Page 91 of Beyond Rosy Irish Twilight

“Hudson.” Kate’s hand landed on my arm. Fuck, she was going to guilt me into letting her do this. “If this woman is in trouble, I need to help her.”

“Let someone else do it,” I growled.

“Like you would?”

“Yes,” I snapped. “This has nothing to do with us.”

“It has to do with Asher’s wife,” Cash cut in, pleading to my wife against my wishes. “Her mother has been in a sedated state for years, only she doesn’t know it. She thinks her mother has a mystery illness that’s killing her. They know she truly is sick, but they don’t know how bad it is. And before they can go in and rescue her, they want to know if she can even handle it.”

“I’ll do it.”

“No, you won’t!” I said angrily. “Do you realize what they’re asking you to do?”

“Yes, and I’m sure they wouldn’t send me into a dangerous situation where they couldn’t protect me,” she argued.

“Are you fucking kidding me? This guy works with drug dealers, child traffickers, fucking arms dealers! The whole fucking situation is dangerous!”

Kate stared me down, her eyes burning in that way that told me she wasn’t going to back down. Her fingers intertwined with mine as she looked into my eyes. “Hudson, I’m doing it. This is what I do. I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t try.”

“You don’t even know this fucker,” I snapped. “What if something happens and I can’t get you out?”

Her lips tilted up in a smile. “Like that would ever happen. You would go to the ends of the earth for me. You’d burn it down if it meant getting to me. Why would I be worried?”

Her words did little to soothe the growing storm raging inside me. I wanted to kill Cap for even allowing Cash to pull us into this. “I don’t like this.”

“Well, I didn’t like a lot of things you did, but I didn’t stop you. I’m doing this. So, you can either come with me, or you can stay behind and wait for me to return.”

“Ooh, and if you come, I’ll make shawarma!” Fox shouted in the background.

Kate bit back a smile and tugged on my hand. “You know this is happening.”

She would only resent me if I didn’t allow her to do it. And I couldn’t handle Kate being disappointed in me. It made me feel like I’d failed her all over again, just like during the fire. “Hunter goes in with you. He’s the only one I trust.”

“Done.”

“And if he senses that anything is wrong, he will get you out—no questions asked.”

“Okay.”

“And one more thing.”

Her eyes widened as I stepped into her space and let her feel the anger vibrating through my body. “If you ever use your ethics to manipulate me again, I’ll break my promise to you in a heartbeat.”

She swallowed hard and nodded to me. I turned to Cap and glared at him. “When do we leave?”

“Not for a few weeks,” he grinned. “So, you’ll have some time to reign in that temper of yours.”

“You should know me better by now,” I said as I turned for the door. “That anger never fades.”

33

JADE

My insides had been churning for the last two days. He said he would come to get me. He said he would explain everything, but that had yet to happen. Instead, when I saw him, he made an excuse about still needing answers. Then, when I came to get him for bed, he insisted I go to bed alone, something I really didn’t want to do. He still had work to do, and he would come to bed when he was done. But he never did.

Two nights went by where I was terrified of my own shadow. I gave in and took another sleeping pill each night just so I didn’t have to think about what was really going on. Even now, after just waking up, I really wanted to go grab another just to numb my senses. The stress of the situation was becoming too much for me, and it wasn’t just at night that the images flashed through my mind.

Patrick hadn’t been following me around the grounds, probably because of the terrible way I treated him the last time I saw him. But looking back on it now, I knew I needed someone around to keep my mind off things. What I thought was annoying before now left me clutching for any kind of lifeline that would keep me sane while everyone else went about their business.

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