Madly Yours (Nora Reed) novel Chapter 232

Jude pressed his lips together, unable to argue. He let out a heavy sigh. "So, what's your plan now?"

"Keep looking, obviously. Just without his help."

Jude stared at him in disbelief. "You're just going to burn your bridge with Hudson?"

"It's not exactly burning a bridge if there was never a solid connection to begin with. I only reached out to him in San Francisco because I didn't know the territory and needed a local heavyweight. Besides, he isn't the only Lancaster in town."

"You want to team up with Silas?" Jude frowned. "But I heard Hudson completely crippled his influence. He's barely a blip on the radar anymore."

"I think you're forgetting about a certain black sheep in the Lancaster family."

Jude opened his mouth to speak but ultimately closed it.

Fine. Even without keeping close tabs on the Lancasters, Jude knew Hudson and his estranged uncle, Lawrence Lancaster, were locked in a vicious power struggle. If Finnian aligned himself with Lawrence, there was no telling what kind of fallout it would bring down on Hudson.

Letting out another sigh, he turned and pushed open the door to head back into the dining room.

As the heavy door clicked shut, Finnian was left standing alone in the quiet corridor. In no rush to leave, he leaned back against the wall and lit a cigarette. He took a long drag, the swirling smoke obscuring his sharp profile.

He lifted his arm, his gaze locking onto the faded red cord tied around his wrist.

He stared at it for a long time before finally crushing the dying cigarette in a nearby ashtray. Without looking back, he strode toward the parking garage.

Back in the dining room, Jude's expression had already smoothed over into his usual calm and collected demeanor.

He sat across from Hudson and raised his glass. "Hudson, I was out of line today. I shouldn't have kept you in the dark."

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