Forever Love (Kingpin Book 3)

by Brooke Summers

  She has a few sips, and walks toward the kitchen, I follow behind her and watch as she places the glass in the sink. “Can we go please?” she pleads with me and there’s no way that I can say no to her.

  “Come on, Princess let’s go. Hopefully, your mom will be coming out of surgery soon.” I take her hand and lead her to the door, making sure that she’s steady on her feet. She still looks pale.

  “Is your mom okay? Is she badly hurt?” she questions as I help her into the car.

  “Yeah baby, she’s okay. They said she’ll be sore for a while but she’s expected to make a full recovery.” I walk around to the driver’s side and slide in. “It’s your mom that we’re worried about.” I start the engine and reverse out of my driveway.

  She nods. “Was it Martin?”

  “Yeah, my men found evidence that he was the one to shoot them both.”

  She begins to sob softly, I reach for her hand and she grabs hold of it tightly. I want to reassure her but I made her a promise, I won’t lie to her.

  Two

  Mia

  I’m a wreck, there’s no other way to describe it. I have no idea what I’m doing, I can’t tell Hudson that I’m pregnant not until I know who the father is, I can’t do that to him. I’m praying with all my heart and soul that it’s Hudson’s. I’d be devastated if it wasn’t, I’m not sure if I’d be able to keep the baby. I never thought I’d have an abortion but I honestly don’t think I’d be able to cope with having a baby that was born out of such brutality.

  I grip Hudson’s hand tighter, loving the support and comfort he brings me. When he told me that we had to go to the hospital, I was in a world of my own, trying to figure out how to go to the doctors without Hudson knowing but that’s not going to happen, I don’t think he’d let me go by myself. When he said that both of our mom’s had been shot and are in the hospital, it pulled me from my thoughts. I hate Martin with a passion, he hurts everyone and for what? Because his father didn’t want him? Because he didn’t become the boss? Whatever the reason, he’s hurting innocent people. No reason will be good enough for the shit that he’s doing. The sooner he’s found the better.

  “Mia, you’re quiet, I don’t like it,” he tells me softly, he knows that I’m hiding something from him, it’s why when he told me about my mom, his tone was full of anger. Hudson is tenacious to say the least, if he wants to know something, he’ll do whatever it takes to find out. I won’t be able to hold onto my secret for very long, he made me promise him that I wouldn’t keep things from him and yet, I’m breaking that promise right now.

  “I’m sorry, I’m just trying to process this.” I’m not lying, I am but everything is on top of me right now and I’m sinking.

  “Don’t shut me out, I’m here for you to lean on, for you to vent to, whatever you need, I’m here.”

  He’s being so sweet and yet I have a secret that could break him. “I love you with all my heart,” I whisper as I turn to look out the window as the tears slowly cascade down my face.

  “Princess, right back atcha. But you’re fucking killing me. I know there’s something you’re not telling me.”

  I don’t say anything, I can’t tell him, not just yet. I need to figure out what I want to do.

  He parks the car in the parking lot and he gets out. He walks around to the passenger's side and helps me out of the car. “Mia, whatever it is, you can tell me.” His fingers wiping away my tears.

  “I know I can, can I see how mom is?”

  He stares at me, his eyes searching mine as if he’s trying to find something. His lips form into a thin line. “If that’s what you want.” His hand takes mine and we walk into the hospital, he doesn’t say anything else to me. He’s mad and I understand why, I’d be angry if he was keeping something from me too. He leads me to the surgical floor. “Take a seat, I’m going to find out where Dad is.”

  I take a seat and wait, there’s a strong smell of cleaning solution assaults my nose and I try not to heave, I close my eyes and lean my head back, hoping to ease the nausea that’s reared its ugly head.

  Footsteps draw my attention and I open my eyes and look toward the sound, Hudson and Harrison are walking toward me. I hate that they both have blank expressions on their faces, I can’t brace myself if I don’t know what’s coming. Harrison pulls me into his arms and I look toward Hudson, he’s not looking at me and it hurts, fuck it stings.

