formal.”
“You should meet these people. They’re the epitome of wealth and utter disdain for anyone they find below them in social status. And they’re still trying to fix Hudson up with someone suitable.” I roll my eyes at that, because I’ve seen Hudson stand up to his parents. For me.
The thought warms me all over again.
“Were they rude to you?” Macy’s outrage sounds over the phone.
“If they were rude to my baby sister, I’m going to kick some ass!” Jaxon says.
I roll my eyes. “Remind him I’m older than him, will you?”
“Be quiet!” Macy yells, then a muffled sound reaches my ears.
“Eew. Tell him not to kiss you while we’re on the phone!” I wrinkle my nose at the thought of hearing or seeing anything about my brother’s sex life.
Macy giggles, and Jaxon mutters something before saying louder, “Love you, Bri!”
“Tell him I love him, too.”
“And I love hearing you so light and happy. It sounds like Hudson is good for you,” Macy says.
Putting my coffee cup on the table in front of the sofa, I curl my legs beneath me and sigh.
“He is. We have a lot in common, and we like each other without conditions or strings. He doesn’t need or want anything from me, and that’s not just refreshing, it’s what I’ve been looking for in a man.
” And I’ve fallen hard for him. Faster than I’ve let my guard down with anyone before.
“Well, when you get back, let’s have lunch or coffee and you can tell me more. I have to go help Hannah with something, so we’ll talk soon?” Macy asks.
“Sounds good. Thanks for checking in. Bye.” I disconnect the call and settle in to finish breakfast.
I need to shower and be ready to go when Hudson returns from talking to his father. And I can’t wait to hear the end result. I pray he gets access to his trust fund so he and Braden can move forward with their plan for the health center they envisioned.
* * *
Hudson
I stand in the doorway of my father’s study, apprehension filling my veins.
I hate to have to ask the man for anything.
This is my money, and I shouldn’t have to fight this hard for something that belongs to me.
I wish my grandfather had lived long enough to see how different me and my father are, but Gerald Northfield died when I was young, the trust had been set up for all the grandchildren for tax purposes, and his choice of trustee had made sense at the time.
My father sits at his desk, head bent as he looks over some papers. I clear my throat, and Martin raises his head.
Catching sight of me, Martin removes his reading glasses and rises to his feet. “Good morning. I trust you had fun at the wedding?”
I step inside and shut the door, not wanting any interruptions. “We did. I’m happy for Serena.”
“Yes, well, her choice of grooms leaves something to be desired,” Martin says as he steps around and gestures to the two Queen Anne chairs in front of the mahogany desk.
Since this isn’t the best time to argue, I let the derogatory comment stand, as much as it galls me to do so.
We each take a seat, my father crossing one leg on top of the other. “So. You want to talk?”
“I do.”
“I admit I’m hoping you’ve changed your mind about staying in Florida and playing doctor when there’s a lucrative business that needs to be run here and its future to be considered.”
I draw a deep breath and again ignore the comment I don’t want to address. The last thing I need to do is get drawn into a fight and lose the higher ground.
I grip the armrests of the chair tightly. “Actually, I’m staying in Florida.”
“Is this about that girl?” My father’s face grows red with anger.
“No. This is about me.” I hate the denial but know it is necessary.
At this point, Bri has everything to do with my choices, but I’d already known my plans for my career prior to spending the weekend with her and falling in love. Has it happened fast? Sure, but I trust my gut. She is it for me.
“Then why? Your family is in New York. The business is in New York.”
Leaning forward in my seat, I appeal to a place inside Martin that I’m not sure exists.
“Look, Dad. I’m happy there. And I’m not playing doctor, I am a doctor, and I’m damned good at it.
Not only do I have a great job with the Miami Thunder but I’m volunteering at a health clinic in a neighborhood that is desperately in need of medical care. ”
“And that’s more important than your family legacy?” my father sounds horrified.
“Frankly, yes. The clinic is in a depressed area of the city, and my friend and fellow doctor Braden Prescott and I have a plan to remodel the place, invest in state-of-the-art equipment, and treat people who don’t otherwise have access to care.”
