Page 117 of Scandalous Contract

That only made the footage grainy. I couldn’t see inside his car. I lay there for a few moments, hoping he’d drive away, not sure what I’d do if he didn’t. Five minutes later, he was still there. I exited the camera’s feed, pulled up his number, and hit call. He answered quickly.

“Stefanie,” he muttered, sounding surprised.

“Hudson, what the fuck are you doing in front of my house?”

“Who’s in there with you?”

“What?”

“Who’s in there with you, Stefanie?”

“Why?

“When I knocked at your door earlier, I heard a man’s voice saywho is it.”

Real fear coursed through me. Was a man in my house?Oh, wait. The bear.Julian. Had he heard someone at my door and tried to answer it? I swear men these days had some fucking nerve.

“Who’s in there, Stefanie?” Hudson asked again.

“No...” I started to say no one, but thought better of it. I didn’t want him to know I was alone. “None of your business. And if you don’t leave from in front of my house, I’m going to call the cops.”

“It’s a free country. I don’t have to leave.”

“Lies. You can go wherever you want in the country, but you can’t sit in front of my house. Leave, before you piss me off.”

“You’ve already pissed me off and you don’t want to keep doing that, Stefanie.”

I took a deep breath and released it slowly. “Hudson, have you been drinking?”

“No. I never drink before a workout.”

Oh, yeah.He worked out at night to avoid being there with the morning regulars.

“Then go work out. Why are you here?”

“We used to go to the gym together, remember?”

What?“That was years ago. And we went as a group with other members from the station. Hudson, why are you here?”

“I thought maybe we could start over. By doing things we used to do. We were closer back then. You listened to me back then.”

“I tolerated you back then. Now I don’t.”

Silence.

Finally, he spoke again, tone one of disdain. “I think you say mean things to me to see how far you can push me. I’m tired of this game, Stefanie. You’ve pushed me as far as I can go. I’m done playing with you. I can romance you or ruin you. You choose?”

This motherfucker!

“I’mchoosingto call the cops. Bye, Hudson,” I said, bluffing. “Hopefully, your father will come and bail you out.”

Mentioning his father always made him change his tune. The prick didn’t want to be disowned.

“I’m leaving,” he growled. “Whoever you have in there, I’m sure he’s a piece of trash. You have bad taste in men. And they all leave you in the end.”

Ouch!

“I’m the only one who stays. That guy will leave too. You’ll see. I’m the only man who can have you, Stefanie. Iwillhave you. But now, I don’t want you to be my woman. I want to make you suffer.”