Page 104 of Mad Love

“I’m impressed,” Tyler admitted, picking up one drive and then the next before starting to arrange them. “She dated them and everything.”

Ash walked around to where Tyler had begun laying the drives out in order, and braced one hand on the table and the other on the back of her chair as she worked. He watched the way Tyler’s fingers trembled before she got ahold of herself and focused on the task at hand.

Bex stood off to one side with Court and Linc. “What does all this mean?”

“We won’t know until we start looking,” Ash admitted, repositioning one of the drives Tyler had sorted. He smirked when she scowled at him, likely annoyed he was butting into her task. “But this is a fucking amazing start. Some of these names I recognize.”

“So, that’s…good?” I asked. I leaned against Ryan’s chest, still tired and craving sleep that wasn’t in the backseat of a car. I loved Ryan, but his thighs had way too much muscle to be comfortable for more than a nap.

Knight leaned in from the far end of the table, the only other brother present as Bishop and Royal were taking their turns checking the perimeter and the security feeds. “Does that say P. Henderson?” He gaped in disbelief.

I looked at the drive he was talking about. “As in former Vice President of the United States Peter Henderson?” My eyes rounded.

“Your sister was a badass,” Tyler whispered, looking at me. “Possibly psychotic and a raging bitch, but a badass. I mean, how she even got all this stuff is beyond me. These aren’t people who just let themselves be recorded or followed.”

It's amazing the things men let slip when you’re a pretty decoration in their bed or on their lap.

She’d sold pieces of herself to get everything sitting here.

“Fuck me,” Court whispered, pushing off the wall. He grabbed one from the pile. “Coach King.” He flipped the label toward Ryan.

Ryan stiffened at my back. “What the…” He took the drive, and I turned in his arms. “Why would she have one on him?”

Bex made a tiny noise of distress, and everyone turned to her. She bit her lower lip. “After he got fired from PC,” she hedged, wrapping her arms around herself, “there were some rumors in the girls’ dorms.”

“Rumors?” Court stared at her.

She nodded. “Apparently Madelaine wasn’t the only student he’d been sleeping with, but she was definitely the oldest. Some of the freshmen girls said that he'd… You know.” She blushed. “Coach King supplemented part of his coaching salary with being a part-time phys-ed teacher at the academy.”

“Motherfucker.” Ryan shook his head. He tossed the flash drive back into the pile, looking disgusted.

I touched his hand, not sure how to help. For some insane reason I wanted to apologize, but I wasn’t sure why. Because Madelaine had betrayed him? Because a man he’d trusted had not only screwed him over but had been messing around with underage girls?

He met my eyes, his expression telling me he knew exactly where my head was and that there wasn’t anything I could do. So, I slipped my arms around his waist and hugged him.

Ash spread out the pile of drives so Tyler could continue sorting. “There’s CEOs, congressmen, and entertainers in here. Actors and singers. Goddamn.”

Tyler nodded and kept sorting, getting stuck on a drive. “This one doesn’t have a date, just a name, but I don’t recognize it.”

Ash took it from her and shook his head, puzzled. “No idea. We’ll figure it out later.” He tossed it aside, letting it slide away from what they were working on.

Bex inhaled sharply.

“You okay?” I asked, worried when her face paled. “Bex?”

She walked to the table like she was in a trance and picked up the discarded drive. “Beeps,” she whispered, smoothing her thumb over the label.

Court crowded around her back. “What—”

“It’s what Madelaine used to call me.” Bex swallowed hard. “It was a stupid nickname. I… When Madelaine used to laugh really hard, she’d make this weird, squeaky noise.” A sad smile tipped up the corner of her mouth as she looked at me. “I called her Squeaks, and she said my name should be Beeps.”

I hadn’t had a chance to sit down and tell Bex that, in her video to me, Madelaine might have been trying to explain why she’d cut Bex off, but this kinda confirmed my suspicions. “Do you want to watch it?”

“I don’t know,” she confessed.

“You don’t have to.” Court’s eyes flashed protectively as he glared at the thumb drive like it might grow legs and attack her.

Linc cleared his throat. “But it might give you some answers.”

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