Page 155 of Mad Love

He pressed his mouth into a hard line. “You come clean to the world about who you are. We have enough proof that you’re Madison Porter. You can be you again, but that also comes with its own complications.”

“Such as?” My gaze flicked back and forth between them.

Court rubbed the back of his neck. “We’ll have to have Madelaine legally declared dead, which makes everything in her name a lot more complicated. Everything you’ve done has been as your twin, Maddie. Everything in Gary’s and Madelaine’s names will be under scrutiny while shit gets sorted in the legal system.”

“How long would it take?” Ryan asked, swiping his thumb over his bottom lip as he stared at the folders in front of us.

“Years?” Court guessed, leaning back against his seat. “The problem is, those companies in Madelaine’s name might decide to cut their losses or worse.”

Well, that didn’t sound good at all. “I’m afraid to ask.”

Court exhaled hard and looked at me. “A lot of these businesses Gary helped set up in your sister’s name might decide it’s easier to set a fire and burn everything to the ground before moving on. And by everything, I mean everything and everyone.”

Horror wrapped around my throat like the unyielding fingers of death, squeezing the air from my lungs. “They’d kill the people they’re abusing?”

Ryan wrapped an arm around my shoulders. “Yeah. It’s what they do, Mads.”

“So, my choices are to keep living as my dead twin but potentially keep other people safe until we can free them,” I looked at them both for nods of confirmation before adding, “or take my life back and potentially threaten the lives of countless other people?”

“I guess the real question is,” Court summarized, “how much does being Madison Porter mean to you? Or can you live with being Madelaine Cabot for the rest of your life?”

CHAPTER 54

MADDIE

I needed a break, so I left Court and Ryan to hash out a few more Phoenix things with the others. I knew Ryan would’ve come with me in a heartbeat, but I wanted a few minutes to think things over for myself.

It should’ve been an easy decision. I’d been Madelaine Cabot for months already, and it was the safest option all around. The path of least resistance.

But I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that there was a big part of me that just wanted to be Madison Porter. For people to realize that I wasn’t the girl who had done the unspeakable things my twin had done. And an even bigger part of me that wanted to be completely done with the name Cabot.

I was wandering aimlessly through the downstairs when I heard Grandpa call me from the half-open door of his study. Without missing a beat, I poked my head in a smiled. “Did you need something?”

His face relaxed into an easy grin from the other side of his desk in a way that reminded me of Ryan and Cori. “I simply wanted to know if there was something I could do for you? You’ve wandered past my office twice now.”

I frowned. Shit, had I? God, this house was big.

He chuckled and waved a hand. “Please, come in and sit, my dear. Keep an old man company.”

I rolled my eyes and stepped inside. “You’re not that old.”

He shot me a pointed look before sighing. “Some days I feel much older than I ever imagined possible.”

I sat down in one of the chairs across from his desk and tried not to be obvious in the way I studied him. In the four weeks since I’d seen him, he seemed to have lost even more weight he couldn’t afford to. His skin had a sunken, gray pallor, and his eyes seemed even more bleary.

Barbed wire wrapped around my heart and squeezed as I realized that Ryan was right; he was dying.

He made a soft sound of discontent. “Don’t look at me like that, dear. I’m not in my grave quite yet.”

“I’m sorry,” I apologized quickly, feeling like an ass. “I didn’t mean—”

“I know you didn’t.” He cut me off with a fond look. “But that doesn’t mean it won’t be soon.”

I stayed quiet, sensing that he wasn’t finished.

Looking out the window that overlooked the vineyard, he sighed. “I wish I could have one more season. The fields are vibrant and full of life in a way that’s centering. You’ll find that out for yourself.”

“I hope so,” I confessed. “When I asked Ryan to take me home… this was the only place I could think of that felt like that.”

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