Sweet Water: Destination Billionaire Romance by Laurie Lewis

Author:Laurie Lewis [Lewis, Laurie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Gelato Publishing LLC
Published: 2017-03-04T06:00:00+00:00

13

He wanted to crush the accelerator to the floorboard and steer for the nearest tree. All logic and reason had fled, and for a few minutes, he didn’t care about anything, least of all himself.

Like some heaven-sent beacon, Alejandra’s distinctive ring sounded, but Hudson ignored it. Undeterred, she called back four times. He was ready to toss the phone out the car window when he saw her image come up on his screen. Her glasses were pulled down the nose of her elegant, portly face, and she eyed Hudson as if she were aware of his dark thoughts.

As hard as he tried to ignore the old memories, they returned—images of Alejandra’s worried face hovering over him or sitting by his bedside with cold cloths and broth or of her delivering medicine and clean linen to him and Pepper while little ones clung to her hem. He took the call through the Bluetooth.

“Hudson—”

Her motherly “I-told-you-so” tone irritated him from the get-go, and he didn’t make much of an effort to play nice in return. “How soon can a company jet land in Portland?”

“A company jet?”

He knew the extravagant request signaled trouble. “How soon, Alejandra?”

“I-I don’t know,” she stammered, her increased Spanish intonations signaling her worry. “You didn’t order one, so other execs are using them to transport investors this week.”

“Then lease one ASAP. I’m on my way to the Portland airport now. Just text me the name of the carrier and when.”

Her voice softened with worry. “I take it things didn’t go well.”

“Do you want me to admit you were right about me and Liv?”

“I truly did want things to work out for you two, Hudson. If I didn’t say it clearly, I’m sorry. All I’ve ever wanted is for you to be happy. You know that.”

He did know that, and once again, Alejandra was reaping the bitter harvest of another rejection by Olivia. “I don’t want to see or speak to or be recognized by anyone. Just get me a private jet and send me to Japan. I need to get back to work. I’m days late for that technology summit in Tokyo.”

“Okay.” Her worry seemed to intensify. “I’ll be back in touch in a few. And Hudson, I’m sorry. I really am.”

“Thanks,” he muttered into the speaker. “And what were you calling about?”

“Nothing. It can wait.”

“Don’t coddle me. It’ll be good to get my mind back on work.”

“None of it’s good news.”

His jaw tightened and released. “Go ahead. What happened?”

“The rebels attacked the orphanage again.”

The news of the attack on Mother Thomasine’s orphanage in the Ivory Coast was like a splash of cold water. Hudson sat up and focused on the problem. “Was anyone hurt?”

“No, but they took everything.”

“When?”

“Two days ago. Should I send more supplies?”

“Whatever Mother asks for and nothing more. We don’t want to give the rebels a reason to return. What else?”

“The pump trial failed.”

His shoulders rounded again. “How badly?”

“They collected a liter of clean water and then it died. You’ll have a report in your inbox this evening.

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