Dangerous Secrets (The Kingpin Book 2)

by Brooke Summers

  I shrug. “It’s not too bad. Why are you sleeping here? You should go home and get some rest.”

  He gives me a get real look. “Not going to happen. As soon as you’re able, I’m bringing you home.”

  I smile. “I can’t wait.” Going home with him is all that I want. I’ve been so stupid. “I’m sorry.”

  He takes my hand and gives it a tight squeeze. “Why are you sorry?”

  “I should have spoken to you. Instead I left, I let what my mom told me, get to me. I was so hurt, you never told me about that side to you. You made me fall in love with a person I didn't know. I felt betrayed, Hudson so I left. I shouldn't have. If I hadn't, Lacey would still be alive. That man wouldn't have done those awful things to me. I'm sorry,” I whisper the last part, still not wanting to talk about what he did to me. I don’t think I’ll ever want to talk about it.

  He shakes his head, his eyes narrowed. “No princess don't apologize. I never told you because I wanted you to get to know me. The real me, not the man who is the boss. I wanted you to know Hudson, not the Kingpin. I thought if you got to know me you would understand the other part of me. You would know that it's not all who I am.”

  He doesn’t get it. “Don't you see, Hudson? With you not telling me, you hurt me more than if you had told me. I would have understood... maybe not understood, I would have been mad. But I wouldn't have walked away, I would have spoken to you, we would have talked it through until I understood a bit more about you. Instead my mom told me. Everything I believed to be true was dashed with just one sentence. You are a killer. You have killed people. That's what I couldn't wrap my head around. Someone who is so sweet to me, who cares so much about me, more than anyone has shown me in a very long time. You made me feel so special, so wanted, so loved. To think that man could be so cruel, to take someone's life? I just couldn't fathom it.”

  He was silent for a second, he rakes his eyes over my face, almost as if he’s searching for answers. “What about now? Where does this leave us?”

  He’s worried that I’m ending things. That’s not at all how this is going. “Being away from you, being held in that place.” I shake my head, “Watching my best friend die, holding her in my arms she took her last breath, having that man do that to me.” I swallow hard as tears form in my eyes. “It made me realize something, that no matter what, I love you.”

  “Fuck, Mia!” he gasps and kisses my hand. “I don't know what I did to deserve your love. I love you too and I'm never going to let you go.”

  I give him a smile. “You are all I thought about, you were my solace. You were my escape. Thinking about you, and the way you’d hold me whenever we were together. I’d remember the way you’d look at me as if I walked on water. The way your fingers would trail along my skin when we spoke. You were the reason I was sane. You found me, Hudson, you took me out of that nightmare.” I will never be able to express my gratitude to him. He took me from the depths of hell.

  “It wasn’t quick enough, but I'll always find you, Baby. Always.” He promises me.

  “When can I go home?” I've been here long enough, I just want to go home. Although I don’t think I have a home anymore. I don't know if I'll be able to go back there, back to the house where my dad was. Where I grew up, the only place that held special memories of my father. Right now it holds so many bad memories.

  His eyes light up, those brown eyes of his so big. “The Doctor said that as soon as you're better you can come home. I’ll talk to her again and see if we can get you home tonight you've been through enough I think coming home with me will be the best thing.”

  “How do you know that I was coming home with you?” I quip.

  “No matter where you go, I'm coming with you. With the way things are right now. I’d prefer it if you would stay with me,” he says softly. “I need to have you somewhere close. Somewhere I can keep an eye on you, not because I don't trust you but because I love you. I need to make sure you are safe and right now Mia I can't guarantee your safety. There is someone out there who wants to hurt me, and them doing so is to hurt you. I won’t let that happen, not again. I’m going to kill them. I’m going to make them pay for everything they have done to you and to Lacey.” His voice tight with anger, I believe every word he’s saying. I know that he won’t stop until he finds out who has done this.

