Page 21 of Wretched Soul
Hunter shifts in his seat after checking for Maddie again. “Do we have to beat it out of you, Alice? What the fuck do you want?”
Alice straightens, bringing a fluttering hand to her throat. Is the ice queen actually nervous? “If I did anything to hurt you, I’m sorry.”
Our audible gasps can be heard above the singer on stage. “If?” I repeat with incredulity. I could say more, but she’s truly not worth my breath. I clutch my phone in my clammy hand. I’ve wasted too much time here. If I leave now, I can go straight over to Lily’s apartment. I’d rather lurk on a corner in the freezing cold than listen to any more of Alice’s lame excuses.
“All I want,” Alice continues, “is to leave this world with my family intact. I’m willing to admit that Barrett can be a handful, but he had to take on a lot of responsibility at a very young age. I did what I could after Charles died, but when Barrett reached twenty-one, he had to take on the burden of running the entire company. He wasn’t ready. He still isn’t. I try to intervene where I can, but he misses his father’s guidance. He’s only twenty-six and has so much more to learn. He needs his brothers.”
I turn over my phone and start checking the cameras at Lily’s apartment. I’m done with Alice.
“Do you want to explain what exactly you mean by that,” Ash says. The tension in his voice makes me pause what I’m doing. “You said when you leave this world?”
I hear Alice swallow. “I’m dying.”
An invisible fist clutches at my heart, but it has to be a reflex rather than any real emotion. I’d been a teenager the last time I was fool enough to care about her. I won’t make that mistake again. I start rewinding the footage of the corridor outside Lily’s apartment, hoping not to see any activity.
“My tumor is inoperable and I’m receiving palliative care,” Alice says. “I’d like to use what time I have left to help us all find closure. I’ll die happy if I can reunite all four brothers.”
“One, two, three, four,” I say, pointing to each of the Griffin brothers around the table, including Reid. “Looks like we’re all here.”
“And we’re not looking to expand,” Ash adds.
“But if you combined forces, you’d be untouchable. Barrett has enough sway with the higher echelons of society, and you have your contacts in the criminal world. Criminals who are now gunning for my son,” Alice hisses, giving away the true cause of her desperation.
She knows Barrett is out of his depth. That’s why she’s here.
There’s a long and protracted silence that even Alice doesn’t know how to fill. And yet she doesn’t leave. Is she expecting sympathy?
“We’re sorry to hear of your diagnosis, Alice,” Reid says, making a brave attempt to break the impasse. “But your son isn’t someone any of us will ever be able to trust.”
“Thank you, Reid,” Alice says, her voice dripping with disdain. “But this has nothing to do with you.”
“He’s our brother,” Ash interjects. “And as such, he has an equal say in how we govern the Griffin empire. The empire we built from nothing. The one that’s going to grow while your son runs his inheritance into the ground. It’s just a shame you won’t be around–”
“Fuck!” Hunter says, launching to his feet.
We all jump up out of instinct, Alice a little slower, but she joins us in staring across the room in disbelief. I’m forced to shove my phone into my pocket even though I’ve just caught sight of Lily leaving her apartment in a little black dress that would bring me to my knees. Maddie’s reappeared, but she’s not heading back to us. She’s striding straight towards Barrett, who’s leaning against a wall on the opposite side of the room.
How the fuck did he get here? Why hadn’t I picked it up?
As annoying as Maddie is, my sister-in-law is one of only two women in this world that I’d do jail time for. I join my brothers as we race over to her.
Maddie’s backed Barrett into a corner and she’s jabbing a finger against his chest when we draw close enough to see the beads of sweat on his forehead. I allow myself to relax. It’s clear who’s in control, and it isn’t the one with a stiletto heel digging into his foot.
“Do you really want to make a scene in front of all these nice people, Maddison?” he’s telling her. It sounds more like a plea than a threat.
“Her name’s Maddie,” Hunter growls as we surround them.
Barrett whimpers as Maddie increases the pressure on his foot, and there’s a silent agreement between all four Griffin brothers to let Hunter’s wife have her moment.
It’s quite a spectacle to behold as Maddie tells Barrett in no uncertain terms that he has no claim on her, then goes on to describe what she’ll do to him if he ever comes near her again. It doesn’t take long before Barrett is crying for his mom. And naturally, Alice comes running, arriving with reinforcements in the form of Rory Moncrief.
“Now, isn’t this a lovely family reunion.” Rory says. “Would you like me to arrange a private room for you all?”
“I’d say the talking’s done,” Reid tells him. “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,” Maddie says with a wicked glint in her eye.
“Barrett,” Alice says. “We should go.”
