I hear a noise in the bedroom, followed by footsteps, Mia’s awake. I follow the noise, just as she comes out of the bathroom. “You have a good sleep?”
Her arms reach above her head as she stretches. “Yes, but it wasn’t long enough.” She yawns, her hand covering her mouth as she does.
“We’ve got to go out, but once we return, you can sleep all night.” I promise her.
Her eyebrows raise, “All night?”
I smirk knowing what she’s getting at. I hold my hands up, “I’ll leave you be…” She smiles. “For this evening,” I finish and she shakes her head but that smile is still present on her face. “I’ll have Aaron stop for some food on the way.”
She walks to the wardrobe and starts getting dressed. “Where are we going?”
I sit at the edge of the bed and watch as she pulls on her dress. “I have a bit of business to attend to, I had debated leaving you here with Aaron but I can’t part with you, I can’t guarantee your safety with anyone but me.”
She walks over to me, her arms going around my neck. “I’m not going to argue with you, I know that you have my best interests at heart, if you say it’s for the best I’ll go along with it,” she tells me placing a kiss against my lips. “Just don’t lie to me,” she begs.
“I won’t,” I promise her. “I won’t lie to you. Sometimes I can’t tell you about my business and that’s not because I don’t trust you. It’s because it’s to do with my men. I came to realize something this morning, I had a Fed on my back, the man was on me constantly, I couldn’t piss without the asshole being there. Then all of a sudden he’s gone and Martin’s gone crazy. It didn’t make sense. That’s where we’re heading, we’re going to find out what the Fed knows.”
She sits down beside me, her hand clasping mine. “Hudson, this is a Federal agent, you can’t kidnap him. You’ll go to prison.”
I smile, she’s so fucking innocent. She doesn’t understand. “Mia, I’m not going to go to prison, that I can assure you. That fucking Fed is crooked, there’s no way he’s going to report that he’s been taken, that’s if I let him go.”
She sighs. “God, Hudson, if he goes missing they’re going to look at you. You’ll be the first person they look at.”
“Princess, trust me, I’ve been doing this a long time, I know how to make things look like an accident or a suicide. There’s no way it’ll trace back to me.”
“I trust you,” she replies instantly.
“Good, now, there’s one more thing that I need to tell you.” Her hand convulses in mine. “A friend of mine informed me that your cell has been tracked, not only that, whoever has been tracking you was listening to your phone calls.”
She gasps. “Martin?”
I nod. “That’s what I’m guessing. It’s how he knew you’d be at your parents’ house.”
She gapes at her phone. “Is he still doing it?”
My jaw clenches. “Yes, the man that gave the devices to Martin confirmed that he is indeed still using them and that it was last used less than twenty four hours ago.”
“Oh,” she whispers, her eyes wide with fear.
“He’s not going to get you, Mia. I have a new cell on the way, Aaron’s getting it as we speak. I have an address for Martin, once Aaron gets here, he’ll be sitting on that place until I’m finished with the Fed.”
Her body slumps forward as she releases a ragged breath. “Thank god. Hopefully it means that we can stop him now.”
“Yeah, Princess, we’re going to stop him. I’ve not even told you the most fucked up part yet.”
“Oh God,” she groans.
“Do you remember me telling you about Martin’s mom dying?”
She turns to look at me. “Vaguely.”
“Well turns out that the woman that we buried wasn’t his mom, it was a girl he kidnapped when she was in her teens. She’s dead and I’m wondering what else he did to her? But one of my men delved into Martin’s background and found out that his parents are still very much alive.”
She shakes her head. “Is everything a lie?”
“With him, it seems so. Dad is with them at the moment. He’s going to take out some of the rage he has.”
She doesn’t say anything, her eyes fixated on her cell that’s lying on the bed. A look of sheer horror is written all over her face.
“I’ve moved all your photos to the memory card, so that you won’t lose them when you change your cell. Mia, what my dad does, it’s what he needs to do.” I remind her that this is the business we’re in.
“I know, is it bad that I want him to feel what I feel right now? That numbness, that pain, the utter devastation of losing your parents?”
I pull her toward me and she comes willingly. “No, Princess it’s not bad, it’s natural.”
“I don’t think it is Hudson, I don’t think this darkness that I have is normal. The need for revenge, for his life isn’t natural.” Her tone hesitant and full of worry.
“Mia, that’s what I feel knowing what that bastard did to you, it’s my normal. Sometimes we have to embrace the darkness that’s fighting to come out. Sometimes we have to let it engulf us. If we don’t then we’re denying who and what we’re meant to be.”
She glances at me. “What am I meant to be?”
My hands frame her face. “You’re the princess of my organization.”
“What does that mean?”
I smile. “It means that once we marry, you’ll be queen to my king.”
She blinks. “But you’ve been calling me princess for ages.”
My smile widens. “Finally realizing, huh?”
“Do I have to kill people?” she asks quietly and I can’t help but laugh. She hits my shoulder. “Don’t laugh at me.”
“Sorry,” I lie, not even in the slightest bit sorry, she’s so fucking cute. “No, you don’t have to kill people but Mia, once the baby’s born, I am going to insist that you take self-defence lessons, along with learning how to fire a gun.”
“I want to learn, God, I want our children to learn. I don’t want anyone to be in the same helpless position that I was in.”
“Children?” I question, remembering her saying only a few hours ago that we’ll wait until this baby’s born before we decide on anymore.
Her lips twitch. “Slip of the tongue.”
A knock on the door, ends the conversation. “Time to go,” I tell her as I stand. My cell rings and I look at the screen, it’s Aaron. “Yeah?”
“I’m outside,” he grunts and hangs up.
Mia follows me to the front door, she grabs the keys of the counter as we pass by it. “We’re going to Church,” I tell Aaron as I open the door, the smirk that forms on his lips tells me that he’s looking forward to it. It’s been a while since we’ve been there and it’s been a long time coming.
We walk toward the car, Aaron walking in step beside me. “Any word on your mom, Boss?” he asks quietly not wanting Mia to overhear.