“Did I miss a memo of some kind?” she asked, looking between us. “A meeting I forgot to put on my calendar?”
“No, this is too urgent to schedule.” Crossing my arms over my chest, I held her gaze, hoping to catch any reaction she tried to hide. “I have someone looking into the photos from yesterday. And the articles. If you’re behind them, this is your only chance to confess before things go too far.”
Maddie’s eyes widened, then filled with tears. “Hudson, do you really think I would do something like that?”
Her initial response echoed my own to Serena yesterday, almost word for word. But she hadn’t actually answered my question. “I’d like to think the girl I grew up with wouldn’t purposely try to sabotage my relationship with the only woman I’ve ever truly loved, but the coincidences are lining up too neatly. I have no choice but to ask, and I need you to tell me the truth. Lying won’t do any good at this point because it’s going to come out soon anyway.”
“Fine,” she huffed, then her gaze darted toward Sarah. “We’re friends, aren’t we? She shouldn’t be here for what should be a private conversation.”
Sarah snorted and grinned at Maddie over the rim of her mug. “If you think there’s much that I don’t know about Hudson’s life after five years of managing all his daily shit, you’re sorely mistaken.”
“Really, Hudson?” Maddie sniffled. “Are you going to let her talk to me like that?”
“Stop stalling,” I bit out. “Answer the damn question so we can finally move on from all this.”
“Well, if you must know…I was only trying to protect you. Serena’s been so cold to me for months, and you’ve refused to see that she can’t handle our friendship. I thought if you saw how much better things could be without her petty jealousy, you’d finally see it too.”
I raked my fingers through my hair. “What did you do, Maddie?”
“I arranged the photos. Both of them. A dishwasher at the club who was going to quit anyway took the first one, and the guy he sold it to was waiting at my apartment for you to show up.” She shot a nasty look at Sarah, who didn’t bother to hide her lack of surprise at the confession.
I stood there, flabbergasted, staring at the woman I’d known since we were kids. Serena had been right all along. Every single “accident” had been deliberate.
“You arranged them?” My voice came out hoarse. “You deliberately tried to make it look like we were…that I was cheating on Serena. Fucking hell, Maddie. I trusted you.”
She stepped closer, tears spilling now, but there was something hard underneath. “But I didn’t take any money. I did it for you.”
“No.” I shook my head, finally seeing clearly for the first time in four months. “You can lie to yourself, but this was selfish. And I made excuses for you every single time you tried to cause trouble in smaller ways. No wonder you thought you could get away with this. I chose you over Serena again and again, and I will never forgive myself for that.”
Maddie’s face twisted. “You can’t honestly believe that she’s good enough for you.”
“You have it backward.” My answering laugh held no humor. “I just spent months showing Serena that I don’t deserve to beher boyfriend. But that’s about the change, starting with firing you. Effective immediately.”
“You’re really going to throw me away? After everything? I have nothing here, Hudson. No job, no real friends, no one but you. If you cut me off, I’ll have to go back to Indiana with nothing.” Her eyes narrowed, taking on a malicious edge. “I’ll tell everyone that you had an affair with me. The press. Your family. I’ll make sure Serena never has a moment of peace again. You owe me.”
Her ugly threat hung in the air, and for a moment, I thought about the girl I grew up with. The one who used to hunt for eggs in my backyard at Easter when we were little. Then I saw what she had become.
“I don’t owe you anything. I’ll have my lawyer handle the final paycheck and any paperwork. Block my number. Block Serena’s number. And if you try to use my family to worm your way back in, I’ll make sure you regret it. Go back to Indiana. Start over. But stay the hell away from my life—and from the woman I love.”
She called me every name she could think of, threatening to go to the tabloids, my parents, and anyone else who would listen. I stood there and took it, letting every word wash over me, because I deserved it. I had let her hurt the woman I loved.
When she finally stormed out, slamming the door so hard the windows rattled, the silence that followed was a relief.
“Sorry, boss,” Sarah murmured. “That was rough, but you did the right thing.”
Except it might be too late. “Finally.”
Sarah quietly excused herself, and the full weight of my blindness crashed down on me all at once. Leaning against the counter, I buried my face in my hands. I might have lost Serena because of all the times I had minimized her pain.
I had been so loyal to the wrong person for so long that I had nearly destroyed the best thing in my life.
But I was painfully awake now. And more than ready to do whatever it took to earn a second chance with the woman I loved.
Words wouldn’t be enough. I had to show Serena I was choosing her every single time from now on. That I saw the damage I had allowed and would spend the rest of my life making it right.
Even if it took forever. Or if she never let me back in.
13
