The Broken Love (Hudson Brothers #2)

by Emma Vikes

  Without her knowing, I had pizza delivered for dinner. When the doorbell rang and I answered and paid for it, she was at the bottom of the stairs, in cotton shorts and a hoodie, her hair wet from the quick shower she just took. I swallowed, the sight of her eliciting memories of our last night together. “You ordered dinner?”

  There was an accusation in her tone. We hadn’t really talked the whole time we were unpacking the boxes but Max filled the silence with his questions about Irving and his new school. The only time that Eleanor talked to me again was when she told me that they were going to take a shower. I nodded my head. “Pizza’s good, right?”

  Eleanor let out a breath and nodded her head slowly, calling out for Max who was in his pajamas. “Will...you be here...a-again...tomorrow...Leo?”

  I looked at Max but I kept an eye on Eleanor’s reaction. She was picking on the toppings of her pizza but she was eyeing me too. I smiled at Max. “Do you want me to come by?”

  He nodded his head eagerly. “Ye-yes! We...can play...more basketball!”

  I chuckled and ruffled his hair, “As long as it’s fine with your Mom.”

  We both looked at Eleanor expectantly and she was chewing on her pizza and she looked at us and then solely at me. She blinked, and then Max pouted. “Please, Mom!”

  She touched Max’s chin and nodded her head, her gaze focused on me. “As long as it doesn’t bother Leo’s schedule.”

  I took her response as a good sign. If she was putting it up to me then that meant she was fine with seeing me. We finished dinner and after throwing out the trash- Eleanor didn’t have a lot of kitchenware at the moment so we had to use paper plates for dinner- Max and I hung out for a bit until it was time for his bedtime and he begged me to tuck him in.

  “Leo...”

  I was making sure that his blanket was wrapped around him. “Yea?”

  “Thank...you for...coming to see...us.”

  A small smile spread on my face and I touched Max’s head. If things didn’t work out with Eleanor, I wasn’t sure if I’d be forced to unattached myself from her son. We’d only spent a week together and this sweet, stuttering boy had weaselled a place in my heart. “No problem, kid. Now, have a good sleep.”

  When I descended down the stairs, Eleanor was sitting at the last step. She turned to look at me and I could see the confusion clear in her eyes. “I think we should talk.”

  I descended the remaining steps until we were facing each other. “What about?”

  Eleanor let out a shaky breath. “I appreciate everything that you’ve done today and for helping me with Megan’s bridal shower. But what you said at the wedding...it’s not gonna happen, Leo.”

  I stared at Eleanor’s golden eyes and I could see the flickering uncertainty in her eyes. I took a step closer, my face just an inch away from hers and she sucked in a breath, taking a step back and I continued to walk closer to her until I backed her on the wall. She swallowed and she pursed her lips, trying her best to remain calm but I could see the alarms flashing in her eyes.

  “Leo...”

  I pushed my face closer and her eyes fluttered close immediately. My lips were a shy above hers and one move and it’ll be against hers. Her eyes remained closed, waiting for whatever move I would be making. Her hands were on her side and if she didn’t want to kiss me, she could slap me right now or push me away.

  But she didn’t.

  Slowly, her eyes opened and she looked confused for a moment and then everything registered to her. Her eyes suddenly flashed with anger as she pushed me away. “What are you trying to prove, Leo? What do you want from me?”

  I looked at her golden eyes, streaks of brown inside of them making her eyes look even more beautiful. I reached out and touched her shoulder, a gentle touch and she shrugged my hand off, her anger roiling. But I remained calm. “You, Ellie. I want you. I meant what I said. I’ll make it right this time. I promise. If you give me the chance.”

  CHAPTER 8

  Eleanor

  His mouth kissed every inch of skin exposed as his hands grazed each curve and dip. I arched my back as his lips kissed my neck, pushing my breasts against his chest. He kissed my jaw, feather-light kisses that left me shivering and wanting more as he slowly inched down, his hand cupping my soaking wet pussy.

