Allie stepped back, trying to process what she was hearing. “Are they sure?”
Hudson’s brow knit together. “What is it?” he whispered.
“Yes,” Weiss said. His voice wavered when he added, “he had your mother’s ring.”
Allie rubbed at the stabbing pain in her chest. “Have they arrested him?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
There was a long silence. “He’s dead. Apparent heroin overdose.”
Dead? Dozens of emotions ran through Allie’s mind, ranging from anger to frustration and then, finally, relief. There would be no trial, no long drawn-out media display. She could mourn her parents in private and get on with the business of living her life. “So it’s over?”
“Not quite.”
“What do you mean?”
“The police were able to identify him.” Weiss paused, and she imagined him taking a sip of water, or maybe wiping his brow with the starched handkerchief he always kept folded in his breast pocket. She heard him take a deep breath. “He’s a professional, Alessandra. A hit man. The police have had their eye on him for a while, with other cases, but haven’t had the proof they needed to bring him in.”
Allie’s throat grew tight.
“I wish you’d reconsider letting Clayton go,” he said after a few minutes of uncomfortable silence.
“I appreciate your concern, Ben, but I’m not interested in having a bodyguard.”
“What the hell is going on, Allie?” Hudson asked. He wasn’t even trying to keep his voice down anymore. He ran a hand back through his hair, impatiently waiting while she ended the call. “What happened?” he asked the moment she hung up the phone.
“They found the man who shot my parents.” She felt the words come out of her mouth, but the voice that was speaking them didn’t sound like her own.
“I gathered that much. Why didn’t they arrest him?”
“He’s dead.”
“Thank fuck.”
Allie shook her head. “No.”
“Why, what else did Weiss say?”
“He was a hit man,” she whispered.
Hudson dug his phone out of his pocket without saying another word. The tension in his body was palpable, rolling off of him in waves.
“What are you doing?”
“Calling Max.” He pressed the phone to his ear. “I want him to have a team in place within the hour.”
Allie reached for his phone. “No, you heard what I said to Mr. Weiss. I’m not interested in having a bodyguard. Whatever enemies my dad had, they’re not mine.”
He blew out an exasperated breath. “You don’t know that.”
“I know that I’m happy, Hudson, really happy. And I’m not going to let some businessman with a grudge ruin it.”
Hudson glanced anxiously at the hundreds of people milling around the plaza. “At least let me get you out of here.”
“We still have the two gifts—”
“Allie, stop. I just got you back. It scares the hell out of me that some lunatic might take you away from me.” He swallowed. “Please, let me take you home.”
Yes, home. That was what Hudson was to her, and that was where she needed to be. She nodded and he exhaled a sigh of relief as he pulled her into his arms.
Chapter Eighteen
Considering the hardball convincing he’d attempted to get Allie to hang at his place that night, Hudson couldn’t believe he was letting her out of his sight. There was an unknown variable out there targeting the Sinclair family and probably gunning for Allie next. He needed some modicum of control over this sitch, along with a shit-ton of security cocooning her from harm. A man in his position had the corporate version of Blackwater at his disposaclass="underline" ex MI6, FBI, Special Forces, even Israeli Intelligence. He’d utilize the fuck out of them if it meant keeping Allie safe. But at the moment all he had to offer her was Max, and while he trusted the man with his own life on a daily basis, having Allie beyond the penthouse walls put him on edge.
The elevator let out a discreet bing. Nick stepped off, not bothering to look up from texting on his cell phone as he strolled into the foyer. “Yo, bro, gotta do something about that new door dude. The dipshit wanted to play a game of twenty questions and who-the-fuck-its.” Nick’s thumbs rapid-fired over the phone screen. “Asshole,” he muttered under his breath.
“He’s doing his job, Nick.” Hudson slid Allie’s coat over her shoulders at the same time she tugged her hair free from the collar. “And quit putting so much effort into looking like shit,” he added after getting a better look at his kid brother. Forget about the long overdue haircut, the clothes he favored needed to bypass a thrift shop and head straight to an incinerator.
“Like your sorry ass looks any . . .” Nick looked up and halted midsentence as Allie breezed past him toward the elevator.
“Hi Nick, bye Nick.” She glanced over her shoulder at Hudson. “Don’t decorate that tree without me.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it,” Hudson said with a dry exhale. “Let me walk you out.” He strode past a stymied Nick. “Not a word from you, feel me?”
“Ah, shit, bro, you make it too easy.” Nick shoved his phone into the pocket of way overwashed jeans with holes splitting the knees.
Hudson stopped in front of Allie as she wrapped the cashmere scarf around her neck. He could feel his brother’s eyes on them. “Don’t you have a fridge to raid or something?” he asked him.
The smart-ass grin on Nick’s face as he strolled out of the room would have pissed Hudson off if he weren’t so fucking glad to see him smile. udson poff of her werenmt so fucking lgald to see him smil
Still, he waited until Nick was in the kitchen making himself at home before launching a last-ditch effort.
“I can’t strengthen my case on why you should stay here?” He popped a button on her coat, and just as she finished doing it up, he’d freed another.
Allie laughed. “Quit.” She batted his hand away and made quick work refastening the button. “I told you, I’m not intruding on ‘boy’s night.’”
“You won’t be. This place has three floors, for Christ’s sake. Watch a movie in the theater or . . .” Hudson’s lips curved into a sinful grin. “Lounge in my bed naked, waiting for me. Whatever you want. Though I prefer the latter.”
“I’ll be fine. Besides, it will give you a chance to miss me.”
“I’ve spent a lifetime missing you.” He dropped a kiss on her lips.
She smiled. “Then you’ll survive one more night.”
“Max is driving you and will wait at your brownstone until morning.”
“Hudson, that’s not necessary.”
“It’s non-negotiable, Alessandra. If you’re leaving my place, he’s going with you. Here.” Hudson handed her a key card with carte blanche access.
Allie raised a brow.
“This way you won’t have to call up tomorrow. Of course, if you wanted to come by later, I certainly wouldn’t object.”
“Ah, settin’ up a booty call,” Nick said as he cut through the foyer. He had a bag of Doritos in one hand and a box of Swedish fish in the other.
“Shut up, Nick.” Hudson glared in his direction, but Nick was already bounding up the stairs two at a time.
“Oh, I can tell tonight is going to be one for the books,” Allie said. As she backed into the elevator a slow smile curved her lips. “But who knows, maybe I’ll surprise you with a wake-up call.”
Hudson groaned and pushed a hand through his hair. The look she gave him made his cock twitch, but when the doors hushed closed the ache he felt whenever she left set up shop in his chest. His brother better fucking appreciate this, he thought as he turned on his heel and stalked up the stairs.