The Broken Love (Hudson Brothers #2)

by Emma Vikes

  I punched him lightly on his naked shoulder, shaking my head, still reeling from the disbelief that he was here. “I thought you left.”

  He cocked his head to the side, eyebrows furrowed in genuine confusion. “I told you that I will never leave, Ellie.”

  I felt warm all over as I looped my arms around his neck, pulling him for a kiss, pushing him towards the counter with renewed intensity and desire. All the heartbreak that I felt earlier when I thought he left transformed into extreme desire and with such urgency, I removed his apron hastily, ignoring the fact that my force ripped the strings apart and Leo’s eyes widened, surprised at my sudden urgency and tenacity.

  He was wearing his dark blue boxers underneath the apron and I peeked at him. His dick had formed a tent, his erection evident and I chewed on the inside of my bottom lip, smiling as I pulled his boxers down. “Eleanor...”

  I looked up at him, cocking my head to the side. “You told me you wanted to wake up with me surprising you with a blow job. This is the best I can offer right now.”

  He visibly swallowed but I saw the lust in his eyes too as I opened my mouth and took his length, his dick hitting the back of my throat but I refused to gag. With great determination, I wanted Leo to feel wanted and desired as much as he made me feel last night, when he made me feel like I was the only person in the world he could ever love.

  My teeth grazed his cock and he flinched and groaned, muttering softly above me as I sucked and massaged his balls, the curses coming out of his mouth with increasing loudness and I felt him reach his climax and I moved- not yet ready to swallow his seed- but I quickly opened my robe and let his cum shower on my breasts.

  Eyes fluttering closed, I unconsciously lathered his cum all over my upper body and Leo growled, forcing me up and then kissing me roughly until both our lips were swollen red when we pulled apart. Leo hoisted me on the counter and spread my legs apart. “Baby, you have no idea how much I’ve been waiting for this to happen.”

  He was about to ram my pussy with his dick when the doorbell rang and the two of us paused, looking at each other. The doorbell continued to ring and I sucked in a breath, my pussy throbbing with the need of Leo’s dick inside of me, but I jumped off the counter and hastily put my robe back on securely. I glanced at the mirror and made sure that I looked presentable before pushing past a dejected and cursing Leo and then he stalked upstairs, probably for a cold shower because the moment that we were in had passed.

  I ran upstairs too, only to change quickly, donning on sweats and a hoodie and retying my hair before finally opening the door. Thankfully, the person at the door wasn’t anyone I knew or anyone who could stay inside. He was only meant to deliver a parcel and I signed it, carrying the package with me inside and shaking my head in amusement.

  A moment later, Leo came back, just as I finished making the waffles he had started. He was dressed and freshly showered and he was on his phone, talking to someone urgently. I stacked his plate with three waffles and mine with two, leaving some for Jared and Max when they came home. Leo hung up on whoever he was on the phone with, sat across from me and doused his waffles with whipped cream and syrup and took a huge bite as I set a mug of steaming hot coffee on his side.

  There was a moment of silence for a moment as the two of us ate and I wondered if he was ever going to tell me about the conversation he had on his phone but his phone pinged and he picked it up and his thumb rapidly typed out a reply. And then he sighed and looked at me sheepishly. “Sorry. I was scheduling a meeting with National Geographic and they booked me in for a meeting before lunch. I really need to get there and explain to them the situation and decline their offer to work with them again.”

  “You’re really not doing it?” I asked, trying to sound nonchalant but there was still a tiny part of me that was surprised, despite what he explained to me last night. It was still hard to believe that this time, Leo was choosing what he had with me rather than an aspiring career doing what he loved most in the world.

  He looked at me and shrugged. “I’ve done it before. Got a taste of what it’s like and as much as I love travelling the world, I’d much rather travel the world with you.”

  I tried to stop myself from smiling but deep down, my heart was doing backflips of joy with what he said. “And the game?”

