Chapter Three

Colette

We pull past the gate to Hudson’s parents' home, and I see my parents’ car. Hudson’s parents are Henry and Tammy. Mine are James and Jill. They have been best friends for as long as Hudson and I have. We took family vacations together. We celebrate all holidays together. The big ones, like Thanksgiving and Christmas, end up with both entire families in one house. It’s chaotic, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

Hudson does not get a chance to help me out because my dad is the first one to get to me. He helps me down before hugging me so tightly I can hardly breathe. Mom joins and I’m just now realizing how scared they were. They obviously knew that my house blew up, but that’s all they knew.

“I’m okay,” I say softly.

“Your house exploded, baby. That’s not okay,” Mom says.

“I was already in the process of moving out,” I say. “We were only there to get the rest of my things.”

“You were there?!” Tammy says before stealing me from my parents.

“Yeah. Your son makes for a good shield,” I laugh. “Seriously, we are okay. I noticed the wire and we got away.”

“I’m glad y’all are okay,” Henry says as he hugs me. “When are you and Hudson going to date? You live together now, yes?”

“I’ll do ya one better,” Hudson laughs. “We are getting married next Saturday.”

“Oh, my goodness!” my mom says excitedly. “Really? You’re not joking?”

“We are,” I say. “I’d like to say it’s not in response to something else, but it is.”

“As long as you want to be married, you’ll do great,” Henry says. “We’ve been waiting for you two to figure this out for a long time now.”

“Well, we have,” I smile.

“Definitely going to knock her up,” Hudson chuckles.

“You only make silly jokes like that around us when you are nervous. What’s wrong?” Jill asks.

“Let’s all go sit down. The guys know. They told Makayla and Kaylee,” Hudson says, wrapping his arm around my waist. Mom and Dad look at me for a moment before they nod. They know something is wrong.

When we get inside, Hudson sits and pulls me into his lap. Our parents smile when he gently kisses my shoulder, and I relax. “Can you explain?” I ask Hudson quietly.

“Yeah,” he says. “Full story?”

“Uhh… yeah,” I sigh.

Once everybody is sitting down, Hudson starts explaining the situation from the beginning. I steadily have tears rolling down my cheeks, but I keep control over my emotions enough to not outwardly sob. Our parents are tearful, but quiet as well.

“I’m so sorry, Colette,” mom says through tears.

“Thank you for taking care of my girl,” my dad says to Hudson.

“So… we know who these people are. We are still trying to confirm if that guy actually died, but it was a Russian mafia family,” Hudson says. “I won’t go into as much detail as I did with Colette, but I run an underground fighting ring. I have for many years, and I have made a name for myself that allows me the opportunity to help Collette with the situation. In short, I suppose I am kind of like the mafia. I don’t get into it as deep as other families do, but it does allow me a lot of protection. With us getting married, it means other families that I have allied with will happily help us. They are big on family and marriage, so it’s the only way they are willing to stick their neck out.”

“As long as you never hurt my little girl,” Dad says.

“I wouldn’t dream of it,” Hudson says with a smile. “I’d like you and Jill to stay here with my parents. At least on the property. I’m not confident that they won’t go after you guys to get to her.”

“Okay,” Dad says with a sigh. “What now? Get married, then what?”

“We will just live our lives,” Hudson says. “I will make our marriage well known. Beyond that, I don’t want to stir things up. We will be looking into things behind the scenes to make sure we stay ahead of this, though.”

“Okay. We will do what we need. Just keep us updated,” Mom says.

“We will. We do need to get back to the gym, though, so we will call you guys soon. Makayla and Kaylee are planning the wedding. I’m sure they’ll reach out to you soon, too.”

“Alright, son,” Henry says. “You guys be good.”

“Always,” I smile.