Page 16 of Beyond the Darkness (Basic Instincts #3)

Divorce and Opportunities

“He’s a cop?”

“Yep,” Luke said. “Just about hanging onto the job, but yes, he’s a copper.”

They had returned to bed. It had just gone eight o’clock.

Hudson lay on his back with Luke’s head resting on his shoulder, his arm draped across his chest. Luke hadn’t spoken for several minutes after Kris had left.

He’d gone to the kitchen and drank a glass of water, before taking Hudson’s hand and leading him back upstairs.

This was a wholly different side of Luke than he had seen before.

Vulnerable, lacking in confidence. Whatever had happened between those two men in the past, the scars ran deep.

The curtains stirred with a light sea breeze, but the room was warm. They had pulled a sheet to their waists, leaving their chests exposed.

“I take it he wasn’t always like that.”

“Not at all. When we first got together, he was funny and light-hearted. A real cheeky chappy sort who could always make me laugh. I met him when I was covering a story. Environmental campaigners staged a protest at a gallery in the city. They threw cans of tomato soup over several of the art works. Kris was one of the first police officers at the scene and I interviewed him for the paper afterwards. He was so charming, with these blue twinkling eyes. I was quite bowled over.”

Hudson ran a reassuring hand along Luke’s arm. He waited for him to continue, not wanting to force the story out of him if he didn’t want to tell it. Seagulls squawked in the distance.

“It was great in the beginning. I’ve never met anyone quite like him.

He even came to the theatre with me and pretended to be interested when he was clearly bored out of his mind.

I should have realised then how easy it was for him to become someone he wasn’t when it suited him.

He proposed on my birthday. We went on a trip to London, saw a matinee in the afternoon, then went for dinner at a restaurant in The Shard.

He got on his knee and asked the question in front of all the other diners. ”

Making it almost impossible for you to refuse. Hudson kept the thought to himself.

Luke stretched and rolled onto his back, staring at the ceiling.

His hands were clasped over his abdomen.

“It seemed like he changed the moment the ceremony was over. We went to Barcelona for our honeymoon, and he started an argument on the plane with a group of lads who were on a stag party. I managed to calm him down before it got out of hand. I seriously thought we were going to be arrested when we landed. It put him in a foul mood for the rest of the day and I ended up eating alone that first night of the trip. Great start, eh?”

“Was he drunk?”

“Pissed as a fart. He told me he was nervous about flying and I bought it. I must have been blind with love because all the signs that he was a secret drinker were there from the start. I stupidly thought he was one of those men who get drunk on just one or two beers, without picking up on the fact that he would knock off a couple of shots each time he went to the bar. But that was really just the honeymoon period. Once we settled into normal life, he made little effort to hide it from me. He would start drinking after breakfast on his days off. Hit the vodka as soon as his shift was over when he was working.”

Hudson rolled onto his side to look at him. His put his hand on top of Luke’s. “That can’t have been easy.”

He sighed. “I told myself he had a high-pressured job. He needed the booze to relax. If I ever mentioned it, he’d say all the cops on the force were drinkers, and he didn’t have a problem. It’s pathetic really, the things we’re prepared to believe.”

“It’s natural. He was your husband. Of course you were going to support him.”

“I stopped inviting him to the events I was attending because I knew he’d get drunk and embarrass me.”

“Again, not your fault.”

He frowned. “I’m certain I could have done more to help him, to get him support in those early days, but I’d already begun to pull away.

And that only made things worse. Kris became jealous and controlling.

Every day was a barrage of questions—where was I going?

Who would be there? Why did I stay so late?

And he was angry all the time. I couldn’t do anything to please him. ”

“Is that what brought things to an end?”

He shook his head. “No. I might even still be married to the arsehole if things hadn’t reached a head in the way they did.

I was having a drink and some food with a colleague before we went to review a new show.

Kris wasn’t invited. He was supposed to be working anyway.

But he turned up at the restaurant and made a huge scene.

Accused us of having an affair. Which was ludicrous.

Dean was straight and had a new girlfriend each time I spoke to him.

We managed to get Kris outside, before we were thrown out, but he just became more and more irate.

