Page 100 of Mad Love

“Mads!” Ryan’s sharp voice cracked through the air before the door was even open.

And I was on my feet, running to him before he’d fully stepped into the room. He caught me with an oomph, staggering back as I wrapped my arms around his neck and my legs around his waist. His hands caught me under my thighs, walking us into the room as Linc and Court filed in.

Relief made my bones heavy as I trembled against him, finally cracking under the pressure and stress of the night.

A hand smoothed up my back, as much checking for injuries as it was trying to comfort. “Are you okay? Did something happen?”

“No. Yes. No.” I couldn’t settle on an answer, and I could see the frustrated lines of his face pulling into a frown as he sat on the sofa with me straddling him.

“Maddie, talk to me,” he urged, finally able to put both hands on my face and pull me far enough back to look in my eyes.

“I will,” I promise, “but right now, I just need to kind of absorb everything, and I want to do that while you’re holding me. Is that okay?”

His eyes softened. “Of course it’s okay, baby.” He settled my head on the spot between his shoulder and chest, near his heart, that I’d secretly dubbed mine.

The cushions beside us moved, and I peeked over to see Court sitting down. He gave me a tight, tired smile while Linc paced a bit behind the sectional.

“Do you want a drink?” Linc offered.

I shook my head. All I wanted was exactly what I had.

My fist squeezed around the flash drive.

Well, almost everything I wanted.

Court eyed my fist. “Whatcha got there, Mads?”

Ryan stiffened a little under me, but never stopped rubbing my back.

Finally, I unfurled my hand so they could see.

“A thumb drive?” Linc scowled at it.

Ryan sighed. “More footage?”

“A message,” I replied, closing my fingers around it again. “From Madelaine. She left it for me.”

Court sucked in a sharp breath, his gaze snapping from Ryan to Linc and then me. “Shit. Seriously?”

I nodded and offered it to him. “Watch it. You’ll see. My laptop is by the door.” I hadn’t bothered with it since Ryan and I had first entered this suite. So much for catching up on my missing assignments. I was so going to fail this semester.

Court eyed my outstretched hand before taking the drive. He looked it over before exchanging a look with Ryan. Then he tossed it to Linc. “Let’s see what she has to say.”

Linc retrieved my laptop and positioned it on the glass coffee table in front of the sofa. I turned my head and watched with them as Madelaine appeared, tears filling my eyes once again.

None of them spoke as the video played, but their expressions shifted from wariness to disbelief to… sadness?

“Holy shit,” Linc breathed as it ended, folding his hands behind his head and looking stunned.

“There’s more recordings?” Court looked at me.

I nodded. “So many. They’re all labeled, but I didn’t have a chance to really look them over or play them. I figured Ash could start cataloging them and we’d figure out our next moves.”

Ryan nodded, his chin bumping against my head as his arms tightened around me, anchoring me through this storm. “We’ll leave whenever you want, Maddie.”

“Now?” I posed the answer like a question. We’d been in Vegas for less than twenty-four hours, but it felt like I was finally at the point where we had the power to swing momentum in our favor. Besides…

“Gary’s at Pandora,” I added.

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