  “Mia,” Harrison begins as he pulls away from me. I tear my gaze away from Hudson and look at Harrison. “Your mom lost so much blood, I spoke to an officer I have on board and he said that from the footage they have of the shooting to when someone found her was almost an hour.”

  My breath is taken from me, my hands shaking as I wait for him to continue.

  “Mia, your mom was in surgery for almost four hours. I’m sorry sweetheart, she didn’t make it.”

  My hand clutches my chest as I try and find a way to breathe but I can’t. Dizziness hits me and I sway, my hands reaching out to try and steady myself but I’m already dropping. The darkness coming. I hear yelling but I can’t make out what is being said or who’s saying it.

  My mouth feels dry, like I’ve been eating dry crackers. I realize that I’m lying down, what the hell happened? I try and remember what the last thing I remember is? A beeping noise sounds as it hits me, my mom died. I sob, my tears free flowing. Why does Martin have to do this to us? To me? I was nice to him, I never did anything to hurt him and yet all he’s done is hurt me. I sob for the loss of my parents, for the loss of my mom, regret as the last thing I said to her was that she didn’t give a shit about me and she should leave. I cry for the fact that my mom is never going to be a grandma, she’ll never get to see my baby, she’ll never see me get married.

  I’m not sure how long I cry, the tears slowly start to dry up and I search for the call button, where’s Hudson?

  “Ms Coleman, I’m Angela, I’m your nurse,” a woman says and I open my eyes. “Ms Coleman, you fainted, thankfully your fiancé was there to catch you.”

  “Where is he?” I ask, my voice croaky.

  “He’s with his mom, would you like me to get him for you?” the nice nurse asks.

  I shake my head. “Is his mom okay?”

  The look the nurse gives me doesn’t tell me she is. “Can I get you anything?”

  I glance at the door, making sure no one is there. “I think I’m pregnant.” I whisper, sounding ashamed.

  Angela’s eyes widen before they shut again. “I did ask your fiancé but he said no.”

  I lick my lips. “I only found out this morning.”

  She gives me a reassuring smile. “Okay, well we can check and see how the baby’s doing. Would you like me to get Dad while I’m getting the machine?”

  I panic. “No, please no.”

  She touches my head, soothing me as she rubs it. “Okay Ms Coleman, I won’t say anything. I’ll be back in a few moments and when I return we can lock the door so that no one can come in okay?”

  I nod. “Thank you.”

  She smiles once again and leaves. The minutes tick away, my heart racing in case Hudson returns while she’s gone. I don’t want to have to explain anything just now.

  Angela returns and she’s back with the machine and another woman, they enter the room and immediately lock the door behind them. “Ms Coleman, this is doctor Ojan, she’s an OBGYN.”

  “Hi,” I say quietly, my nerves getting the better of me.

  “Okay Ms Coleman, can….”

  “Mia, please call me Mia,” I interrupt, I hate being called Ms Coleman.

  Doctor Ojan smiles at me. “Okay, Mia it is. Do you know when your last period was?”

  I shake my head. “I don’t know.” I can’t remember, it was before I came home for the summer. “Maybe three months ago?”

  “That’s okay, we can find out how far along you are. If you could take off your clothes from your waist down.”

  I do as she says and take off my clothes, closing
my eyes I focus on my breathing.

  “Okay Mia, this may be a little uncomfortable,” she tells me as she inserts something inside of me. “Just a second,” she murmurs. “Ah, there we are,” she says, triumphantly.

  Opening my eyes I look in her direction, she’s staring at the screen.

  “So from this, it seems as though you’re about ten weeks pregnant.”

  My eyes widen as blood rushes through me and my ears ring. Ten weeks means there’s no way it’s Martin’s baby. Thank God, relief washes through me. I stare at the screen, trying to make it out, but my eyes are blurry as the tears fall freely and I smile unabashedly.

  The whoomp whoomp whoomping is music to my ears, the proof that life is there, my baby is there, his or her heart beating away. I choke up at how precious this moment truly is.

