Forbidden Temptation My Mafia Fiance's Alpha Father (Brooklyn and Aden) novel Chapter 102

Chapter 102
Brooklyn

“Come on,” I say. I pull Hudson’s sleeve and tug him towards the back garden. “Let’s talk somewhere quiet.”

Hudson follows me out the back door, looking behind us to see if anyone’s followed before pulling the door shut.

I sit down at the little table and wait for him to join me, my mind spinning as I try to decide what to say and how to say it.

“So?” Hudson asks, sitting tense in the chair beside me.

“Um…” I look down into my coffee. “Your dad knows that you had a…‘midnight visitor.’ And you…well, that you weren’t playing Scrabble with them.”

Hudson’s face is grave, and he curses under his breath as he quickly sorts through the consequences of this development.

“But he doesn’t know who.” It’s more of an urgent statement than a question.

“No,” I murmur, watching him closely.

Slowly, Hudson turns his head and looks back at me. “But you do.”

I bite my lip.

“Damn it,” Hudson curses, exhaling a large breath and looking up at the sky.

I watch the variety of emotions cross his face—worry, fear, frustration, exhaustion—as he figures out what he wants to do next.

When he turns his face back to mine, I’m surprised to see that anger has won out.

“You know you can’t tell anyone, right, Brooklyn?” he demands. “That you will ruin my life if you do?”

I should be offended by this accusation, but how could I be, given what I thought of doing only minutes ago?

“Hudson,” I say defensively. “I would never tell anyone a secret like that—one that could get you and him in big trouble.”

“I’m the one who dragged your father out of the hall last night before he could look through your keyhole, before he could figure out who the hell you were in there with—”

“Is that what you were doing, Brooklyn?” Hudson hisses, leaning forward, suddenly furious. “You were spying on me?”

I blink.

“Maybe you should focus on the fact that I saved you from your dad figuring out your secret, one that I am continuing to keep. I heard noises from your room—I wanted to make sure you were okay—”

“Oh, okay,” Hudson taunts, sarcastic, leaning back in his chair. “You just wanted to check on me, so you leaned down and looked through the keyhole on my door.”

He looks at me quizzically. “And do you think, maybe, that the reason my dad was so curious about what was going on in my room was not because of noises, but because he saw you out in the hallway peeping through my door?”

I glare at him. Whether he’s right or not, Hudson has gotten sloppy in these past few months. Why is it my job to keep cleaning up after him, keeping his secret safe?

“Fine.” I roll my eyes. “You win. I’m sorry for spying on my fiancé when I hear him messing around with his lover in the next room. I’m so out of bounds on this one.”

“Just…” I hesitate, looking up into his green eyes. “Let’s just be on each other’s team, okay?” I plead, still hanging on to his hand.

In response, he gives my hand a squeeze. “Okay,” he says, smiling a little and pulling me towards the house. “You’re right. I’m on your side.”

I smile, too, relieved, and follow him into the house, still holding his hand.

Aden isn’t in the kitchen when we look around.

But Lucas is.

He locks eyes with Hudson, and then glances to me, and then to our joined hands.

I would laugh if it wasn’t so dangerous. It’s just all gotten so ridiculously complicated, it’s absurd.

I never thought I’d be in a situation where I run into my gay fiancé’s lover in the kitchen on the way to have a tough conversation with his dad, the mafia boss I made out with last night.

Lucas just points at the door at the other end of the kitchen, towards the hallway and Aden’s office.

Hudson nods, pulling me in that direction, rolling his eyes at me as I work to suppress my giggles.

I give Hudson’s hand a squeeze and follow him through the kitchen door.

If only I had known then just how foolish I was to think that it couldn’t get worse.