Chapter Seven #2
“Is that why you told me you loved me?” she asks, her lower lip quivering.
“Aww, shit,” Braden mutters. “You’re taking things out of context.”
“I heard it myself.” She glares at me. “Well?”
“You said it first,” I remind her, because I want her to understand that I didn’t come to her with the words because I want something from her. I said them back because I mean them.
She steps away from the doorframe and rests her hands on her hips. “Oh, so I gave you the opening you needed. That’s just great! I asked you what your father said, and you told me he turned you down!” Her voice rises, and I wince, not wanting more of an audience than the one we have.
“Because as far as I’m concerned, he did. Look—” Before I can explain further, she brushes past me and stops at the sofa, grabbing the big purse she always carries. “What are you doing?”
She pulls out a folder and clutches it in her hands.
“I was going to show you this tonight, after the party. I’ve set up a huge fundraiser and invited the biggest names I know to bid on high-end items with the proceeds going to the clinic.
And trust me, with offerings like a week at Asher Dare’s Bahamas home, you’ll have all the money you need. No reason to get married.”
She slaps the folder onto the desk. Hard. “I’m assuming you would have gotten around to that question eventually.”
Reaching for her, I grasp her arm. “We need to talk. You don’t understand.”
“I do. You’re just another guy in a long line of them who needs something from me. Even if we didn’t start out that way, that’s where we ended up. I’m never enough.” She turns and rushes from the room, leaving me stunned.
“Shit,” Braden says. “Go! Talk to her!”
I almost forgot he was in the room. “Your sister has a huge heart, and she’s generous beyond belief. But I have a feeling there is no way she’s going to believe anything I say.” I saw the set of her jaw, the stubborn look on her face.
While she’d proven to me with more than words that she loves me, she’d overheard the one thing certain to drive her away, costing us any chance at a future.
But I’m not giving up without a fight, and I bolt after her, coming to a stop in the living room, where half her family stand. “Where’s Bri?”
“She came out of the office upset, asked for a set of car keys, and I gave her ours.” Macy walks up to him, anger etching her features. “I don’t know what you did but fix it,” she says, then turns her back on me and walks away.
* * *
Brianne
I know I’d escaped in the nick of time before Hudson or my brother came after me.
It isn’t in my nature to run, but this is different.
Hudson is supposed to have been different.
The one man who fell in love with me, no strings, nothing I can do for his career or his future, and I told him as much.
No wonder he hadn’t revealed what his father’s stipulation for the money had been.
It is much easier to guide me into marriage to save his dream, and I made it so easy by saying I love you first.
When in the world will I learn?
Driving Macy and Jaxon’s car, I pull into my driveway. Someone will give them a ride here to pick up the car later, and I appreciate the fact that my friend hasn’t asked any questions. One look at the tears in my eyes had been enough for her to hand them over.
I leave the keys under the floor mat for whoever picks up the vehicle, walk into my house, lock my doors, and set the alarm. Too bad I gave Hudson a key and my code, but hopefully he’ll be smarter than to show up here without my okay.
I drag myself into my bathroom and wash off my makeup, then change into a pair of shorts and a T-shirt before heading to the kitchen.
Because what does any normal woman do after being betrayed?
I pull out my favorite mint chip ice cream, grab a spoon, and make my way back to my bed, where I turn the television on to some mindless show and proceed to down the entire pint.
When my phone begins to buzz, I allow myself to look at the screen. Noting it is Hudson, I power off my cell. I don’t want to hear what he has to say.
The next morning, I turn on my phone to find he’s blown it up with calls and texts.
Most of my family have done the same. Bitch that I feel like being, I refuse to read the messages or listen to the voicemails.
Thanks to lack of sleep and maybe some crying, I look awful.
I have circles under my eyes, and my face remains blotchy, so I do what I can with makeup.
Which isn’t much because my mood shows in my expression.
I’ve never been good at hiding my emotions when hurt.
And my heart feels like it has shattered.
Since it is Sunday, I don’t have to go to the office.
The Thunder aren’t playing until four p.m., and I don’t plan on watching the game in case I catch a quick glimpse of Hudson working on the sidelines.
