Page 202 of Mad As Hell

“Shut the fuck up,” I growled, genuine heat behind my words because the last thing I wanted to hear, even if we’d agreed, was talk about my wife’s pussy coming from my friend’s mouth.

Sensing my annoyance, Court grinned and flipped me off.

I took a deep breath. “I love her, okay? You don’t know her like I do. She’s… changed.”

“From a slut to a saint?” Ash snorted a laugh. “Ry, you know you’re my best friend, but come on. She’s playing you.”

“No, she isn’t,” I insisted. “Grandpa, you get it. You and Nana were in love.”

“Your Nana never tried to ruin my life,” Grandpa pointed out, a twinkle in his eyes even as he kept his voice harsh. He was loving that we were planning on fooling Gary. “You can’t compare Gary Cabot’s demon spawn to your Nana. I still can’t believe you gave that girl her ring. She would be so disappointed.”

“I’m going to offer Gary a deal,” I started. “We all know my father is an asshole, but I’ve had enough. He’s threatened Maddie and Corinne. I’m going to sell him my shares of Cain Industries and tell him about the investments my dad’s been making.”

“Are you out of your fucking mind?” Ash snapped. “You know that’s not the plan.”

“My new plan is keeping Maddie safe and happy,” I vowed, meaning it with every fiber of my twisted soul. “He can have Maddie’s money, and then he’ll be able to buy out those companies and gain controlling interest of CI. He’ll own my dad’s company by the end of the year.”

“And, what? You and Maddie ride off into the proverbial sunset?” Linc drawled.

“Yes. I love her,” I replied, forcing myself to sound desperate to sell the point.

Grandpa sighed heavily. “You know, the one thing I hate more than that girl hurting you is your bastard of a father. Gary is the lesser of two evils, I suppose.”

“Meaning what?”

“I’m dying,” Grandpa said flatly.

It was the truth, but I felt it like a punch to my dick. Pain seared me from the inside out the way it always did when I thought about his impending mortality.

Grandpa rubbed his jaw. “I’ll redraw my will to sign everything over to you, provided you agree to take care of your sister.”

I grinned at him even as I kept my pitch incredulous. “You will?”

He rolled his eyes and shook his head, bemused with the performance we were giving for Gary’s effect. “I will. If your father is ruined, he’ll have no way to leverage Corinne over you for my money. I’ll leave you everything.”

I leaned back in my chair with a smirk, because this deal would be too good for Gary to pass up: the chance to fuck over my father and get a shit ton of money.

“Maddie and I could live here,” I suggested.

Grandpa met my eyes, and suddenly we weren’t just playing roles for the recording device. “I think you’d both be very happy here.”

I nodded, a knot of emotion twisting around my vocal cords. “We’d love that.”

He paused for a beat, nodding at me in understanding before slipping back into the role of reluctant grandfather.

“Then it’s settled,” Grandpa said with a heavy sigh. “I’ll sign everything over to you. I’ll have my attorney draw up the new will, but Ryan, I hope you know what you’re doing.”

I smiled at him, wishing I could be there when Gary heard the recording on Maddie’s phone of this conversation. “I do.”

CHAPTER 54

MADDIE

The sound of Corinne’s giggles was going down as one of my favorite noises ever. It was infectious and exuberant, because the tiny girl with the biggest heart giggled with everything she had.

Peals of belly laughter echoed in the kitchen as Royal picked her up and spun her around. The gauzy yellow princess dress fanned out like she was living every Beauty and the Beast fantasy.

Royal set her back down on the floor with a bow. “Princess.”

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