Page 81 of The Art of You

Standing alongside us, Enzo had issued a quick,“I’ll catch another ride to the city,”to the governor. Then he’d muttered,“Not a good idea for us to be in such a small space together. I want to hit the fucker, too.”

Once Governor Ashford had left, Hudson quietly killed me, abruptly walking off alone toward the beach.

I’d struggled in my brother’s hold trying to go after Hudson,but he wouldn’t let me go, telling me to give Hudson space. The man didn’t need space, he needed a hug.

It’d been fifteen minutes since Hudson and his father had taken off in two different directions, and while I was glad the governor was gone, I was losing my patience waiting for Hudson’s return.

Thankfully, Constantine had finally let go of me, but only to go after Hudson himself. He’d assigned Alessandro and Enzo to babysit me. The only time one of my overprotective bodyguards left the deck was to get me a blanket, noticing me shivering from the cold.

“He’ll be fine.” Enzo came up next to me where I was hunched over the railing, eyeing the beach. “He needs a minute.”

“It’s been over fifteen,” I sputtered, shaking beneath the blanket even though I was no longer cold. These were anxiety-induced chills, which were the worst.

“If I were him, I’d need all day,” Alessandro said from behind me, and I turned to glare at him as he looked up from his phone. “What’d I say?” He shrugged, not realizing his words didn’t help.

“He’s back.” Enzo guided me around to face the steps, but the only “he” I could see was Constantine.

“Where’s Hudson?” I lost hold of the blanket, rushing toward my brother as he slowly ascended the deck steps.

Constantine turned toward the beach, but Hudson was nowhere in sight. “He’s working the problem.”

“And that means?” I asked as he bent down and picked up the fallen blanket, offering it to me.

When I didn’t accept it, he lifted his chin as a simple request to take it or else. That “or else” meant he would keep his information to himself and order me inside. “So stubborn. You two are a pair, I swear,” he grumbled when I’d yet to relent. “He needs time to think. To confront his demons. He knows we have his back, working the problem here with what we’ve learned this morning, while he does that.” He walked behind me and set the blanket over my shoulders.

“I don’t want him doing that alone.” I didn’t attempt to make a run for it. Not yet, at least. I had to be smart. Three to one right now. Odds weren’t in my favor.

“You have to let him.” Enzo had Constantine’s back on this, dang it.

I frowned and faced the three of them while keeping myself bundled inside the warmth of the blanket. “He’s aTeamguy, not a lone wolf, remember?”

“He has us, and he knows that.” Constantine stood tall, like the tower of strength he truly was for our family. “But shit is about to hit the fan. We’re going to have to get involved in the affairs of the CIA whether they like it or not, and that means we’ll need help from Falcon Falls. I don’t like this, trust me, but it has to be done.”

“Wait, what are you talking about?”

The blanket started to slip, and Constantine didn’t miss a beat, righting it back in place as he reminded me, “Falcon Falls has an in with POTUS and the director of the CIA. Whoever is spearheading this operation against this terrorist cell must be using a back door to do it. Information isn’t being shared between agencies, that much is obvious, and I have to believe it’s on purpose to prevent both the President and director from thwarting their efforts. That tells me this is personal.”

His words flew over my head, and I blamed the slow processing rate of my brain squarely on the fact I never had coffee. “Translate, please. Remember, I speak Italian, not Greek.”

Constantine angled his head and let go of a deep breath. “My guess is at some point those terrorists are the ones whoinadvertently”—he narrowed his eyes as if hating what he was about to say next—“woke the sleeping giant. And somehow that connects to the governor or us. Maybe both.”

My shoulders dropped dramatically when my brother’s words clicked in place.

“We need Hudson at the top of his game before we figure out our next steps on how to proceed. All I know is we have to get ahead of the storm here before it swallows us whole.” Those bone-chilling words from my brother gutted me. “If something goes wrong, Hudson will blame himself for it, and you know that. Right or wrong, he will. Just like he feels responsible for what happened fifteen years ago.”

The last thing in the world I wanted was for Hudson to bear the burden of more guilt he didn’t deserve.

“So, give him time. We have plenty to do in the meantime.” Constantine gestured in the direction of the helipad and turned toward Enzo. “I’ve got our pilot heading here now. He’ll take you to the city so you can help sober up our delivery guy. Show him photos of every possible suspect again when he’s clean. From the woman across the street’s date to the governor himself. Leave no one out.”

Enzo nodded at the orders.

“I’ll keep working on hacking that Insta profile that posted the video footage that must have come from the CCTV cameras at the party, as well,” Alessandro remarked.

I forgot he’d mentioned that to me before the governor had arrived.

“I’ll update Adelina on what we know over a secure line and have her be our liaison with Falcon if she’s up for it,” Constantine offered. “If not, Enzo will need to call Jesse McAdams for an assist.”

I pivoted around toward the beach, hating Hudson was out there by himself. “Is it safe for him to be alone and unarmed?What if someone’s watching us?” I looked up at the sky, searching for a drone that wasn’t there, because it sure as heck felt like we were under a microscope.

---