Page 20 of Mad As Hell

A piece of me wanted to sob in relief.

But the quiet storm of fury brewing in my chest quickly smothered it.

“He should have known that when I told him,” I seethed. “Not because his best friend had to show him a damn tape. He should have believed me.”

“I’m not arguing, nor am I saying you should forgive him. I just thought you should know.” Bex gave me a steady look. “I’ve got your back, Mads. Those guys fucked up.”

“Damn right they did.” I shot her a look. “How do you know this?”

“Because when Ryan couldn’t find you, he came to my house,” Bex admitted with a grimace.

“Bet your mother loved that.”

“Oh, no she didn’t know they were there. He and Court broke in.”

I jerked in surprise. “They what?”

She nodded. “Yup. Showed up in my bedroom at, like, three in the morning. Ash disabled our security system and… yeah.”

“What is it with these guys just breaking into girls’ rooms?” I asked, throwing my hands up.

“I wish I knew,” she said wryly, shaking her head. “But Ryan figured I knew where you were and…” She flashed me a guilty look.

“What?”

“I might’ve let it slip that Gary attacked you,” she replied, ducking her head.

I let out a heavy breath.

“Are you okay?” She leaned forward a bit. “I mean, I don’t see any bruises.”

“My ribs are still a little banged up, but I’m fine.” I pasted a fake smile on my face. “Can’t have Madelaine Cabot returning to school looking less than flawless.”

“I wish flawless would be enough,” Bex murmured. “Mads, everyone at the school knows. They’re pissed. I’d like to say you could fly under the radar, but…”

“I don’t care,” I answered woodenly. “There’s nothing these assholes can do to me that’s worse than what’s happening outside of this place. I’ll play Gary’s game while I figure out how to get my mom free.”

“What about you?”

I met her gaze and held it. “I don’t care if I have to go down in flames, too, but I’m going to stop Gary.”

Her eyes widened. “And Ryan?”

I scoffed. The blistering rage from earlier had burned away to a charred shell of emptiness that echoed in my soul. “Ryan Cain better stay out of my way, or I’ll take him down, too.”

CHAPTER 6

MADDIE

If I’d had any kind of luck left, I wouldn’t have been dropped off at Pacific Cross on a Thursday night. Not that there would have ever been a good day to restart classes, but I wasn’t looking forward to rejoining my classes Friday morning.

I glared at the clock as the minutes ticked by, wondering if almost two weeks away had dimmed everyone’s memories of the engagement party or the video, which Bex had confirmed everyone knew about.

“Maybe you could take a sick day?” Bex suggested from the other side of the room.

Like the awesome friend she was, she’d spent the night. I’d been able to get some sleep with her by my side. There was something comforting about not being alone, and Bex was the only person I had left who actually gave a shit about me.

I shook my head, forcing myself to keep moving. “No. Gary made it pretty clear that I need to toe the line or my mom suffers.”

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