Page 105 of Wretched Heart
Barrett straightens up. There’s a smile playing across his face as if he’d been waiting for their reaction, but as I bear down on him, he finally spots me. His expression drops.
“I’m so glad you came,” I hiss. “Ever since our wedding day, I’ve wanted to tell you what a worthless piece of shit you are.” I stab a fingernail into his chest. “But now you’re here, I honestly don’t care enough to waste my breath on you.”
“My goodness, Maddison,” Barrett says as he regains his composure. “Hunter has turned you into a little monster. I do hope we’ll get to play together one day.”
Just the sound of his voice sends a shudder of revulsion through me. I know I’m seconds away from being interrupted, and I need to contain the situation quickly. I move in closer until we’re almost touching. It crosses my mind to grab Barrett by the balls, but I don’t want to get that intimate, and Hunter would certainly object. So, I stab a stiletto into the toe of his shoe instead.
Barrett yelps as he tries to move his foot, but I have him skewered. He could push me away, but he has the better view of the crowd. He must know my husband is closing in.
“You know Hunter would kill for me, don’t you?” I say, narrowing my eyes. I don’t need to mention he already has. “But what you might not appreciate is that I’d kill for him too. In fact, I almost put a bullet in your henchman’s head.”
Beads of sweat break out along Barrett’s forehead. “Do you really want to make a scene in front of all these nice people, Maddison?”
“Her name’s Maddie,” Hunter growls as his hand clamps on my hip.
He’s about to pull me away as three more Griffins surround us, but I resist.
“I’ve got this,” I tell him, glancing down to the heel impaling Barrett’s shoe. The stiletto isn’t sharp enough to break through the leather, but I increase the pressure just to see the flicker of pain cross Barrett’s face. “I can only presume you came here to make a point, so make it.”
He snarls. “I didn’t come here for you at all. I’m here for my mother,” he says. Glancing at the four men surrounding me, his gaze fixes on Ash. “Did she tell you?”
“That she’s dying? Yes.”
“Then you should do the decent thing and leave us in peace.”
For a fraction of a second, I consider removing my foot. Despite the unworthiness of the people involved, compassion is about to get the better of me. But then I recall what Ray had said in the corridor about Barrett turning a misfortune to his advantage.
“You just want us to look the other way so you can get up to your usual nasty tricks,” I say.
“Our mother isdying,” he replies. “Does that mean nothing to you?” His voice catches, but not enough to sound convincing.
“The woman who birthed us is dying,” Mace says dispassionately. “Boo-fucking-hoo.”
“The only allowance I’m going to make is not killing you before she’s dead,” Hunter says. “But one day you will pay for what you did to Maddie. I can promise you that.”
Barrett attempts a laugh. “You’ll have to wait in line. Your supposed-wife has already threatened me.”
“Then we’ll stand back and watch,” says Ash.
Hunter leans over my shoulder, coming closer to Barrett. “And there’s no ‘supposed,’ about my relationship with Maddie. She’s my wife, and the only way you’ll come into contact with her again is when she’s rolling your dead body into the shallow grave I’ll dig for you.”
There’s movement in my periphery as Alice closes in. She’s being accompanied by our tall and handsome host.
“Now, isn’t this a lovely family reunion.” Rory remarks. “Would you like me to arrange a private room for you all?”
“I’d say the talking’s done,” says Reid. “And if Maddie can stab a man in the foot while in a crowded room, can you imagine what she’d do to him in private?”
“I’m imagining it now,” I say. And I am. I really am.
“Barrett,” Alice says. “We should go.”
I remove my heel from Barrett’s shoe, making him wince.
“Go home like a good little boy,” Ash tells him.
As Barrett clears the wall of bodies, he hesitates. “She was mine first,” he says to Hunter with a snarl. “You can never change that.” The bastard wants to cause a fight.
As Hunter tries to side step me, I follow, blocking him.
