Page 43 of The Prey
Hala was cuddled on the man’s lap like she’d been there before. Grady was just holding her close, his head thrown back, one hand spread over Hudson’s sister’s narrow back.
“Shh, do not wake them,” Gia said, hobbling up behind him. She had no business on her feet now. She was the most stubborn woman on the planet, hands down. “They are seriously so cute together. I suspected this would happen soon.”
He turned toward her. “I didn’t have a clue. You should go to bed. And weren’t you told no walking on that foot?”
She had a significant cut on the bottom of her left foot. Everything else had just been minor. But…she had been told not to walk on it. He moved toward her—if he had to carry her, he would.
“I know. I think I want a real shower first. Or to at least wash my hair somehow. I smell like smoke.” She wrinkled her nose a little, as she looked at him. She shivered, her big eyes soft and a little scared. Sad.
She broke his damned heart.
Hudson immediately went to her. “I’ll help.”
“You will not. Not with that burn on your hand.” She just looked at him—and started crying.
Hell…no, he couldn’t handle her tears. He’d turn completely to mush. A sound behind him had him turning.
“I thought I heard you pull in,” Gene said, Chantal next to him. Her lips were swollen. Hudson could figure out what they’d been up to. Gene walked right up to his sister and pulled her close. He just held her. Hudson understood. He looked at his own baby sister now. Hala had found a safe place of her own—with people who cared about her. Hudson would never say a word against what he saw right now.
“She’s not supposed to be walking on that foot. And she won’t let me carry her.” Hudson held up his bandaged hand. “She’s being stubborn.”
“Then I’ll take care of her. Where do you want to go, kid?” Gene asked, scooping her up.
“I need to wash my hair. I smell like the fire.” She hooked her arm around her brother’s neck. “I’m sorry. I’m blubbering like an idiot.”
“Hey, blubber away. Heaven knows I did when the dark preyed on me and Gene,” Chantal said. “Let’s carry her to her bathroom. I’ll help her wash her hair.”
“Yes, ma’am. I shall do as you bid. Always.” Just like that, Gene carried her away.
Leaving Hudson standing in the living room of the Hiller Ranch once again. He didn’t doubt Gene would be back. His friend was going to have questions. It was time to face the music.
The Hillers knew exactly where their sister had been, after all.
Well, they had no room to talk. His own sister looked rather settled right where she was, with Gia’s brother’s arms around her.
And Hudson had no regrets about what had happened before the fire. He never would.
Gene came back a minute later. “Talk upstairs?”
They had a large family room up there. Hudson nodded. “I should wake my sister, let her know I’m here.”
“I wouldn’t, honestly. She was pretty upset. But Grady calmed her down.” Gene shook his head, then grabbed a knit throw off the back of the nearest couch. He covered the two sleeping in the rocking chair gently. He turned back to Hudson. “That chair is getting a lot of double occupancy lately. I was in it myself with my woman before Grady got home to tell us what happened.”
Hudson followed his friend upstairs, careful of the cuts on his own feet. Guthrie had had shoes in his office that he’d leant Hudson. And clean socks. It was a tight fit over the bandages but…better than nothing.
He sank into one of the recliners. “I suppose you have questions.”
“Hell, yes. First…are you and Gia really okay?”
“Yes. A few burns and cuts, a bit worse for the wear. But in general, we’ll be okay.” But they would never forget. He definitely wouldn’t. His woman had been hurt—that wasn’t something Hudson would ever forgive. “I’m going to find the bastard responsible for hurting your sister, Gene. And I’m going to make him pay. He’ll never hurt her again. You have my word on that. I am going to rip him apart, one damned joint at a time, put him back together, and do it over and over again, until the day he dies.”
“I can’t say I don’t understand that exact feeling. So…what exactly are your intentions toward my sister?” Gene asked, a serious expression on his face. Then he grinned, looking very much like the sister in question. “I have always wanted to ask that. I did ask Chad, but then Genny told me I had to answer the same question in reverse. And well…my plans for Chad’s sister would have burned the poor boy’s ears. And probably gotten me killed.”
Hudson laughed. “I can imagine. I’ve already discarded several ways to off Grady right now. I still haven’t found the perfect one. Because well…I’m serious about your sister. He’d better be, too. Tonight just illustrated that even more clearly. I’m not ever going to let her go. You have my word on that.”
“No one knew about your sister and Gradyuntil tonight. At least…I didn’t.I suspect some of the women around this place now possibly did.IfHala and Grady are even together. No one has actually said.”
“I hope they are, actually.” He didn’t have a damned problem with Grady Hiller and his sister together at all. If Hudson could pick a guy for her that he would trust to take care of her, it would be one of the Hillers. They were some of the best men he knew. And he trusted his sister to make her own decisions. When she was ready. “But I am going to rib him a bit. Just because I can.”
