Total pages in book: 47
Estimated words: 46858 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 234(@200wpm)___ 187(@250wpm)___ 156(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 46858 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 234(@200wpm)___ 187(@250wpm)___ 156(@300wpm)
Hudson narrows his eyes. “You want to marry her? Have you ever been married before?”
“No. Why do you ask?”
“It’s just…why her?”
“You’re her brother,” I say, sitting up. “You must know there are a thousand reasons a man would want to make her his wife.”
Even thinking a man, as an expression, is enough to get my blood pumping, my protective desires howling.
“Of course, I know what a great person my sister is. I’m just surprised a man of your wealth and status can take the time to see it.”
I grin, can’t help it. “The first time I saw Della passing me on a bus, I fell in love with her. She’s told me it’s the same for her. We both knew it right then. We want the whole thing. A family. Kids.”
“Kids? What about her career?”
“Hudson, I’ll support her in any way she wants. If she wants to work, she can. If she doesn’t, she never has to. I’ve been waiting my entire life for…for my life to begin, in a sense, and now she’s here. I love her. And I’m going to do right by her.”
“She wants all this too?” Hudson mutters.
“That’s what she’s told me. We’ve talked about it all. We were going to tell you soon.”
Hudson sighs, sitting back. “But it’s so fast. How can you know?”
“Sometimes, you just know. There’s no questioning something this certain. I know because…every time I look at her, I see all the things we’re going to do, all the love we’re going to have. She’s…she’s everything to me, already. I want her to be happy for as many minutes of her life as she possibly can.”
“So do I,” Hudson says. “You swear she said all this to you?”
“I swear,” I tell him firmly.
“On what? What matters to you? And you can’t say my sister.”
“My dad. He’s sixty-three and lives on the West Coast. He raised me after my mom sadly passed.”
“Swear on your dad, then, that my sister said all this to you. And swear, if you know her as well as you’re saying you do, you know she meant it. And swear you’ll always do right by her.”
“I swear all of it, Hudson, on my dad’s life. On my mom’s memory. I’ll never hurt her. And I’ll never let anybody else hurt her, either.”
Hudson grins, laughing like he’s trying to hold it back. “They’d have trouble with a heavyweight champ.”
I return the smile, chuckling with him. It’s like tension is draining out of the air like we’re laughing just to add to the release.
“Hudson,” I say after a moment. “I need to ask you something.”
CHAPTER 25
Della
I text, Standing on the busy street, I don't see you.
As I look into the road for Eli’s car, people walk by me, the rush of pedestrians.
I’m in a red sedan with tinted windows, not my usual car. It’s the color of love, the salesman told me. I thought it would fit the mood.
I smile, my cheeks doing that achy thing again. Even if we still have to tell Hudson, and even if we’re not sure about Eli’s job, at least we’re committed to the same type of love now. The forever kind, the sort that will never wane.
Are you serious? What’s the special occasion?
You, he texts. Being lucky enough to have met you. Making you mine. Loving you. You’re the special occasion, Della.
I love you so much, I reply. But you don’t need to make big gestures. I want us for us.
I know. But trust me. It’s appropriate. Look out for the car.
I’m about to text him back, asking what he means by it’s appropriate. Maybe it’s just what he said, about us being in love, but I can’t help but sense, hope, wish it was something more.
Then the car pulls up.
It’s sleek and the red is almost golden as the sunlight bounces off it.
I climb inside, turn, and blink several times when I find Hudson smiling at me. It’s him, the eyes I’ve known since my first memory, his messy brown hair, his lean cheeks.
“I confronted Elias at the gym, and he told me everything.”
“Hudson,” I say quickly. “It’s not what you think.”
“No?”
“It’s not like you hear about professors preying on their students. We’re the….”
The real deal, I was going to say, but then I trail off.
Hudson must have heard this from Eli. Or some version of it. Otherwise, why would Eli have arranged for Hudson to pick me up in a chauffeured vehicle?
I look to the front of the car, at the divider.
I can’t see the driver as we push on… going where? To Eli?
“He must’ve said something.”
Hudson nods. “But I want to hear it from you. I need to know how you really feel, sis. This is like when we were kids, and we could tell each other anything. When we were little, you remember, before I got into fighting and started ignoring you. Before I abandoned you.”