Reclaim Me Read Online Free Page B

Wouldn’t you agree, Alessandra?”
    With a flourish Julian fanned the eight by ten glossies out across his desk. Picture after picture, each one more gruesome than the next. Her father slumped over his desk, blood pooling around him on the leather top. Her mother on the dining room floor, her vacant stare reflected in the shattered mirrors that dangled from the wall. In that moment Allie realized this was no longer just a matter of protecting Hudson and Nick from possible prosecution. It was a matter of life and death. She hadn’t been able to protect her parents, but she could keep the man she loved safe from the fate displayed in graphic detail in front of her.
    “Enough.” She reached for the phone and powered it on. Almost immediately it began to ping and vibrate with incoming texts, missed calls, and voice mails. As she watched them light up the screen, her vision began to blur. Damn it. She hated that she was crying in front of Julian, hated knowing the satisfaction it brought him. But the realization of what had happened to her parents combined with the reality of what she was about to do was too much, and tears streamed unbidden down her cheeks.
    “Second thoughts already? Perhaps I need to come up with a more effective motivation.”
    “No,” she snapped. “I’ve got this.” It would kill her to end her relationship with Hudson, but she had no choice. She had to go along with Julian’s charade, at least for the time being. It was the only way to ensure Hudson’s safety.
    She wiped her face with the back of her hand and pressed the speed dial for Hudson’s cell phone. He answered on the first ring.
    “Allie.” The desperation in his voice broke her heart. “Where are you?”
    “I’m fine,” she assured him rather than answer his question.
    “Why the hell did you agree to meet that asshole?”
    He knew about Julian. But how?
    “Tell me where you are and I’ll come get you.”
    “Absolutely not,” she blurted out. She hadn’t meant the words to come out so harshly, but she needed to keep Hudson safe, and to do that she had to keep him as far away from Julian as possible. “I mean, that’s not necessary. I’m flying back to Chicago tonight. Alone.”
    “What the fuck is going on?”
    She took a deep breath in an attempt to steady her nerves. “I thought I could look past everything that happened, but I can’t. It guess it took getting away to realize that.” Pain lanced her heart as she prepared to deliver the final blow. “It’s over.”
    “The hell it is.” His frustration was palpable, but she knew beneath the anger he was hurting.
    “Please don’t make this harder than it has to be, Hudson.”
    “You expect me to accept this bullshit without a fight? You know me better than that. I’ll trace your phone if I have to,” he threatened. “Now tell me where you are.”
    Fuck.
She needed to end the call and power off her cell.
    “Let me talk to her,” a woman said.
    “Is Harper there?”
    “Yes, she’s with me. Were you just going to leave her here too?”
    How the hell had he found Harper?
“Put her on the phone, please.”
    Hudson blew out an exasperated breath, but a moment later Harper was on the line, asking one question after another.
    “What’s going on? Where have you been all day? Why haven’t you been answering your cell? Did that French sleazebag threaten you?” If Harper only knew how on-target she was.
    “No, I just needed some time to think this afternoon, that’s all.”
    “And
this
is what you came up with?”
    “I don’t want to get into it right now.”
    “Look, I don’t know what the hell is going through that head of yours, but you two need to work this out.” Harper wasn’t just Allie’s best friend, she was practically a sister. Convincing her that she’d had a change of heart was going to be almost as difficult as convincing Hudson.
    “There’s nothing to discuss. I’m flying home.”
    There was a long pause. Allie could picture the