Mom doesn’t look convinced. “I’ve seen greater men fall. The real question is what are they getting out of doing this. Yes, they get the big acknowledgment that they made the big Hudson Brady fall. That takes a lot of balls. You don’t just go up against your boss, up against a man who has proved his worth and take his woman. All that's going to get you is the death penalty, so why risk it?" It makes so much sense and yet it's just giving me more questions.
I have a lot to think about, the one thing I do know is I cannot trust anyone. Not yet; not until they prove themselves to me. I stand and Mom follows me, I feel guilty that I haven't visited her much. "Thanks Mom, I'm sorry for being an ass."
She smiles. "Since you've found love, Hudson, I've realized something. Your Dad doesn't define me, you are the reason I am here. You're the reason I wake up in the morning. I love you and I will do anything to protect you. I'm sorry that I've been a bad mom. I promise I will make it up to you and from now on you come first."
I shake my head. "No Mom, it's about time you put yourself first."
She smiles and nods as she places a kiss on my cheek. "Love you."
"Love you too, Mom, I'll call you later" I promise her and walk to Mia’s car. There’s so much to do and little time to do it.
Two
Mia
"Mia, Mia?" Why is Lacey crying?
Opening my eyes, pain blasts through my head making me cry out in pain, I quickly close them again.
"Mia, are you okay?" she asks and I hear metal clinking. "Mia, will you please answer me?"
I open my eyes once again, the pain not as blinding as the last time. "I'm..." my voice is hoarse. Blinking, I glance around the room. For some reason I'm lying down. The dirty, off white walls are bare and the only light is coming from a tiny window. Looking over to Lacey, I see she's sitting on a dirty old mattress, there's blood just above her right eye. Licking my lips, I wince at the feeling of my cracked lips, along with the metallic taste of blood. "I'm okay, where are we?"
She shakes her head. "I have no idea." The terror in her voice is clear to hear and it makes me wonder what my voice sounds like. Do I sound just as terrified?
I try to sit up and cry out once again in pain along with a clinking sound. "Lacey?" I call out. My entire body is screaming with pain. "What happened?" Confusion sets in as I try and remember anything. I can’t recall anything at all
"Don't move, Mia," Lacey tells me and I frown, why can’t I move?
"Please, tell me what happened? Where are we and why am I in so much pain?" I cry as my heart races. I'm confused. I'm scared, and I just want to go home.
"Mia, I don't know where we are. I was at your house, waiting for you and these guys turned up. Mia, they tied me up and waited for you to arrive," her voice is shaky as she tells me.
"How are you so calm?" I ask her. "Who were they and how did they know I was coming?" I think back to what happened, only the girls knew I was going home. I never told anyone else. Hell, they were the only ones I spoke to since I left Mom and Harrison's house.
"Mia, I don’t know but it’s going to be okay," she reassures me. "You’re okay," she says in a relieved whisper. "I thought they’d killed you when they hit you.”
I shake my head, I can't wrap my mind around this, why is this happening? I grit my teeth and pull myself into a sitting position. The metal clinking has me glancing down, shit, I'm bound too. My wrist has a rusty metal shackle on it as does my foot. Great, there's no escaping even if we tried. My entire body protests but I manage to push through the pain. Now that I'm sitting up, I'm able to see this room much clearer, see things much clearer. We're both hurt, I hate to think of what I look like when I see Lacey's face. Her left eye is swollen, and her lip is split, blood running from the split down onto her chin. Tear stains run down her cheeks. "Who took us?"
Lacey shrugs, "I don't know Mia, I've never seen them before. Although one of them did say that their boss will be happy knowing that he's got two of their girls. Whatever that means." Lacey says and begins to cough, spluttering everywhere as she does.
"Lace, you never said that you heard that." I frown as I take in her appearance, she’s hunched over as she coughs. "Are you okay?" I ask but Lacey continues to cough, the sound rattling in her chest. "Lace, what's wrong?" Something doesn't sound right, she sounds like she's winded or something. Like she can't catch her breath.