  “Hudson, wherever you go I'm coming with you. I can't be away from you anymore. I love you.” It's that simple, yes he has done bad things. Hell, he’ll probably keep doing them, but I love him and he loves me and that's all that matters to me. If there is some way that I can stop him from killing, I will. But I will not stop him from being the man he is, the man I love, the man that has shown me time and time again that he loves me too.

  “God, it’s so good to hear you say that. My ultimate goal is to keep you safe, and I may go about it a bit heavy, I may come across brash and angry, but Mia your safety is all that matters to me.” He stands up, his hands cupping my face. His eyes locked on mine. “You have been hurt, God in ways that no man should ever hurt a woman. And knowing that it happened because of me. It fucking kills me to know that you have been through, to know what some bastard has put you through.” He shakes his head, his eyes gleam with unshed tears, it hurts me seeing him like this. My brave, amazing man is hurting and there’s nothing I can do to stop it because right now, I’m broken.

  “Mia, I may not be the best man in the world. I have done heinous things and I can’t say that I’ll ever stop doing those things. There are a few things I can guarantee you, and that is my love, my honesty from now on, and my word. You have my word that I won’t let anything harm you again. You have my word that I will love you until my dying breath, and you have my word that when I find this sonofabitch, I am going to make him pay for what he has done to you.” So much determination behind those words. This is the rawest I’ve ever seen him and I like seeing this side to him.

  “Hudson, has my Mom been by?” I don't think she has and it hurts. Why wouldn't she want to see me? “Does she know that I was taken? Does she know that Lacey died?” I ask him and the way he glances away answers my questions for me.

  “Yes she knows,” he tells me and his voice is tight, I know that I’m not going to like whatever the reason for her not being here is. “The reason she’s not here is because I won't let her be.” My eyes widen his words. Why, what has she done?

  “You may think that I'm being a bastard by not letting her see you or vice versa, but Mia somebody betrayed me, us. Somebody knew where you were going that day. There was only one person who had any idea where you may have been going: your mother. She gave you the key to the house, she had to have known where you were going. So no, your mom doesn't get to see you.”

  My mouth opens in shock, it takes me a while to find my voice. “Hudson, you can’t really believe that Mom had anything to do with this?”

  He ignores my question and starts his tirade again. “Hell the bitch didn't even leave Hidden Hills until a few days ago. She knew you were missing and she didn’t give a shit. So no she does not get to see you, she does not get to act as a grieving mother, and she doesn’t get to act as if she gives a shit. When we all know that all she cares about is herself.”

  “Hudson,” I whisper unsure what to say.

  “I have been nice to that woman but all she does is look out for herself. I'm sorry Mia it stops now. That woman does not come here unless I say so. Unless you are one hundred percent sure that you are safe in her hands, if that is the case I will let her and I will be present when she's here. I don't trust her, I never will. Not with your life.”

  I’m in shock, I knew that he didn’t like my mom I just never knew how much he hated her. “Hudson, I just want to go home,” I tell him again. I’m not going to argue with him. I don’t think my mom will hurt me, I don’t think she’d betray him or me but I’m too tired to argue. Once I’m home, I’ll talk to him about it.

  Eleven

  Hudson

  One we
ek Later

  Today’s the day that Mia comes home. I’ve been in many a situation where my life has been on the line, yet I’m a nervous wreck right now, my heart is racing. Today could be the day the rat comes out to play. What a better way to get to ambush us, especially when I’m bringing my precious cargo home. I have men ready and waiting, I have a route mapped out. Only three people know the exact route; Me, Jagger, and my dad. Mia has told me that Jagger is not the man and I believe her. I knew deep in my gut that it wasn't him, I didn't think he’d have it in him. He's my best friend, the man has always had my back. I know that I hurt him by questioning his loyalty, I was an ass, my head was gone when Mia was taken and I wasn’t thinking clearly I know it and he knows it. I apologized and I gave him this mission, he knows that me giving him this means I trust him. Now all is well with us.

