God, I’d never thought about that. If Hudson and I had a kid…
I shook the thought off. “I can’t imagine what that must be like. I do know how hard it is to have an alcoholic parent—how embarrassing it is. Has she ever been to rehab?”
“No.” She laughed, like it was an inside joke of some kind. “She won’t even talk about it.”
“Have you forced her to talk about it? Like an intervention? I’m not saying they’re fun, or easy, but they can work. I’ve seen them work firsthand, actually.”
“With your father?”
“No. No one ever staged an intervention for him. I regret it often. I wonder if things would be different if…” How many times had I wondered if my mother could have changed something? If his boss and his friends and Brian and I and our mother had sat him down and demanded change. Could that have saved his life? Saved my mother’s life?
I’d never know the answer. “Anyway. That’s the past. But I was talking about me.” I cleared my throat, surprised that I was sharing something so personal with someone I admired. “I had an intervention pulled on me.”
“What? When? For drinking?” My confession seemed to shock Mira out of crying.
“For obsessing over relationships, actually. I didn’t have many people in my life that cared for me at the time, but I’d gotten arrested, and—”
“Wait a minute—for obsessing?”
I watched my hands wringing in my lap. “For stalking.” I peeked up to see Mira open-mouthed. “I know. Embarrassing.” I swallowed my humiliation and focused on the goal of sharing my story. “Anyway, my brother and a couple of friends I had back then that have since all abandoned me because I was a total shit to each and every one of them, well, they sat me down and convinced me to seek help. Honestly, I only went because if I didn’t agree, it would have been jail time. But having them gathered like that—hearing that people cared what I did and what happened to me—it meant a lot.”
Mira put a hand to her mouth. “Alayna, I didn’t know.” Her eyes glistened still from her tears, but I could see something else as well—not disgust, like I would have expected, but compassion. “You’ve hinted at a rocky past, but…I didn’t know.”
“Of course you didn’t. Why would you?”
“I guess I wouldn’t.”
“My point in telling you is that I’ve learned through all my therapy that most addictions are really just a cry for love. And the crazy thing is that the more you’re addicted to something, the harder it is to look up and see all the love there is around you. For the one outside, it can be tough to break through. But sometimes you can break through. As long as you’re willing to try.”
I watched the wheels turn in Mira’s head as she processed all I’d said. But she didn’t say anything else. And then the waiter was there, telling us that Jack had paid for our bill on the way out, and our lunch was over.
“Monday for your fitting?” Mira asked as we parted.
“Yep. I’m looking forward to it.”
I pulled out my phone, ready to text for my ride when I saw Jordan waiting for me across the lobby. With my bodyguard in tow, I walked to meet my driver. “Jordan, is there something wrong?”
“Not exactly, Ms. Withers. But I wanted to warn you that Ms. Werner is outside. She’s been here throughout your lunch.”
“Fuck.” So much for thinking bodyguards and Pierce family members would protect me from Celia. “What is she doing?”
“Nothing. Sitting on a bench down the street is all. She even waved at me.”
“Yeah, she’s a very friendly stalker, isn’t she?” I chewed on my lip, thinking. “Did you tell Hudson?”
“I texted him, yes.”
“Would you take me to him?”
“Of course.”
Maybe Hudson would share his plans for my stalker now. I just hoped he actually had something in the works.
***
My new bodyguard, Reynold—who was only mildly attractive—insisted on coming with me into the Pierce Industries building. Having only had him around one morning, I hadn’t yet gotten used to always having a shadow. Fortunately, Reynold was good at his job. He tailed me inconspicuously and made it easy for me to forget he was even there.
Reynold stayed in the lobby while I took the elevator up to Hudson’s floor. As soon as I saw his secretary, I realized I hadn’t called or texted ahead of time. I had a feeling my unannounced visits irritated her, but Hudson had never claimed to mind so I smiled and pretended my presence was no big
deal. “Hi, Trish. Could I possibly stick my head in to chat with Hudson for just a minute?”
Trish returned my smile. “I’m sorry, Ms. Withers, but Mr. Pierce isn’t back from his lunch date.” She seemed a little too happy to really be apologetic.
I glanced at the clock on the wall. It was after two. Still at lunch? “Oh. Okay. Thanks.”
Disappointed, I pushed the elevator call button to go back down. While I waited for it to arrive, I pulled out my phone and texted Hudson that I’d stopped by.
I had just pushed send when the elevator doors opened. Standing there was Hudson. With Norma Anders.
Immediately I tensed. They were the only two people in the elevator—was that who Hudson had been on a lunch date with so late in the afternoon?
“Alayna. I didn’t expect to see you here.” Hudson didn’t seem put off by my presence, at least.
“I almost missed you.”
“I’m glad you didn’t. Come with me into my office.” He began to usher me toward his door. Then he stopped. “Norma—”
She cut him off. “I’ll email you.”
Hudson nodded. “Good. Thank you.”
Norma took off down the hallway, I guessed to her own office. I hadn’t realized she shared a floor with Hudson. I’d never thought about it, really, but now that I did, it bothered me how close they worked together.
Once the door was shut behind us, Hudson put his hands on my upper arms. “Why are you here? Did something happen?”
The original reason I’d come to see him seemed like nothing compared to how I now felt at the sight of him and Norma together. My blood was boiling and my stomach was knit tight. “I don’t know—did something happen?” Jealous accusations had always been one of my fortes.
Hudson leaned back, confusion on his face. “What do you mean?”