Page 81 of Ruin Me

“You’ve got your damn dismissal.” He stalked into the room, his glare pointed in my direction. “You’re lucky Mr. Luxe. We have another suspect in custody.”

Madison and Ife shared a glance and their lips tilted up slightly.

“Who is it?” Quarren stepped around Kemp and folded his arms.

“Luxe Locations’ legal counsel, Hal Hannity.”

“Hal? A murderer?” I asked, finding it hard to believe the man I’d worked with and whose ass I kicked was the same man capable of killing Carol.

“For the Carol murder or all the murders you suspect my client of committing?”

Kemp’s lips thinned. “All of them. We’ve prepared the paperwork for Mr. Luxe’s release.” Kemp handed a sheaf of papers to Quarren.

“I appreciate this.” Quarren began scanning the documents and Kemp turned to leave. “By the way, you aren’t going to try to connect my client to another conspiracy theory now that you have the actual murderer in custody are you?”

Kemps shoulder stiffened. “No, we no longer have reason to believe Mr. Luxe had any involvement.”

Once he left, Madison and Ife’s smirk grew into full-blown grins.

“You’re coming home today,” Madison croaked as her eyes gleamed.

I was still in a state of disbelief. Kemp’s appearance and disappearance were so sudden after dropping the good news.

“Did you two have something to do with this?” I stared between the two women.

In turn, they glanced at Quarren who shrugged and packed his laptop. “I think my presence may complicate things.Congratulations, Kent. If you want me to look into these files some more, I can.”

“Thanks.” I shook his hand. “But there’s no need. I found who I’ve been looking for.”

Shock filled Ife’s and Madison’s faces. “You did?” they asked in the same breath.

Madison stepped forward. “Who’s trying to steal your company?”

“Someone I’ll handle.” I cleared the search history from Ife’s computer and closed the windows before returning it to her.

“Does this mean all your problems are handled?” Ife asked while staring at Madison.

The light in Madison’s eyes dimmed, and her curious smile fell.

I peered closer between my daughter and my lover, understanding there was a message exchanged in a language I didn’t speak, and I had no translator available to clue me in on the real topic.

“Not quite. I still have unanswered questions, but I expect life will return to normal soon.”

“I like the sound of that. A return tonormalcy.” Ife hugged me but it was unlike the earlier one she shared.

Beneath her glee was a sinister satisfaction that left me unnerved. Especially as Madison stood farther away than I liked during Ife’s mini-celebration.

CHAPTER 34

Madison

“What are you doing?” Kent asked as we rode from the courthouse to our home.

I had my head bowed over my phone while my fingers flew over the screen. “Finalizing plans for your rebranding tour.”

“My what? I’m not a rockstar performing for avid fans.”

I rested the phone on my lap and gave him my attention. “No, but we finally have amazing PR to benefit you and your company. I’m pushing to do this now to stall the company-stealing bitch ass hoe from making moves. Plus, I’d already had the framework mapped out. All that’s left is for my team to execute my vision.”

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