The coughing continues for a couple more minutes, the sound ricocheting of the walls, making it sound a hell of a lot worse. "I'm okay, one of them punched me in my stomach and it hurt like hell, I've not really been able to stop coughing since. Hopefully, that was the last of it," she tells me, her voice hoarse, she's whispering, almost as if it hurts to talk.
"Let me know if it gets any worse," I tell her, not sure what I can do for her while I’m tied up.
"What do you think they meant that the boss would be happy?" she asks, and I shrug, I’ve no idea.
I close my eyes when it finally dawns on me. I remember what happened, Mom told me about Hudson, and I ran. I needed to get away, needed to clear my head and think. Tears trickle down my face. "It's us," I tell Lacey, I'm so fucking stupid, this is about payback. It has to be.
"What's us?" she asks confused. "Mia, what is it?"
I shake my head ignoring the pain that intensifies as I do. I was so stupid. I should have listened to her from the very beginning. I should have heeded her words. If I had, we wouldn't be in this position. "I'm so sorry Lace, I should have listened to you."
"What?" she shouts and the coughing begins again.
"Hudson." The tears begin to fall faster. "This is because of him."
"Oh shit," she mutters, her voice sounding hoarse. “How did you find out?”
"Mom told me Hudson is a drug dealer. He's like some big shot dealer. I don't really know, I don't really care. He's killed people, Lace!" I'm still so angry that my mom never told me. She knew that we were getting closer, why she let us get to the point where I loved him is beyond me. Surely if you love your kids, you'd want the best for them, you'd want them to be safe? That should have been the first thing she told me. But she didn't and now here we are.
Lacey's mouth opens in shock. "Are you sure?"
I nod. "You told me before I even knew who Hudson was. You told me that she’d heard things about him, that he wasn't a good man. I didn't believe you." I'm kicking myself now for not doing so. "I'm so sorry, Lace."
She shakes her head. "Don't Mia, don't apologize. He had us all fooled. Are you sure?”
"Mom and I had one of our conversations today," I begin and realize that they need to stop, they bring nothing but heartache. "She brought Hudson up, she told me he wasn't a good man. I was like you, I didn't believe it. But, it makes sense. The secretive phone calls. The way he'd change the subject if his business was brought up. The way he, Jagger, Martin, and Barney would all have secret meetings and then act as if they didn't."
"Mia, what did Hudson say to you once you found out about him?" Lacey asks, as she sits back against the dirty wall. Her lip has finally stopped bleeding.
"Nothing, I haven't spoken to him about it."
She gasps. "Oh Mia, why?"
I shrug. "He's lied to me Lace, I can't deal with the lies." I'm hurt, that's why. He should have told me.
"Would you be with him had he told you the truth?" Lace asks and I look at her, she really doesn’t look good.
I think about it, if Hudson had told me what Mom had, would I be with him? Would I accept it? "I don't know. I don't think so."
"Okay, but surely you'd have asked him questions?" Lacey says and I feel as though I've made the wrong decision in not talking to him.
I frown. "Well yeah, I have so many questions swirling around my head that I want to ask him."
"Then why didn't you call him?" Lacey raises her head to look at me.
"Because I know he'd want to see me,” I whisper and yawn. I'm getting tired, glancing at the window, I see that the sun is lowering. I have no
idea what time it is. I'm trying my hardest not to move. Every time I move even a tiny bit, pain radiates throughout my body.
"And?"
"I'm not strong enough to say no to him. If I saw him, I'd be on my back and him inside of me within seconds." I tell her truthfully. "He's got this thing about him that I can't explain. Whenever I'm around him I feel safe, I feel as though I'm where I'm meant to be. It's like I'm drawn to him like a moth to a flame. I know that if I see him again, those questions I have will go out of my head and I'll be with him."
Lacey's eyes fill with sorrow. "You love him Mia, that's totally understandable. You're strong and I know you, you wouldn't just get back with him without resolving everything first."
"Maybe," I reply, but it's half-hearted. I really don't know what I'll be like.
"Mia, what are you going to do about Hudson when we get out of here?"
