Chapter 70
CHAPTER SEVENTY
Harper
Song- Until We Go Down, Ruelle
One Week Later…
"I'm so happy I could cry, Harper," Audrey gushes, placing her hand on my stomach.
I suck in a breath, faking my smile. We told them last week, and now I’m back here for lunch to keep up the lie.
I feel like the devil doing this to them.
They don't deserve it. They never did. Richard is beaming from his armchair, more color in his face than I've seen in months, and Audrey is already talking about nurseries and baby showers and names, and every word is a knife because this woman genuinely loves me and I'm lying to her face.
Glancing at Hudson, I shoot him a look that hopefully tells him how vile I think he is.
I guess I am, too. For going along with this.
"Are you going to find out the gender?" Richard asks.
"I really don't know. Maybe a surprise might be cool?"
He sighs, checking his watch. "I should make it long enough to meet my first grandchild."
My heart sinks through the floor.
"I'm so sorry," I whisper.
Hudson's eyes go wide. I shake my head. I'm not about to reveal his lies. I am sorry. For all of this. And I hope Richard knows that this isn't really me. I am not the person Hudson is making me into.
We say our goodbyes. Audrey hugs me so tight I can barely breathe, and Richard kisses my hand and tells me I'm the best thing that ever happened to his son.
I almost break right there.
We get in the car in silence. Hudson doesn't say a word until we're five minutes from his house.
"I know I'm being an asshole, Harper. You don't need to look at me like that."
"Like what?"
"Like you did at my parents' house. Like I'd grown horns. I'd never hurt you. I actually enjoy having you around."
My heart jumps into my throat.
"Well, don't get used to it. The second this is over, you’ll never see me again.”
He taps the steering wheel as he pulls up to a red light.
"Do you hate me?"
I frown. "I don't like you much, no. Hate is pretty strong. I hate what you've done to me. I hate what you're doing to your parents." I pause. "Do I think you can be saved? Maybe. I think people can do bad things but still have some good left in them."
My mind goes to Ace. The terrible things he does for his family, yet has a heart of gold.
My hand rests on my stomach. It's starting to get rounder. It looks so cute. If I wear tight enough clothes, you can see it.
"I think I want kids," Hudson says.
I nearly choke on my own saliva.
"Wow. Okay. Not quite where I saw this going."
He laughs. "Well, having you in my home, being pregnant. I'm warming to the idea of doing it for real."
I resist the urge to roll my eyes.
"I mean, in the last week, you've fucked enough women to give it a good try."
Every single night. A different woman. I have to sleep through the headboard banging against my wall. I keep my door locked, and I don't come out until morning when it's safe. They never stay till morning.
"You had your fun in New Falls,” he remarks, glancing at my belly.
I scoff. "Well, I only sleep with men I trust."
He nods. Quiet for a moment.
"You think you could?"
"Could what?"
"Trust me? Enough to make this work? Stay married. I help you raise the baby." He pauses. "Adopt it?"
My eyes go wide.
"It? Adopt it?" I almost screech. "Have you taken something? Seriously? You’re delusional."
His jaw tenses. He grips the steering wheel as he pulls back into traffic.
"Just a thought. We might have to put my name on the birth certificate."
A thought that makes me want to throw up all over this expensive leather. My stomach drops.
"No, Hudson. This baby is Ace's, and I'd never take that away from him. We will never be a real thing. You can't blackmail someone into falling for you. All you're doing is using my fears to hold me hostage. It's illegal, immoral, and disgusting. You have no say over my baby."
He nods, turning onto his road. Doesn't answer. Doesn't look at me.
As soon as he parks, I jump out and unlock the front door.
"I have company coming," he calls behind me. "It might get loud. It is a Friday, after all."
I nod without turning around. "Fine by me. I've got headphones."
I storm upstairs, slam my door, and catch my breath.
Adopting Ace's baby. How far is this man willing to go? And the worst part—that was him trying to be nice. That was Hudson Blake's version of extending an olive branch.
I pull out my phone. There’s only one person who can help me.
Me: Can we meet tonight? I really need a friend.
This isn't something Emma can help with. There's only one woman who will understand the mess I'm in.
I pace my room. The front door opens downstairs. Footsteps. More than one set. His bedroom door closes, and I hear laughter—two voices, maybe three—and relief washes over me. He's occupied.