  Along the route I have men on each and every rooftop, I have men in cars parked on the streets just in case the rat gets any ideas trying to ambush us on the way home. If he does he's fucked. I have no trust when it comes to my men so I did the only thing I could think of, I got other men in. John Healy’s men to be precise. The man owes me a marker and I'm cashing in on it. It’s fucking bad that I need to go elsewhere but deep within my organization. Someone close to me is betraying me and until I can prove who it is, I need to make sure that Mia is safe. So I’ve called in a marker. John Healey is the man that killed Kane for having sex with his sixteen year old daughter. He was one of our men, it meant we were meant to deal with it. We weren’t given the opportunity. With me being the man I am, I understood where the Healy’s were coming from. If I had a sister or a daughter who was sixteen and a thirty year old had sex with her, raped her basically I'd have killed him too. Fuck the consequences. So I did the only thing I could do. I made out of that I called the hit on Kane, that I had given the Healy’s the go-ahead to kill him. In doing so I took the wrath of my father for it and I’d do it again because I know that if it was me I have done exactly the same thing. I would have reacted the exact same way. The Healy’s don't know that, they think I did them a solid and now they’re repaying the favor. They're going to help me keep Mia safe.

  I have a fleet convoy. Three Healy’s lead the way, followed by me with Mia, which is then tailed by my father, and then Jagger. A six car convoy leading us home not mentioning the cars that are located on the streets along the route, and the men on the rooftop. Anyone who comes for me is going to die, no ifs or buts. I don't believe the rat will show his face today, he’s gotten so close to being found out that he needs to hide. He’s doing what rats do scurrying away from danger

  My dad walks out first, Mia directly behind him, her hand on his back. Jagger’s behind Mia right on her back and my arms around her shoulders if anyone wants her to have to get through us. It's just a precaution, one that I will be doing any time me and Mia are in public. I just need to get someone to take over from my father because right at this moment two shots and you could take out both me and my dad, effectively killing off the generations of Brady's

  The Healy’s jump into their cars when we approach and start the engines. As soon as I open the passenger's door on the car dad and Jagger rush to theirs. Helping Mia into the passenger's side, I run around to the drivers and hop in. I know that having Mia in the front beside me is stupid but I’ll be able to keep a better view of her here rather than in the backseat. We wait until Jagger gives us the go ahead that he is ready. When he's ready we’ll set off, no matter if there's red lights, all the cars in this convoy go together not getting split up, no way, no how. I can imagine what people would say if they could see me, that Hudson Brady has gone soft. My name used to instil fear into people’s hearts, just hearing my name would make their blood run cold. If they were to see me now, sitting behind the wheel of this Escalade, my hands shaking. I feel fear, I’m scared. I know that if it were just me, I would go guns blazing, I wouldn’t give a shit. But this is Mia, I can’t have anything hurt her. I’d lose my damn mind if she were to die.

  “Hudson.” Her soft voice calls out, it’s not as scratchy as it had been when she woke up. “It’s going to be okay.”

  I find it amusing that she is comforting me, it should be the other way around. Jesus fucking Christ, man the fuck up. Right now I need to be focused on keeping Mia safe and that means keeping my focus on this drive home. My house is safe for her to be in. It's harder to penetrate than Fort Knox. So she’ll be safe as soon as we arrive at my house. There’s only six blocks between here and there. That’s all I have to worry about, making it through those six blocks. I know that the men helping me guard her are going to do the best they can to make sure she’s not hurt in any way, shape, or form.

  I reach over and take her hand. “I promised you, nothing was ever going to happen to you again.”

  “I know you won’t. It’s been a while since I was in your house.” She gives me a cheeky smile

  I smirk. “That’s right. That night started my obsession for you.”

  Her laugh is like a little bell going off. “Obsession? Are you telling me that the bad Hudson Brady is obsessed with little old me?”

  I love this side to her. Her fun, cheeky, light side. Her eyes don’t hold the same mischief as her smile, instead her eyes hold a darkness, one that wasn’t there until she was in that basement. I’m going to make it my mission to make sure she can move on from it, grow stronger from it, I will make sure it never happens again.