No matter what I put on television, the conversation between Hudson and Braden repeats itself over and over in my head.
“He’ll give me the money if I get married and provide him and my mother an heir,” Hudson says, stopping me cold in the doorway.
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me. What century is this?” Her brother had sounded pissed.
“That’s what I asked, but he’s not backing down.”
“So how badly do you want the money? Enough to get married and get your wife to pop out a kid?” Braden asks.
My twin knows I am involved with Hudson, so I have no doubt he’d been joking. But Hudson’s next words had devastated me.
“It wouldn’t hurt.”
It wouldn’t hurt for him to get married and pop out a kid, as my brother had so crudely put it, and we all know who the candidate for the role would be.
What I can’t reconcile is how my brother can have sided with him.
He said I took Hudson’s words out of context, but what other conclusion should I have drawn?
I pull out my phone and order in more ice cream, enough to fill my freezer, from the supermarket, and spend the day watching comedies that don’t make me laugh.
Around two, my phone rings, and a glance tells me it is Austin. I frown but take the call just in case it is about my family. “Hello?” I ask warily.
“Hey. There’s a situation in the locker room with your client Dion Davis.
He had a fistfight with an attendant because his towels were still damp and he took a swing.
The guy set Dion up because he had a camera going, but it’s a problem, and you need to get down here and do damage control.
You know how Dion gets when he’s pissed off, and with the media involved… ”
He trails off, but I am already out of my pity party seat on the couch and pulling on clothes in my bedroom.
Not long after, I sit in the office of Ian Dare, owner of the Miami Thunder and also my cousin, along with Austin, Dion’s agent.
Ian is reading my hair-trigger, prima-donna PR client the riot act.
Why a grown man can’t keep his temper in check for a two-million-dollar paycheck with his contract coming up and an even bigger payday ahead is beyond me.
Finally, we’d calmed the beast, and Dion heads back down to his teammates. Austin and I walk out of the room to find Ian waiting in the hall, suit on, arms folded across his chest.
“Well?”
“He’ll calm down,” Austin promises.
“And I’ll see if I can get the attendant not to press assault charges. After all, he lost his job, and the whole thing was a setup. He’s after money he’s not going to get. Not when I have his phone with the evidence.” Ian pats his jacket pocket.
I nod in thanks. I am used to dealing with people who are after money from my clients, who make false pregnancy claims and generally are after something they don’t deserve.
“Now if you’ll both excuse me, I have a game to watch.” Ian walks away, turning around long enough to say, “I left word for you both to be let up to my box.”
I look up at my brother. “I hadn’t planned to watch the game.”
Austin’s gaze softens. “I don’t know what happened exactly but—”
“Can we leave it that way? I don’t feel like rehashing it.”
He wraps an arm around my shoulder. “Sure. Let’s stay for the game, okay?”
Swallowing hard, I nod. “Sure. It’ll be good to spend time with you that has nothing to do with work.”
We head to Ian’s box, a place the entire family has been before, and I watch the game, deliberately keeping my gaze away from the sidelines and Hudson, the man watching out for injuries as he does his job.
Austin and I don’t discuss my private life, for which I am grateful.
Instead, I listen to my brother talk about how Jenny has had a growth spurt and is in the next size baby clothes and other milestones, things that at one time would have sent the man who’d sworn to be a bachelor forever running far and fast. I soak in all the news about my niece because I adore that baby, and the chitchat distracts me from my emotional pain.
My phone buzzes, and I check the screen. Someone has obviously told Braden I am here because he sent a text asking me to meet him by the locker room after the game.
Since I need a word with my twin, I stay after the Thunder won. Austin and I say goodbye, and I gather my bag, heading out of the box and down the stairs, walking to where Braden has said to meet.
Leaning against the wall in the dimly lit hallway, I watch as people come and go.
A few minutes later, the double doors swing open, and I look up to see Hudson step out.
My stomach twists as I glance at him. Wearing a pair of dark chinos and a black Thunder shirt, he stops short when he sees me, his eyes opening wide.
Our gazes meet and hold, and everything I feel for him wells up inside me.
“You haven’t returned my calls or texts, and I want to explain,” he says gruffly.