My father narrows his gaze. “And you’re here because you want access to your trust fund, I presume?”
I nod. “I do. I think your father would like that his money was going for a good cause.”
The deep sigh echoes around the room as my father steeples his fingers together in thought. Tense silence passes, and I do my best not to tap my foot impatiently or otherwise rush Martin’s thinking process despite my own nerves being on edge. The sound of a clock ticking adds to my stress.
“I’ll tell you what. I have a proposition for you. A quid pro quo.”
Wary now, I clench my jaw and indicate my agreement to listen with a curt nod.
A pleased smile lifts my father’s lips, and I know I’m not going to like the proposal.
I steel myself to hear it, certain my father is going to somehow force me to return home and work the business in exchange for the clinic money.
In which case I won’t be there to see my dream come to life, but the people I’ve come to know will have access to everything they need.
But I am getting ahead of myself, and force my heart rate to calm as I wait.
My father straightens his posture as he says, “I’ll give you the money for your little health care center if you marry and provide your mother and me with an heir.”
That idea hasn’t even been on my radar. “What century is this?” I ask, my tone rising.
“Lower your voice. I don’t want your mother running in here and interrupting us. Think about it. Your brother is gone, ruining any chances we have of a grandchild, and your mother is distraught about it. The family name needs to live on, and you’re the only one who can make that happen.”
I rub a hand over my eyes before meeting my father’s gaze. “What else?” I ask, certain I haven’t heard everything.
“You’re a smart man, son. And if I thought for a moment I could force your hand and get you to come home and take over the business, I would. But I know damned well you’d turn me down no matter the consequences.”
My father studies me with a hint of… It couldn’t be pride I see. But he is acknowledging my dedication to my career.
“You’re right. So what is the catch?” As I ask, the answer dawns on me and my entire body stiffens. “I am not marrying Corinne,” I say, just as adamant about that as I am about staying in Florida.
My father lets out a low chuckle. “I realized that as well.”
In other words, in the short time since I have asked for the money, my astute father has sifted through all the possible blackmail options and come up with the only one he knows I may agree to.
“You really are a piece of work,” I mutter, my gaze settling on one of the expensive paintings on the wall in the office.
Martin Northfield shrugs. “I didn’t keep us where we are in life by being stupid.
” He sets his hands on the armrests and pushes himself up from his seat.
“So those are my terms. Let me know what you decide. Have a good flight back to Florida,” he says and walks out of the room, leaving me alone with the bomb he’s dropped in my lap.
I rest my head against the back of the chair and groan.
Marriage. The idea itself isn’t the problem.
Bri and I laughed about it enough over the weekend, and she didn’t freak out at the idea.
My gut tells me she definitely wants to get married and have children one day with the right man.
A man who wants to marry her because he loves her and for no other reason.
Not twelve hours ago, she’d been in my arms and uttered the very words that puts up a roadblock to me asking her now.
You’re the first person to see past my family. The only guy who is with me for me. You don’t want or need anything from me, and I appreciate that more than you know.
She won’t appreciate it if I ask her to marry me so I can get access to the money to fund the clinic. Not at all.
If I tell her what happened here today, she might offer to marry me in order to help me achieve my goal, but then she’ll never know that I am marrying her because I love her.
I do, but even I know we need more time to cement our relationship.
And I’ll never take something as important as knowing she is loved away from her.
Which means she can never know that my father has offered me the money with these strings attached.
All I can tell Bri is that my parent has turned me down, and after meeting Martin Northfield, she’ll have no trouble believing he can do something that cruel.
Son of a bitch, I think, pissed at my father for fucking up the best thing in my life and putting me in a position of having to give up the clinic, leaving it to Braden to handle alone.
Of course, I can go to the bank and attempt to take out a loan, and I will, but I don’t have enough credit to fund what I need.
Only my trust fund has that kind of money, and it is within my father’s discretion to turn me down.
Unless I get married and knock up my wife.
Fucking perfect, I think in disgust. If and when I have children, I swear I’ll never use them, treat them like a commodity, blackmail them, or give them anything less than unconditional love and support.
And the same with the woman I love.