Journey to Fortune(14)

"Then Jagger has his way with her until she realizes it's not Hudson. So  even after all the confusion, she stays with the two of you, and now  you want us to help you two find her?" Flynn asked.

Zane, Cash, Nash, and Riker sat around the poker table half shocked and  half chuckling. Emerson and Stone were smiling ear to ear.

"Ahh, so now that the two of you found an amazing woman, it's not so corny to feel in love?" Stone asked with an attitude.

Hudson knew that he and Jagger had teased the guys immensely when they  met their women, but he was too on edge right now to fight with them.

"Fuck you. This is crazy. We met her, she's perfect, but she seemed scared."

"Well, hell, Hudson, look at the size of you and your fucking brother.  People move out of the way the moment you enter a room. You probably  scared her, double-teaming her like that," Stone teased.

"Stop being such a dick," Jagger replied.

"Well, what do you know about her?" Flynn asked.

"What made you think that she was scared?" Cash asked.

"She got this phone call when she was going to leave. She seemed really  shaken up and just scared. It was a gut instinct, but I think she was in  trouble or it was bad news," Hudson replied.

"We don't know where she lives. We did find this Western union  money  transfer receipt in the hotel room. It was half ripped, so we couldn't  get her name, just that the money went to Missouri," Jagger added.

"Was the whole account number on there?" Jett asked as he rose from his seat.

"Only part of it," Hudson said.

"Well, if you have it, give it to me and I'll see what I can come up with," Zane offered.

"You'd do that?"

"Shit, Hudson, I'm sitting here half in shock that the two of you found a  woman you both want and are this dead set on finding her. Didn't anyone  even ask where she was from?"

"She didn't want to exchange information," Hudson said then ran his hand  through his hair. He was still kicking himself in the ass for not  asking questions. If he had, she would be with them right now.

Two weeks had passed and still, neither he nor Jagger could get Tia Rose out of their head.

"Did you get her name at least?" Cash asked.

"Tia Rose."

Emerson whistled. "That's sweet."

"I know," Jagger said with eyebrows raised.

"You two really want to find this woman from Paris?" Emerson asked.

Hudson looked at Jagger. They had been talking nonstop about her for days now. It was starting to piss them off.

"Yes," they both replied, and their friends chuckled.

"I love that simultaneous twin shit," Stone remarked.

"We'll help you. We'll get started on it after the game. Come on and let's enjoy our poker night," Jett stated.

"Yeah, until these guys' girlfriends call them on their curfew," Flynn teased the others.

"You wish you had a woman like Chastity to go home to," Riker replied as he dealt the cards out.

"Or a woman like Chiara. She'd mess your shit up, Flynn," Zane added.         

     



 

"I'd be careful what you say about Toni, Jett and Flynn. She won't be  special delivering any of those raspberry brownie bites you've both  learned to love so much," Stone added then smiled.

"Whatever," Jett said.

Hudson had to laugh at the scowl on his and Flynn's faces. Those two  would never settle down. It would take one hell of a woman, and they  were too blind to realize.

Hudson just hoped they could help them find Tia Rose. When they did, he  and Jagger would make her see that what they had was real, and they were  fortunate enough to meet in France to share the best weekend of all  their lives.







Jagger was standing in the study of their penthouse thinking about Tia  Rose. He had never been infatuated with anything in his life, never mind  a person. He came from a broken family. He and Hudson had to build  their own lives and keep the negativity behind them. Their father left  them as soon as he realized what having a family and a wife were all  about. He wanted to party, to drink, and to do drugs, which ultimately  killed him. Not having a father made times tough. But together he and  Hudson survived.

Their mom was a single mom, who worked two jobs to help pay for their  college education. She had struggled her entire life, until she met  Richey and Daniel. Now they were living life on a yacht, currently  somewhere in the Caribbean.

"Hey, what's that smirk about?" Hudson asked, as he entered the room with Jett and Flynn.

Jagger straightened out and gave his firm, serious, and usual  expression. Hudson squinted his eyes but Jett and Flynn couldn't resist  teasing.

