Total pages in book: 166
Estimated words: 157273 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 786(@200wpm)___ 629(@250wpm)___ 524(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 157273 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 786(@200wpm)___ 629(@250wpm)___ 524(@300wpm)
She looked back at me as Vasily took the stage, and for a second, the mask slipped, and anger shone through. “I would care.”
“About?” I reached into her lap and took her hand, spearing my fingers through her clenched fist, then holding tight.
“If you’d slept with someone in this room. If someone like her had you—” Rage burned in her eyes. “I would care, Hudson.” She jerked her head toward the stage, and Vasily began his speech before I could reply.
Allie seethed, her posture rigid, gripping my hand like a vise all through Vasily’s remarks, and didn’t let up as the kids from the Company’s ballet school took the stage and began their performance.
“I can’t be here.” She gripped her clutch and looked back at me. “I’m done. Take me home. Now.”
I didn’t need to be told twice.
Chapter Twenty
Allie
SanFranFouette: OMG. I’m living for these updates RousseauSisters4
Hunter4lights: If she can’t sit through dinner, there’s no way she can handle rehearsal. How embarrassing.
I threw my keys onto the entry-hall table of my apartment and kicked off my heels once I hit the living room. The sun was setting, giving a dusky glow through the two-story windows that looked out over the city as I ditched my clutch on the surprisingly clean coffee table. Either Eva was making an attempt at picking up after herself, or our housekeeper deserved a raise.
Anger crawled beneath my skin, the heat of it cracking the carefully constructed mask I worked so hard to maintain when in the city. I hadn’t even made it through dinner.
“You want to talk about it?” Hudson asked, the sound of his footsteps behind me softening as he reached the area rug. What did he think about this place? My mother had hand selected the apartment for its proximity to the studio and had decorated for Lina, only to hand the keys over to me a month after her death.
Did he like the subtle acts of rebellion Eva and I had committed in the street-vendor art on the walls and messy photos of messier nights in their mismatched frames along the bookshelves? Or did he only see the polished surfaces presented for first glance?
“Allie?” He walked past the wicker baskets of pointe shoes we kept near the sofa just in case we felt like breaking them in while streaming a Netflix marathon.
“I’m still processing.” Moving to the windows, I looked down twenty-two stories and watched people go about their lives, walking their dogs, taking their children to the store, maybe arriving at the restaurant on the corner for a date night.
“You can process out loud.” He appeared at my side.
“We’re off the clock.” Funny, but I’d thought that if he were here in my apartment, with its high lofted ceilings, he wouldn’t feel so much bigger than life. I was wrong. He was everywhere, his ocean-salt scent in my lungs, his voice in my ear, his touch imprinted on my skin. I was constantly torn between putting as much space between us as possible, and yanking him closer. Damn it, I was a mess. “You found the guest room when you got here, right?”
He nodded. “Thanks for asking the doorman to let me in.”
A wry half smile twisted my lips. “I know you’re close to superhero status and all, but I figured it was too much to ask you to Clark Kent it in a phone booth.”
He unbuttoned his tux jacket. “Your friends seemed nice for the whole three minutes I spent with them. I like that Kenna’s protective.” The jacket slipped from his shoulders, and he folded it in half before laying it over the back of the leather armchair.
“I can handle myself.” I folded my arms like it would keep another piece of facade from cracking. “Just because I’m quiet or controlled doesn’t mean I don’t know how to fight back or defend my place in the Company.”
“I’d never accuse you of being quiet. At least not around me. Observant and thoughtful, but not quiet.”
“I always have to be careful what I say and who I say it to here. There’s always an ear lurking nearby. Always a phone with a record button.” Looking over at him was a mistake. On a normal day, Hudson was beyond beautiful. Without his shirt on? Mouthwateringly sexy. The sight of him in a tux had rendered me speechless. But the sight of him standing there so casually in the black vest, rolling up the sleeves of his dress shirt, stole every coherent thought and took my sex drive from sure, that would be fun to how fast can I get under this man. Instant heat.
And I could have him if I just asked. He’d made that achingly clear.
“Being on all the time has to be exhausting.” He looked out at the view, taking in the New York skyline.