  He looked up at me, gray eyes dark with desire and longing. He kissed each side of my hips, murmuring sweet nothings as he lowered himself further. His thumb traced the outline of my pussy and then he kissed the insides of my thighs, blowing a heated breath over my core making me shiver in delight, pushing my hips towards his face.

  His chuckle reverberated through his body and the intimacy between us made me feel the vibration. Leo continued to kiss me all over, giving me his undivided attention, making me feel like I was the only girl in his world, making me feel wanted in a way that I’d never felt before. And then he paused for a moment, his dick just a shy away from my entrance and he looked at me with his piercing gray eyes and slowly pushed himself in.

  I gasped softly, my eyes shutting close as he slowly slid himself inside, the unfamiliar but pleasurable pain radiating from my core all throughout my body, making my veins sing with unwarranted delight. “Okay?”

  I opened my eyes slowly to meet his concerned gaze. Biting my bottom lip, I nodded slowly and Leo set up a slow and steady pace until I whispered for him to go faster, my hips automatically meeting his thrusts, my moans and mewls filling up the room followed by his groans and our breathing, all sounds mixing together to create a natural harmony.

  Until we came.

  I gasped, shooting up straight on my bed, sweat dripping off of my forehead. The cool night breeze kissed my skin and I rubbed my eyes, forcing myself to be awake. “Dear God.”

  It had been so long since I last dreamed of that night with Leo. I’d buried it in the farthest part of my brain, praying to every god that was willing to listen that I don’t have to remember it. But now it had resurfaced because Leo had come back in my life, wanting to be in it again the way that he didn’t have the courage to do so before.

  Glancing at the digital watch on the floor, the numbers 5:30 AM seemed to scream at me in flashing red lights. It was Monday and it was my first day at the Leeson and Blake law firm as well as Max’s first day in kindergarten. My brother had him enrolled about a month ago and I’d sent him every document that the school might need. I didn’t really have the time to fly in Irving at that time just to enrol Max but Patrick was kind enough to step in. Most of my family still lived in Irving. I could’ve asked them to help me with the moving instead of Everett but I didn’t really want to bother them. My relationship with them had been estranged since I got pregnant with Max and although they’d forgiven me after he was born, I could always feel the judgment from my father, disappointed that I did everything he planned for me late.

  While I was in law school, he and Mom divorced. I stayed with Mom which came as a surprise to him because I was always his little girl. But he was the one who cheated and betrayed our family. When I left for Miami, he became even more disappointed because he always thought that I’d work at his firm. He always envisioned that we would work side by side but I didn’t have it in me to do so. Out of his three children, I was the one most affected by his cheating, maybe because I knew what it felt to be betrayed.

  As for my siblings, well, I was the youngest out of the three of us and by the time that the divorce happened, Patrick and Maddie were already out of the house. When they found out I was pregnant, Patrick was livid with anger at me. But as the years went by, he always tried his best to make it up with me and he was the one who offered to help me out with the whole moving back to Irving. Aside from enrolling Max, he was also the one who found us this house. I could easily call him for the furniture delivery last Saturday but he had already helped me out too much and Maddie was out of town. I didn’t want to bother Mom and Everett was with me in Chicago and out of the four brothers, he was the one that I’d formed a rapport with the
most.

  Standing up from my bed, I headed to the bathroom and brushed my teeth and then slid on a robe. It was only 6 AM and Max’s school would start later in the afternoon. I’d arranged to drop him off at daycare and then at lunch, I would swing by to drive him to school. It wasn’t the most ideal situation but I was a single mom and I needed to work or else what were we going to eat?

  Just as I was mixing the batter for the pancakes, the doorbell rang. Furrowing my eyebrows, I made sure that the robe was tied properly before I opened the door. I sucked in a breath when Leo stood in front of me, his hands in his pockets and his hair still curly and wet from the shower; he hadn’t tied it yet. He smiled, bashful and the sight still made my heart involuntarily skip a beat.

  “Good morning!” Leo greeted and then he nodded his head inside. “Mind if I come in?”

