“Alexis, I can handle it. I promise nothing will happen to you.”
She turned her head and narrowed her eyes at me. “You don't know that. You're being reckless Calla, something you never are. You’re calculated and smart. Why throw everything away for one guy?”
She was right; I usually planned everything out in my life, just so I wouldn’t end up like my mom. But, for some reason, Hudson made the risk worth it. But I didn't know how I could explain that to her.
“You're right. But this is what I'm doing, and it's cool if you don't support me. You don't have to have my back on this one.” I stood up, and started to walk away, but she called after me.
“Calla! You're my best friend, dammit. I'm just worried about you.” I looked over my shoulder to see her standing next to the sofa. “I just don't want to see you broken; there's not enough Ben & Jerry's to fix that if he hurts you again.”
“I know.” I continued walking and shut my door behind me. I sat down on my bed, and looked at a picture of the two of us that I kept on my nightstand. Alexis was always looking out for me; that's just what best friends do. Suddenly, Hudson felt like a betrayal against that friendship. So, why did I still want him?
Twenty-Two
That evening, I had my normal shift at the library. I planned on getting some work done, but Shane had me stacking books instead. We were getting close to finals, and people were using some of the textbooks for thesis statements, mostly the graduate students. That would be me one day. Working on law papers, attempting to reach my goal. I also saw them studying, nervously sweating in the tiny little cubicles that they used to block out the rest of the world. I hope that part wouldn’t be included in my future, but I knew that was wishful thinking.
I was on the top floor of the library, stacking books about sexual harassment law when I saw two people arguing in the next aisle. It looked like a couple just having a relationship issue, and I didn't want to intrude, so I moved to the other side, and waited for them to figure it out. I saw a guy sitting by himself with headphones on, but I realized that he wasn't studying. He was talking on a cell phone, but he kept the headphones around his head to make it look like he was busy. Or maybe I was just being paranoid.
I couldn't help but overhear the conversation as I walked away from the arguing couple. I tried to appear inconspicuous as I looked through the shelves, pretending to need a book. I'd abandoned my cart in the corner so that I just looked like another college student.
"I’ll have your money. You don’t need to tell Rudolph anything. I will have it tonight." He paused for a moment. "No, I haven't seen her. But there was some weird shit going on in class today. The professor cancelled class and gave us some online assignment. But I know that she stayed. At least, I think she did."
He paused again listening to the person on the other end of the line. "Okay I know, but you guys need to stop calling me. Someone is going to figure it out."
I wondered what someone was going to figure out, and if that someone was me. Hudson was the professor who didn't finish the class, and I was the girl who stayed after for some…extra activities. My heart rate quickened just being reminded of our encounter.
The kid put his phone down and put his headphones back on, furiously typing on a laptop. I tried to look over his shoulder, but I couldn't see anything. I opened a book and began paging through it, and moving closer to him to try to see what he was working on, but he turned around and looked right at me. He shook his head and took off his headphones, slamming his laptop screen down, and shoving his things in a bag. I turned around and walked back to the stacks, thinking he would just leave, but instead he walked right towards me.
"You better watch yourself. You're not the only one involved."
I shut the book. "What the hell does that mean? And who were you just talking to?"
He looked me up and down in a way that made me feel dirty. "You'll see soon enough. Watch your back."
"Watch yours,” I spat back at him.
He just shook his head, and stormed off. I didn't even know his name. He was just some kid I'd seen in class. But who was he even talking to? And why were they interested in me?
When I got back to the apartment, Alexis was drowning herself in wine as per usual for a Monday evening. Our favorite television shows were on and, typically, when I got off of work we ordered a pizza, and drank ourselves silly. It was a good ritual, one that I wanted to stay intact even after our conversation earlier in the day.
"Hey," I said, as I dropped my bag next to the couch. "Did you leave any for me?"
She finished her glass. "Bottle’s in the fridge. Mind refilling me? I already ordered pizza."
I took the glass from her and obliged, walking over to the kitchen, and pulling the bottle out of the fridge. "So, I had an interesting shift at the library."
Alexis sat up, and looked over the back of the couch. "The library was interesting? Isn't that like an oxymoron or something?"
I rolled my eyes at her. "I think some kid was talking about Hudson on the phone. It was really weird, but then he came up to me, and told me to watch my back. I mean, I know Hudson is a powerful guy, but what would that have to do with some college kid?"
Alexis shrugged. "I don't know. You think he’s some low level dealer?"
I brought the wine back over to her, and sipped my own glass. "I mean, I guess I could be. I don't know. I don’t want to put us in danger. And I can handle myself, but, Alexis, I don’t want you to get hurt. Maybe I should just call things off with Hudson. Maybe you were right all along."
She shook her head. "I've got to show you something. Come with me."
She walked into her bedroom, and I dutifully followed. Sitting down on her bed, she opened up her nightstand drawer to reveal a handgun. "You don't need to worry about me, Calla. But if people are watching you, you need to be careful, and you should tell Hudson about this."
I was shocked at the fact that my best friend owned a gun, kept it in our home, and I had no idea. But that was Alexis, small but mighty. "I'm not going to tell him. It was just some stupid guy trying to scare me. And that's not going to happen."