  Max’s basketball game was tonight. For a kindergartener, Max really took the game seriously and I could see how much he wanted to win. He would practice nonstop but I think it was because he really liked playing it. We had a small basketball ring in the backyard and that’s where he had been shooting hoops. Max had a game too but I think the school only agreed to let the kids play so they could have fun. It wasn’t the real deal. The real game was between the Dads and Leo had signed himself up for it. He had mentioned to me before, in passing during our late night phone calls, that he had managed to squeeze in some time to practice with the dads. I liked the fact that he was taking it seriously too because it was important to Max.

  A cloud of worry passed by Leo’s face. “I’ll make sure I make it, I promise, babe.”

  For a moment, there was a flicker of doubt that ran through my mind but I looked at Leo. I wanted to trust him this time. I didn’t want to keep handing him a benefit of the doubt card especially when it came with Max. As much as I feared- and anticipated- that Leo was going to break my heart, I knew that I wouldn’t take it if he broke Max’s.

  I walked him to the front door and he gave me a soft kiss on the lips, turned around and made his way to his car. I let my mind wander, let it imagine that this would be an everyday thing, that if Leo wanted to stay in Irving and decline the offer that his old boss was giving him, then that meant that he wanted to be with me, that meant that we could be a family.

  And it also meant that he needed to know the truth about Max.

  Tonight. I’ll tell him tonight. Right after the game. Right after he wins the game for our son.

  I headed to work and tried to distract myself with the cases that I needed to review and the points that I wanted to make to win one. I was willing to do just about anything so I couldn’t think of how I was going to explain things to Leo. He was going to be hurt and angry at me for keeping it from him so I needed to make sure that he understood why, that he saw where I was coming from.

  But my work would end early today because Max’s game would happen in the afternoon. Jared was already home by then and Mom and Yves would be watching the game with us. I met with them at Max’s school and my son was bounding up and down like crazy, running to his classmates and then I watched as he grabbed a ball and took a shot, watching as it went through the net in an easy swoosh. Grinning with pride, Max high-fived his classmates.

  I’m going to have a basketball player son. I thought with amusement, remembering all the college basketball games I went to because of Leo.

  Leo.

  He wasn’t here yet.

  “Mom...Mom!” Max called my attention and ran to where I was seated. I took a towel from Mom and wiped the light sheen of sweat on Max’s forehead. He was frantically looking around. “Mom...where’s Leo?”

  My heart sank and I wasn’t really sure how I was supposed to answer the question. I hadn’t heard from Leo since he left the house earlier today, promising that he would be here for Max’s game. I bit my bottom lip and I could feel Jared’s gaze on me. “He’ll be here, honey. He promised me earlier that he would be here. There were just some things that he needed to do first.”

  Max nodded his head but I could still see him frantically looking around for Leo as he went back to his teammates. His game was about to start and we began cheering him on but I was also constantly glancing at my phone. Jared nudged me. “Is he coming or what?”

  I shook my head, shrugging and then excused myself so I could call him. But my call headed straight to voicemail, every call I made headed straight to voicemail. I heard uproar in the gym and then the announcer saying that the Max’s team had won their part of the game and that it w
as time for the main event.

  It was time for the main event and there wasn’t any sign of Leo. I went back to Jared and my Mom and they both looked at me expectantly. “Where is he?”

  “I can’t get a hold of him,” I said and then searched the crowd for Max. While his team reeled on their success, his eyes continued to dart around the area, still looking for Leo and I could see the hope slowly dying in his gray eyes. I placed a hand on Jared’s shoulder. “Please, Red. Fill in for him?”

  Jared looked uncertain and then he glanced at where Max was and I saw his gaze soften. “You owe me on this, Elle.”

  He jogged in the middle of the court and talked to someone, explaining the situation and I told Mom that I was going to head over to where Max was. My son looked at me, wide-eyed. “Where’s Leo?”

  I sighed and then knelt in front of him, bringing my hand to touch his curls. “You play really well.”

  “Where’s Leo?” He repeated, the impatience clear in his voice.