  I stepped aside and let him in. Even if I told him no, Leo would still let himself in. “It’s 6 AM in the morning, Leo. What are you doing here at this hour?”

  Leo shrugged as he stood in the middle of the bare living room. “It’s your first day to work and Max’s first day to school. Need a hand today?”

  His head was tilted to the side and he had a ghost of a smile on his face. His hands were still in his pocket and gave off a very charming and boyish vibe, the same vibe that he gave off the night we first met, before I knew that he was Leo Hudson, the Cassanova who was set out to break hearts.

  I crossed my arms over my chest and shook my head. “Don’t you have a job to do?”

  “Shoot won’t be until 2 PM. Didn’t you mention that Max’s school started at 1:30 in the afternoon? How are you going to drive him there when you’re at work and who’s going to look after him all morning?”

  My eyebrows rose. “Did you forget I used to live in Irving and my family is still here? Or did you also forget that for six years, it was just Max and I? I think I know what to do, Leo, and how to handle all of this.”

  He was quiet after my statement and I left him there, heading back to the kitchen to finish making breakfast. I wasn’t sure how long Leo stayed in the living room but he suddenly came into the kitchen and said, “What about Max’s father? Was he never in the picture?”

  His question made me pause and I slowly turned to face him. Leo stood in the doorway, his gray eyes paralyzing. For a moment, I didn’t understand what he meant with his question. Didn’t he know that I was a single mother? And then suddenly I remembered what he said at the wedding, when he was dancing with me.

  And you wanted it to be with me but I left without any explanation and you found it with someone else.

  He thought that I was with Max’s father. I blinked, unsure of how I was supposed to answer his question now. Making him believe that I was with someone else might put a semblance of boundary between the two of us but if he had thought that I was with someone and he was acting this way, it wasn’t certain that he’ll stop pursuing.

  “That’s none of your business, Leo,” I answered him softly and I heard him let out a frustrated sigh. I turned my back on him again, wanting to focus my attention on making breakfast rather than entertaining whatever useless question Leo had to fire at me.

  “Is that why you’re hesitant on taking me back?”

  I couldn’t believe he just asked that. I couldn’t even believe he had the audacity to ask that. I turned back around to face him, eyebrows furrowed and a scowl on my face. “You left, remember?”

  “But I’m here now. I’m back. I want you back, Ellie. I wanna make it right.” His voice was pleading and it was too early in the day to even deal with this kind of crap with a guy who left me in a lake house with only a note that didn’t even explain why. “You let me back in. That has to count for something. If you’re hesitant to get back together with me because of Max’s father, because it was a failed relationship...”

  “If you think that I let you in my house because I want to give you a chance, that’s not it, Leo. My son adores you and as much as I hate that he does, I don’t want to strip him of the relationship he formed with you. I’m not that cynical and selfish.” My hand was clenched tightly on the spatula I was holding and then I held it against him, pointing it straight at his face. “But none of that changes that fact that you left. You chose to leave.”

  “And I chose to come back.”

  I gritted my teeth. “That doesn’t change anything.”

  We were staring down at each other at this point and Leo’s gaze held the hope that I wanted to crush. He couldn’t simply waltz back in my life and tell me that he wants me back. I suffered when he left, my heart broken into pieces that I thought I could never put together again. There was no way that he gets to come back after what he did.

  No way.

  “Mom?”

  Whatever argument that we were having seemed to dissipate out of thin air as we both turned our attention to the person that just walked in the room. Max was in his Batman pyjamas, holding a gray elephant in his arms as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes. I set the spatula I was holding, along with the bowl, wiped my hands on the apron and then crossed the distance between Max and I. Kissing the top of his head, I placed a hand under his chin.

  “Good morning, sweetheart. How was your sleep?”

  Max yawned and stretched, giving me a kiss on the cheek and I could smell his fresh breath. I’d trained this kid well. “Mr. Big Shot...kept the monsters...at bay for me.”

  I smiled and ruffled his hair affectionately and then patted the stuffed elephant. “Good job, Mr. Big Shot!”

