Chapter Five

Colette

When we got home last night, Hudson and I went straight to bed. When I woke up this morning, I was crying again. I don't remember my dreams, but Hudson tells me that I am having near violent nightmares. I feel bad because I am waking him up, but I don’t know what to do. I suggested me sleeping on the couch so he could sleep, but he was not keen on that idea.

“So, what’s the plan?” I ask.

“We had a few people put feelers out and she should be in town today. The guys can keep watch and you and I can go talk to her. It’s important that they are not around so she can speak as freely she wants,” Hudson says as he locks the front door.

“Sound easy enough,” I say.

“Yep. If anything goes wrong, whoever is closest to you will get you out of there,” Hudson says. “Don’t separate from us at all. No matter what. I don’t care what’s going on, but you do not go off by yourself.”

“I have no intention of any solo explorations,” I laugh. Hudson lifts me up into the truck as everyone else’s gets in with us. We are in Hudson’s massive SUV because it has a third row. When we pull past the gate, we make sure it closes before we drive onto the main road.

“I’m so tired,” I sigh.

“Yeah, you didn’t sleep very soundly,” Hudson says. “Lay your head down. It’s going to be a minute before we get to downtown.”

“You’re just trying to get some road head,” Dallas cackles.

“Yeah, I don’t think that’s happening,” Hudson laughs.

“Says who?” I ask with a frown.

“Baby, I don’t mean it disrespectfully. I just mean that I don’t think you are there. You have a lot of trauma around that,” he says before kissing the back of my hand.

“I have trauma with getting eaten out, but that’s literally the first thing you did. I think I’m the only one who gets to decide if something is triggering,” I say.

“That’s true, but I don’t see that happening right now. Not with that at least,” he says. He is being genuine and doesn’t think that I can, so I’m going to. I trust him and if I do it while he is driving, then I am in control. There’s no chance of him taking over. Eventually, I do want him to, but for the first time I want to be the one to control things.

“I love how you are so confident that you know what I’m thinking,” I say simply.

“I love that you are trying to be so confident when I am the one that helps you at night when you scream in your sleep,” he says bluntly. I narrow my eyes at him and the guys in the backseat chuckle. I move a little closer and maintain staring at him as I unhook his belt. “Colette.”

“Are you saying no?” I ask.

“To you sucking my dick while I drive? Absolutely not,” he laughs.

“Then shut up and pay attention to the road,” I say. I give him no room for argument as I go down and immediately take him to the back of my throat.

“Holy fuck, Cole,” he groans and tightens his grip on the steering wheel with one hand as he rests his hand on my back with the other. He is making sure to not touch my head because we both know that is what will make me panic. I suck hard and bob my head up and down while simultaneously cupping his balls to gently squeeze and massage them.

“Well shit,” Colton says. “Girl knows how to suck dick.”

“Fuck. Now I’m hard,” Doug adds.

“You better not fucking wreck us,” Dallas laughs.

I hum with delight and Hudson moans. I love the sounds that he makes when he’s getting off. I gag softly when I take him as far down my throat as I can and suck harder.

“Fuck, Colette,” Hudson pants. He grabs a fist full of my hair, but he doesn’t force me. He lets me lead but is desperate to come. As long as he does not try to push me down on his cock, I reward him by going faster and keeping him deep. He is grunting and groaning as I move. Everyone is silent, so only the noises of me sucking his cock echo through the vehicle. When we come to a stop, I keep going. This allows Hudson to focus on me more.

I abruptly decide I want him to take over. I want him to take what he wants because I trust he won’t hurt me. I refuse to let those fuckers have control over my life. I stop moving and Hudson growls in frustration. I gently squeeze him and keep sucking, trying to communicate what I want. He immediately understands because he simply leans his seat back and lifts his hips. As he lifts them, he pushes me down on his cock. I squeeze him again to let him know I am okay, so he breaks.

Hudson starts to violently fuck my throat, desperately chasing down his orgasm. It is absolutely beautiful how perfectly I take him and how fucking erotic it is to be used by my best friend. I would do anything for this man, including letting him use me for his pleasure.

“Fuuuuck,” Hudson moans as he starts to come. I happily swallow him down as he fills my mouth. When he pulls me off him, he immediately brings me up to kiss me hard. “Where the fuck did that come from, Colette?!”

“Don’t you ever decide my triggers for me,” I say firmly. “I am a big girl, Huddy. I love you and I trust you with everything.”

“Okay,” he smiles. “I’m sorry I was assuming. Although… I’m tempted to say I think you’re too triggered for anal.”

“You freak,” I laugh.