The doorbell rang, signifying that the pizza had arrived.
Alexis walked past me, but put her hand on my arm right before going to the door. "Just be careful, okay?"
I nodded. "I wouldn't want you to have to shoot anybody."
She smiled, but only for a moment. "I wouldn't want to either."
Twenty-Three
Hudson made arrangements to pick me up himself for dinner. He showed up in a silver Mercedes with sunglasses on, and the dark T-shirt and jeans. The T-shirt was so tight against his broad chest that it pulled a little. It was hot. But I was surprised that he wasn’t in a suit. He opened the door for me, and I waved to Alexis as she stood surveying me from our balcony. She just nodded in response. We hadn't spoken as much over the past couple days, since our argument over Hudson, but I could tell that she was getting over it. Alexis wasn’t good at holding a grudge, and she knew that if anything happened to her as a result of our relationship, she had enough money to get out of it. Essentially, she was safe. Our conversations had still been shorter than usual, but at least she was talking to me. She had even offered advice on my outfit when Hudson mentioned that we were going to a casual dinner. I also had jeans on, and an embellished tank top with a blazer. I left my hair down. It lay in curls as it fell along my shoulders. Hudson greeted me with a kiss on the cheek once I was inside the car.
“So, where are we going?” I was buzzing with excitement. Everything was always such an adventure with him; we could be going to a local dive bar, or we could be crossing state borders just for the best Mexican food. Hudson had no limits.
“We’re going to the harbor to have a romantic dinner. Just the two of us, somewhere quiet.”
He still sounded formal, even on a casual date. “I love the harbor. You know how much I love the ocean.”
“I do, don't I? I mean this isn’t France,
but the landscape is still pretty great. You belong in it.”
I blushed slightly as he took off. Hudson managed the streets with ease, even though he was going about thirty miles over the speed limit. We were at the harbor in less than ten minutes. He parked in an empty parking lot, and I wondered why there were no other cars around. It wasn’t until we approached the dock with two security guards that I understood why. We were totally alone. Hudson has rented the whole dock. I saw a table set for two just before the water. It was perfect.
“That for us?”
“Do you even have to ask? I thought we might need a little exclusivity tonight.”
He placed his fingers between my own and squeezed my hand. “Why's that?”
He stopped for a second, and pulled me back close to him so that our bodies were in full contact. “Because tonight I'm going to tell you everything. The real me, what I do. Everything.” He breathed against my jaw line, and placed a sweet kiss on my cheek. “You deserve everything, Calla, and I'm going to give it to you.”
He kissed me on the lips, and then pulled me towards the dock. The security guards moved aside so we could sit down. A waiter walked over with a tray of hamburgers, hot dogs and French fries. All of my favorite harbor foods from street vendors. I didn't even have to ask how he knew. I just smiled at him.
There was a milkshake sitting in front of me; no wineglasses or formalities this evening. It was just us. Maybe Hudson would finally be honest with me; maybe I would finally learn all his secrets like he claimed.
I slipped my milkshake, and took a hamburger off of the tray in front of me. After a big bite, he started to laugh. “What?” I asked, as I wiped some extra ketchup from my lip.
“I’ve just never seen you so calm before.”
“Well, that makes two of us. I mean, except maybe for the beach, and the picnic. But, besides that, you're always on guard, you have a wall up.”
He sat back, a bottle of Coke in his hands. “Well, tonight, I'm letting you tear down my walls. Ask me anything.”
I raised an eyebrow at him, and picked up my hamburger again. “And you’ll actually answer me? Honestly?”
“Yup. And we hope I don’t get shot for it.”
I took another bite of my hamburger as I mulled over the options. What did I want to know first?
“Tell me about your business. Everything. I can handle it.”
He nodded. “Okay. I deal black-market prescription drugs. I work mostly with hospice clinics, and patients whose insurance has run out. The insurance companies are such an enterprise of their own, it doesn’t matter how much money you have. If you're dying of cancer, sometimes they just won't help. So I serve private clients who are ill, and then I have the clinics. Most of my income comes from the private clients though, the clinics are kind of a side project I run on my own.”
I set my hamburger down. “And, where do you get the meds? Who supplies them?”
He shook his head. “My company does most of the supplying, they work for a larger pharmaceutical corporation who's in the drug trade. I never see the trucks though, so I don't actually know. But I know the stuff is legitimate and good. None of the generic stuff; brand name only. I don't want anyone get hurt because of me. Especially some sick kid lying in a hospital bed. That's not what I'm about.”
So he was in a bad business but it sounded like it was for the right reasons. I wasn’t naïve though, at the bottom of the issue was the money. Or so I thought. “Why do you do it?”
He smiled mostly to himself. “You asked about my mom before. This all started with her.”
I squinted at him. “What do you mean?”
He leaned forward on the table, looking at his hands. “My mom was sick. Not physically, but she had mental illnesses, a whole list of them. And let me tell you, when you get diagnosed by multiple therapists, and they all argue with each other over your official diagnosis, your insurance company sees it as fraud. They stopped all her prescriptions when I was a teenager. My dad worked on Wall Street, and had loads of money, but didn't know where to find the drugs. I was at one of my boarding schools where all the guys did recreational, and I asked them about it. It pretty much saved my mom’s life; I think she would've committed suicide without them.”