Nothing I could say would calm him down.

Then he punched Dean right in the face.”

“Shit.”

“Exactly. That was the final straw. It made me see sense at last.”

“Did he ever hit you?”

“No. It was more of an emotional violence that he used against me. But I couldn’t take any more.

He fought against the divorce with all he had.

The only reason he eventually went along with it was because Dean agreed not to press charges against him.

It would have been the end of Kris’ career in the police and that’s all he really has.

None of his family speak to him. Another red flag I missed at the start. ”

“So, what was that about this morning?”

“He might have signed the divorce papers but, as far as he’s concerned, it’s a temporary arrangement. For whatever reason, he thinks we’ll get back together eventually. I don’t know why. I haven’t given him a single hint that could be a possibility.”

“I heard you say he smelled of drink earlier. That’s still a problem?”

“It appears so. He might have been telling the truth, and it was a residual stink from last night, but he’d still be well over the limit to drive. I should have called it in. Though, with buddies like Benito on the force, it’s questionable how far that would go.”

“Benito told him about us?”

“How else did he know you were here?”

“The fucker.”

“Right. I wouldn’t trust Benito Coppola as far as I could throw him. Just because he’s gay, it doesn’t mean he’s on our team. Or even one of the good guys.”

“From what you’ve told me, Kris is a functioning alcoholic. Why would Benito stick up for him?”

“Who knows? Maybe he thinks like I did, that Kris will change and sober up one day. I’ll tell you one thing—it’s put me off the idea of marriage for a long time.”

They both laughed.

“What about you?” Luke asked. “Any ex-husbands I should be worried about?”

“No, I’m clear on that front. I just have run-of-the-mill nutcase stalkers. There’s no marriage baggage attached.”

“Ever been tempted?”

“I came close once,” Hudson admitted. He drew his fingers up the line on Luke’s torso, from his navel to his chest, before running them through his chest hair.

“His name was Pete. A lawyer back in New York. He was a great guy. No major asshole issues. He was funny and intelligent and had a great job. He wasn’t jealous or demanding.

Didn’t make an issue when work took me away for weeks at a time. ”

“He sounds perfect. What went wrong?”

Hudson shook his head. “It’s hard to explain.

It was kind of perfect on a surface level, but there was just something missing.

We both got cold feet and realised we weren’t the people we wanted to spend the rest of our lives with.

We’re still friends. Pete has got a partner now who does seem truly perfect for him.

He’s found that something that was missing when the two of us were together. ”

Luke turned on his side, so they were face to face. He put a hand on Hudson’s hip.

“This is nice,” he said. “I wasn’t expecting we would share all this so soon. If my angry ex hadn’t turned up, maybe we wouldn’t have. But I’m glad we are. I feel like I know you better each day.”

Hudson smiled and leaned in for a kiss. “I do too. And given how crazy this week has been so far, it feels kind of fitting that we’re not obeying any of the traditional rules of dating.”

Luke pulled his body closer, pressing their chests and bellies together. “Let’s see what else we can discover.”

* * * *

Hudson got back to his apartment around five.

After the rude awaking from Kris, he’d spent a wonderfully relaxing day with Luke, talking, laughing, getting to know each other better.

And fucking. There had been a lot of fucking.

One of the highlights had been taking a long bath together.

Though the house was small and the bathroom tiny, they had luxuriated in the hot water and bubbles for over an hour.

Hudson would have stayed much longer, but Jo had scheduled a video call with him at six and he wanted to take the call on his laptop rather than his phone. It was also so peaceful at the beach house that he didn’t want to spoil it by mixing work with pleasure.

“You do realise it’s Saturday evening,” he said when his agent came on the call.

“Yes, and I’ll be going out soon.”

He noticed she was hosting the call from her bedroom. In the background, a little black dress hung on a door, while she appeared to be sitting at a vanity mirror in a white towelled robe.

“Couldn’t it wait, then?”

Jo tutted. “Only losers wait, Hudson. Winners take the deals when they’re offered, whatever the day or time. This is a twenty-four-hour business.

“What’s so important that it couldn’t wait until Monday?”