  The honk signals that Jagger’s ready, my dad revs his engine and I glance at Mia. “Put your seatbelt on,” I tell her and I, too, rev my engine. We’re ready.

  The convoy begins to move my eyes peeled on the road glancing around making sure nobody suspicious is around. I’m acting like a paranoid jackass but I don't give a fuck. I'm talking everyone that is in the vicinity, I have surveillance covering this route as soon as the doctor gave the go ahead for Mia to come home it's been in the works. Dad, Jagger and the Healy’s have one together they made sure that if the rat comes out there's no way for him to hide. We're going to know who it is

  My phone rings causing Mia to jump out of her seat, "Relax," I tell her and she gives me a quick short nod.

  "Yeah?" I answer and can feel the glare that Mia’s giving me.

  “Hudson, its John. I’m two blocks from you.” He’s talking quick, he’s on edge. “There’s something here that don’t seem right.”

  “What is it?”

  “There’s road works. There’s no way there should be roadworks here. I’ve a feeling it’s a set up.”

  My teeth clench, he’s right. We made sure there wasn’t going to be any. We would have gone a different route if we’d known. “If they know we’re moving Mia, they’re going to have this all planned out.”

  “What are you thinking?”

  “We stay on course. If this were me, I’d have a road block set in place and have them abandon their plan, have them move somewhere else and then ambush. We know this route, we have men all over this place. Call your men and have them gather there, if they want to fight, we’re doing it where we choose.”

  “Damn, you’re your father’s son. That’s for fucking sure. I’ll call my men. Look, Boy, no one is going to get your girl. We’ll make sure of it,” he says and I believe him.

  “Good and, John, call me boy again, I’ll take your fucking head off,” I growl, I fucking hate being called boy. I end the call, not giving the fucker a chance to apologize. He’s said it and I’ve corrected him, he says it again and I’ll make him regret it.

  I put Jagger and my dad in a conference call, they’re on speaker and Mia can hear everything. I know that she’ll be scared but her hearing this conversation will mean that she’ll know what to do if it is indeed someone trying to take me down. “There’s a roadblock ahead. Roadworks apparently,” I inform them and see Mia shifting in her seat. I rest my hand on her leg and she instantly calms.

  “Okay, so do we go another route?” Jagger asks.

  “No, if this asshole t
hinks like I do, they’ll expect us to move to a different route. That’s not happening. We have men along this route, enough to make sure whoever this fucker is he won’t see it coming.”

  “He’s right, we have enough men to outgun them. That is if this is a setup, if it is, I don’t see the rat being here. I don’t see him having the guts to be somewhere where he could easily be identified.”

  “We’re going ahead with the plan. Jagger, if shit goes down, go for Mia. That is your only job, keep Mia safe. Get her to a safe place.”

  “Boss…” He’s hesitant, this isn’t what he signed up for. He was meant to make sure that nothing happens to me. That is no longer the case.

  “Jagger, Mia is the most important thing to Hudson. So if bullets start flying, get Mia the hell away from there,” Dad reiterates what I’ve said. It’s good finally having him behind me.

  “Fine,” he grits out, I know he hates it, not only does he not like the thought of me being shot at, but also at the thought of missing out on the action.

  “Okay, keep your eyes open. Make sure you have your weapons ready. If this goes down, there’s no waiting.” I end the call and reach for my gun. “Mia, you doing okay?” I ask softly.

  “Not really, what if he’s here, Hudson?” Her breathing starts to get shallow.

  “Mia, look at me.” I tell her, my voice calm, but forceful. She doesn’t even hesitate, her head turns and I see the tears shining in her eyes, and I follow as one lone tear makes its way down her cheek and onto her chest. “If he’s here, he’s not going to get to you. I won’t let him, Jagger is going to be your personal security detail.”

  She sucks in a deep breath. “I don’t want you to get hurt.”

  I hide my smile, damn she’s cute. “I’ll be fine. Mia, if anything happens, I need you to do as I say, I need you to go with Jagger and do as he tells you.”

  She opens her mouth, no doubt to argue.