Page 64 of Wretched Heart
Ash is physically the strongest brother, but he doesn’t stand a chance against Maddie. When she wraps him in ahug, his brow furrows. It’s the only sign that she’s having some effect on him, although he’s never going to admit it.
Maddie tips back her head and stares up into his face. “Connie’s right, you do look tired. Come on,” she says, tugging his sleeve. “Sit down and I’ll get an extra plate. The casserole should still be nice and hot. Do you want something to drink?”
“I’m not hungry, but a very large whiskey would be good right now,” he says stiffly. Maybe it’s the jet lag, but he takes the chair Maddie directs him towards before she goes to fetch his drink.
“Ash has the bottle with the red label,” Reid offers helpfully.
“It has his name on it in case anyone gets any ideas about drinking it,” Mace adds.
Maddie takes the bottle from one of the cabinets. “So, I can’t take a quick swig?”
Ash’s eyes dart in her direction as my other brothers shout in unison, “No!”
There’s a half smile playing on her lips. Not a good sign. “Fine, I get it.” She gives Ash a look when she adds, “It’s important to you all that you respect each other’s things.”
I keep my expression stoic, but Mace and Reid don’t attempt to hide their amusement as we return to our seats. Ash glowers at them, and although that would normally shut them down, this is new territory. Maddie has changed the entire landscape of our family, and while Ash continues to silently fume, the confrontation he had planned is clearly falling apart.
“Is someone going to tell me what happened to my wedding invitation?” he says.
Maddie hands Ash his whiskey. “Ah, that was my fault. It’s a long story, but I suspect you know most of it.”
“Do I?” he asks before taking his first swig.
“I take it you were involved in the plan to stop Barrett taking over my paper mill?”
“It was my plan,” Ash says gruffly.
As Maddie returns to her seat, she avoids my eye so she can claim not to see me silently urging her to shut the fuck up. “Ah, so it was you who decided to wait until my wedding day to stop Barrett from marrying me. Was it also your idea to let the entire chapel listen to my fiancé cheating on me so my public humiliation would be complete? I must admit, I’m surprised you thought I’d even consider selling the paper mill to you after pulling that stunt.”
I wince, and Ash sees me. Maybe he’s expecting me to take control of my wife, but I think I’ll keep quiet a little longer.
“It’s OK, I forgive you,” Maddie adds quickly. “My engagement to Barrett was indecently hasty, and I can’t blame you for not doing sufficient research into my family and their archaic view of women. I was brought up to be seen and not heard.”
“She’s making up for lost time now,” Mace says, his face straight.
“You know, I was terrified of Hunter at first,” Maddie continues. “I just wanted to run away.”
“After slapping him across the face,” Reid adds. “You should have heard the sound it made in the chapel.”
Maddie shakes her hand as if she can still feel the sting. “And then I ran into Mace, and he was even scarier.”
“She elbowed him in the stomach.” It’s Reid again.
“I was fighting back,” Maddie explains. “But as scared as I was of the situation I found myself in, I was more afraid of being handed back to my brother – I presume you know why?” Ash nods. “So when Hunter explained how hewanted to buy the mill, I responded with a counter proposal. I didn’t really give him any other choice.”
“He could have fucking walked away.”
Maddie tilts her head. “Would you have told Mace or Reid to walk away if it had been one of them I’d propositioned? Because, for added context, we did go through the pros and cons of me marrying each of them.”
“I didn’t know that,” Reid says.
“You would have been my second choice,” Maddie assures him. “Mace was too scared of me.”
“In your dreams,” he mutters.
Maddie simply winks and waits for Mace’s cheeks to redden before returning her attention to Ash. “I appreciate there’s an element of risk, but we had a prenup drawn up, and I have no intention of repaying Hunter’s kindness by claiming anything that isn’t rightfully mine.”
“And I’m supposed to take your word for that?” asks Ash.