My phone buzzes.
G: I'll send a car, be ready in ten minutes.
Me: See you soon. I'll meet the driver at the end of the road; no one needs to know I'm coming.
I change out of the dress I wore to his parents' house. Pull on a T-shirt and a skirt with sandals. Something that feels like me instead of the costume Hudson dresses me in.
I make my silent escape down the stairs, past his bedroom door where the headboard is already hitting the wall, and out into the warm LA night.
Gianna's house is enormous. But it's nothing like Hudson's sterile mansion with its marble floors and modern art.
This is old. Gothic. Dark stone walls covered in climbing ivy.
Arched windows with iron frames. A fountain in the courtyard.
It's elegant, the way a cathedral is elegant. Beautiful yet probably full of ghosts.
A woman in a black dress leads me through to the dining room.
Gianna is sitting at the head of a long table, cigarette in one hand, phone in the other.
She's wearing a silky green dress and her dark hair is down, falling over her tattooed shoulders.
Without the gala armor, without the red lipstick and the designer bag, she looks younger. But her eyes are the same.
She sees me and smiles, stubbing out the cigarette.
"Harper." She stands and pulls me into a hug, the mix of tobacco and jasmine hits my nostrils. "Sit. I ordered food. And I've got a bottle of Macallan that cost more than your car."
She pours two glasses and slides one across the table.
I stare at it.
"I can't," I say, shaking my head.
She pauses. The glass halfway to her own lips. Her dark eyes drop to my stomach. Stay there. Then lift back to my face.
"How far along?" she asks.
"Just over twelve weeks."
She sets her glass down and leans back in her chair. She studies me with an expression I can't read.
"The cowboy's?"
I nod.
Something crosses her face. Gone too fast to name.
"Does he know?"
"No."
"Does Hudson?"
"He found out. He showed up at the scan. Told me he might have to put his name on the birth certificate,” I tell her, swallowing the lump in my throat.
Her jaw tightens. She picks up her cigarette, lights it, and smokes in silence for a moment.
"Harper, tell me what you came to me for..."
I press my hands flat on the table. My fingers are trembling. "I need help. And you're the only person I know who understands what it's like to be trapped by powerful men."
She watches me through the smoke. She doesn’t speak. So I continue.
"Hypothetically," I say carefully. "If someone were blackmailing you. Holding something over you. Controlling your life. What would you do? Especially if you had to think about your baby?"
She doesn't blink. "Kill them."
"And what if..." I swallow. "What if your friend was connected. Had people. Could arrange it?"
Gianna takes a long drag and then exhales slowly.
"Harper, I'm going to be honest with you, because I respect you. And because I meant it when I said I want to be your friend."
She leans forward.
"I can't get involved. Hudson and his parents are one of my family's biggest investors. Real estate, development, other ventures. The Milano name is attached to the Blake name in ways that go back decades. Although they don’t know their money funnels into mafia business.
" She taps ash into a crystal tray. "My position in LA is already under threat.
The Greeks took my brother. They're pushing at every border I have.
I can't afford to lose the Blake’s money on top of it.
And I can't be tied to anything that happens to Hudson. Not directly."
My heart sinks. I knew it. I knew it was a long shot. But hearing it confirmed is a door slamming shut on me.
"I understand," I whisper.
She holds up a finger. "But."
I look up.
"Hypothetically." She stubs out the cigarette and folds her hands on the table. "If it were me? If I were the one in that house, wearing his ring, carrying another man's baby?"
She holds my gaze.
"I'd make it look like an accident. Something clean. Something that couldn't be traced. I'd take whatever he has—whatever he's holding over you—and I'd burn it. Every copy. Every file. Every backup. And then I'd run."
I stare at her. My pulse hammering.
“But I’ve killed plenty of men, Harper. I doubt you have?”
She stands as I shake my head. “No. I’ve never killed anyone.”
She walks over to the window, staring out into the dark.
"Or..." She turns back to me. Her voice is different now, almost tender. "I'd call the one man in the world who loves me enough to burn down everything to save me."
The air leaves my lungs.
"And I'd tell him that I'm pregnant with his baby.
" She pauses. "And he will come running, Harper.
You know he will. Men like that—men who wait six years, who tattoo you on their skin, who probably can't fuck another woman because all they see is your face—those men don't think.