"If we ever get out of here," I groan.
"No, we're getting out of here," Lace says defiantly.
"You're so sure aren't you?" I’m not convinced.
"Well Hudson has said from the first day he saw you again that you’re his. That means something, whether you want him or not, Hudson loves you and he's not going to let some asshole take you away from him."
My breath catches because she's right. Hudson's not going to let me just walk away willingly, not until I've spoken to him. He definitely won't let someone take me from him. "He’s going to come for us." For the first time since I woke up in this room, I finally feel a tiny bit of hope.
"But how will they know where we are?" Lacey asks and I want to sigh, she was so determined that he’d find us and now she’s wavering. "We don't even know who has us or where the hell we are, how do you expect Hudson to?"
"Have faith Lace, that's all that any of us can do. Believe that they'll find us." Even though my words are full of steel, I’ve lost the certainty I had only moments ago.
"I don't know if I have any faith left in this world," Lacey confesses.
"You spoke to Barney?" I ask, that's the only thing that I can think of that would have her doubting everything.
"Yes." Her voice taking an edge to it. "He called me while I was at home."
"What did he say?" If I ever get out of here, I'm going to have a serious talk with that asshole. What the hell is wrong with him?
Yawning, I bring my hand to my mouth to cover it, the sound of clinking metal makes me want to yell in frustration.
"He called me to see how I was." She shakes her head. "I thought it was so sweet and maybe he had regretted what happened after we had sex..." She trails off, her eyes fill with tears.
"But?" I ask, wanting to know what happened next.
"He wanted to know when I was back, that he'd love to see me again. I asked him about that night and if we were to ever have sex again would he do the same? He told me that if I didn't like it, that's my problem. That he doesn't do relationships and he doesn't do the whole after sex thing. He leaves, he always has and he always will."
Oh god, she really likes him and he's basically told her that he's never going to want her for anything other than sex.
"Lace..." My voice is full of sympathy and Lacey flinches. "He's not worth it. The tears, the sleepless nights. Lacey, you're more than sex, and you deserve to be treated like that too. Forget him, there's plenty of other men out there that will treat you with the respect you deserve."
A heavy sigh escapes her. "Why are men assholes? They either lie, cheat, or are complete jerks."
She's asking me something I’m dying to know too. I'm still reeling from the fact that Hudson hadn't told me what he did for a living. If he had, maybe we wouldn't be where we are right now. There's no need for the lies, lies only lead to heartache.
We sit in silence, both of us deep in our own thoughts. I don't know how much time passes, but darkness settles over the room. I'm terrified. Fear is choking me and all I want to do is cry but I know that's not going to help me, it's just going to make me feel shittier. My eyes begin to droop and I know that it's not going to be much longer until I fall asleep. Glancing over at Lacey, I can't really see her, I can make out her silhouette and see that she's lying down but other than that I'm blind. Gritting my teeth, I lie down, tears leak from my eyes as the pain gets too much. Once I'm lying down, I release a harsh breath and close my eyes. It doesn't take long for me to fall into a painful sleep.
I wake with a start, I manage to catch the groan that was about to escape. I don't open my eyes as I'm not sure what's happening. My ears are filled with the soft snores that are coming from Lacey. I'm trying to wrack my brain to figure out what caused me to wake? Something must have happened? Other than Lacey snoring, I'm met with silence.
I try and get back to sleep but the snores are just loud enough to keep me awake. Damn. Opening my eyes, the room is still shrouded in darkness, I'm now lying on my back, maybe that's what woke me. The pain from moving from my side onto my back? Lying here I can tell that my pain is diminishing. I'm not as sore as I had been earlier. I manage to turn back onto my side without crying out in pain. Once I'm settled down onto my side, I close my eyes again and sink into the dirty mattress.
Keys jingling has my eyes popping open and my heart racing. That noise didn't come from inside of this room. When footsteps sound, I begin to panic. "Lace," I whisper shout, hoping that she’ll wake up, but without alerting whoever it is coming that I’m awake, that we’re awake.
