Page 14 of Coming Home

A pit forms in my stomach. I don’t know why I feel so adamant about this, but I do. I want to be the one to spend time with her. “No.”

Lucas is fed up and exasperated with me. “Huddy…”

I hold my hands up. “Elle will be working from her desk here when you need her. When you don’t need her, she will be working for me in my home. I will talk to Walker, and whatever the hell it is she’s running from, I’ll take care of it.”

“Hudson, I don’t think—”

I take a step forward, towering over him. He’s my little brother in every sense of the word. “Look, I know you’re worried about me, but I’m telling you, there’s something about Elle. I need to protect her. There’s no way I can’t.”

Lucas opens his mouth, and I add, “I won’t hurt her.”

He slams his mouth closed and tilts his head to look at me. I’m uncomfortable with the way he’s searching my face. Finally, he nods. “Fine. I understand, probably more than you realize, but here’s the deal. She gets to decide. What I’ve got from Elle is she’s not in control right now, and she needs that. She needs to make the decision. So we give her a choice.”

I know he’s right, and even though I want to do this, I know his way is the right way. “Fine.”

Chapter8

Elle

It’s almost closing time, and I’ve been on edge all day. Hudson has been in and out all day, and the last time he came in, he looked pissed.

Normally, seeing a man that way would have me running in the other direction, but today I wanted to comfort him. He disappeared into the conference room carrying a laptop, and I haven’t seen him since.

Secretly, I was hoping to see him again before I left, but I swallow my disappointment and grab my purse.

“Elle…”

“Hey, Lucas, I was just about to head out. You need anything before I go?”

“Can we talk in the conference room?”

He must see the alarm on my face. “Everything’s fine. I just wanted to talk to you. And Hudson’s joining us.”

It’s not like I can tell him no. I set down my purse and walk down the hallway. When I step through the doorway, Hudson is already sitting at the head of the table. I sit down in the chair at the opposite side of the room, then Lucas sits next to Hudson.

He gestures to his brother. “Ignore his scowl. He’s in a bad mood.”

Hudson seems to growl, but when he looks at me, I swear his face softens.

I clasp my hands together. I figure I might as well get right to it. “What’s going on? Are you letting me go?”

“No,” Hudson says.

I nod and look at Lucas, waiting for him to jump in. He is my immediate boss, after all. “So Bella and I are in the last trimester, and I’m going to start working from home more. At least until the baby comes and maybe a little bit more after that.”

I nod. “Okay. Is Isabella okay?”

He waves his hand. “Yes, yes, she’s fine. Thanks for asking. I just want to be able to take care of her, that's all. The doctor wants her to rest more.”

“Okay. So what can I do…”

My voice trails off. Obviously, I’m not going to go to his house to work. I know that Lilian has been trying to find me things to do as it is.

Lucas leans forward. “So we’ve come up with two options, and you get to pick which one you’d prefer.”

I look between the two brothers. Hudson is still not smiling. He doesn’t even look happy to be here at all. “Okay.”

It’s like Lucas doesn’t feel any of the tension ramrodding off his brother and just keeps smiling. “So while I’m working from home, I’m not going to need you full-time. You will still handle the daily reports and send those to me, and I may have you do a few emails or whatever, but I’ll only need you a few hours in the office each day.”

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