Page 151 of Grumpy Billionaire Bad Boy

Madison licks her lips and nods. "What else was I supposed to do, Arch? I thought he was going to kill me, to kill you. I had no other option."

"There's always another option."

"You don't get it. I mean, how could you? You don't know what it's like."

I glare at her, the idea of snapping her neck quite literally crossing my mind. I hate myself for how badly I've let her corrupt me, making me into somehow even worse of a man than I already was. "You have no idea what I've been through. I would have done anything for you, Madison. But now? Now I don't care if you live or die."

I nearly completely abandoned my family because I thought my involvement with the crime world was what resulted in her death. I gave up everything when she died, in some twisted wayto try to right the wrong that was no one's fault but my own. Little did I know she was the one who put herself in danger, and she was the one who chose to solve the problem without involving me. She took that choice away from me and because of it, lost me forever, and here she is, ready to force London into the same life she was destined for.

"It's a little hypocritical, don't you think?" I ask her, not sure if she realizes it fully.

"What do you mean?"

"London faked her death to get away from Vito, the same thing you did to get away from Ricardo. And now you're stripping that away from her." I tap my finger on my crossed arm. "What's the connection between you two, anyway?"

Madison sort of stares past me like she's recalling a memory. "Part of me feels bad about it, since she was the one who almost died trying to save me. Man, he gutted her good as she begged for her life, for mine."

My nostrils flare as she tells me the part of the story I had no idea about.

That scar on London's torso, the one she won't talk about, it had to have been related to this, to what her father did to her. I can't believe I ever got mad at her for lying to me about Madison. How could she have told me when the entire thing was such a traumatic experience for us both?

"London bought it, too," Madison says. "You should have seen her face. It was like she saw a ghost. Kind of like what you looked like when you walked in." She smiles as if she's proud of herself for fooling us.

"You're sick, you know that, right?" I shake my head slowly. "What happened to you? You weren't like this before."

Madison shrugs. "You weren't the only one who changed, Archer."

"How did you find her?" I ask, trying to make sense of the gaps in the story.

"When Ricardo died, I finally gained my freedom. Well, the part that Joe didn't still have hold of. I came out of hiding and Joe made it clear I still owed him a favor." She rolls her eyes. "You guys and your favors." She uncrosses and recrosses her legs. "He had told me about London, and I have to admit, I was sad to hear about her death. Totally unrelated, I guess I got a little curious about how you were doing, so I started checking in on you, to see what you were up to. Lo and behold, I find footage of the two of you together, and that same look that was on your faces, it was on mine, too. Little London girl pulling a Houdini act in Manhattan with my ex. I had to come to verify it for myself." Madison chuckles. "I wondered how I was ever going to repay Joe for what he did, cash in that favor that felt impossibly hefty…"

"And you didn't care you'd be giving her up in the process? That you'd be ruining my life all over again?"

"With London out of the picture, maybe we could try again." She looks up at me and bats her eyelashes. "What do you say, Arch? For ol' time’s sake?"

"I'd rather chew on glass, Madison." I kick off from the wall and stand completely up, taking her in for what I hope will be the last time. I came here for closure, and I received that and more, the very presence of her making me wonder what I ever saw in her to begin with. I can't believe I ever cared for her, loved her, mourned her.

"That's hurtful, Arch." Madison hops off the bed and I snap toward her, daring her not to move another fucking inch.

"Choose your next words and move wisely, Madison. My patience is wearing thin and I can't be held responsible if you push me over the ledge. I don't want to be the one to end your life, but that doesn't mean I won't do it." I stare at her for a longmoment, almost hoping that she tests me, my nerves needing something to take the edge off.

But when she doesn't speak, doesn't move, I know things are done here.

Chapter 35

London

"Ineed a gun," I say to Seven, knowing he might be the only person to help me.

Archer will do everything he can, but there's only so far he's willing to go and at the end of the day, I have to take care of myself.

"What kind?" Seven drinks straight from a container of orange juice and puts it back in Archer's fridge.

"I…I'm not sure."

"What do you need it for?"

"To kill someone." I swallow harshly. Is he going to judge me? Is he going to tell Archer the second he's back?

---