Back to You: A Hudson Family Series- Book 1- Synclair and Reece by Chontelle Brison Page A

the right, but I didn’t see him as a threat. Lucas was still opposite of Rachel by the fireplace. I wanted the players where I could see all of them.
    Eyeing the bat in my grip, Lucas raised his eyes to examine me. I made certain my stare was even and serious. I wanted him to know that being outnumbered didn’t alarm me at the slightest.
    “Rachel finish this up,” He instructed. Rachel jumped at his tone. I guess as the only girl they didn’t use that tone on her often. Hell, she was probably the house princess.
    “I wanted to work for Synclair, I recognized her from a story I had heard about her once. I wanted to get to know this person in the story. The person who told me about you was right, you are incredible but you were also sad and I needed to help to put something right.”
    Huh? “Okay, now you’re talking in riddles Rachel, can we skip all the MTV drama and just get to the point?” My head literally felt like it was about to explode. I hated migraines, I didn’t get them a lot but when I did they were debilitating. I needed to get out of here before this headache went south on me.
    “My brother talked about a girl he met at school, all of us heard the story, about how he went to Vegas to the University to study Animal Science, to become a vet. He went there with a group of friends from here.” I started shaking my head, I didn’t like where this was going. Rachel came around the sofa and stopped about three feet in front of me. She was weeping again, but I was having trouble focusing.
    “He met this girl, she had a tough life, but he honestly liked her. He was used to getting any girl he wanted, but she blew him off.” She smiled.
    “This girl was smart, witty, tough and really guarded. He didn’t even know how bad she’d had it but he guessed it was rough. He was also young, vain and full of himself. His friends bet that he couldn’t get her into bed. He accepted the bet at first because his ego was bruised when she blew him off.” She took a step toward me, I took a step backward.
    “He didn’t know she was a virgin, but she was and after they had spent the night together, he knew she was more than a bet.” Rachel took two more steps and I backed up three.
    I felt the stairs that led to the door hit the back of my legs. Dalton sat to my right, looking intrigued.
    My heart was pounding, my thoughts were racing, struggling to put the pieces together. Her brother, her brother, told her a story. I realized I was the girl, it was my story, but that would make the boy….. no dammit, not possible.
    “Stop.” I managed to choke out. I didn’t want to hear this, I was over that moment in my life. Was this a joke? Did my Karma suck so bad that I was being duped by the next generation of Hudson assholes?
    “So your brother.” I started but Rachel interrupted me.
    “My brother is R-…”
    “No, wait. Don’t.” I cut her off before she could say the name. I didn’t want to hear this. I had watched over and really cared for the sister of the only man that I had ever let get close enough to hurt me.
    I had protected her, I made sure she had tips, I actually liked her. It all made sense now. I could see the resemblance between her and him. The green eyes, the dimples, the dark hair. Wait? How did I miss her last name?
    “You used a fake last name?” I was shocked at how thorough she was. If I hadn’t wanted to choke the life out of her slim neck, I would be proud.
    “No, I just spelled it H-U-D-S-I-N, luckily the bank never balked about it on the auto deposit for my paycheck.”
    Shit she was good, I had never given any thought to Rachel’s last name. I took her at face value, and she duped me. Damn, this optimistic young girl with Disneyland fairy tales and shit. Didn’t she realize there was a reason you never saw Cinderella or Sleeping Beauty the day after the wedding? Because it was all bullshit.
    I didn’t want to hear any more, I needed to get out. Forgetting the steps behind me, I