They don't strategize. They don't weigh the risks.
" She walks back to the table and places her hand over mine.
"They just come. And they tear apart anything between them and the woman they love. "
Her dark eyes hold mine. And for a second, I forget who she is. She’s the only person who sees me amongst this mess.
I glance away, thinking about the woman who answered his phone. Is the man she’s describing still Ace? I don’t know.
"Call Ace, Harper. Tell him about the baby. Let him come for you. Let him burn the world down to fix this for you."
The tears spill before I can stop them. Because she's right. He would come. Without hesitation. Without question. He'd drive through the night and kick down Hudson's door and carry me out of that house and never once think about what it costs him.
And that's exactly what terrifies me.
"What if something happens to him? I know it’s not safe for him to be in LA," I whisper.
She squeezes my hand. "What if something happens to you if he doesn't?"
I wipe my eyes. She hands me a napkin, and I blow my nose and try to pull myself together.
“What about if I just run?” I say.
She takes a breath. “You run, Hudson still has whatever he’s holding over your head. It depends on what that is. My guess is that if you run, he will only keep blackmailing you. That’s what they do. And it must be good for you to have gone through with the wedding.”
I nod, glancing away out of sheer embarrassment.
“Harper. Whatever it is, this is exactly what he wants. You to feel shame. You to be so scared of what he has. And it won’t stop.
Even when he says he’s done, you’ll always be looking over your shoulder, what if?
What if one day he wakes up in a bad mood and decides to do something with it?
Do you understand what I’m saying? The intel dies with him. That is how you stop someone.”
I rub my hand on my stomach. Her eyes follow my hand.
“If Ace comes, you have my word, my family will leave him alone. I’ll take the kill order off his head. He can come to LA to help you, then you both leave. That is something I can give you.”
I jump out of my chair and wrap my arms around her. I trust her. I have to, because she is the only lifeline I have right now.
“Thank you, G,” I whisper.
She hugs me tighter. “Men only hold power over you if you give it to them. Whatever he has, it doesn’t matter. All that matters is you and your baby being safe,” she tells me.
We pull away, and she points to my chair. I sit.
"Eat something," she says, sliding a plate toward me. "You're feeding two now. And my chef will be offended if you don't try the pasta."
I laugh, and we eat. She talks about her childhood in Rome. About her mother's garden. About the first time her father took her to a meeting, and she realized the family business wasn't importing olive oil. I listen. I laugh. I feel, for the first time in weeks, like a person instead of a prisoner.
At the door, she hugs me again. Longer this time.
“I met Hunter,” she tells me. “And Ace. And Colten.”
Just mentioning his name makes my heart flutter.
“And? It went well?”
“They accepted my offering, but still not enough for their boss to take me seriously,” she says, her eyes going dark.
My mouth forms an ‘o’.
“Their boss? Isn’t that Hunter?” I say, playing dumb. They told me about Enzo.
She laughs. “Oh, Harper. Please stay pure, just as you are. Don’t let them darken that sparkle you have.”
I grin. “Oh, you should see me when I’m with Ace.”
She glances at my stomach and then laughs. “No. I think I’ll pass on the cuck chair, Harper. But, thank you for the offer.”
My cheeks go red. “No. I meant…”
"Call him, Harper. Don't wait. Don't overthink it. Just call. I don’t say this often, but in this case, let a man be your knight in shining armor."
I nod, and we say our goodbyes, and I head to the car with Dom waiting by the passenger side, helping me get in.
Dom drives me back through the dark streets of LA. I rest my head against the window and press my hand against my stomach.
Call Ace.
Tell him about the baby.
Let him come for me.
It sounds so simple. And maybe it is. Maybe the answer has always been this simple, and I've been the one making it complicated, the way I always do, building walls and digging moats and running from the one person who's been standing still, waiting, with his arms open and his heart breaking.
I pull out my phone.
His number. Memorized. Burned in.
My thumb hovers.
Not tonight, I tell myself. Not when Hudson has women over who don’t deserve to be entangled in this mess, too.
I put the phone down.
But Gianna's voice stays in my head, looping, relentless.
Call the one man who loves you enough to burn down everything to save you.
And he will come running.
She's right. He would.
I just have to be brave enough to let him.