  He turned his head to the side and a slow grin formed on his face. He dropped Mr. Big Shot and then ran to where Leo stood. Max squealed with delight and I turned around to look at them. He was in Leo’s arms and he was laughing at something that Leo was whispering to him. I swallowed, my heart involuntarily melting at the sight of my son comfortably in Leo’s arms.

  For the fourth time, I focused my attention to the forgotten batter on the counter, adding the remaining ingredients to make the pancakes as Max recounted his dream to Leo and Leo was patient enough to listen, despite Max’s stuttering. Max wasn’t always like that but there was a time that I was so busy with the firm back in Miami that I had to hire a nanny to look out for him. She was good with him whenever I was around and I didn’t have any cameras installed at the house to see what she was doing to my son behind my back. She wasn’t as great as I came rushing to a hospital because Max fell down the stairs and hit his head.

  That was when the stuttering started.

  I placed three plates on the table. Max and Leo were already seated and then I placed the stacks of banana pancakes in the middle of the table, followed by the plate of bacon and eggs. I could feel Leo’s gaze on me but I ignored it, handing him his cutlery and then I began to put food on Max’s plate. We ate and Max filled the table with his stuttering chatter but it was nice to see him so animated to someone other than me. I can hate Leo all I want for how he hurt me but I can never hate him for how good he was being to Max.

  “Max,” I called his attention. He turned to me and I cleared my throat. I needed to discuss with him our new set-up. “Your school starts at 1:30 and my work starts at 8. I have to leave you at daycare all morning and then pick you up...”

  “He’ll stay with me all morning,” Leo quipped and I turned to him, surprised at first and then I pursed my lips, shaking my head.

  “You have your own work to deal with, Leo. Today, you may be available but what about the coming days?”

  Leo glanced at Max and then focused his gaze on me. He looked at me evenly. “I’m a photographer, Ellie. And it just so happens that I’ve made a name for myself too. It got to a point that clients match with my schedule. If I want to be available only in the afternoon, then so be it.”

  I wanted to retort but my phone rang from the bedroom and I rushed upstairs to answer the call, not bothering to check the caller ID. “Hello?”

  “Eleanor, I can’t believe you checking in with me wasn’t the f
irst thing you did when you got back home.”

  Mom’s tone was playfully condescending and I giggled, sitting on my bed. “I wanted to make sure our new house was a home for Max.”

  “You know you could’ve just stayed here with me. You didn’t have to ask Patrick to find you a new house. I would love to have my grandson live with me again.”

  I sighed and then toyed with the hem of my robe. “I don’t want to intrude with you and Yves, Mom.”

  Yves was Mom’s partner. He came in the picture five months before I left for Miami. He was a decent guy but it was just weird to see your mother with someone who wasn’t your Dad. But at least she found a better partner. I couldn’t say the same for Dad. “Promise me that you and Max will have dinner with me sometime this week.”

  “I promise, Momma. Is this why you called?”

  There was a deep sigh on the other line. “Your Dad called. He found out you were back in town and wanted to know your address. Patrick refused to give it. But he still found out. His secretary called me to inform you that he might come by this morning,”

  I swallowed, my hand holding the phone tightly. I wasn’t sure how I was supposed to process that information. Dad and I had been estranged since I left for Miami. I hadn’t talked to him for a very long time. “Why?”

  It was all I could muster to ask Mom and on the other line, she sighed again. “I think he might want you to work at his firm, Eleanor.”

  I let out a shaky breath. “But I don’t want to.”

  “Then tell him that,” Mom replied firmly. “I’ll call you later, sweetheart.”

  She hung up the phone and I stared at it, unsure of what I was supposed to do. I checked the time. 7:08 AM. Dad went to work at 7:45, on the dot, every day. He was going to swing by soon and I needed to be ready. I showered quickly and changed into my work clothes, pantsuit and a white cami inside, topping it off with the partner of the pantsuit. I blow-dried my hair and put on make-up and then stared at myself in the mirror.