“You may think that I'm being a bastard by not letting her see you or vice versa, but Mia somebody betrayed me, us. Somebody knew where you were going that day. There was only one person who had any idea where you may have been going: your mother. She gave you the key to the house, she had to have known where you were going. So no, your mom doesn't get to see you.”
My mouth opens in shock, it takes me a while to find my voice. “Hudson, you can’t really believe that Mom had anything to do with this?”
He ignores my question and starts his tirade again. “Hell the bitch didn't even leave Hidden Hills until a few days ago. She knew you were missing and she didn’t give a shit. So no she does not get to see you, she does not get to act as a grieving mother, and she doesn’t get to act as if she gives a shit. When we all know that all she cares about is herself.”
“Hudson,” I whisper unsure what to say.
“I have been nice to that woman but all she does is look out for herself. I'm sorry Mia it stops now. That woman does not come here unless I say so. Unless you are one hundred percent sure that you are safe in her hands, if that is the case I will let her and I will be present when she's here. I don't trust her, I never will. Not with your life.”
I’m in shock, I knew that he didn’t like my mom I just never knew how much he hated her. “Hudson, I just want to go home,” I tell him again. I’m not going to argue with him. I don’t think my mom will hurt me, I don’t think she’d betray him or me but I’m too tired to argue. Once I’m home, I’ll talk to him about it.
Eleven
Hudson
One we
ek Later
Today’s the day that Mia comes home. I’ve been in many a situation where my life has been on the line, yet I’m a nervous wreck right now, my heart is racing. Today could be the day the rat comes out to play. What a better way to get to ambush us, especially when I’m bringing my precious cargo home. I have men ready and waiting, I have a route mapped out. Only three people know the exact route; Me, Jagger, and my dad. Mia has told me that Jagger is not the man and I believe her. I knew deep in my gut that it wasn't him, I didn't think he’d have it in him. He's my best friend, the man has always had my back. I know that I hurt him by questioning his loyalty, I was an ass, my head was gone when Mia was taken and I wasn’t thinking clearly I know it and he knows it. I apologized and I gave him this mission, he knows that me giving him this means I trust him. Now all is well with us.
Along the route I have men on each and every rooftop, I have men in cars parked on the streets just in case the rat gets any ideas trying to ambush us on the way home. If he does he's fucked. I have no trust when it comes to my men so I did the only thing I could think of, I got other men in. John Healy’s men to be precise. The man owes me a marker and I'm cashing in on it. It’s fucking bad that I need to go elsewhere but deep within my organization. Someone close to me is betraying me and until I can prove who it is, I need to make sure that Mia is safe. So I’ve called in a marker. John Healey is the man that killed Kane for having sex with his sixteen year old daughter. He was one of our men, it meant we were meant to deal with it. We weren’t given the opportunity. With me being the man I am, I understood where the Healy’s were coming from. If I had a sister or a daughter who was sixteen and a thirty year old had sex with her, raped her basically I'd have killed him too. Fuck the consequences. So I did the only thing I could do. I made out of that I called the hit on Kane, that I had given the Healy’s the go-ahead to kill him. In doing so I took the wrath of my father for it and I’d do it again because I know that if it was me I have done exactly the same thing. I would have reacted the exact same way. The Healy’s don't know that, they think I did them a solid and now they’re repaying the favor. They're going to help me keep Mia safe.
I have a fleet convoy. Three Healy’s lead the way, followed by me with Mia, which is then tailed by my father, and then Jagger. A six car convoy leading us home not mentioning the cars that are located on the streets along the route, and the men on the rooftop. Anyone who comes for me is going to die, no ifs or buts. I don't believe the rat will show his face today, he’s gotten so close to being found out that he needs to hide. He’s doing what rats do scurrying away from danger
My dad walks out first, Mia directly behind him, her hand on his back. Jagger’s behind Mia right on her back and my arms around her shoulders if anyone wants her to have to get through us. It's just a precaution, one that I will be doing any time me and Mia are in public. I just need to get someone to take over from my father because right at this moment two shots and you could take out both me and my dad, effectively killing off the generations of Brady's
The Healy’s jump into their cars when we approach and start the engines. As soon as I open the passenger's door on the car dad and Jagger rush to theirs. Helping Mia into the passenger's side, I run around to the drivers and hop in. I know that having Mia in the front beside me is stupid but I’ll be able to keep a better view of her here rather than in the backseat. We wait until Jagger gives us the go ahead that he is ready. When he's ready we’ll set off, no matter if there's red lights, all the cars in this convoy go together not getting split up, no way, no how. I can imagine what people would say if they could see me, that Hudson Brady has gone soft. My name used to instil fear into people’s hearts, just hearing my name would make their blood run cold. If they were to see me now, sitting behind the wheel of this Escalade, my hands shaking. I feel fear, I’m scared. I know that if it were just me, I would go guns blazing, I wouldn’t give a shit. But this is Mia, I can’t have anything hurt her. I’d lose my damn mind if she were to die.
“Hudson.” Her soft voice calls out, it’s not as scratchy as it had been when she woke up. “It’s going to be okay.”
I find it amusing that she is comforting me, it should be the other way around. Jesus fucking Christ, man the fuck up. Right now I need to be focused on keeping Mia safe and that means keeping my focus on this drive home. My house is safe for her to be in. It's harder to penetrate than Fort Knox. So she’ll be safe as soon as we arrive at my house. There’s only six blocks between here and there. That’s all I have to worry about, making it through those six blocks. I know that the men helping me guard her are going to do the best they can to make sure she’s not hurt in any way, shape, or form.
I reach over and take her hand. “I promised you, nothing was ever going to happen to you again.”
“I know you won’t. It’s been a while since I was in your house.” She gives me a cheeky smile
I smirk. “That’s right. That night started my obsession for you.”
Her laugh is like a little bell going off. “Obsession? Are you telling me that the bad Hudson Brady is obsessed with little old me?”
I love this side to her. Her fun, cheeky, light side. Her eyes don’t hold the same mischief as her smile, instead her eyes hold a darkness, one that wasn’t there until she was in that basement. I’m going to make it my mission to make sure she can move on from it, grow stronger from it, I will make sure it never happens again.
The honk signals that Jagger’s ready, my dad revs his engine and I glance at Mia. “Put your seatbelt on,” I tell her and I, too, rev my engine. We’re ready.
The convoy begins to move my eyes peeled on the road glancing around making sure nobody suspicious is around. I’m acting like a paranoid jackass but I don't give a fuck. I'm talking everyone that is in the vicinity, I have surveillance covering this route as soon as the doctor gave the go ahead for Mia to come home it's been in the works. Dad, Jagger and the Healy’s have one together they made sure that if the rat comes out there's no way for him to hide. We're going to know who it is
My phone rings causing Mia to jump out of her seat, "Relax," I tell her and she gives me a quick short nod.
"Yeah?" I answer and can feel the glare that Mia’s giving me.
“Hudson, its John. I’m two blocks from you.” He’s talking quick, he’s on edge. “There’s something here that don’t seem right.”
“What is it?”
“There’s road works. There’s no way there should be roadworks here. I’ve a feeling it’s a set up.”
My teeth clench, he’s right. We made sure there wasn’t going to be any. We would have gone a different route if we’d known. “If they know we’re moving Mia, they’re going to have this all planned out.”