Page 258 of Unleashed
She sounds different. Distant. There's more underneath the surface of this woman than she ever lets show.
"I thought you might want to know that Hudson's father passed away yesterday. They’re saying the shock of finding out about what Hudson did gave him a heart attack."
I suck in a breath. The guilt washes over me in a cold wave. I lied to that man while he was dying. Hudson's parents deserved so much more than what their son made of them. Not only did they find out their son died in a crash, but they also found out that he was a monster.
"How's Audrey?"
"Not good. She lost her son in a car accident and her husband in the space of two weeks."
I hug my arms tighter around myself.
"Nice work with the story though, Harper," she says, and I can hear the teasing tone behind it.
"I don’t know what you mean, Gianna."
I half laugh.
"Samantha at LA Press might have released the story, but you wrote it. I can hear your voice throughout the entire piece, Harper Jones."
There's a pause. I kept all the victims anonymous. But I gave them a voice. I gave them their freedom in knowing their tapes will never see the light of day. Enzo and Ace made damn sure of it.
"Well played. Even a dead man deserves karma. And think of all the women you’ve freed from his terror. Everyone knowswhat he was doing. He didn’t deserve to die a hero. He deserved to be branded a monster who crashed his car after finding out his own paper was going to release the truth about his blackmailing schemes."
"Well, thank you for helping, G," I whisper.
Dom is the one who planted Hudson in the burning car. I gave Samantha the story. It gave her the career break she needed to leave that company.
"Ah." I can hear the smile down the line. "So Harper did need me?"
I grin. This woman.
"Yes, Gianna. I did need you."
Her pointed nails tap against something. Glass, probably. Thinking.
"So, what are your plans now? How is Ace doing?" she asks.
I swallow.
"I’m back home, G. That’s my plan. Me and Ace raising our baby."
She sighs, I don’t think out of anything negative. I can’t quite work it out.
"So, do you want to help me sell my beach house in LA? I’ve heard you have a pretty decent real estate firm," I tease.
"I might be able to help. On one condition…”
I hold my breath, already dreading what will come out of her mouth next.
“I'm going to need a friend on Sterling Ranch."
My eyes go wide. It's seriously happening. I'd half figured Colten and Hunter would find a loophole out of this by now.
"When's the wedding? Wait, you're moving here?"
She groans, muttering something in Italian.
"Next month. I've got poor Fabio’s funeral next week. Things to finalize here with my father. And then I'll become Mrs. Sterling."