"Thinking about your Tia Rose?" Jett asked.

Jagger shook his head, and then joined them by the couches.

"No, I was actually thinking about Mom, Rich, and Daniel. Wondering where they're headed next."

"Shoot, they haven't called in two weeks. Maybe we should check on Mom," Hudson said, looking concerned.

"I am sure that Melody is safe and secure with her two retired Marines," Flynn replied.

He was right. Daniel and Richie, though in their fifties, were more than  capable of handling security and safety for Jagger and Hudson's mom,  Melody.

"So, what's this visit about?" Jagger asked.

"Oh, Cash and Zane are on their way over," Hudson announced.

"Chiara is coming with them," Flynn teased.

"Hey, she's not pissed at me anymore for hitting on her at the club. I  was just trying to get Cash and Zane fired up. Besides, that was months  ago," Jagger added, and they just chuckled. The doorbell sounded and  Hudson went to answer it. A few seconds later along came Cash, Zane, and  Chiara, looking as beautiful as ever. Of course Zane kept his arm  wrapped around her midsection. Both Cash and Zane adored her. They  nearly lost her, so it was understandable.

"Hello, Chiara, come on in. Can I get you anything to drink? Or something else?" Jagger teased.

She blushed and Cash gave Jagger a look.

"Don't try to cause any trouble. Your wise guy games won't work on us a second time," Zane added.

"Yeah, well, the one time it was pretty freaking funny."

"Now, now, boys, there's no need for an argument. God knows we've been  over that incident way too many times. Ouch," Chiara squealed as Zane  gave her a light smack on her backside. She gave him an angry look. He  held his ground and she placed her hands on her hips then moved next to  him. It was a sight to see. They adored her and Chiara adored Cash and  Zane. He wanted that. Those small glances that meant so much. He never  had that.

"So, we brought Chiara along because we found out some information on  your missing French goddess," Cash stated, then walked closer to them  and handed over a file to Hudson and Jagger.

Jagger swallowed hard and looked at Hudson, who was just as nervous.  "Good news or bad news?" Hudson asked as they opened up the file.

There was a copy of Tia Rose's driver's license, picture included.

"Is this in the city? Here in New York?" Hudson asked as Jagger thought the same thing.

"It is. She lives in New York and works not far from here," Cash told them.

"Holy shit. Where? What's the name of the place?" Hudson asked.         

     



 

"Okay, this is where it gets down to the, unfortunately, tricky part in  sharing our information. First of all, what are you going to do when you  find her?" Cash asked.

"What the fuck do you mean? We're going to talk to her, get things going, so we can learn more about her," Hudson stated.

"She's in a bit of a situation right now," Zane told them.

"What kind of situation?" Hudson asked, before Jagger could.

"I spoke with a friend of mine on the force. Seems her apartment had  been broken into and ransacked. No money was taken and the safe she had  was secured, but lingerie and other work-related items were destroyed,"  Cash stated.

"Who did it?"

"That's the other thing. It seems her brother from Missouri might have  been involved in an armed robbery and then headed to New York, maybe to  get cash from her," Zane said.

"Shit. Is she close to him?" Hudson asked.

"Will she be charged with aiding and abetting?" Jagger asked.

"She's not close with him or her parents, yet she sends them money every month," Zane said.

"The receipt from the Western union  was from Tia?" Jagger asked, and Cash nodded his head.

"It seems that she left home five years ago, and has been taking care of herself since," Zane said.

"Tell them about what Dante Perrone told Jett," Chiara said.

"What?" Hudson asked.

Jagger thought the guys seemed a bit uncertain of whether they should tell them.

"What did Dante say? How is he involved?" Jagger asked them.

"Dante has done business with the firm Tia works at. He said before she  left Paris, she had been in a bad state and had been really down. He  knows one of the secretaries, Alexa, that works there. Alexa told him  that Tia never talked about her family, and is always alone. She was  dating some older guy, but then it stopped. Dante said that since  returning she looks great, her attitude has changed, and she finally  stood up for herself against one of the bosses who was stealing her  designs."