Chapter 7
CHAPTER SEVEN
Harper
I didn't hear a peep out of Hudson the rest of the weekend after the gala. No email. No text. No passive-aggressive Slack message about deadlines.
Nothing.
He didn't come in to work today either, and by five o'clock, his glass office is still dark, his chair is still empty, and the whole floor has been operating with the kind of cautious relief that happens when the person who makes everyone tense isn't in the building.
I'm about to leave, even if I am itching to hear his new story in my hometown. I've got plans tonight that involve whiskey and line dancing at a bar in Burbank that I discovered two weeks ago.
Turns out there are a few country girls in this city, I just wasn't looking in the right places. I was too busy trying to straighten my accent and hide my boots and pretend to be someone who belongs at rooftop galas drinking flat champagne. That all changed when I went back to New Falls for the first time a few weeks ago. I realized what’s important to me, or I’m starting to.
I wasn’t meant to be on my own, out here pretending to be something else.
I’m meant to be with my family, right where I grew up, with my horse, on the land.
And now, after the gala with Hudson, I can say with absolute certainty: I do not want this life in LA.
I want scuffed floors and fiddle music and a drink that burns on the way down. I want to feel like myself for a few hours. Is that so much to ask?
As I stand and reach for my bag, Samantha looks up from her desk. Her eyes go wide, and she nods to my right.
I squeeze my eyes shut. I feel the shift in the room before I hear it.
"Harper. My office. Now." Hudson barks.
He storms into his office and doesn't hold the door. I follow behind him and close it myself.
"Uh. Is everything okay?" I ask, stepping in.
He's already pacing behind his desk. Hand through his hair. Breathing ragged. He looks like he hasn't slept since Saturday, and there's a wild, cornered energy coming off him that I've never seen before.
Hudson Blake is scared. And that sends shivers down my spine.
"No. Not fucking really. We have two issues. Can you sit? You standing there is making me on edge."
I blink at him. But I do as he says. I know better than to argue with him in this mood.
He places both hands on his desk and leans forward, looking directly at me. "Do you want the bad news, or the worse news?"
I shake my head, twirling my thumb ring. "The worse?"
He nods.
"Gianna fucking Milano thinks she can run my business."
I straighten my spine. That woman has really gotten to him. And now I’m interested.
"What do you mean?" I ask cautiously.
He tugs at his tie, yanking it loose another inch. "She's telling me what news is. That we have to investigate the Greek fucking mafia so she can use the evidence to make her own moves. She wants blood for them killing her brother, Max. And somehow, that's my problem."
I frown, swallowing the lump in my throat. Gianna's brother. I read the rumors, but it’s all been covered up.
"How does this involve us? She wants us to look into the shooting?" I ask cautiously.
He shakes his head.
"Worse. She caught wind that the Greeks have bought out a ranch back in your hometown." He stops pacing and stares at me. "I mean, did you fucking miss that in your report, or—"
I shake my head. "No. They hadn't purchased any land while I was there. I was looking at that angle. So that must be recent."
I take a breath. Because inside, my brain is running at full speed, and every answer it's producing is bad.
I know exactly why the Greeks are buying ranches.
Land means territory. Territory means a foothold.
A staging ground for pushing product, laundering money, building an army far enough from LA that nobody's watching.
And I know exactly which ranch they'd target, the one that's already struggling, already bitter, already looking for powerful friends.
"Do you know which one they've bought into?"
It won't be the Sterlings. Nobody's stupid enough to approach Hunter. It won't be the Lawsons—they're an extension of the Sterlings. That leaves one other big player.
Ranch 42.
"I don't know. Some fucking ranch with numbers, Harper. I honestly was too busy staring at the loaded guns her brothers had to really take in the details."
I bite back a laugh. This really isn't funny. I’ve only met one of Gianna’s brothers, Dom.
And he was intimidating as hell. I can only imagine the other, Fabio, is the same.
Hudson is way in over his head, and that is the problem with the men in this city.
They think power is in boardrooms and share prices, and in whose name the building is.
"I can help, Hudson. I know which ranch it will be. I can do some digging. What does she want to know?"
