Page 133 of Fought and Freed

She sat down beside him and took his hand. “Grant, it’s Maddy. I received your letter today, and I forgive you. Mike gave you no other choice, and I’m sorry you ended up like this because of me.” She squeezed his hand. “I wish you could give me a sign as to what you want me to do.”

She spent the next hour talking to Grant until the visitation hours ended, then she headed home.

As she walked into the house, she was mentally drained, and her head hurt. She couldn’t take one more bad thing right now.

“Where the Hell have you been?” Cody yelled.

The anger in his voice made her jump before she shuffled toward the stairs. “I don’t want to fight right now. It’s been a hard day.”

“You disappeared hours ago, Maddy!” He stomped after her. “We didn’t know whether you were alive or dead!”

She’d had enough of this shit, and she turned on the stairs to glare down at him. “Do you tell me everywhere you go? No, you don’t!”

“That’s different.” His face turned red. “I don’t have a psycho after me!”

“You want to know where I was, Cody?” she seethed. “I was at the Moretti warehouse, where I put a hit out on Mike. I want him dead.”

Cody jerked back, his eyes widening. “I understand wanting to find him, but having a gang look for him and kill him isn’t you.”

She stomped back down the stairs. “Yes, it is me, Cody. I’m a Moretti. Mafia blood runs through my veins.”

She slammed her fist against her chest. “Mike killed my cousin Ryan, burned down Crumbs bakery, and used me as a guinea pig for his new drug. And then he beat the shit out of my friend, and now, I have to decide whether Grant lives or dies.”

Rage flushed her cheeks and pounded in her temples. “Yes, I want Mikhail Palvenko dead! If that’s something you can’t deal with, then you need to tell me, and I’ll find someplace else to live. Until then, I’m going to my room.”

Turning, Maddy stomped up the stairs, then into her room, where she slammed the door behind her.

She took off her clothes and pulled on her sleeping shirt before falling into bed. Her head hurt so bad. She just wanted it to stop.

She must have fallen asleep because she woke when someone crawled into bed with her.

Opening her eyes, she blinked and smiled at Ryder. “Hi, Player. When did you get home?”

“I got back from visiting my sister a little bit ago.” He stroked her cheek. “You didn’t eat any dinner, so I made you a turkey sandwich.”

A sour ball formed in her stomach. “I’m not hungry but thank you.”

“I bet you haven’t eaten anything all day.” He widened his eyes at her. “Can you try to eat at least half? Or even half of a half? For me, please?”

He was right. She hadn’t eaten anything all day. “Fine, I’ll eat half.”

They both sat up, and he moved to sit behind her, pulling her between his legs so she rested against his chest, then leaned over to grab the plate on her nightstand and hand it to her.

“How is Honey doing?” She took a bite of the sandwich.

“Rather well,” he said, sounding surprised. “She’s getting along with Mrs. Hazel, who’s teaching Honey how to survive.”

“I’m glad she’s doing good.” She turned her head to rub her cheek against his chest. “Where is everyone?”

“Amber called, craving some weird pregnant shit, and since she wouldn’t stop until she got what she wanted, Skylar left to fetch it.” He nudged her hand that held the sandwich to remind her to take another bite. “Jace tagged along so Amber couldn’t guilt Skylar into staying.”

He rested his chin on her shoulder. “Cody has been downstairs working out since I came home. I guess you wouldn’t know anything about that, would you?”

She set down the sandwich and told Ryder all about going to the warehouse. Then, she told him about what the doctor said about Grant.

“I’m so sorry.” He kissed her temple. “I can’t imagine having to decide what you do. How about you go have a soak in the tub?”

“Will you join me?”

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