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“I still miss Tony. I haven’t forgotten him.”
Malcom shook his head. “I know. We all do. I see no better way for you to honor his memory than to keep living.”
And I was. When I lost Tony, I never imagined having enough left in me to love again. He had consumed me. But I still felt the same about him, and had room for Evie and Gage too. I wanted the world for the people I was with now.
“Thank you.” I couldn’t put better words around it, but I hoped he understood the gratitude was for today, as well as for his support. “We’ll drop by with the other stuff in a few hours.”
“Sounds good.”
I was bringing him some of Tony’s old model stuff that Malcom had uses for. I’d held onto it for so long, and it should be used and loved and seen rather than hidden away in boxes.
We headed to my old house next. Hudson had been staying there since he left his wife, and there was a certain amount of apprehension about seeing my brother again. A man I’d never really gotten along with, but I was starting to.
We parked in the driveway, and Gage whistled. “Look at you, Richie Rich. Wealthy city boy living in the suburbs.”
It wasn’t that grand, but compared to the hundred-year-old houses in Haddarville, the modern glass and concrete were definitely different.
Though this was still my house, I didn’t live here anymore. I knocked, and waited for Hudson to answer. As we’d talked a few times recently, I kept expecting him to turn up his nose at the relationship with Evie and Gage.
So far, Hudson had been polite about it. If it makes you happy, who am I to knock it? God knows what I was doing didn’t offer any sort of joy.
That made me a bit sad for him.
When Hudson answered, he wore an odd look. Somewhere between concern and confusion.
“What’s up?” I asked.
“You didn’t hear?”
“We’ve been locked in the throes of destruction for the last few hours.” I heard Gage and Evie join me.
“What’s wrong?” Gage asked.
I wasn’t the only one who noticed. “Don’t know. Hudson, this is Evie”—I pointed to her—“and Gage. Everyone meet everyone.”
“Pleasure.” Hudson didn’t sound like he meant it. In fact, there was little emotion at all in his voice as he focused on me again. “They arrested Dad this morning. Wire fraud. Conspiracy. Money laundering. The list goes on.”
Oh. Fuck.
“That’s good, isn’t it?” Gage asked.
Hudson scowled at him.
“I’m sorry, I am.” He was sympathetic. “But the man tried to fuck Evie over, and he fucked over who knows how many others. And both of you.”
Part of me saw this coming, but the news still hit hard. And he was my father. I… “Gage is right.”
“Is that weird?” Hudson sounded snide. “Telling someone else they’re right?”
I didn’t want to argue today. Especially not over this. “Not as long as I’m right too.”
I stared Hudson down for several seconds as he clenched and unclenched his fist, and his nostrils flared.
He finally let out a long sigh. “You’re right. This is what needs to happen, and he brought it on himself.”
“Are you safe?” I expected he and I would both be subjected to more questioning over the next few months, but he was a lot more involved in the business, for longer. I could prove I was ignorant.
Hudson on the other hand… He’d been elbows deep in the business for years, and while I believed him when he said he didn’t know what was going on, that didn’t mean the people enforcing the laws would.
