Page 142 of Grumpy Billionaire Bad Boy

"Madison?" I pinch my brows, unsure of what she's implying.

"Madison."

"Madison, who?" I ask her.

"MadisonMadison."

"That's impossible, Madison is dead."

London shakes her head, slowly. "Madison isn't dead, Archer. I thought she was, too, but she's not. She's alive and well."

"I don't understand."

"I don't either, but I promise you, I'm not lying."

I rub circles on her hand, desperately trying to put the pieces of the puzzle together. I want to believe her, I do, but how can I when Madison died three years ago? I’m sure of it. What reason would she have to lie to me now? But why would Madison fake her death when she was in love with me? We had a future together, why would she throw that away? And why would she out herself, after all this time?

"Archer." London draws my attention. "I'm sorry." She squeezes my hand. "Not just for this, for everything. I shouldhave told you sooner. I can't change what happened between us but I need you to know how sorry I am. I never meant to fall for you. I had no idea who you were when Silver sent me to you. We were both caught by surprise."

"You should rest," I tell her and pat her hand. "We'll talk about this later. Get some rest."

I remain there with her while my mind wanders a million different places, attempting to rationalize the situation, to come up with some kind of logical explanation for what happened to London, to Madison. But nothing makes sense, and the more I ruminate, the more frustrated I become by everything. I hate that I can't figure it out and I hate that I never saw it coming—any of this. I was under the impression Joe Vito was the one I had to be watching out for, not Madison—someone I never expected to come back from the dead. And since it wasn't Vito, why would Madison kidnap and shoot London, unless she's working with Joe? Maybe that's why I didn't see him coming, because he was working in my blind spot. But why would Madison be working with someone as sinister as Joe Vito? What could he have against her that would make her turn her back on me? I would have done anything for her and I thought I made that damn clear. Maybe she didn't love me the same way I loved her. Maybe I didn't know her at all. Because if I did, I would have suspected this, even in the slightest.

Once London dozes to sleep, I pull out my phone, swipe through a few apps, and touch base on a few work-related things. I do what I can to make sure Joe Vito is still in California, but the brunt of my feeds is on my computer at my place, and I'm stuck to limited resources on my phone. The thing buzzes in my hand, Leo's stupid face popping onto the screen. I grow furious with him but answer it anyway.

"What do you want?" I ask him quietly.

"Archer, please. I'm begging you. I need your help."

"I'm not going to help you."

"Arch, bud. It's my birthday, help a guy out."

"It was my birthday the night of the gala, Leo. Did you forget that? You let Blake fucking Manor dance with my girl onmyfucking birthday."

"I, I, uh, I didn't know."

"You don't give a shit about my birthday, why should I care about yours?"

Leo sighs, knowing damn well I have him backed into a figurative corner. "I didn't know she was your girl, Arch. I thought you didn't want anything to do with her."

"I'm not talking to you about this."

"Why are you whispering?" Leo asks me.

I almost don't dignify him with a response but decide to anyway. "I'm at the hospital."

"Hospital? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," I tell him. "London was shot."

"Holy shit, are you serious? By who?"

"I'll talk to you later." I hang up the phone, not caring at all that I left him on one hell of a cliffhanger. He can’t help me figure out the truth, he's only pretending to care because he wants me to solve his problem, and I can't be bothered with pointless shit like some random hookup stealing something from him. He had it coming and that has nothing to do with me. If he doesn't want to deal with the backlash of a scorned one-night stand, then he shouldn't have one.

London is discharged the next day, told to rest, stay on top of her pain with medication, and take it easy. Typical for a gunshot wound that didn't hit anything vital. I haven't slept a wink, anddespite being fatigued, there's no way my mind will be quiet enough for me to find any peace.

Nothing makes sense. Not things with London, my family, and now Madison.

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