Hudson turned to look at me. “What? Was she your first?” he scoffed. “She’s the worse fuck I ever had in my life. I doubt she was better with you.”
I almost threw myself at him again, desperate to kill the sadistic prick. Struggling to control my emotions, I clenched my hands into fists. “Really? Why the hell would you go so far to get her back?” I mocked him.
He tilted his head, with a cruel smirk on his bloody face. “She was a hell of a punching bag,” he said, every word dripping venom. I needed all my strength not to kill him on the spot. “Besides… she’s mine. No one gets what’s mine.”
“She’s not an object,” I snarled at him.
“Well, she sure as hell isn’t yours… Will you tell her you’re the reason I found her?” he asked, mocking me.
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“I lost track of her in a small town near Pendleton… I had her in my hands when we got interrupted, and the bitch escaped. My guess is that she asked a truck driver for a ride…” he shrugged. “After that, I couldn’t find her anywhere. No one had seen her anywhere near Pendleton, and I lost track of her. That is… until you started dating her. Photos of the two started popping up all over social media… ‘The hermit billionaire has a new girlfriend.’ It was a matter of time for the pictures to get to me.”
I already knew this… and once more, I wished she had told me about her psycho husband. I wouldn’t have exposed her that way. But for the first time, I didn’t care if the world knew there was someone special in my life.
“They must have gotten to your friends too, I think. How did you explain the resurrection of your dead wife?” I asked, mocking him while I told him I knew everything he had done.
He shrugged. “I would think of something… a secret twin sister… a half-sister… any of those would work. People didn’t know much about Ailani or her family. I made sure of it.”
“Of course, you did.”
“After she managed to ditch me at the gala, I imagined she would run back to you, so I just waited and went looking for you, certain that you would take me to her, eventually. And you did.”
I had suspected as much.
Police sirens echoed in the night, interrupting us.
“Ah, just in time,” Josh said, sounding relieved.
Composing myself, I took a few deep breaths, appreciating Josh’s help, but certainly not afraid of the bastard’s threats. Any punishment would be worth the pleasure of smashing the mocking grin off of Hudson’s face.
“Will you make sure he gets arrested without bail?” I asked Josh, eager to meet Ailani at the hospital.
“Sure thing. I’ll make sure the prosecutor charges him with attempted murder, considering how badly hurt the woman was.”
I nodded, my lips pressed into a firm line. I should have killed the bastard, but Josh was right – he was not worth the trouble.
“Thank you. I’ll take the car and drive to the hospital. Can you ride with the local cops?” I asked.
“No problem. I’ll see you there in a few hours.”
I thanked him and walked away, ignoring Hudson’s curses.
I got to the hospital thirty minutes later, cursing the mountain roads that prevented me from driving faster.
I needed to know Ailani would be alright, that he hadn't hurt her as badly as it seemed. By the time I got to the hospital, I was a nervous wreck. If only I had just listened to her!
The nurse at the emergency reception wasn’t very helpful, and I almost lost my temper when she refused to give me information on Ailani’s condition.
“I’m sorry, but I can only inform her family. You’re not her family,” the woman insisted, in a bored tone.
“Her husband is her only family, and he was responsible for her wounds,” I lashed at the woman. “Would you like to inform him?”
The woman finally dropped her act and frowned. “Who are you, exactly?” she asked me in a calm tone.
“I’m her lover, her future fiancé, if I manage to convince her not all men are dirtbags like her first husband,” I yelled at her, my patience long gone.
“You should have started there…” she said, pressing a few keys on her computer. “AilaniKekoa, right? She’s still in the ER. The doctors are stabilizing before they can run all the necessary tests. She lost a lot of blood, and several of her ribs are broken, so she might need surgery.”