  I bit my bottom lip. “He’s not here, Max.”

  Max deflated at my words, his shoulders sunk and he looked back at the court, to see Jared wearing the same jersey as him flashing him a smile. He turned back to me. “I should’ve...asked...Jared in the...first place. He...never...disappoints.”

  I pulled his head closer and kissed the top of it, staying with him at the entirety of the game. He wasn’t in the mood to watch or celebrate but we needed to stay for Jared’s sake. We stayed there for almost an hour and in that span of time, there was still no Leo. I must have sent him a hundred of texts at this point and all my calls still went straight to voicemail and as the time passed by, a burning rage began to simmer inside of me.

  Leo could break my heart over and over, a thousand times, but not once was he allowed to break Max’s.

  The game ended and Jared’s team won by one point and every parent was telling us to celebrate together in Chuck E. Cheese. Max wasn’t in the mood but his best friend, Matthew, managed to convince him to come. I told Mom and Jared and Yves to accompany him. I wanted to see if Leo would even come here.

  “And what about you?” Jared asked me as I leaned on the window on the backseat of Mom’s car. Max had ridden with Matthew. “You’re going to wait for him? Don’t you think it’s time to stop giving him the benefit of the doubt? You can let him trample your heart as much as you want but for the love of God, he did the same thing to Max. Don’t tell me you’re going to let him?”

  I pursed my lips, hating the truth in Jared’s words. “I’m not.”

  “Then why are you going to wait for him?”

  “Because I want to give him a piece of my mind.” And that was what I was planning to do. Earlier this morning, I had thought that he left me again but that would be something I had to explain to Max myself. Leo had really made me believe that he was really staying, that he was really choosing me, us. But apparently, those were all lies.

  Or he was just stuck with those meetings.

  But couldn’t he have done something about it?

  I kicked at the gravel and sighed, sitting down on a sidewalk bench. My mind and heart were at war with each other. My brain screamed rationality, citing down all the things that told me that I needed to end it with Leo, no matter what he said, no matter what I felt. Because that was the most logical thing to do, because that meant saving my heart from heartbreak, it meant saving Max’s heart from breaking too.

  Then there was what my heart wanted and my heart just wanted to have a chance with Leo, no matter what that chance brought.

  “Ellie!” My heart sank when I heard the nickname and slowly, I stood up and saw him. He was dishevelled and frantic and I could see the apology in his eyes before it even came out of his lips. “I’m sorry. God, I’m so sorry. I didn’t think I’d be this late.”

  “You told me the meeting was before lunch.”

  He looked apologetic still. “It was. With the National Geographic and then a sponsor called me, asking to meet after. Ellie, it was a sponsor. You know the issue with the studio...”

  “And you needed to meet up with him,” I finished for him, trying to flash a tight smile as my heart tightened, the image of Max’s dejected face flashing in my mind. A part of me wanted to understand that Leo needed to fix the issue with his studio but there was a part of me that continued to nag, telling me that Leo had promised Max and that was about the most important thing in the world, that he kept his promise to my son.

  To his son.

  “Where’s Max?” Leo asked, looking around the almost empty parking lot. “I need to explain to him. I need to apologize. I need to tell him that I really wanted to come. If Maddock didn’t come...”

  My ears perked up at the time and Leo stopped mid-sentence, realizing what he just said and I saw his eyes widened as mine narrowed into slits. “Were you planning to mention to me that Maddock was there too?”

  Leo suddenly looked frantic, desperate to comb the mistake he just made. “Ye...I...sure I was. I just really wanted to talk to Max first before I tell you how things went.”

  “Max isn’t here so you could tell me now.”

  Leo opened his mouth to speak and then sighed, shoulders slumped. “He...he had another offer. Not with the National Geographic. It’s something else this time around. He wanted to sponsor me. To...”

  And I could see it in his eyes, the desire to go with Maddock, to fulfill his dreams and the twinkle in his eyes stabbed at my heart. Leo noticed that I did and he took a step closer. “Let me talk to Max, Ellie.”