He runs a hand over his face. "You think I'm going to send you back to New Falls so you can come up with a shit report again that this time might get me killed?"
My heart races. But I hold my ground.
"Last time, I was getting my footing. I've been away for nearly six years. I've made some new contacts. I can help. I won't get you killed, Hudson. And Gianna—I think she likes me."
He scoffs. "Yeah, she starts that way with everyone, Harper. Don't fall for her trap."
I arch a brow.
"Send me back. Let me get the information that Gianna needs. If it helps stop the war brewing on our streets here, isn't that a good thing?" I say.
He drops into his chair and stares at the ceiling.
"I couldn't give a shit about their business. I just need to make sure this business gets signed over to me as soon as possible. If Dad finds out I'm dealing with the fucking mafia, he won't do it. He will rip this away from me, Harper. Do you understand the weight of this?"
"So, more secrets?" I whisper.
"Yes. More fucking secrets. Because if you did your job right the first time instead of flitting around your hometown for weeks, we might not be in this mess."
I stand up. The chair flies back behind me.
"I did my job. At that specific time, there was no damn story, Hudson. The last time it was about a woman in Red Creek who was murdered. This time, you want me to investigate ranch business, which I can do easily."
I lie. There was a huge story. I hid it. I buried it so deep it should've stayed dead. But apparently, the Greeks are now unraveling what I tried to destroy, and the threads are pulling loose faster than I can patch them.
"You don't go into places like New Falls and just find a story. It is not LA there. Loyalty is everything. They protect their families with their lives. They don't want us there. So, we have to do this the right way. You have to trust me."
I thought I wanted out of the small town life, but the contacts back there are coming in useful.
His eyes snap to mine.
"Trust you?"
"Yes. As your employee and as a friend." I keep my voice steady. Because I need to be the one who does this. No one else.
I need to give Gianna the story that only implicates the Greeks. Not Ace. Not his family. Not anyone else in that town.
And I have one source who can help me. The woman I befriended when I was last in New Falls—the wife of Hunter Sterling. Lola might be the only person who can give me what I need while keeping Ace safe and away from me.
He's back to second in the championship. He needs to focus on that and on keeping his family safe. Not on me showing up and blowing a hole through everything. Because if I see him, I won’t ever want to leave again. And now, I have to, to protect him from this all blowing back on him.
"I'll let you have this if you agree to my next ask."
I hold my breath.
"What is it?"
He grins. And it's the wrong grin. The one that makes my blood cool. "I don't think my dad believes it's as real between us as I need him to. So I've called for a family dinner. Tonight."
I open my mouth to speak and then snap it shut. Looks like my line-dancing plans are out the window.
"Okay…"
He reaches into his jacket, pulls out a black velvet box, and rests it on the desk between us.
"Hudson, what is—"
"An engagement ring, Harper. Tonight, I’d like to propose to you in front of them. I need you to say yes. To declare your undying love for me."
I feel sick.
The room tilts. My hands grip the arms of the chair. Every organ in my body rejects the sentence he just said, because even though I know it's fake—even though I know—the word engaged and Hudson Blake in the same sentence feels like swallowing glass.
"Engaged?" I choke out.
"Why do you look so pale? It's not real. I'm not making you actually walk down the aisle against your will."
"What if this doesn't work? Then you will ask me to actually marry you. I can't do that, Hudson. My family will kill me."
I mean, Ace will kill me. It also might kill him if he thought I was marrying someone else. But six years is a long time. Maybe I don’t know who Ace is anymore. And I really don't know where the line is between protecting him and destroying any chance of ever getting him back.
That hope of one day the stars aligning for us would be over. If I marry another man, Ace will never forgive me.
"We won't announce it anywhere. Just play pretend with me for a while? Do this, then you can go to New—" He pauses. Frowns. Snaps his fingers, trying to recall.
"Falls. It's New Falls, Hudson. You probably should try to learn something about me if you really want to make them believe you love me."
His face softens. Just for a second, and then he flops back into his chair and drags both hands down his face.
"This is a mess, Harper. I am sorry."
I nod. Take a step closer to his desk. "I'll do it, Hudson. Okay? You give me my shot to prove I can get you the story that Gianna wants."
He taps his fingers on the desk.