The Fixed Trilogy: Forever With You(53)

I gaped for a moment while he threw back his liquor. Of all the responses I’d imagined he’d give, downplaying wasn’t one of them.

“But this is different,” I finally managed. “Because you’ve already offered an explanation. You said there was never anything between you and Celia.”

“There wasn’t.”

“I’m supposed to believe that after seeing what I saw?”

“Looks can be deceiving.” His voice was a low rumble. The only indicator of emotion since I’d brought up the video.

It incited me. “That’s all you got?”

“You’ve told me there’s nothing between you and David, yet there’s been many a time that it has looked like there was.”

“It only looked that way because you were paranoid and jealous. You never saw me lip-locked with him. Believe me, seeing it is worse than you can imagine.”

He placed his fingertips on the back of a chair and leaned toward me. “I’m sure if I went and looked at old security tapes I might see exactly that.”

His words were cold and harsh and spiteful. It was times like these that Hudson’s gift to manipulate showed itself. It was frustrating and unfair how he could mold a situation to his favor, but I understood that it was a part of him. He wasn’t trying to play me.

Knowing that didn’t make it any easier to deal with. “Yes. Once upon a time I was with David. I’ve told you that.”

“After you let it slip and I figured it out.”

“Jesus! Will I always have to pay for that mistake?” He didn’t answer, but I didn’t give him time. “Okay, I wasn’t forthcoming. I kept things from you. But only because I didn’t want to hurt you, and I admitted it when you confronted me. But this—you outright lied about this, Hudson. You told me there was nothing to see on Stacy’s video. You told me I didn’t need to go looking.”

“And you went looking anyway.”

“No. I didn’t. I stayed away. Until I found out that you were deliberately trying to hide it from me—yes, Stacy told me you’d asked her for it. Was I supposed to keep trusting you then?”

He shrugged it away. “I didn’t know what she had. I asked because I was curious. I wasn’t deliberately hiding anything.”

“You were deliberately hiding a whole f*cking relationship with someone who you swore was never anything but a friend! And even now that I’ve figured out you and Celia were together, even now that I have proof, you still can’t admit it.” My eyes stung and my hands shook from the surge of frustration running through me.

Hudson pinned his eyes to mine. “I’m not admitting anything,” he hissed. “You haven’t figured out anything, Alayna.”

“Then clear things up for me. Tell me what I can’t seem to understand. What’s going on in that video?”

“Nothing,” he spit out. “Nothing’s going on.”

“Hudson!” My voice caught on the lump in my throat, but I kept on. “You’re kissing her. Kissing her deeply. Passionately. Oh yes, I watched it several times, I could reenact the whole thing for you by now if you wanted.”

Shaking his head, he started for the living room.

I was on his heels. “Not to mention that you were supposed to be meeting Stacy right then. And it didn’t escape me on what night this whole thing took place.”

He spun toward me. “Meeting Stacy? Is that what she told you? What else did she say?”

If he could withhold information, so could I. “That really doesn’t have any bearing on this conversation.”

“Well, as far as I’m concerned, this conversation is over.” He headed for the library.

I stood stunned for a beat before following after. “It is not. I have questions and you’ve given me zero answers.”

“I have no answers to give you. This subject is closed.”

His dismissal infuriated me, and more, it left me feeling helpless. “Are you kidding me? You’re not going to talk about this?”

“No, I’m not.” He sat at his desk, reinforcing his refusal to speak further on the matter.

“Hudson, this is so not fair.” I moved around to his side of the desk, not wanting this physical barrier between us. “We’ve said we needed to be honest with each other—that we needed to form a relationship built on trust. We agreed to be open. But you’re hiding something with this. You lied! And not talking about it? How are we supposed to move forward when you’re keeping such a big secret?”

He flew up from his chair and grabbed my arm with a tight grip. “Have I done anything to betray your trust before this?”


I was too surprised to try to pull away. “You went behind my back to transfer David…”

He yanked me closer to him. “That was for us.” His eyes widened as he emphasized the last two words. “Have I done anything that makes you think I don’t have our relationship’s best interests in mind? Have I done anything to make you believe that I don’t want to be with you? That I don’t…” His voice cracked and he swallowed before continuing. “That I don’t care…for you with everything I have?”

I shook my head, unable to speak.

He relaxed his grasp on me, but didn’t let go. “Everything I’ve done since we’ve been together has been for you and me. Trust me when I tell you this isn’t important.” With his free hand, he brushed my hair off my shoulder. “This doesn’t affect us.”