“I’ve been such a fool. I’ve been trying so hard not to become like my father that I turned myself into a different type of monster. I fucked up, and I’m so sorry that I dragged you into all my shit. If you never wanted to see me again, I’d understand.”
“That’s never going to happen.”
He stood and pulled me against his chest.
“I know it hasn’t been long, but I want you to know that I love you, Molly. Shit, I think I’ve been in love with you since that first day in the library.”
My heart almost burst from my chest with happiness.
“Even though I attempted to kill you with a stack of encyclopedias?” I teased.
Hudson pulled back and smiled down at me. He was so handsome, and he was mine.
“Hey, as long as I’d met you first, I would have died a happy man.”
“You know I love you, too, right?”
Joy spread over his features as he said. “Now I do.Shit, I thought I’d fucked everything up.”
“I loveeverythingabout you, Hudson. The rough and the smooth. And neither of us are perfect. We both have our baggage and stuff to deal with. My mom, your mom, your dad. Shit,mydad, to a certain extent, everything is still so new. But this is home now, and I’m looking forward to the next chapter. And knowing you are part of that makes me excitedandterrified.” I paused.
“Terrified?” Hudson said, arching an eyebrow.
“Yes. Scared out of my wits. I’ve never had a boyfriend before. But I’m also ecstatically happy that it’s you, Hudson. When my mother died, it was like part of my lifeforce was drained away; even with all your complexities and the torment you’ve survived, you put the energy back into my world. You made it make sense. And we have so much to look forward to. This is just the beginning.”
“Oh, I know we have loads to look forward to,” Hudson said, with a wicked look. “Ifuckinglove you, English. You’ll always be my,JustMolly.
And then he sealed the deal with a kiss that I felt ineveryfibre of my body.
EPILOGUE
MOLLY
“Happy birthday, baby,” Hudson whispered, handing me a pale blue velvet jewellery box. It was my seventeenth birthday. We had rented a beach house on Block Island, a place Hudson used to visit with his grandparents. He had good memories there, and we had all invested in adding to those.
I glanced up the beach to where Ma Sawyer, my father, Phoenix, Reed, and Harper were all sitting around a small campfire. It was August, and the sun had only just started to set. The place was idyllic.
Hudson had taken me away from the group to give me my surprise gift, and we were sitting on rocks near the ocean.
I opened the box with a smile. Inside was a delicate gold chain with an M pendant attached. It was so pretty and unique, and my heart swelled against my chest.
“It was my mother’s,” Hudson explained softly.
I touched the delicate initial with my fingers and lifted my chin as Hudson said. “I’m sorry they didn’t find the pendant your mother bought you.”
“It doesn’t matter. It’s beautiful, Hudson and I love it.” I still felt the loss of my Tree of Life chain, but knew I needed to move on.
Hudson removed the necklace and shoved the box into the pocket of his boardshorts. “It’s the only thing I have left of her. And I knew she would want you to have it,” my boyfriend confessed as I lifted my hair.
“Do you think so?”
“My mother would havelovedyou, Molly. Just like I do.”
Hudson placed it around my neck and fastened the clasp. I had lost my Tree of Life necklace when I was kidnapped last year, and the pendant was the perfect replacement.
I had seen it in the box of his father’s belongings, which we collected from the prison that day. It had been damaged, and he must have had it restored.
It had taken Hudson weeks to build up the courage to open the box with his father’s belongings. We had done so together. It contained paperwork, some old photos, and the pendant. The only otherthing left by his father had been money. No letter of apology, nothing. Hudson said he would have found it hard to move on if his father had begged forgiveness. So, even without that, for his sanity, Hudson forgave Callum Gage for all his wrongdoings. It was the only way he had been able to set himself free.