I sucked in a breath. So, this is why he didn’t discuss his parents.
“Once my dad realized how lucrative of a business it was, he started investing in the black-market. He taught me everything he knew, so I would learn how to do it myself. I'm a dealer, I also mule. I go across the borders without being caught on a private jet. In some ways, I'm just like my father, and in other ways, I’m not.”
“How are you not like him? And if he was funding these guys, you working for them is the same thing.”
He looked out over the water, hunched over the table, with his hands resting on what was still an empty plate. “I thought that, because of him, I would never fall in love. I thought because of how my mom was, I couldn't trust anyone; he had made me think that.” He looked back at me, gazing into my eyes. They weren’t as cold as they once were. Nothing like when I met him in the club that night. He was so different now; so much had changed. “But when I met you, I knew that I wasn't like him at all. I want out. I like helping people, but this isn’t the way to do it. I want to run a legitimate business, maybe a non- profit dealing with hospice care or pediatrics. I know medicine, but I don't want to be part of that side of it anymore.”
I was shocked. Before Hudson met me, he had just been another playboy. I couldn't believe he was willing to take the risk of getting out of the trade just for me.
I smiled at him and raised my milkshake up. “To big changes.”
He smiled back, and tipped his Coke so that it touched my plastic cup. “To big changes.” He gulped down some of the soda, and took a hot dog. He looked like he didn't even know how to hold it right. I wasn't sure how he would survive in the everyday world without his business suit and his mansions. It made me think. “What about the money?”
“What about it?”
“I mean you don't have enough to live forever. Not the way you live anyway.”
He studied me. “You have no idea how much money I have, do you?”
The truth was, I didn't. Even through all this time of us dating off and on, I hadn't even really looked him up.
“I was a billionaire before I was twenty. And most of that was my father's money. Now that I've made my own, I can live this lifestyle for as long as I want to, and help other people. You don't have to worry about me and the money.”
There was something else I was considering though. “What about your safety? How do you get out?”
He sighed. “I don't know about that yet. These two guys are my own security detail, but Rudolph, he'll try to get me wherever I am. I’m going have to transition out slowly or make a deal.”
“Who's Rudolph?”
“Rudolph Lenko is the head of the Russian mob. He's currently the supplier I work for. My father and he had a relationship, so it just seemed like the right move when I got into the business. But he’s ruthless, doesn't always give me the script I need for the people who need them. He pulled some shit recently that made me rethink my involvement with him.”
So, it wasn't just me he was leaving for. There was something else going on. “What is that?”
“Nothing you need to worry about. He just thinks I owe him something that I don't. But I'll work it out, don't worry.”
I tried not to, but I couldn't help it. Hudson wasn't invincible whether he thought he was or not. And his cocky attitude just made him even more vulnerable.
“So, do I get to ask you more about you now?”
I looked at him. “As long as you promise not to report it to the DA this time.”
“Touché.” He further attacked his hot dog, and had it down in just another two bites. “So, tell me more about your family, or how you and Alexis met, or working at the library. Anything. I just don't want to be the one talking anymore.”
I sucked on my milkshake a bit more, and then I smiled at him. “Then, let's not talk.”
He gave me those hungry eyes that pulled me in every chance they got. “Are you saying that we need some additional privacy?”
I leaned across the table. “I'm saying that you make the rules. I just follow them.”
He looked over at the two suits that were guarding us. “Gentlemen, it’s time for us to go back to my house. Arrange the car for us, won't you?”
One of the men in sunglasses walked away, and in just a couple minutes, the silver Mercedes was pulled right up to the dock for us. I linked my arm through Hudson's as he guided me to the door, and opened it for me, allowing me to settle in. He placed his hand on the inside of my thigh, and trailed it up between my legs, sending shivers through my body. He was the perfect tease.
“This won’t be a long drive.”
I sighed. “Thank God.”
Twenty-Four
We only drove in the Mercedes for what felt like a few seconds before pulling into an underground garage minutes away from the docks.
“You live at the harbor?”
Hudson shrugged. “I don't really live anywhere, but I rent the penthouse here. I like to look over the ocean. Remind you of anywhere?”
I smiled. I knew exactly what this view reminded him of. It didn't surprise me that he needed to be close to the water. I felt like the ocean signified freedom to Hudson, and as long as he could see it, he felt like he could make a clean getaway. As he opened my door for me and extended his hands, I wondered when the night might take us. I had learned that he had very specific tastes when it came to his sexual desires. I was ready to explore all of them.
I heard the clicking of my shoes as we crossed the concrete pavement, walking to an elevator where Hudson stuck in a key card. We ascended to the very top of the building. As the steel doors opened, I saw why Hudson had chosen this place. There were windows everywhere, and for a moment, I was reminded of my night in the hotel, waiting for judge. I sucked in a breath, reliving the fear. I couldn’t help but look over my shoulder instead of admiring the view.
Kept: A Bad Boy Billionaire Romance Page 11