"Huh?" Lacey says groggily.
"Ssh," I tell her still whispering. "Listen." And just as I finish saying the word, the sound of footsteps and keys jingle again.
"Mia," She gasps. "Who's that?"
"I don't know." I tell her as fear grips hold of me
"Someone's coming," Lace whispers as the footsteps are getting closer and there's nowhere for us to hide, we're sitting ducks. "Who is it?" She asks just as the door opens, my nose is filled with a musky vanilla scent. It's so strong that it's making my breath catch. I hate the smell of vanilla at the best of times but God, it smells as though he’s bathed in it.
Three
Hudson
Sweat dripping from my temples, my knuckles pissing blood as I throw another jab at this fuckers jaw. "Where is she?" I ask him once more, my teeth clenched. I'm ready to snap this fuckers neck if he doesn't answer my damn question.
His face unrecognizable, I've done some serious damage to it but nothing too life threatening as of yet, the fucker smiles. "Someone took your girl?" he questions and I'm seriously losing my patience. "So that’s the way to get to the great Hudson Brady?" He mocks me, "Alas, it wasn't me. Although I wish it was."
I shouldn't believe him, but I do and fuck me, that means every avenue has been looked into and nothing. Mia is gone and she's been gone three fucking days and I've no idea where to even start looking for her. My men have abandoned every job they were on and are out trying to locate her.
"And why the fuck should we believe you have nothing to do with this?" Jagger snaps his voice is cold.
Juan laughs. "Because up until this moment I had no idea Mr Brady had a girl. If I did, she would have died as soon as I knew."
My feet move without me even realizing. My hands are around his throat squeezing the life out of him. Red heats his face as he struggles for breath, his fingers clawing at my wrists but I don't ease up, in fact I squeeze tighter. “I’ve always hated you, the worst thing my dad did was go into business with your sorry ass.”
He struggles for breath, his fight leaving him, this is his last remaining moments on earth and I’m fucking glad that I’m going to be the last person he sees. My jaw clenching and my knuckles whiten with the pressure I have on his neck. “May you rot in hell you bastard,” I say through clenched teeth as I release his throat and wrap my arm around his neck, snapping his neck in the process.
“Boss, do you really think he had nothing to do with this?” Jagger asks, his nostrils flaring as he cracks his knuckles. He's on edge. We both are; we just want the girls
found. It’s been three fucking days since the girls have been taken and I'm going out of my mind. Jagger is trying his fucking hardest to keep me from gutting everyone, but he knows it’s only a matter of time before I crack.
I have no fucking idea who's taken them. I have an enemy out there and I have no idea who they are and that is what's killing me. Someone has a grudge against me and they've kept it fucking secret the whole time. It's my fault the girls are gone, it has to be. There's no other explanation for why they have been gone for three days and we’ve not heard one word about them. No proof of life, no phone call, no ransom demand, nothing. I'm going mad, I'm losing my sanity. Every second I don't hear anything, a piece of me dies. It's funny I didn't think I had a heart until having her in my life. It proved that I can love someone. Mia’s everything and I'm not going to stop until I find her and whoever has got her is going to die by the most painful, slowest death I can think of. They’re a dead man walking. You do not fuck with Hudson Brady, and if you do you face the consequences.
“Yes, I do believe he had nothing to do with this. The man was a psychopath, if he found out that I had a woman after me deporting his cousin, he would have killed her, there's no doubt about it. So yes, he had nothing to do with their disappearance.” It fucking pains me to say that shit, it just proves that I have no idea where they are.
“What are you going to do?” Jag asks cracking his neck from side to side.
I stare at him. “We need to find who has them. Any ideas?” I ask, this is how bad it's got when I have to ask him for ideas because I have no idea who could have taken them.
“We start from the beginning,” he tells me before he glances to the side. “Hudson, I hate to say it but I think we have a rat. Someone in our organization knows where the girls are. Someone has them.”
I shake my head, this is something I’ve been battling with internally.
Dangerous Secrets (The Kingpin Book 2) Page 2