Chapter Two

Colette

“Hey. Colette. Wake up, sweetheart,” Hudson urges. I gasp and jump out of bed, only to be caught by Hudson. “You’re okay. Slow down.”

“Why did you scare me like that?” I whimper. I realize now that I’m crying. Why am I crying?

“You were having a nightmare,” he says, hugging me. “I tried to let you come out of it on your own, but you started crying and it was afraid you weren’t breathing.”

“I’m sorry,” I sniffle.

“It’s okay, Cole. Do you want to come to the gym with me for a few?” he asks.

“You aren’t going to make me run, are you?” I ask.

“No,” he laughs. “I just need to talk to the guys.”

“They don’t know me,” I say.

“They think you’re a man because I call you Cole,” he says, and I laugh. “You’re going to learn a lot today, Colette. I need you to keep an open mind and understand that I will never hurt you, okay?”

“I mean… I am sore, so that’s a lie,” I say. “I understand.”

“I talked to Dallas a little bit ago. He’s the only one who knows what’s going on,” he says. “Colton, Jayden, Andrew, and Doug have no idea why I asked them to come up to see me.”

“Dallas is the guy from high school, right?” I ask.

“Yeah. He already knew who you were. I always told him if you wanted to come around, you would.”

“Apparently it takes getting raped in an alleyway by three random men,” I say bitterly. “I’m… afraid they won’t like me.”

“One, they will likely pick on you, but not in a negative way. They are just… annoying,” he laughs. “They’re nice. I went to college with all of them.”

“Ah. Frat brothers,” I say. “Let me get dressed and I’ll be ready. I wore my contacts to bed when I shouldn’t have. I’ll have to wear my glasses today.”

“I like you in your glasses,” he smiles. “I know you feel weird about wearing glasses, so I’ll wear mine.”

“Since when do you wear glasses?” I ask.

“Since my vision started going to shit when I got older,” he says. “I’m in the four-eye community now, Cole.”

“You’re annoying,” I laugh.

“Get dressed,” he says before kissing me. I look around for my bag, but I don’t see it. Hudson chuckles and points to the closet. “I put your clothes up. We can have the guys go back with us to your house and get everything else. We can just donate the furniture.”

“Are you sure you want me to live with you?” I ask.

“Colette, I’ve been asking you to live with me since we turned eighteen. I was completely willing to ditch the fraternity to live with you.”

“I thought you just felt bad for me,” I shrug and go to the closet. I choose snug-fitting jeans and a T-shirt. I go to the bathroom and take my contacts out before putting my glasses on. I turn around and Hudson is watching me. He has glasses on now, and it is probably the hottest thing I have ever seen this man wear.

“What?” he asks with a smirk. “Like them?”

“I… That is hot as fuck,” I say.

“Well, I will wear them more if you wear yours more. I know you hate contacts,” he says.

“Okay,” I laugh.

“Is it appropriate now to tell you that your ass looks great in those jeans?” he asks.

“Hudson, you said that like a week ago. It’s not new.”

“Well, you look amazing as always,” he says before kissing me. “Let’s go.”

When we get to the truck, Hudson lifts me up and sits me in the truck before going around to get in. As we drive, I scroll the news to see if there is a new murder investigation going on. I am hyper focused on the fact that I might go to jail. Maybe I should just turn myself in? It was an accident after all. I was defending myself. I shouldn’t get in too much trouble for that.

When we get to Hudson’s gym, he turns and looks at me. “What’s on your mind?”

“I think I should just go turn myself in for what I did. There’s no way that guy survived,” I say.

“Come in and talk to everyone first, and we can go from there, okay?” he says. “I’m not telling you to not go to the police, but you saw them shoot someone in cold blood over owing money. I have a feeling it has something to do with a gang or the mafia. They are not people you want to go to the police about, because they probably have the police in their pockets.”

“They’re going to come after me, aren’t they?” I ask.

“Yeah,” he says sympathetically. “One step at a time, okay?”

“Okay,” I sigh.

Hudson comes around and helps me out, so I don’t have to jump. Right away, there are sounds of weights hitting the floor mixed with an occasional grunt.

“It’s sounds like a bunch of jocks are fucking on a weight bench,” I say, making Hudson laugh.

“Hey! Hudson!” Dallas says cheerfully. He racks his weights before coming over to us.

“Hey,” Hudson says, shaking his hand.

“I’m Dallas,” Dallas says, shaking my hand.

“I know,” I smile warmly. “We went to school together.”

“Didn’t figure you saw anything outside of your books,” he says with a wink.

