Page 31 of Mad As Hell

I dragged myself over to where he was but took the armchair opposite instead of sitting on the couch. I flashed him a triumphant smirk when he frowned.

“You realize you’re going to have to act like we’re a couple in public if you want to sell this to Gary,” he pointed out. His eyes practically glittered. “You’ll have to act like you enjoy it when I touch you. Hold you. Kiss you.”

I felt my cheeks heat.

“Or maybe you won’t be pretending,” he murmured, watching my reaction.

“Clearly I’m attracted to you,” I spat, pushing past my unease. “Being attracted to you isn’t the problem. Trusting you is.”

He sobered quickly. “I know, Maddie. I’m sorry. I should have trusted you.”

“Yeah, you should have,” I snapped, not ready to give a freaking inch. “Bex told me that it was Ash who figured it out. If he hadn’t, would you still think it was me in the video?”

He was quiet for a long time. “Honestly? Yeah, I probably would.”

Hurt sliced through my heart. So much for the emotionless void I was going for.

“But that speaks volumes about how fucked up I am, Maddie,” he continued, his brilliantly clear blue eyes locked on me. “I don’t trust people easily, and you…”

“And I what?” I demanded. “What did I do to make you believe you couldn’t trust me?”

“You were too good to be true,” he admitted hoarsely. “I was looking for a way to sabotage it, because there was no way someone like you could love someone like me. You’re… good and pure.”

I scoffed under my breath, shaking my head.

“It’s why I know Gary has to have something big over your head to get you to come back here,” he added.

My gaze snapped to him, wondering if he knew the threats Gary had thrown my way to force me to cooperate.

“I wish you’d tell me what it is.” He swallowed roughly. “I can’t help you if I don’t know.”

I mashed my lips into a line, not trusting myself to speak.

“But I know I betrayed you. It’s going to take time to win back your trust.” He dug into his pocket and pulled out the ring he’d given me the night of the party. His grandmother’s ring.

It was hilariously less ostentatious than the one he’d given Madelaine, but I knew the meaning behind it. That alone made it priceless in my eyes.

He gently set it on the coffee table between us. “This is yours.”

I cleared my throat. It physically hurt to look at that ring now. “No, it isn’t.”

He caught my gaze and held it. “Yes, it is. There’s no other woman I’ll ever offer it to. That ring is yours, Mads, whether you wear it or not.”

“I’m not going to put it on,” I said, snatching it off the table and pressing it into his hand. I jolted at the current that sizzled between us when I touched him, and quickly scrambled back a step. “I brought the other one. I’ll wear that.”

Ryan inclined his head toward me, his fist closing around the ring before he shoved it into his pocket. “Whatever you want, Maddie. Whatever makes you comfortable.”

I would rather wear the six-carat rock worth more than I could ever pay back than something so precious.

He leaned back on the couch. “Can we talk about what happened earlier? Are you okay?”

“Peachy,” I replied in a clipped tone, looking away.

He sighed softly. “I’m going to make things right.”

“How can you do that? Tell everyone who I really am?”

“I’ll stand up and admit the truth about who you are to everyone if that will make you happy,” he countered.

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