“That was the hottest thing I’ve ever seen,” Dallas says.

“Put your dick away,” Hudson laughs. “We’ve got to go do this.”

“Right,” he says. “We will go ahead a little bit. She should be in that boutique.”

“Got it,” Hudson says. Everyone gets out and Hudson comes around to get me. I love how he takes care of me in the simplest of ways.

“Enjoy yourself?” I ask when he sets me on the ground.

“You have no idea,” he laughs. “I was a bit unsure about taking over control, but you seemed to enjoy that.”

“I am finding that I want you to absolutely wreck me. I don’t want a way out. I don’t want mercy. I just want you to fuck the life out of me and then pamper me after like you always have done,” I say.

“I’m definitely fucking your ass tonight then,” he says with a sweet smile. I grin back at him as we walk into the store.

“That’s her,” I say.

“Jesus. Talk about a copy paste,” Hudson says.

“Hi,” I say to her. “Are you Victoria Ivankov?”

“I am. Who’s—” she says as she turns to look at me, but the rest of her words get stuck.

“We just want to talk for a second,” I say.

“You can’t be here,” she says. “I…”

“You are safe. We have people to make sure we can talk in private,” I say. “I believe that you are my birth mother.”

“They’ll kill me,” she says. “They can’t know about you.”

“How are you so sure she is telling the truth?” Hudson asks suspiciously.

“The birthmark on her collarbone,” she says, pointing to my neck. She pulls her scarf down to reveal an identical birth mark. “If I’m right, you’ll have a darker one to the upper left of your belly button.”

“Your sons raped me,” I say bluntly.

“They’re awful men, just like their father,” she says, shaking her head. “I’m so sorry they did that. Are you the one who killed Akim?”

“I didn’t mean to, but yes,” I say.

“They put a hit out on you,” she says.

“Well, someone blew up my home, so I assumed as much,” I say. “Tell me about them.”

“Vlad is the oldest and took his father's spot when he died. Dima is the middle child. There was a baby girl before you that your biological father killed. Akim was ten months younger.”

“He killed his child?” I ask.

“Yes. That’s why I gave you up. I found out she was a girl, and he beat me so badly that she died. When I got pregnant with you a month later, I waited until I knew you were a girl. I hid the pregnancy and just disappeared for a few days to have you in a hospital. I was told you might have heart issues, so I wanted to make sure you were with someone who could help you.”

“You didn’t want to give me up?” I ask.

“No. I wanted to take you and run away, but I knew they’d find us. I knew Boris would kill you and probably me too. It would have been a miserable life and if you needed medical care, you would’ve ended up neglected due to having to run so much,” she says tearfully. “Is your heart okay?”

“I had an arrhythmia for a while. I’ve avoided surgery and I’ve been fine since. I get regular check-ups to make sure my heart is still doing okay,” I say. “I went into the foster care system for a while, but I was adopted at nine years old. That’s when I met Hudson.”

“Are your parents good to you?” she asks.

“They’re wonderful,” I say. “I never would have been able to have the life that I do if it weren’t for you making that sacrifice. So, for that, thank you. I cannot imagine how hard of a decision that was.”

“It was an easy decision in the sense of me wanting you to survive, but it hurt,” she says. “All I wanted to do was run away with you. They convinced me to stay for two days, and I held you basically the entire time while they had you hooked up to all of the monitors. I knew that when I put you down that I wasn’t ever going to see you again, so I tried to soak in as many memories as I could.”

“Who named me?” I ask. “My name is Colette.”

“Oh, I’m so glad they kept the name,” she sighs. “I named you Colette because it has the meaning ‘people of victory.’ I wanted to leave a little piece of myself with you. I didn’t think I would ever get to meet you, so I knew you would never know, but I wanted you to know that I loved you so much.”

“And he never found out?” I ask.

“No. When I went home, he knew I was at the hospital. I was bleeding from giving birth, but I was able to convince him that I had a miscarriage. He was so angry and that resulted in him assaulting me frequently until eventually I got pregnant again with Akim. That ended in a c-section, and I had a hysterectomy at the same time due to the damage he caused after you were born.”

“That’s terrible,” I say.

“Colette, if they find you. They will kill you. They are cruel men, and it won’t matter that you’re their baby sister,” she says. “It’s only a matter of time before they find out I lied and kill me. Not until after they rape me too.”

“What?” Hudson asks. “You’re their mother. They raped you?”

“Frequently,” she says quietly. “It’s how their father taught them to control women. I try to keep my distance but sometimes I think they just look for a reason to punish me. I’m only allowed the privilege of shopping because they want me to appear as their loving and supportive mother.”