“It’s been twenty seconds since she walked in, asshole,” Hudson says.

“Think I’m bad? Wait until they find out Cole is a girl,” Dallas grins. “Hey guys. Come meet Cole.”

“Cole?” a man asks. “That’s a lady.”

“Don’t assume, asshole,” another man says, punching him in the arm.

“Shit, my bad,” the first man says.

“My name is Colette,” I laugh. “Hudson has just always called me Cole.”

“Wait…” another man says. “Cole… The one you hang out with every Saturday?”

“That’s the one,” Hudson laughs. “We’ve been friends since she punched me in the third grade. We are dating now, though.”

“Since when?” another man asks.

“Can I get names?” I ask. “I think I know them, but I don’t know who they belong to.”

“That is Colton Smith, Jayden Ruiz, Andrew Slager and Doug Jones,” Hudson says. “All five are trainers.”

“Do you work out with Hudson?” Dallas asks innocently.

“Ha… I guess you could put it that way,” Hudson say with a grin, making the others laugh.

“No, I don’t,” I say with blushed cheeks.

“Why not?” Colton asks.

“Because I’ll get crushed by weights,” I say. “Also, do I look like someone who works out?”

“Oop. Don’t answer that, buddy,” Doug says.

“You could,” Colton shrugs.

“I spend far too much time at the office for that,” I laugh. “Which reminds me, Hudson…”

“I love you, but you are not going back there,” Hudson says.

“I thought you’d say that. Am I just a bum living at your house now?” I ask.

“No, you can come here,” Hudson says. “Or stay home and read. Either way, you are not a bum.”

“What in the world would I do here?” I ask. “Train people on how to eat junk food?”

“No, smartass,” he laughs. “We both have a master’s in business administration. I am opening another gym soon, so you can help me do business shit.”

“Why do I have a feeling you are drowning in paperwork?”

“Hey. I had to make sure there was work for you when I finally stole you away from that sketchy office,” he says.

“Yep. Stay too late and it gets even more sketchy,” I frown.

“Huh?” Jayden asks.

“So… Let’s go downstairs,” Hudson says.

“Downstairs?” I ask.

“One of the many things I’m about to explain,” he says before kissing me.

We all walk downstairs to the basement, and it opens up into a huge room. There is a large mat in the center with a red circle on it. All of the seating is facing toward the mat, and there is a bar in the back with more seating. I turn to look at Hudson and he is studying me.

“Do you run a fight club?” I ask him.

“I do,” Hudson says. “Thoughts?”

“Why don’t I ever see you hurt?” I ask. “I see you more than just Saturdays.”

“Because I’m good,” he says as he lifts me up to sit me on one of the tables.

“They call him the Reaper,” Dallas says as he and the others come over.

“Why?” I ask him.

“Because…” Dallas starts to say, but stops.

“Because I inadvertently killed someone with a well-placed punch to the head,” he says, standing in front of me.

“At least I’m not the only one out here murdering people,” I say, making him smile. “What else?”

“Uh. Betting. Sometimes people like to bet when they don’t have the money and… well that doesn’t go well for them,” Hudson says carefully.

“You mean…” I start to ask. For whatever reason, panic swells inside of me when all I can imagine is Hudson being one of the three men. Being surrounded by these five men is suddenly overwhelming. I hop off the table and back up, but Hudson gently grabs my waist and pulls me back to him.

“Breathe, Colette,” he says, taking my face between his hands.

“You… How many?”

“I don’t know,” he says softly.

“Say it,” I say tearfully, trying to calm down.

“I have killed people, and I don’t know how many,” he says. I try to pull away again, but he holds onto me. “Listen, Colette. I am not those men. That is not how I operate. I make sure that whatever I do, it doesn’t involve others. I would never do what those men did, okay? I would never hurt you, Colette.”

“I know. I’m sorry. I don’t know why…”

“It’s been less than a day, baby. I wanted to tell you all of this now because I can certainly help, but you need to know how I’m able to,” he says. “Also, if we are together, you deserve to know this side of me.”

“I don’t know if I fit into this world, but I want you,” I say.

“Well, I fit in you, so that’s gotta count for something,” he says with a playful grin.

“Hardly,” I say, returning his smile. “You’re sugar-coating things. Give it to me straight.”

“I’m going to find who hurt you and I’m going to beat the ever-loving fuck out of them for what they did to you,” he says. “If there is anyone on this planet that I am willing to kill for without hesitation, it’s you, Colette.”

“You’d kill for me?” I ask with a smile.

“In a heartbeat,” he says. “No one hurts my girl… No one.”

