“He said he’d take the file to the police if I didn’t follow his instructions.” She took a moment to strengthen her voice. “I don’t really understand what’s on it, but the part I saw looked really incriminating.”

Hudson quieted and his blood pressure dropped. The sound of his own breathing was like nails on a chalkboard.

When no explanation was offered, Allie asked the inevitable. “What happened to the man in the video?”

“I don’t want to involve you.” Christ, just the opposite. He wanted to talk to her, to clear the air, leaving no secrets between them. But he didn’t want to pull her deeper into the clusterfuck of his own creation. And he wasn’t going to drag Allie and Nick down into what might very well be his own demise.

“It’s a little too late for that now, wouldn’t you say? I’m already involved, Hudson. And even if I weren’t, what happens to you affects me too.” Allie laced her fingers with his. “You want to be in this together, that goes both ways.”

Hudson exhaled all the air from his lungs. “It was an accident. Nick reacted in self-defense and I took care of it.” He scrubbed a hand down his face. The nine hours of growth on his jaw scratched his palm. “A couple months ago, I got a phone call from the bartender at one of Nick’s regular hangouts, a real dive. I hadn’t heard from Nick for days, so any sign of life was a relief.”

“The weekend we went to Lake Geneva,” she murmured.

He gave a tight nod. “When I got there, Nick was pacing like a caged animal in the back room. His face was beat to hell—bleeding and swelling by the second—and the guy on the floor was dead. I asked who he was and Nick, true to form, tried to sell me some bullshit story about it being a random degenerate, but finally came clean. It was his dealer. Nick owed him money and when he didn’t pay, the guy proved his point with a chair to Nick’s face.”

A small gasp escaped Allie’s lips.

“It was a freak accident. When Nicky pushed him away the guy stumbled and fell, and in the process cracked his head on the table.” Hudson met Allie’s concerned gaze with a grave stare. “I had to protect my brother. It was all I could do.”

“Which is exactly why I agreed to meet with Julian. Not just to protect you, but Nick too.”

“What I don’t understand is how returning his ring made you decide that breaking off our relationship and flying home alone was the best course of action.”

“The ring was just an excuse. What Julian really wants is Ingram, and according to him it’s my fault he doesn’t have it.”

“He’s lucky all you did was force him out of the company. You should have had him arrested.”

“Julian has it in his head that he’s owed everything my father promised him, including me.”

His hold on her tightened. “What are his demands?”

“In a few weeks I’m supposed to tell you that I’ll take you back if you sign over your shares of the company.” Combining their considerable holdings would allow Allie near-total control, which is why what she said next came as no surprise. “Once that’s done, Julian wants me to name him as CEO.” Her voice dropped to barely a whisper as she threw him a last-second curve. “And marry him.”

Hudson ground down on his molars. “Not an option. I’ll turn myself in and hire a team of lawyers to keep my brother and me out of prison.”

Allie shook her head. “You can’t do that.”

“It will neutralize any power that fucking sociopath thinks he has.”

“He’ll just find another way. He already . . .” Allie choked back a sob.

“What is it?” His voice softened despite how violent he felt at the moment. “Did he touch you?”

“He killed my parents, Hudson.” The tears flowed steadily now. “Julian is the one who hired the hit man.”

Hudson felt as though the wind had been knocked out of him. He knew Julian was a sick fucker, but a cold-blooded murderer? Even he hadn’t thought him capable of that. And now Julian had set his sights not only on Ingram, but Allie, with Hudson and Nick as collateral damage.

“All the more reason for me to turn myself in. You can tell the police he’s blackmailing you. Let them handle this.” Some might have considered what Hudson was proposing suicidal, but there was nothing he wouldn’t risk for Allie or his brother.

“No. I’ve already lost my parents; I won’t let Julian take you and Nick away from me too.”

“You won’t lose us. I’ll take care of it. And the police will take care of Julian.”

“It’s not that simple. You don’t know what the DA will charge you with. And as for Julian, I don’t have any proof. It would be my word against his.”

“It will point the police in the right direction and remove any leverage he has over you.”

Allie shook her head. “If I turn Julian in to the police, he’ll take you and Nick with him.”

“What’s the alternative?”

“I don’t know.” She frowned. “We need something to hold over Julian’s head. He will be here in a couple weeks. Maybe if I go along with him for a bit, spend some time with him—”

“No fucking way.”

“I might be able to find something that incriminates him.”

“I don’t want you anywhere near that cocksucker.” Hudson took a beat to reign in his temper. He gazed unseeingly at the dark lake for several minutes as his brain worked the options like a spreadsheet. “I’ll have Max start looking into this. Quietly. He can have his team assembled in a matter of hours.”

“The police have been investigating my parents’ murder for over two months. The last time Detective Green called she said they were running out of leads.”

“We have information the police don’t have,” he reminded her. “And they are required to operate within the confines of the law.”

“You really think his men can find what we need?”

“You’d be surprised what money can buy.”

Max curbed the limo in front of the Palmolive building. Allie looked out the window. “I can’t stay here, Hudson.”

“Why not?”

“We supposedly broke up tonight.”

“Supposedly being the operative word.”

“Julian has people watching me. He’ll know if I don’t go home alone. You showing up on my flight, he said he half expected, but if I stay the night . . .” She swallowed hard. “He has to think this limo ride was good-bye.”

Hudson wasn’t happy about it, but Allie was right. At least for the time being they had to go along with this ridiculous charade and play the estranged couple. So instead of having his hands all over her, his mouth sealed between her legs, and the moans of his name filling every square foot of his penthouse, he’d have to settle for a hot shower and a glass of scotch to burn off his edge.

Poor fucking substitute.

Hudson hit the intercom and instructed Max to head to Astor Place. When the limo eased away from the curb, the ticking clock became almost palpable. Allie pressed into him, as if to absorb every last minute they had together during the short drive to her brownstone. His lips brushed her temple and her hands slid inside his jacket, but there wasn’t any amount of contact that would make it easier to let her step out of that car. Sending Allie into her apartment alone with a blackmailing lunatic on the loose went against everything his heart wanted, but precision strategy was going to be key in outsmarting Julian. Hudson had to take emotion out of the equation and let his instincts be the driving force in protecting his brother and the love of his life.

When they arrived at her place, Hudson watched helplessly as Allie slid out of his limo. No words were exchanged, which was just as well since none could have come close to what they were feeling. The ride back to his penthouse was just as silent—Max knew when to give him his space—and he was all set for a quiet evening in the company of a bottle of Blue Label. But as he stepped off the elevator, that plan went into the shitter.

“Dude, what the hell is going on?” Nick said the moment Hudson’s feet hit the hardwood. “Harper took off for Paris and—”