Page 184 of Mad As Hell

I let out a long breath. “But how?”

“We need to let your dad overhear a conversation.” He rubbed the back of his neck, and I caught a glimpse of the numbers tattooed on the inside of his bicep. “Maybe we can spin that to help us.”

My lips bunched to one side as I thought. “Ash said his money is spread thin.”

“Yeah, and he’s counting on your money to make him flush again.” He gave me a funny look. “Marry me.”

“Did you miss the part where we’re already engaged?” I laughed and flashed the ring in his face as proof.

“No, marry me now. Tomorrow.”

I might have laughed it off as a joke if it wasn’t for the fact that he looked dead-ass serious.

“Wait—you’re not kidding?” I gaped at him. “Ryan—”

He cut me off. “Mads, think about it. The whole reason we’re getting married is to access your money. Gary thinks you’ll hand it over to him, and my dad thinks we’ll give it to him. What if we don’t do either?”

“We take the money and run?” As far as plans went, I didn’t totally hate it, but I doubted that’s where he was going with the idea.

“No, smart-ass,” he retorted, rolling his eyes. “We come clean and tell them we’re in love and we’re keeping the money.”

My eyes widened. “They’d lose their shit.”

He grinned at me. “Exactly. They’d be so fucking crazy over how to pay off the debt they’ve been amassing that they’d have to lay low to avoid the investors they’ve ripped off. If we make it known that our money is ours, and we have no plans to share it, then they’re fucked. Especially if the Russians get wind that they’re not getting paid.”

“Cori,” I said suddenly, shaking my head. “Your dad could go after Cori.”

“No way he could marry her off. No one would take the risk with him being under that much scrutiny.” His smile grew calculating. “Especially not if she’s hidden away somewhere and we tell people that you’re pregnant.”

“Now I’m pregnant, too?” I laughed at him, unable to help myself. “Ryan, I’m not pregnant.”

“They don’t know that,” he pointed out. “And I’m sure we could use a fake sonogram photo or something to drive the point home. It’s not a permanent fix, Maddie, but it could send them into enough of a tailspin that we could do real damage. Beckett might even be desperate enough to sell off the last eight percent of Cain Industries that we need to take control once and for all.”

“You really think it would work?”

He nodded. “But it’s more than that. I love you. I want to marry you. Not for them or some deal, but because there’s no rest of my life without you in it. Making you my wife tomorrow or in ten years won’t change the fact that you’re mine and I’m yours.” He laid a hand over my heart, his eyes burning as they searched mine. “Marry me, Madison Porter.”

“Are you asking or telling?” I teased, my eyes welling up.

“I’m begging,” he whispered. The sincerity in his gaze was staggering and overwhelming. My heart swelled in my chest, ready to burst.

God, I fucking loved him so much. Maybe too much.

But, for better or worse, we were in this together until the end.

I closed my eyes and dropped my forehead to his shoulder. “Yes.”

He held me away from him, grinning like a kid at Christmas who’d just opened the one present he’d truly wanted. “Yeah?”

I fisted the material of his shirt in my hands and leaned back to look up at him. “Yeah. I’ll marry you, Ryan Cain.”

CHAPTER 48

MADDIE

“Maddie, this is insane,” Bex spluttered after I filled her in on my plan to marry Ryan in—I glanced at the clock—sixteen hours. “Are you sure about this?”

I paused where I was scrolling through my phone looking at a dress I could pick up from a local store in the morning. “Bex, the only thing I’m sure about anymore is Ryan.”

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