  “And what are you going to say?” I asked, my voice in a whisper, the anger surging inside me, becoming bigger and bigger and it felt like a huge wave was about to crash to the surface. “That you need to leave because there’s this opportunity that’s once in a lifetime.”

  “I’m coming back!” There was a desperate tinge in his voice and I stared at him in disbelief. Leo looked so torn right now. “It’s just for a year, Ellie. I just have to travel with him and document something. It’s this big project and he wants me to be a part of it. It’s going to be really good for my business and the money is good too...”

  Choking on my sobs, I pulled myself up, trying to wipe away my tears selfishly and standing up, but only falling back to the ground again, the heartbreak too much for me to bear. All I ever did was love him, but why did love have to be this heartbreaking?

  I tried to pull myself together, but then I felt another piece of my heart shattering, one tiny fragment and then I stumbled, tripped and fell on the floor again, clutching myself as my cheeks became wet with tears and my heart continued to reverberate with pain.

  It all came rushing back.

  “Leave,” I whispered and Leo stopped talking and he looked at me, surprised.

  His eyebrows furrowed. “Ellie, I’m coming back. I’ll call every single day if that’s what you want. I meant what I said about staying with you and Max. I just need to do this for a year, Ellie. For the studio, for us.”

  But I was already shaking my head, the heartbreak slowly creeping back in my heart- familiar and crushing-, the anger and hurt and betrayal. We were never gonna be his first choice. Max’s dejected face came in mind again, followed by him telling me that Jared never let him down. Not the way Leo had let him down today.

  Not the way Leo let me down today.

  “No,” I said firmly, feeling the maternal protectiveness kicking in. “I’m not going to subject my son in that kind of pain, Leo. You won’t choose him now, how am I to be sure that you will choose him next time?”

  Leo was shaking his head and then he took another step closer and tried to reach for my hand. “I’ll promise him, Ellie. I’ll promise him that-,”

  “Like how you promised him you’ll be here today and you weren’t?” I asked, glaring at him. “I’m not letting you break your own son’s heart. Not again. Not the way you broke mine.”

  And it was in that instant that I realized the mistake I just made when Leo looked at me, the conf
usion clear in his gray eyes.

  “What did you just say?” Leo whispered, looking at me with perplexed eyes, “Did you just say ‘break your own son’s heart’? What do you mean by that, Eleanor?”

  I could backpedal right now but what would be the point? I had said what I did and there was no point in taking it all back. “I meant that you broke your son’s heart, Leo.”

  His face became a whirlwind of emotion as he stood in front of me until finally, it settled in one heartbreak. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “Because I didn’t want you to break his heart but you still did today.” I looked at him and I could feel the tears prickling my eyes. “Break my heart all you want, Leo Hudson, but don’t you even dare do the same thing to my son.”

  CHAPTER 20

  Leo

  “You already want me to sign?” I said incredulously, looking at Maddock who didn’t seem at all fazed at my reaction. He motioned at the papers between the two of us. “I haven’t even read the terms! I haven’t even said yes!”

  Maddock rolled his eyes. “Oh please, Leo. We both know you want to come. What’s the point in contemplating about it?”

  He wasn’t wrong about that. I did want to come. He was doing a documentary series about places to visit in the Philippines, as well as the people who lived there and in certain areas. It was actually a really good idea, albeit already done by many. Still, it wasn’t something I wanted to miss out on and when Maddock presented it to me, it was too tempting to decline. Which was why I told him to give me some time to think about it.

  I hadn’t had the time to think about it because I couldn’t stop thinking about Eleanor and Max.

  Max. My son.

  I was stupid not to see it. I was so incredibly stupid not to count back and ask if he was mine the moment that I laid my eyes on him. I just...I always prided myself in being safe whenever I had sex so it never really occurred to me that maybe that first night I wasn’t being mindful, that maybe I didn’t put a condom on or maybe the one that I was using had a hole in it or something. Still, I should’ve asked. I should’ve confronted her.