  “The heartbeat is strong, that’s a good sign,” Doctor Ojan tells me, “Are you having morning sickness?”

  I think about the nausea I’ve been experiencing and nod. “I’m more fatigued than anything.”

  She finishes up and I’m free to put on my pants again. “That’s perfectly normal for your first trimester.” Her beeper goes off and she looks at me. “If you have any worries at all, please see a doctor. I’ll leave Angela to explain everything else. I’m sorry to rush off, but I have an emergency. Congratulations, Mia.”

  I smile genuinely for the first time. “Thank you.”

  She wheels the machine out of my room, leaving Angela and I in the room alone. “Mia, is it okay if I call you Mia?” she asks softly.

  “Of course.”

  She smiles, “Congratulations.”

  “Thank you.” I can’t believe that I actually heard the heartbeat, it made it all that much more real.

  “Your fiance told me about what happened to your mom, I am so sorry for your loss.”

  My eyes fill with tears and I try not to let them fall but they seem to have a mind of their own, they slowly trickle down toward my cheek. “Thank you.”

  “I know that this is a hard time for you, I also know that you’re going through a lot right now so what I may say might not make sense, so I’ll give you pamphlets and stuff for you to bring home with you. “You’ll see an Obstetrician and your family doctor throughout your pregnancy. You’ll receive a letter with dates, so you don’t need to worry about that.” She hands me some pamphlets, and I stare at the pregnant woman on the front, she’s smiling brightly and looks as though she has no cares in the world. That’s what I want, to be that carefree while carrying my baby, but I know that’s not going to happen, not while Martin is out there.

  “Mia, the doctor will be around in a couple of minutes to check up on you, but as we now know that you’re pregnant, he'll probably let you go, the shock of losing your mom in such a horrific way is most probably why you fainted. Again, I’m extremely sorry for your loss.”

  “Thank you, for everything,” I tell her and watch as she walks out the door, I quickly fold the pamphlets up that she gave me and put them into my pocket, grateful that I wore pants that have them.

  I hope the doctor comes soon, I really want to leave and check on Hudson, Angela gave me the impression that things with his mom had changed. That’s not good, he was so positive that she was going to be okay, she would be in a lot of pain but she was fine. What changed? Were the doctors wrong?

  The door opens and in walks Hudson, as soon as I see him it’s like a damn breaks inside of me, my body bucking as I sob. His arms are around me within seconds.

  “I’m sorry, Princess. I’m so fucking sorry,” he says.

  My arms go around his neck and I sob into his chest. “It...Wasn’t...Your...Fault,” I tell him through my wails, all the while he holds me tightly.

  He lifts me off the bed, sits down on it, and places me onto his lap, it’s something he always does when he wants to get closer to me. He holds me until my tears dry once again. “Is your mom okay?” I ask as soon as I’m able to talk properly.

  “She has a pulmonary embolism, they have given her the drugs to help reduce it. But she’s okay, they caught it early, it could have been a lot worse,” his voice cracking, it’s been one hell of a day, we’re all feeling it.

  “I’m glad they caught it early. Was it due to the surgery?”

  He pulls me closer, placing a kiss against my head. “We’re not sure, Princess, it may not be, it could be from the shot, or she may have had one beforehand. They can’t be certain, but it’s been found and they’re working on getting rid of it.”

  I turn so that I can see him. “How are you?” It must have been hard learning that his mom was shot not to mention that she was in surgery.

  His eyebrows raise as his eyes widen. “Me? Princess, you’ve just lost your mom and you’re asking me how I’m doing?”

  I nod. “Yes, I’m asking you how you’re doing. Your mom was shot, she had surgery Hudson, that’s a big deal. Not to mention you saw me faint.”

  His eyes shutter close, pain etched on his face. “Fuck, I’m begging you, please don’t do that again.”

  I giggle. “It’s not like I intended to do it.”

  He hugs me tightly. “I know you didn’t. God, it was awful. I’ll probably have nightmares for the rest of my life.”

