Page 132 of Mad As Hell

“I love you,” he countered.

Still grinning, I snuggled into the pillow while he traced a lazy pattern along my bare thigh. I half expected his hand to drift higher, but it never did. I relaxed, my bones melting as I started to fall asleep.

I was almost out when he said, “My mom wasn’t like the others.”

Ryan spoke so softly that I almost thought I’d dreamed it. The admission was quiet, almost reverent, and I realized this was the first time he’d really told me anything about his mom.

More awake now, and curious, I rolled over, situating myself on my back as he propped himself up on one arm and looked down at me.

“She didn’t give a shit about the money, and she didn’t want to look the other way. My parents argued a lot, but my mom wouldn’t leave him.” Regret filled his crystalline eyes as he lifted a hand, his fingers sweeping across my cheek.

“Why not?”

“My dad played her,” Ryan answered. “He said and did all the right things. The Cain family was loaded, but not like my mom’s. Honestly, I think the reason my mom got pregnant was because he messed with her birth control. They got married, had me. There were complications, and the doctors told her that she shouldn’t have another kid. But she had Cori and…”

And died.

I winced, my heart breaking for the guy who clearly adored his mom. “I’m sorry.”

He glanced down at me and smiled. “She would’ve liked you.”

“Trailer trash masquerading as an heiress?” I snorted. “What’s not to admire?”

He rolled his eyes. “You don’t quit, Maddie. No matter what shit gets thrown at you, you keep getting up. I don’t know if I could do that.”

“It’s easy to get up when you don’t have a choice,” I murmured.

“You’re wrong. You had a choice. You could’ve bailed on your mom, on Bex, on me. No one would’ve blamed you.” His hand moved to splay across my chest, his palm above my beating heart. “This is what makes you different.”

Playing up the brat aspect, I arched a teasing brow. “Great tits?”

He tweaked my nipple with a sharp pinch that made me gasp. “No, smart-ass. Your heart.” His eyes smoldered as he glanced down. “But you do have amazing tits.”

A laugh rolled out of me, and I shoved at his shoulder. “Oh, my God. Stop.”

“I don’t think I will,” he replied with a dark chuckle, palming my breast in his hand and squeezing. “Do you really want me to?”

I shook my head as I squeezed my thighs together. “No.”

Fire lit his eyes, and a slow smirk spread over his mouth as his hand drifted between my legs. “Great fucking answer.”

CHAPTER 35

MADDIE

I woke alone the next morning as light filtered into the room. The rhythmic sounds of the waves breaking pulled me out of a dream I couldn’t quite remember.

Pushing myself up, I ran a hand through my messy hair. It had dried in loose waves that wouldn’t be tamed with the single comb Ryan had in his bathroom. But my clothes were clean and folded on a chair by the balcony doors, so there was that.

I pulled on my underwear and paused at the dress. Leaving it, I rummaged through Ryan’s drawers to pull out another shirt and a pair of sweatpants with a drawstring, which I pulled as tight as possible.

Catching my reflection in the mirror over his dresser, I chuckled. I looked like a little kid playing dress up in oversized clothing, but it was comfortable.

Barefoot, I padded into the hall and smelled something divine cooking downstairs. I was about to start down when I heard two voices laughing from behind a cracked door. Curious, I wandered to it, and surprise jolted through my body when I spotted Linc and Bex in bed together. They were both fully clothed, or at least had shirts on, so that was something.

Linc noticed me first, his easygoing smile putting me at ease, even if I was confused as heck. “Hey, Maddie.”

Bex’s head snapped up, her mouth falling open. “This isn’t what it looks like.”

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