“So… do we get to find out what’s going on?” Doug asks.

“Good?” Hudson asks me.

“Go ahead,” I sigh.

“Last night, Colette was leaving work. She was later than usual, so it was dark. She ended up in an alley but hid when people came out of one of the buildings. They shot some guy for owing them money but spotted her when she reacted to the shot. They all then raped her in various ways. She was stood up at one point and threw up on one of them. He hit her and she got hold of a board. When she swung it at him, there happened to be a nail sticking out of it. So, she slammed the nail into the guy’s head and ran. She got home and called me. I immediately went and got her, so now she lives with me.”

“They got my address off my license,” I say quietly. “They know my name… age… address… they still have my license, I think.”

“I’m going to fuck someone up,” Dallas says. “What did they look like?”

“So… he’s missing details,” I say.

“Figured I’d let you explain if you wanted them to know,” Hudson says.

“Well, if any of y’all are killing for me, it’s only fair you know what happened to me,” I say. “They all were white. Had a Russian accent,” I say. “The first guy that made me blow him… He seemed like the pack leader almost. He was definitely the oldest. The guy that raped me, the one I killed, he seemed like the youngest. The other one that assaulted me orally… he, I guess, is younger than the leader, but not younger than the one I killed. The one I killed hardly looked my age.”

“What alley?” Colton asks.

“The one next to The Galway Pub,” I say. I think that’s the door they came out of, actually. Like their back door, or whatever.”

“Shit, girl,” Andrew says.

“What? Is that bad?” I ask.

“There is a Russian mafia around here that openly abuses women. They never get charged with rape because the victim never lives, and evidence disappears,” Hudson sighs. “It’s the Ivankov brothers. Vlad is the oldest. Middle is Dima and the youngest is Akim.”

“Oh… shit,” I say slowly. “That’s bad.”

“Very bad,” Hudson says.

“But… manageable,” Doug says.

“How?” I ask.

“Well… Hudson here is basically the mafia as well. Others don’t start wars with us, because we have far too many people behind us,” he says. “If you two are married, you belong to him. It means that if he fucks with you, everyone will be on his ass.”

“I mean we still will,” Hudson says.

“Yes, but the others will only rally behind you for family or those you consider family. They don’t care about girlfriends. If you are married; they’ll help you with no questions asked,” Doug explains.

“Time to see if you really meant it, I guess,” I say to Hudson. “That was a joke. You don’t have to marry me.”

“I certainly wasn’t joking,” Hudson says. “They’re right. We get married, we have a lot more support.”

“It’s not uncommon for people to keep their engagements a secret. Get Makayla and Kaylee to throw some shit together,” Jayden says.

“Who?” I ask.

“Makayla is Colton’s wife and Kaylee is Jayden’s,” Dallas says.

“Is that what you want?” Hudson asks me.

“Look… I’ve been in love with you for as long as I can remember. I want this forever, so if you do too, let’s get married. I mean, hell, you’ve already threatened to get me pregnant,” I say.

“Alright,” Hudson says with a smile. “Let’s get married.”

“Yeah?” I say excitedly.

“Mhmm,” he smiles. “Next Saturday.”

“Always a Saturday,” I say with a smile. He kisses me hard before grabbing the backs of my thighs and picking me up. I giggle and wrap my arms and legs around him. When he sits me back on the table, he cups my face.

“There is a fight tonight. You don’t have to be here for it,” he says.

“Are you fighting?” I ask.

“I am,” he says.

“Then I’ll be here,” I say.

“Guys, do y’all care to come with us to her house? We are going to get the rest of her stuff. Everything else is getting donated.”

“Hell yeah,” Dallas says. “Let the motherfuckers show up.”

“Y’all ready to go then? I’d like to get some time with the bag before tonight,” Hudson says.

“Let go,” Jayden says.

We all pull into the driveway. Not all the vehicles can fit, so a few are in the grass. The street is quiet but we all immediately notice the blacked-out SUV down the block.

“Is that…” I go to ask.

“Don’t look at them,” Hudson says. “Let’s just focus on this.”

I nod and go first up to my door. When I turn the key in my lock, it doesn’t click. I know we locked it when we left. Why isn’t it locked now? I stay standing in front of the door, staring at the handle. I don’t understand. No one is rushing me, but I know they are all confused. Something is wrong. I don’t know what, but I don’t think I want to go into this house.

“Colette,” Hudson says softly, gently resting his hand on my back.

“Something is wrong,” I say.

“How so?”

