When she closed her eyes, she could hear his voice, deep and soft, commanding her. Spread your legs wider. Show me how wet it makes you to think about having my cock. She could picture the look on his face, see his tongue dart out to wet his lips as her fingers stroked through her silky folds. She could feel his hand on her, his finger gliding up the inside of her thigh before plunging in and out alongside her own. That’s it, Allie, come for me.
The phone pinged on the floor.
Allie’s eyes flew open and her thighs instinctively closed. She’d been so lost to the fantasy of Hudson she’d nearly come before he even arrived. Her face flushed as she sat up and reached for the phone.
But instead of another naughty message from Hudson, the screen displayed an incoming text from an unknown number. When she opened it, an image appeared. It was a grainy, black-and-white photo of two men standing side by side with a third lying on the floor. A crease formed between Allie’s brows as she stared at her phone, and she startled when it suddenly rang in her hand. The call was from the same number that had sent the mysterious photo.
“Hello,” she said. Her voice was soft and tentative.
“Good morning, Alessandra,” a French accent purred.
Allie’s breath caught in her throat. Julian.
“Are you enjoying the train? I found the accommodations quite lacking myself.”
Her entire body tensed and her heart raced with the adrenaline that coursed through her veins. She pulled the sheet higher and swallowed hard. “What do you want?” she managed to choke out.
“I trust you received my text?” he asked, ignoring her question. “I know it’s hard to make out what you’re seeing. The video is much better.”
The back of Allie’s neck prickled with apprehension. “What video?”
“The one that shows your white knight for the vermin he really is.”
“Go to hell, Julian,” she bit out between clenched teeth. “I thought I made it clear I never wanted to hear from you again.”
From the other end of the line came a mocking laugh. “Now, now, ma petite cherie, is that anyway to speak to your fiancé?”
“We’re not engaged anymore.”
“Only because you failed to hold up your end of the bargain.” She could hear the snarl in his voice.
“I was never part of that and you know it.”
“No, but promises were made. And now Ingram is in the hands of an imbecile and her murdering lover.” His words hung in the air. “What’s the matter, mon amore, cat got your tongue, as they say?”
She knew he was baiting her, trying to get a reaction. But she couldn’t help it. She had to know what he was up to. “What are you talking about, Julian?”
“Look closely at the photo, Alessandra. Surely you recognize the two men standing over the lifeless body.”
Allie zoomed in on the photo and a gasp escaped her lips. The image was even grainier when enlarged, but it was clearly a picture of Hudson and Nick.”
“I will give him credit,” Julian said. “He was able to cover his tracks. For the most part. Thanks to his money the case has been filed as nothing more than a tragic accident. Would be a shame to have this surface and dredge the whole mess up. I’m sure the other news outlets would love to sink their claws into this story.”
Allie’s grip tightened around the phone.
“Of course they’d find more than just this skeleton if they start to dig,” he said. His words reeked of condescension. “The brother alone could fill an entire tabloid.”
Every fiber of her being had instinctively reacted to a threat against the man she loved. But to drag Nick into this as well? Her heart ached every time she thought of the trauma he’d faced as a child, the grips of which he was just beginning to work his way free. A trial, or worse, jail time, would surely seal his fate. She would do anything to protect Nick, and in a moment of clarity she realized that was exactly what Hudson had done. Whatever happened to the man in the photo, there was only one reason Hudson would have covered it up. To protect Nick.
And now Julian was threatening to hurt them both out of some twisted need for revenge against her. “You’re blackmailing me?” she asked, although in reality it was more of a statement than a question.
“Ah, you’re a quick study, Alessandra. Of course you’re no stranger to the concept. I seem to recall you did the same when pushing me out of Ingram.”
“You attacked me,” she said. Her voice was barely a whisper.
“Semantics.”
Allie’s blood seethed at his cavalier tone. But she knew she needed to remain calm, she needed to think of Hudson and Nick. She needed to get Julian out of their lives once and for all. She took a deep breath. “What do you want?”
“My ring.”
“What?”
“The ring I gave you. It’s rightfully mine. I want it back.”
That’s what this is about, that stupid ring? Allie exhaled a sigh of relief. She knew Julian was obsessed with the twelve-carat diamond Louis XIV had bestowed upon the first Marquis Laurent. But as far as she was concerned, she’d be happy to never lay eyes on it again, much less wear it on her finger. But could she trust Julian to hold up his end of the bargain? “How do I know you’re giving me the only copy of the file?”
“I will give you the original. Copies can be discredited as doctored. They’re useless.”
“Fine. I’ll send it to you.”
“Send?” He let out a harsh laugh. “You do not send a priceless heirloom.” A cigarette lighter clicked to life near the mouthpiece of his phone. “Your train is about to arrive at Gare de Paris-Est station. Cancel the last leg of your journey and bring the ring to my chateau this evening.”
“I don’t have the ring with me.”
“Then I suggest you make the necessary arrangements.”
“When I get back to Chicago, I’ll have my assistant fly it over.”
“Not good enough. You will deliver it to me personally. Tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow? I need more time, Julian.”
“You have until noon, Alessandra. That’s it, not a minute more. And if I find out you’ve told that prick you’re currently fucking about any of this, then the deal is off.”
Her mind raced with questions, and without thinking she spoke some of them out loud. “How am I supposed to get it here that fast . . . and what reason do I give for getting off the train?”
“Not my problem.” She heard the heavy exhale of a steady plume of smoke. “Tick tock, Alessandra. You have until tomorrow. After that this little film goes viral.”
The line went dead.
“Who was that?”
Allie’s head snapped up to find Hudson standing in the doorway of their cabin holding a dome-covered plate. “Um, nothing, just checking my voicemail.” She dropped her gaze, unable to look him in the eye. How she was going to pull this off if a small lie about a phone call had her thrown for a loop?
Hudson stepped into the room and shut the door behind him. “Everything okay?”
Allie looked up and gave him a reassuring smile. “Absolutely.” She forced herself to hold his gaze, her smile firmly in place. Hudson knew her better than anyone. If he even suspected something was amiss he’d ask questions she couldn’t answer.
He studied her face as he set the plate of food down on the small table and joined her on the bunk. “You look like you have something to say.”
Fuck. She couldn’t blow this. She had to convince him everything was fine. She didn’t want to lie to him, but if he knew the truth he’d never allow her to meet with Julian. And then everything would blow up and it would be all her fault. She couldn’t let that happen.