Madly Yours (Nora Reed) novel Chapter 774

Hudson's brow twitched imperceptibly as his thumb swiped to answer. He brought the phone to his ear. "Hello?"

Jude Winslow's reliably smooth voice came through the line. "Hudson, are you free at the end of the month?"

"For what?"

"I'm getting engaged. I'd like you to be there."

Hudson leaned back against the sofa, crossing his long legs, resting one arm casually over Nora's shoulders. His tone held a lazy edge of probing. "Oh? Which heiress? I haven't heard a word about this."

Jude went quiet for a moment before chuckling softly. "You'll see when you get there. Just make sure you show up."

"Sure," Hudson replied, his voice giving nothing away. "Send me the address."

After hanging up, Hudson held the phone, his thumb slowly tracing the edge of the screen.

Jude was getting engaged.

And he refused to say who the fiancée was.

That wasn't like him.

Hudson lowered his eyes, turning the oddity of the situation over in his mind. Suddenly, the woman in his arms shifted, and Nora looked up at him. "What's wrong? Who was that?"

"Jude Winslow. He says he's getting engaged at the end of the month."

Hudson paused, his voice softening. "We'll take a trip to Northampton then."

Nora nodded eagerly. "Sounds good. I haven't seen Grandmother in a while anyway. It's time for a visit."

Hudson stared at her for a moment, the corners of his lips curving up as he gently tapped her perfect nose. "Okay," he murmured, his voice wrapped in quiet devotion.

Nora snuggled back into his embrace, her heart racing.

Beating harder and faster with every passing second.

The end of the month...

It was coming up fast.

...

On the drive back from the Lancaster Research Lab to Cloudwater Estate, Soren was behind the wheel.

Nora leaned against the seat, watching the city blur past the window, her fingers absentmindedly tapping against her knee.

"Soren, any news on what I asked you to look into?"

Soren's eyes met hers briefly in the rearview mirror before snapping back to the road. "Nothing. Liana Fairchild's information is heavily restricted within the family network."

Nora's brow twitched. "Restricted?"

Soren nodded. "The Fairchild Family's security network operates on tiered clearance. Because Liana is considered immediate family, her data is defaulted to 'Core Protection' status. My clearance level isn't high enough to access it directly."

He paused, adding, "I tried bypassing the firewall, but it triggered two system alerts. I backed off to avoid leaving a digital trail."

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