“The door. You locked it. I saw you lock it. It’s not locked right now. I turned the key, and it did not click. Someone has been in this house,” I say. I glance behind me, and I see that the blacked-out SUV has the passenger window down. I cannot make out who it is, but there are two people in that vehicle, at a minimum.

“Dallas, do you want to…” he starts to ask.

“No!” I snap when I look back and notice that there is a thin wire connecting from the door frame to the bottom corner of the door itself. “Get away from the house. Back up.”

Hudson immediately grabs my arm, and we back away from the house. All of a sudden, an explosion goes off and Hudson wraps his arms around me before bringing us both to the ground beside the truck. He is shielding my body with his, but I can still feel the shift in the air when the blast goes off. Somewhere on the street, tires screech as the SUV drives away. I turn my head just enough to be able to make out the letters. “RYY” on the plate, followed by numbers that I can’t remember.

“Fuck. Are you okay?” Hudson asks, pulling me up to sit as he checks me for injuries.

“Uh… yeah. My ears are ringing,” I say. “The others?”

“Everyone good?” Hudson asks.

“Yeah,” Dallas says. “Now I’m really gonna kill these fuckers.”

“We need to get out of here before the cops show up,” Hudson says. “I’ll replace anything you need or want. Let’s go grab some food.”

Hudson doesn’t give me any room to argue. He simply picks me up from the ground and puts me back into the truck. My house is on fire now and the entire front wall of the house has been blown off. There is debris on the hood of the truck, but everything looks unscathed for the most part.

I don’t know where we are going, but anywhere is better than here. When we pull out of the driveway, we go no more than a half mile before the firetrucks come screaming past us. I should feel sad, or something, but I don’t. I have Hudson and that is sufficient enough. Anywhere is home as long as I am with him.

When we get to the restaurant they had chosen, I still have not spoken. Hudson doesn’t make me talk, instead he just comes around to help me out of the truck. We get in and take a large, round booth in the back. I’m in the corner with Hudson on one side of me and Dallas on the other. Within a few minutes, Makayla and Kaylee join us. I should introduce myself, but I am all out of sorts. Colton and Jaden explain to the girls what is going on and they both give me a sweet smile, but they don’t make me talk, either.

“What can I get for you, sweetheart?” The server asks me. I look at Hudson because I don’t want to talk. I don’t think I’m capable of talking. He knows what I eat.

“Half and half tea to drink and… a buffalo chicken wrap,” Hudson says. “I’ll do the same thing.”

“Thank you,” I whisper when the server walks away. Hudson gently grabs my chin and lifts my face to look at him.

“We should’ve been paying attention. If you hadn’t noticed that something was up, we all could have been killed,” Hudson says. “Thank you.”

“They tried to kill me,” I say quietly.

“Yes, but they didn’t. You are very much alive, Cole. I plan to keep it that way,” he says, kissing my forehead. I audibly sigh and melt into him. He keeps me pulled against his body and I start to relax more and more.

“I’m sorry I’m not talking,” I say to the others. “I’m not trying to be rude.”

“You’re not being rude,” Makayla says sweetly. “I’m sorry this is happening. If you ever want to get away from the dumb boys, we would love to have you hang out with us.”

“Oh,” Dallas says. “Can you help plan a wedding? Hudson and Colette are getting married on Saturday. It’s a long story, but it’s for the best.”

“Hell yeah!” Kaylee grins. “Casual?”

“Nothing elaborate,” I say.

“Oh, you’re wearing a dress,” Hudson says with a grin.

“I was going to anyway, but why?” I ask.

“Want me to answer that question out loud?” he laughs.

“You dirty boy,” I dramatically gasp, and the others laugh with me.

“I am definitely fucking you in your wedding dress, but I just love you in dresses,” he says before kissing me.

“Oh shit! I should talk to my parents,” I say.

“They’re with my parents right now. We are meeting them after this,” he says gently.

“I don’t know how to tell them,” I say. “How do I tell my parents I got raped?”

“You don’t have to,” he says.

“I want to. I just don’t want to melt down again,” I say. “Is everyone coming?”

“Mom wants to see everyone, but I can certainly tell them to fuck off,” he says.

“No, no. It’s okay,” I say. “Did they go to church or something?”

“No, they heard about the explosion and my mom texted me. I told her to get your parents over to their house and I’d explain why later,” he says.

“You think they’d go after my mom and dad?” I ask.

“It’s possible. I don’t want to find out, so I’m just going to have your parents stay with mine. They’re together all of the time anyway,” he says. “Food is coming. Let’s eat, okay?”

“Yeah,” I sigh.