Found in You(52)

“Fine. Whatever.” But the victory gleamed in his eyes. “It won’t come back to bite you. It’s only me and you this affects.”

“Tell that to Hudson. He would not like it if he found out that I signed a deal that even remotely involved you.” And suddenly I realized that if I didn’t want Hudson to find out about Paul, I couldn’t tell him about meeting with Celia either. It would open the door for him to find out the things she and I had talked about. Like Paul. And there was no way Hudson would take that lying down.

“Why would he care? As long as we keep it professional and at a distance like you said, this doesn’t have anything to do with him.”

“Because, while you and I both know that most everything that happened between us was my fault—”

“Most everything? Try everything.”

I gave him a stern look. “You did cheat on your fiancé.”

Paul shrugged.

What an ass. “Anyway, Hudson doesn’t see you as innocent. And it’s not because I said anything to point you out, it’s simply because…” I couldn’t finish the statement. I didn’t have the answer. “I don’t know why. He sees the good in me for some reason.” Good that I was beginning to doubt existed.

Paul chortled. “I didn’t know from his reputation that he was a psycho.”

I stepped forward, closing in on his personal space. “You know what? You need to shut the f*ck up. He is not a psycho. I am not a psycho. You, however, are an *. I can still back out of this shit. Go ahead and throw whatever you want to throw at me, I have Hudson Pierce on my side.”


“And wouldn’t he love it if the whole world knew about his girlfriend’s criminal past? He’d be a laughing stock. Especially when I tell everyone how you sought out Party Planners Plus so you could work with me again.”

My heart felt like I’d been dropped three stories. “But that’s not true.”

He shrugged again, that carefree shrug of someone holding all the cards. “People don’t care if it’s true. They love gossip, particularly when it’s about the elite.”

My mouth tasted sour. “I thought this wasn’t blackmail.”

“Not yet, it isn’t.” He leveled his gaze at me. “Does it need to be?”

A chill ran down my spine. I was trapped, as I’d known I was earlier, and I knew it even more definitively now. “Fine, Paul. I’ll do the deal but on the terms I listed.” Over his shoulder I saw Hudson striding our way. “I’m walking away now. Smile and head the other direction.”

I didn’t know if he did what I said because I left him, striding to meet Hudson before he came any nearer. “Hey.” I felt breathy and lightheaded and not in a good way.

“Did you find the restroom?”

“Um, no.” Thank god I hadn’t really needed to go. “It’s okay. I can wait until we get home.”

I tried to turn him toward the exit, but Hudson looked questionably back toward where Paul was retreating.

Thinking fast, I filled him in with a story before he had a chance to ask. “That was one of the event workers. I was trying to get the dirt on Party Planners from him.”

He raised a brow. “It seemed to be a rather animated discussion.”

“Yeah, he was passionate about what he was saying.” Then I realized it was probably me who had seemed animated. “I guess it got me riled up too. He says they’re a great company all around. I’m more excited than ever to work with them.” The lie felt heavy on my tongue, my gut twisting with the acid of it. It made me wonder how I’d spent so many years lying and manipulating people so I could be close to men who didn’t want me. It had been so easy then. Now, with the man who did want me, it felt gross and disgusting.