Page 63 of Outlaw

“See you then,” he said, and then the call ended.

I pulled the phone from my ear and stared at it. He’d really just hung up. If I didn’t have a bite mark on my shoulder, where he had locked into me when he unloaded inside me the last time, and my butt didn’t have small bruises from his fingertips digging into it, then I’d have thought I’d dreamed up the other night. The man he’d been that day was someone else. He’d dropped his charm on me, and I’d done whatever he said.

Seemed he had gotten his fill of me all in one night.

Jayda came walking outside to the pool with concern etched on her normally smiling face. Maui went running to her with his tailwagging as a wet and giggly Stevie chased him. I sat up from my reclined position on the lounger.

When she reached me, she glanced back at Stevie, who had picked up Maui and was playing with him, then swung her gaze back to me. “Hey, uh, there is a man at the gate for you. Hudson? I’m not allowed to open the gate for anyone unless given instruction to by Linc or Luther.” She winced as she said it.

I swung my feet off the seat and onto the ground. Shit. What was he doing here? How had he found me? I hadn’t given him an address. More than that, it was dangerous for him to be here. Thank God Linc wasn’t home.

Snatching up my cover-up, I pulled it on and looked over at Stevie. “Can you watch her for me? I need to call him and get him to leave.”

She nodded. “Of course. I’m sorry. I’d let him in, but…”

I shook my head. “Don’t apologize. I wouldn’t want you to. God knows what Linc would do.”

Slipping my feet into the flip-flops I’d worn out here, I hurried for the patio, then decided to go inside in case Stevie could hear me. She hadn’t asked about Hudson in days, and I didn’t want to confuse her. This was all still very new, and she was happy with it.

I dialed Hudson’s number while I stepped inside the house.

“Why is there a security gate to get up to this house?” Hudson demanded when he answered.

If you knew, you would not be sitting there.

“Hudson, why are you here? You need to leave.”

“No. Not until I see you. I came to talk to you. Beg you to reconsider. And you’re locked behind a gate, and I can’t get in. This is concerning, Branwen. I don’t feel good about this. You breaking things off seemed so…so not like you. I’m now seeing some major red flags here. Are you okay? Is he…is he holding you in there? Fuck, I don’t know. The man seemed dark andtwisted. He might be Stevie’s father, but he isn’t someone you need to be around.”

I rubbed my temples with my forefinger and thumb. He had to stop thinking and go.

“I told you he was wealthy and powerful. This comes with it. I am safe. We are safe. But you can’t be here because you won’t be.”

“I won’t be?” he asked. “Do you hear yourself? You are saying that I won’t be safe. That means you believe he will do something to me. That he isn’t stable. You need to let me help you. You don’t love him. I know that.”

Oh God, Hudson. Shut up and go.

I had brought him into this. Another thing to add to my list of fails.

“This isn’t about love. It’s about Stevie. He wants to get to know his daughter. Form a bond with her. You being here makes him feel threatened. Just go. Find someone new. Someone worthy of you. Be happy.”

Please, for the love of all that is holy, get out of here.

“I can’t find someone new and be happy, Branwen! I love you. I want you. You make me happy.”

How was it that I struggled to get rid of men who wanted me, yet the one I wanted thought of me as a hookup that wasn’t even worthy of polite conversation? This was Bastian all over again. Except I didn’t have a best friend for him to start dating. Although she had tried hard to reach out to me and rekindle our friendship after their divorce two years later.

“Hudson, please. I can’t do this with you. My life right now…it’s a lot, and emotionally, I can’t handle this.”

“Might want to try harder.”

Luther’s voice caused my head to snap up, and I stared at him as he sat down on the sectional.

“I love you. I will be there for you. Just let me, please, baby,”I heard him pleading as I stood silently, my gaze fixed on Luther.

Did he mean that Linc was on his way home? Shit. Shit. Shit.

“If you love me, then you will respect my decision and let me go,” I pressed, not taking my eyes off Luther.

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