“Huddy,” I say, looking at Hudson.

“Come stay with us,” Hudson says. “I have a pool house on a gated property. You’ll be safe there.”

“I don’t want to put her in anymore danger,” she objects.

“I’m already in danger,” I say. “You saved my life as a baby by sacrificing your own happiness for mine. This is the least I can do to try and repay you for giving me a chance at life. I would also like for you to meet my adoptive parents.”

“I don’t know if—”

“They’ll want to meet you. My mom told me yesterday that she always understood that you didn’t actually want to get rid of me. The new very minimal information about the situation, but they knew it was imperative that no one knew where I came from,” I say.

“We can provide you with anything and everything you need. You don’t even have to leave the property if you don’t want to,” Hudson says. “I will promise you now, Vlad and Dima Ivankov will die for what they did to my fiancée.”

“The world will be a better place without them,” she says. “You two are getting married?”

“Yes. We are getting married Saturday. It will be at our home on the gated property,” I say. “I’d love for you to be there.”

“Are you sure it’s not a burden?” she asks us.

“We are sure. You can’t just live your life running from them and not knowing if you will live another day. Let us take care of you the way you did for me,” I say.

“Okay,” she says tearfully. “Can I… can I hug you?”

“Yeah,” I say warmly as I hug her instead. She holds onto me tightly as she tries to keep in her emotions. Twenty-six years of not having her little girl with her when that is all she ever wanted. I might not know her as my mother, but she still is. I want to learn and grow with her. This woman has lived a hard life, and she deserves peace.

“Hey. We are coming out. Victoria is coming back to the house with us,” Hudson says into his phone. “Just move the SUV closer… yeah, she’s okay… Well, I am going to assume that she is not helping them considering she gets raped by her sons with some frequency… Mhmm. Just another reason to exterminate the bastards… We will be out soon.”

“Thank you,” she says.

“I want to learn how to be your daughter,” I say to her. “It will be confusing because I’ve only ever known the people who adopted me as my parents, but I know they will love you. Hudson’s family will love you. No matter if you had to give me up or not, you are still my mother. You did nothing wrong, and I don’t want you to blame yourself.”

“I’m just happy that you are okay,” she sniffs.

“Let’s go,” Hudson says. “Victoria, there are five others that will be in the vehicle. They are trustworthy and will protect you. No one will hurt you.”

“No one can hurt me the way Boris and his horrid sons have,” she says. It’s almost eerie the way she doesn’t call them her children.

When we step out of the store, the guys quickly get us into the vehicle. I am in front with Hudson again and they have Victoria in the center between Dallas and Doug.

“Damn. This is creepy,” Dallas says.

“Must you?” Hudson says.

“What? I am looking at Colette in the future,” he laughs. “At least you know she will age well.”

“They’re children,” I tell Victoria.

“Better than monsters,” she says with a smile.

“Watch yourself, girl. I am not afraid of a cougar,” Doug jokes. Hudson is about to scold Doug when Victoria laughs. He is definitely attracted to her. I can see it all over his face and the way she melts a little when he leans into her slightly.

When we get back to the house, Mom, Dad, and Hudson’s parents are waiting for us. As soon as I get out, my mom and dad hug me tightly. “I have someone for you to meet,” I tell them.

“Oh?” Mom asks.

“Yeah. We are moving Victoria into the pool house,” I say. “You were right, she didn’t want to give me up. My biological father apparently killed a little girl before me, so she hid the pregnancy and gave me up. She made sure that she was in a hospital when she had me so that I could be looked after the heart issue. She was raped frequently by my biological father and her sons. Also, I definitely killed Akim. He is ten months younger than I am.”

“That poor woman,” Dad says. “I’m glad she is here now. I can’t imagine what has been done to her.”

Victoria walks around the SUV and Mom immediately hugs her. “Thank you,” she says to Victoria. “Thank you so much for taking care of her the way you did.”

“I just wanted to give her a life that I could not. She has grown into an amazing woman,” Victoria says. “It’s interesting to see how similar we look, though.”

“How those three dipshits didn’t notice it originally is beyond me,” Dallas says.

“If y’all could help her get what she needs, she doesn’t have anything,” I say.

“Of course. We will keep her company so she can be around people her own age. Not that you all are not fun to hang out with,” Mom laughs.

“You guys don’t have to do all of this,” Victoria says.

“That’s what family does,” I say. “Family is what you make it. You take care of one another unconditionally, without hesitation. You never hesitated to give me a better life, so I will not hesitate to make sure that you can find peace.”