stumbled back two steps, unprepared for her strong pull. The exact moment I realized Josiah believed me happened in a snap.
His fist pulled back and without looking at Manny, his target, he flew it forward. Blood sprayed all over the place and Manny screamed, stumbled back to the brick building, covered his nose for a split second before he barreled back, flinging an answering punch at Josiah.
Josiah ducked, threw his punch into Manny’s ribs and in another blink of an eye, the sidewalk was overrun with punches and men flying in every which way, trying to pull the two guys apart who were going for blood, ready for the death.
I ran toward them, trying to stop Josiah.
This… this was not what I wanted. Not at all. Not after everything Angie had done for me.
“No!” Angie screamed. Her arm snaked around my stomach and yanked me back. “Stay back! These guys will handle it.”
A black car pulled up, a sticker in the windshield made my shoulders sag with relief.
“Go,” Angie said. She yanked open the back door and grabbed my phone. “Name?” she asked the driver and as she verified it was my ride, she shoved me in, tossing me my purse I’d dropped at some point.
Possibly when Josiah’s fist first crunched Manny’s nose. “Go home. I’ll deal with this.”
As she said it, guys were being yanked apart. Two men held back Josiah as he wrestled and fought in their hold. Manny screamed at him. His gaze slid my way, making Josiah lose his mind again.
“Why?” I asked.
Fighting over me. Why?
“Because my brother is a dick sometimes but he’s also normally pretty kick ass. No one fucks with women. Not around him.” Her eyes darkened. There was more to the story than she was telling.
That was okay.
I was learning we all had our secrets.
She stood from the car. “I’ll call you later. But don’t worry about him. He’ll be fine and maybe this is the push he needed to get away from those losers.”
“Glad I could help,” I deadpanned.
The door closed and the car pulled away. I was barely a block away when blue and white flashing lights appeared. Squealing tires and two police cars came to a stop and officers rushed out.
Shit.
This was all because of me, because I couldn’t be honest when I’d needed to be and ran and hid when someone else couldn’t.
25
Hudson
I kicked the door to my condo closed and went immediately to the kitchen. The last place I wanted to be was alone with Nina in my home, but she and I needed to have a serious conversation and it wasn’t going to be in public.
“Want a drink?”
I sure as hell needed one.
Behind me, Nina kicked off her shoes and removed her coat as well. “Red wine, if you have any would be perfect.”
Talk about a dinner from hell. A night even worse. After Gerald dropped his bombshell, his trap, I’d balked. Adamantly declared no way in hell as I marrying Nina so our families could be united and run the city.
He’d paused my rant with one hand lifted. And I knew enough about business, regardless of how big of bullshit this was, to listen to a man when he was at his breaking point. It was when they were most volatile, when not listening or showing that respect could mean a bigger snowball of hell to deal with later.
So I listened, silently seething, as he continued to describe the benefits of merging our families. And some day, Patrick and I would run both of our family’s companies together.
Like hell that was going to happen. Through it all, Nina stayed silent, a smirk on her lips that reminded me of the times we spent together and the face of a girl who always got what she wanted. It baffled me—both her behavior and that I’d been blind to it for so long.
When Gerald was done, I turned to Nina. “And you’re okay with this? Being used by your own father as a tool?”
A pawn?
She flicked her fingernails together. “It makes sense. Creating a union.”
If I’d ever had believed she had the ability to actually care about another human, all of those hopes were dashed in that one moment.
“Even though you know how I feel?”
She shrugged and reached for her wine. Any hint of pain or embarrassment I’d caught outside was long gone. “Feelings change.”
My lip curled and I drank my own wine. I was done with the dinner but not with Nina. “We need to do