Page 30 of Unleashed
CHAPTER SEVEN
Harper
I didn't hear a peep out of Hudson the rest of the weekend after the gala. No email. No text. No passive-aggressive Slack message about deadlines.
Nothing.
He didn't come in to work today either, and by five o'clock, his glass office is still dark, his chair is still empty, and the whole floor has been operating with the kind of cautious relief that happens when the person who makes everyone tense isn't in the building.
I'm about to leave, even if I am itching to hear his new story in my hometown. I've got plans tonight that involve whiskey and line dancing at a bar in Burbank that I discovered two weeks ago.
Turns out there are a few country girls in this city, I just wasn't looking in the right places. I was too busy trying to straighten my accent and hide my boots and pretend to be someone who belongs at rooftop galas drinking flat champagne. That all changed when I went back to New Falls for the first time a few weeks ago. I realized what’s important to me, or I’m starting to. I wasn’t meant to be on my own, out here pretendingto be something else. I’m meant to be with my family, right where I grew up, with my horse, on the land.
And now, after the gala with Hudson, I can say with absolute certainty: I do not want this life in LA.
I want scuffed floors and fiddle music and a drink that burns on the way down. I want to feel like myself for a few hours. Is that so much to ask?
As I stand and reach for my bag, Samantha looks up from her desk. Her eyes go wide, and she nods to my right.
I squeeze my eyes shut. I feel the shift in the room before I hear it.
"Harper. My office.Now." Hudson barks.
He storms into his office and doesn't hold the door. I follow behind him and close it myself.
"Uh. Is everything okay?" I ask, stepping in.
He's already pacing behind his desk. Hand through his hair. Breathing ragged. He looks like he hasn't slept since Saturday, and there's a wild, cornered energy coming off him that I've never seen before.
Hudson Blake is scared. And that sends shivers down my spine.
"No. Not fucking really. We have two issues. Can you sit? You standing there is making me on edge."
I blink at him. But I do as he says. I know better than to argue with him in this mood.
He places both hands on his desk and leans forward, looking directly at me. "Do you want the bad news, or the worse news?"
I shake my head, twirling my thumb ring. "The worse?"
He nods.
"Gianna fucking Milano thinks she can run my business."
I straighten my spine. That woman has really gotten to him. And now I’m interested.
"What do you mean?" I ask cautiously.
He tugs at his tie, yanking it loose another inch. "She's telling me what news is. That we have to investigate the Greek fucking mafia so she can use the evidence to make her own moves. She wants blood for them killing her brother, Max. And somehow, that'smyproblem."
I frown, swallowing the lump in my throat. Gianna's brother. I read the rumors, but it’s all been covered up.
"How does this involve us? She wants us to look into the shooting?" I ask cautiously.
He shakes his head.
"Worse. She caught wind that the Greeks have bought out a ranch back in your hometown." He stops pacing and stares at me. "I mean, did you fucking miss that in your report, or?—"
I shake my head. "No. They hadn't purchased any land while I was there. I was looking at that angle. So that must be recent."