  “I’m sorry,” I tell him, placing a kiss against his lips. “How’s your dad? He must be taking this pretty hard.” Having his ex-wife as well as his current wife shot within hours of each other.

  “He’s putting on a brave face, but I know it’s killing him inside. As much as he and your mom argued toward the end, mainly about me. My dad loved her, you were right what you said, my dad gave her everything she wanted, he was happiest with her and now she’s gone.”

  “I don’t know what happened to my mom, but she loved your dad, she really did. When she spoke about him, it was with pure happiness. When Lacey and I came to their house in Hidden Hills, I can honestly say that I had never seen my mom as happy as I did then. Your dad was the best thing that happened to her and I’m glad that she had that love. That she had someone who worshiped her as your dad did. I think everyone deserves to feel that love once in their life.”

  He nods. “I’m going to get him Mia, and I’m going to make sure that he’s out of our lives for good.”

  I wish I could believe that, I really do but this has been going on for too long now. “He’s taken the only blood family I had left. He’s taken so much from me Hudson. So fucking much. I don’t understand why I’m the one being punished?”

  “I want to take this hurt away from you, Baby. I wish I could tell you that I’ll have him tomorrow but the truth is, I don’t know where he is and until I do, I’m chasing a fucking ghost. The man has hurt you in ways that I will never understand but feel every night we go to bed because every night you have a nightmare and I try and comfort you, you flinch. That’s on him. The man has killed your best friend, a woman I grew close to, even though it was only for a couple of weeks, I feel that because she was your girl. He also killed your mom, my dad’s wife and I’ll feel that pain too because you both feel it deeply. He killed my men, he’s killed my men’s wives. He’s gone after my mom. I feel these things, and I’m burying them, Baby, as I’m biding my time, I’m going to get him, it may not be tomorrow, or next week, but one day I’m going to get him and that anger I feel is going to come out and he’s going to feel every single thing.”

  Oh my God. “Hudson,” I whisper, unable to say anything else. I wrap my arms around him, offering the support that he offers me without question.

  “Princess, I know that the longer he’s out there the more you’re going to worry but I’m doing everything I can to find him. My men are working tirelessly to find him. I see the disappointment in your eyes every time I come home and I haven’t found him. I see it all, including the fact that you’re hiding something from me.”

  I sigh, not releasing him. “I know I am and I promise Hudson, I’ll tell you, but not here.”

  He pulls me away from him, his ha
nds moving to my face, he’s silent as his eyes searches mine. “Okay Princess, tonight it’s just you and me.”

  I nod, that sounds good. “Okay Hudson, just me and you.”

  “Good, I’m going to see if I can find the doctor and see if I can bring you home.”

  I nod. “That’ll be good, I want to get out of here, but I want to see your mom and dad first.” I need to make sure that they’re okay. Let his dad know that he’s not alone, I’m grieving with him too.

  Three

  Hudson

  The doctor has finally come by to see Mia, he’s allowed her to go home, which has made me less fucking anxious. I thought that she’d be here for the night and I know what these hospitals are like with visitors, I wouldn’t be able to stay here with her which would give Martin easy access to her.

  She grips my arm tightly, as we walk toward my mom, she doesn’t look as grey as she had. She’ll be the death of me, I swear her fainting took years off my life. I’m grateful that I managed to catch her, her head was inches from the floor.

  “Hudson, are you okay? You’re quiet?” she asks me softly.

  I’m so surprised by her, she’s more worried about me than anything. Her mom’s just died and yet she’s focused on checking on my parents. “Yeah, Princess,”

  “Mmhmm.”

  “What’s mmhmm about?”

  “Mmhmm is mmhmm, you’re full of shit. You’re never this quiet.”

  I stop her in her tracks. “Mia, I’m fine, there’s nothing wrong, I am usually this quiet.”

  She gives me a smile. “You may be quiet, but never with me. Let’s go see your parents and then we can go home.” She takes my hand and starts walking again.

  “Mia…”

  She shakes her head. “I understand, we’re all going through a lot and we’re still getting to know each other. Your silence is your way of sorting everything out. I guess we’re similar in that sense.”