I narrowed my eyes at him. “I know you’re in pain, but don’t take it out on me. I know I could’ve forced you to come to work with me, or?—”
His shoulders slumped as he tucked his cock back into his sweats.
“Don’t,” he said quietly. “Don’t go over everything you could’ve done differently.” He made his way to the counter and washed his hands. “Bonnie is a fucking psycho, and you did your best to protect me with the very little facts you had about how terrible shit could get around her. No one is at fault but her and that fucking asshole she was banging.”
I wrapped my arms around his chest and rested my chin on his shoulder as he dried his hands. Our eyes met in the mirror. “I fucking hate that she did this to you again.” I pressed a kiss to his shoulder. “It makes me sick to my fucking stomach.”
Hudson shook his head and lifted his hands, curling them around my forearms. “Don’t. She’s finally going to get what’s coming for her. Not only will she lose access to the only thing that’s mattered to her—money—but she’ll also be stuck sharing showers with other women, wearing the same thing every single day, and she’ll no longer be able to pamper herself. She’ll lose everything that’s ever mattered to her, and that is enough for me.”
I grunted. “Simple man.”
It certainly wasn’t enough for me. I wanted her to suffer for everything she’d done to Hudson. But I wasn’t the one she’d wronged. Hudson was, so if that was all he wanted, then I’d settle.
So long as he was happy with the outcome.
“I just want you.” He slowly turned to face me, his lips twisted into a grimace until he could lean back on the counter. His hands came to rest on my sides, and his thumbs stroked over my bare skin. “You realize whether you caved or not, I planned to have you, even if it meant she did something even more outrageous than have me attacked?”
I sighed in exasperation. “You’re reckless, Hudson.”
He smirked. “Reckless for you.”
I laughed quietly and pressed a kiss to the tip of his nose. “Let’s get you back to bed, baby. You need more rest and some food.”
I moved back, giving him space to walk on his own. It took an agonizing amount of time, but he finally laid down on the bed. I pressed a kiss to the top of his head. “I’ll be back in a bit with some food. Try to sleep. I’ll wake you when I’m back.”
He hummed as his eyes closed. “I got you off in this spot.”
My lips quirked with an aborted smile, and I shook my head. “Sleep, Hudson.”
Chapter Twenty
Hudson
* * *
A month had passed since I’d been stabbed, since my own fucking mother had damn near ended my life in her crazy scheme to keep Kreed as her husband, just so she could have access to money. She was sitting in jail awaiting a court date that was months off. As it was though, she and Kreed were now divorced. The judge had granted it swiftly after he found out she was in jail for having me attacked.
An accessory to the crime, I guessed it would’ve been called.
Kreed stepped up behind me, his arms winding around my waist. I’d had to finish the rest of my semester at home under doctor’s orders—and more than likely because of Kreed’s pull. My professors had been nice enough to allow me to do online classes with them, though, which was great. I didn’t fall behind, and I didn’t miss any marks on my assignments. Apparently, because of Kreed’s big name, they’d heard about my injury long before I’d reached out because of the headlines were all over the news and social media.
Some had tried ripping apart Kreed and his reputation, but after reporters did enough digging and found out just what kind of woman my mother truly was, they stopped coming after Kreed so much for being with his stepson. Some even went as far as to paint Kreed in the light of a savior. Almost.
“What are you doing?” Kreed asked, staring down at the steak I was chopping.
“Prepping dinner,” I explained, gesturing at my phone propped up against the wall. “Saw a video and thought it looked good, so I had the stuff I needed to make it delivered to the house. I was too lazy to go to the store myself.”
Kreed snorted and pressed a kiss to my neck, making a shiver roll down my spine. “I could’ve made dinner.”
I grunted. “You had pain-in-the-ass meetings all day.”
Didn’t matter that Christmas was only a few days away. The boardroom meetings didn’t stop just because of the upcoming holiday. Kreed’s schedule was booked all the way until Christmas Eve. I hated it because I wanted him home with me, but that was nothing new. I always wanted Kreed home. I was selfish like that, and that would never change.
He sighed. “Yeah…” His arms tightened around me. “I missed you.”
It was crazy to think that just a mere month ago, I was pressuring him to cave and be mine. To come out of the closet and divorce my mom. Now, he was an out-and-proud pansexual, and not only had he managed to divorce Bonnie, but he’d also become a huge advocate for the LGBTQIA+ community. Not that he hadn’t been before, but he’d been quiet about his donations and sponsorships. Now, he loudly supported it.
“I want to run something by you,” he told me.
