Forbidden Temptation My Mafia Fiance's Alpha Father (Brooklyn and Aden)

Brooklyn

"Wait, what did you say?" I ask Hudson now.

He hands me a cup of tea, but my hands are shaking as I take it, the cup rattling on the plate.

"I said, my father records every conversation that happens in his office," Hudson says casually, sitting down across from me.

I swallow. "So..."

"So he didn't ask you what Remington said for information."

"He asked to determine my loyalty?" I whisper.

Hudson focuses on me now. "Why do you look so scared?"

I swallow, glancing out the window. The sun is shining in little pieces through the grape leaves that wrap around the pergola, and I feel the warmth on my cheeks.

But inside, my stomach is in knots.

I turn back to Hudson, who is peering at me. I was so in love with him for the few months that we were dating. Or, at least, I thought I was. Maybe "obsessed" was a more appropriate term.

But now? After everything I've learned about his life-our life? It's all just...gone. All of those feelings have disappeared.

Instead, I view him now as my best friend, my ally.

Hudson disrupts my thoughts.

"What's going on, Brooklyn?" he asks.

"Hudson," I say, trying to control my nerves.

What I said to Lennox wasn't overtly a betrayal, soon enough Aden will discover on the tape that

something isn't right.noveldrama

I need to get out. Fast.

"Are you happy here?"

Hudson is still frowning at me. "What is prompting this?"

I shrug. "You just seem...such a mismatch for this world. I guess I wonder why you've never left. Never just...bailed on it."

He shrugs, clearly uncomfortable. "It's my home. My family, my world, the only sense of pack I have. I guess I don't really have anywhere to go."

"But you've got all the resources in the world," I say, leaning forward urgently. "Honestly, aren't you ever tempted to just steal, like, one of his cars, sell it on the black market for whatever you can get, and take the money and just run? Find a new pack, a new life?"

His mouth falls open at the idea.

"Or" I continue quickly, "you offered me millions to keep my mouth shut the day we broke up if you have access to that kind of cash, why not just take it for yourself? We could run away to the French Riviera, change our names, spend the rest of our days just drinking wine and writing books!"

We need to go, I think.

Because if Aden finds out I betrayed him, he might kill me.

Hudson laughs softly and gives my hand a squeeze before pulling his back to reach for his teacup.

"It's a beautiful dream," he says softly. "But it's impossible."

No. That is not acceptable.

"I think we could do it," I say, my face eager. "I think we could go. Tonight even. Like, now."

He looks at me seriously then. "You mean that, don't you?"

"Hudson," I say, pleading. "We could do it."

His face is still hesitant, but I can tell that he wants to say yes.

"If we don't do this," I say quietly, "we could end up like Jayde."

I certainly will. But if he knows what I've done, he'll know why I'm begging him. I need him to think this is idea is all mine, a future for the two of us.

His eyes go wide. "You-you know about Jayde?"

I nod. He wonders how I know-what I know-but he doesn't ask me now. I can tell him more when we're lying on a beach in San Tropez.

His eyes dart around the patio, as if he's looking for someone who is listening.

"If I agreed to even think about this," he says, "what would the plan look like?"

I bite my lip eagerly. "We could keep

it simple, start small. Figure out how to get our passports, or get convincing passports made. Then, the next thing we need is cash. I have nothing."

But then my eyes catch on the million-dollar diamond I'm wearing on my hand. "Except this."

Hudson frowns at the ring on my finger, remembering of course that it was his mother's. I quickly put my hand over it.

"Not this one," I say gently. "This one, we keep. But there are sapphires, other jewels. Sitting in my room." He pauses for a moment, and then he whispers his answer.

"Okay," he says very, very quietly. "I'm not saying let's go. I'm just saying let's look and see. Then, once we know more...we'll talk

again."

"How about now, though?" I push.

"Brooklyn, what the hell is going on. Why the urgency? You think I can't tell how wired you are?"

I sigh. "Because I fucked up, Hudson. I lied to Aden. About Lennox."

Hudson goes nearly white. "If he finds out, he could kill you."

"I know. So we need to go now."

He considers it for a moment, opening his mouth to answer, when suddenly the door to the patio flies open, banging hard against the stone wall of the house.

I gasp, turning sharply to look at Aden, standing there, seething, his hands clenched in fists at his side. Both Hudson and I go silent, frozen in our seats. This is bad.

Aden stalks forward, slowly, circling

me like prey, his eyes intense on my face and his wolf shining in them. He looks like he is on the verge of shifting, and the power radiating off of him almost makes me want to back up, makes my wolf want to cower.

He pulls a slip of paper from his pocket and thrusts it in front of my face. "Can you explain this?"