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Hudson’s vehemence was confusing. I’d read enough about him to know he’d been a happy-go-lucky hockey player, although he’d taken the game very seriously. The way he’d been injured had been horrific, the recovery time arduous, his career destroyed. Maybe that had changed him.
Or maybe he’d fooled me.
My mind was far too muddled. Was Declan behind all of this? Did my father know? I would leave here and find out.
“Whatever you think of Declan, he’s been a hard worker for years.” Why was I covering for the man?
“Aren’t you curious as to where he got the money to live in a very nice house and drive a Charger?” Hudson’s question caught me off guard all over again.
“The riggers make good money.” My insistence was weak and I sensed all three men knew it. They worked in the business, for God’s sake. They’d had time to look over the financials. I couldn’t lie to them anymore than I could to myself.
“Bullshit,” Foxx said. “Your father was honest with me. He mentioned just how desperate your finances are and that some of the guys are getting paid less than half of what they used to. Isn’t that why you barely can keep any men on your staff?”
“None of your business,” I huffed.
“It is since we’re putting our lives on the line for you. We deserve to know the truth,” Jack joined in and I snapped.
“The truth? You mean like telling me about your prison record, Jack? How you murdered a man in cold blood. How you left him to die in vomit and piss inside a bar.”
The flash of hurt in his eyes was horrible. I was horrible. Why had I tossed that into his face?
All the rage and frustration and the actual caring I’d seen in the man faded away. I’d crossed more than one line. What was wrong with me? I was worried sick. True. But that didn’t give me a reason to act like such a bitch.
“Wow,” Hudson said under his breath.
Jack threw his arm out, preventing the other two from saying anything.
“Yeah, I’m a killer, Rylee. I was protecting a woman from being accosted by a man she thought she could trust and I crossed a line. I paid for my sins too by spending years behind bars in the kind of prison they send serial killers who fucking dismember people. But men like Madden get away with their crimes. No matter what you think of me, I don’t want to see you or your father hurt or worse. But I tell you what, Rylee. I won’t bother you again.” He turned away from me and I was sick inside, more so than I’d been before.
Yet as horrible as I’d just been, I also remained disturbed my father would say anything. Okay, so I knew Foxx’s father and Papa had been close, but why confide in Foxx? What was I missing about the operation? I had no idea what to say at this point.
“We’re not trying to hurt you, Rylee,” Hudson said in a softer voice, surprising after what I’d said to Jack. When he touched my arm, I wanted to flinch and pull away, but the same tingling sensations were there in full force.
“Then don’t. I know my father hired you guys to try and help. I understand that this job we’re about to work on is vital to the remaining operation of my father’s company. I won’t be goaded into selling it by you, that fucking asshole in there offering thirty fucking million dollars, or even my own father. My father thinks I’m not living my best life. Well, I have news for all of you. I am. Now, if you really want to help me, just do your job and get to the wharf on time in the morning and without your usual bad attitudes.”
I wasn’t the kind of woman to cry, at least any longer. Except for on the days I thought about Finn. Okay, and that my father was dying. And my son didn’t have a father to grow up with, to throw a ball and learn how to play darts. I was a muddled mess, but I had to fake it, if for no other reason than there was so much riding on the line. Jack had already walked away, his shoulders slumped.
Oh, God. What was I doing? What had I spouted off?
“Whew,” Foxx breathed. “A lot of money.”
“Too much,” I managed.
The tension between us was sickening.
“Jack’s a good man,” Hudson continued. “You had no right to bring up his record. He paid a price for caring about someone. I doubt he’ll ever do that again.”
“Leave her alone, Hud. She’s made her position clear. However, I will make a clear one as well. We were hired to handle business, including keeping your ragged and careless men on track. That means no drunks, no fights, and no slacking off on the jobs as the records indicate.”
“We were also made aware of the sabotage attempts over the last couple of years,” Hudson added.
It would seem my father had spilled his guts. My papa rarely did that unless… he was feeling pressure. What had he kept from his own daughter? At least I could tell he trusted these men, even when it was something tough for me to do.
“You do your job and I’ll do mine, boys. Just keep in mind I’m the one in charge.” I grabbed out my keys, determined to get the hell away from them before I did something stupid and rash.
Like fall head over heels for them.
Oops. Too late.