Before I can answer, he steps closer, and I catch sight of his painful-looking black eye. “Oh my God! What happened?” Instinct has me reaching to touch the bruise, but I stop myself and lower my arm.
“Your brother,” he mutters. “But forget about that.”
“Which one?” I need to know which sibling I’ll have to kill. The only one I can exclude is Braden.
Hudson holds up his hands. “I plead the Fifth. Anyway, it doesn’t matter. I deserved it for not being up-front with you about what my father said.”
I grind my teeth but have no plans to argue when he is right. Not about one of my brothers punching him but about not telling me everything.
“Can we talk?” he asks.
I cross my arms in front of my chest, needing distance, because all I want to do is forget yesterday had happened and go back to when I believed we have a future.
A lump rises to my throat, and I have to force out the words on my mind. “I’ll admit I don’t know what happened or why. And that maybe I jumped to conclusions about something I don’t understand … but you lied to me.”
“I know, and I’m sorry.” He looks down, obviously upset with himself.
I’m not sure how to reply, so I remain silent.
Hudson runs a hand through his hair and groans. “Take all the time you need. I’m not going anywhere, and we can talk when you’re ready.”
“Don’t you need a wife? I’d think that would put a rush on whatever happens next.”
He winces but lifts his chin and solidly meets my gaze. “I’m not marrying anyone for money. I never was.”
I open my mouth to reply when Dion comes barreling out of the doors in front of me. “Brianne, tell me I kicked ass today on that field!” he says, pride in himself clear.
“Good job, Dion. Now control that temper,” I warn him. He grins, salutes, and strides off, probably to celebrate because that is who he is.
I am about to address what Hudson has just said when the double doors open again, and this time Braden strides out.
His gaze shoots between us, and he winces, obviously catching on that he’d interrupted something. “Umm, sorry, but do you think this is the best place for a private conversation?”
Hudson shakes his head. “We’re not talking, at least not yet. No worries. If you need me, I’ll be in the office,” he tells Braden. He glances at me, his gaze saying what words can’t before he strides down the hall.
Braden raises his eyebrows at me in clear frustration.
“What?” I ask defensively, though I do feel guilty for not letting Hudson explain. But the memory of all the men before him who had used me for one reason or another stays with me, and when I heard Hudson’s words and realize he’d lied, he’d broken something precious between us.
It is easier to focus my anger on my twin, and I take two steps forward, giving him a hard shove. “You’re a jerk!”
“Hey, what did I do?”
I frown at him because to me it is obvious. “You took Hudson’s side, and you let Damon, Austin, or Jaxon hit him!”
A smirk lifts Braden’s lips, and he shakes his head, finally letting a laugh escape. “Pick one, Bri. Either you’re mad at him or you’re not.”
I can’t help the pout that purses my lips. “I hate you.”
“No you don’t. But you’re being a stubborn princess, and it’s not like you to jump to conclusions at something you overheard or to ignore everyone’s calls. We’re all worried about you.”
“I’m allowed time to process,” I say, annoyed he doesn’t understand my feelings.
“You’re not processing. You’re sulking.”
I tuck a strand of hair that has fallen out of my ponytail behind my ear. “Same thing,” I grumble.
My brother grasps both my forearms. “Look. I get you’re pissed.
Hudson should have been up-front with you about what his father wanted in exchange for the money.
He wasn’t honest with me, either. Not until yesterday but I think he was humiliated.
It’s embarrassing to have to ask for money and get forced into a corner. ”
I know that. I’d just been so shocked and hurt, the words I heard throwing me back to other times, other men.
“You need to listen to what he has to say,” Braden says. “And you also need to decide if you really think Hudson is like the guys who came before him or if he’s different and deserves you. I happen to think he does.”
And that is saying something, I know. My twin never approves of anyone I date. Nobody is ever good enough.
“Who hit him?” I ask, ignoring his words for now. I’ll deal with my life and with Hudson on my own terms.
As if they’d planned it, Braden holds his hands up just as Hudson had. “You won’t hear who from me.”
“Men!” I shout at him just as a group of players exit the locker room, laughing and rowdy, drowning out my yell.