Page 2 of Mad Love

He folded his hands and leaned forward, like this was a juicy secret. “I don’t think you killed Adam Kindell.”

My jaw dropped in feigned shock. “You don’t? Are you here to save me, Agent Dipshit?”

He grimaced, catching the attitude I was throwing off in waves. “I think your daddy-in-law got pissed you violated his pretty little flower and set you up. Not that I blame you—I’ve seen her picture.”

My eyes narrowed.

His head tilted to the side. “Madelaine, right? Gorgeous blonde with big blue eyes and legs for—”

“Do you have a fucking point?” I snapped. I could fake indifference and boredom with these pricks all goddamn day, but one mention of Maddie and I was a rabid dog trying to break free from his leash.

“My point is, work with me,” Agent Paulson murmured, still going for the secretive angle, like we were buddies. “I’ve been looking into your father’s business for years. The SEC—”

“The SEC doesn’t have shit on my father or Cain Industries,” I spat.

This wasn’t news; the US Securities and Exchange Commission was always looking to take down a big fish in the financial sector, and Cain Industries would be a motherfucking whale. But they had nothing on the company, because there wasn’t anything to get. CI was pretty much the only business my father hadn’t corrupted, and that was because he constantly had to appease the board. It was hard to break the law when ten old white guys were counting every penny that came and went.

“Not yet,” Agent Paulson conceded. “But with your help—”

“You want me to narc on my dad? On the company I just became CEO of?” I snorted and shook my head. The last thing I would do was rat out my father so he got a cushy ten-to-fifteen-year sentence in a white-collar federal prison with a personal chef and a fucking golf course.

Beckett Cain would pay in blood by the time I was done.

And then I’d incinerate whatever pieces were left before flushing his ashes down a urinal at a truck stop. Because that was what he deserved.

I glanced at the clock hanging over Paulson’s head. “I’ve been here for almost two days. Where’s my damn lawyer?”

The fed glanced at his imitation Rolex. “Huh. Guess he’s been held up.”

A slow smile started to spread across my face. “You know who I am, right? You honestly think you’re going to get away with this shit? The charges are baseless—you said so yourself. My lawyers are going to have a fucking field day when your people stop jerking them around.”

He pursed his lips. “Hey, man, I work for the federal government. If you help me out, I might be able to do something about your state charges, but…”

“Right.” I nodded. “Well, I have nothing to say without my attorney. So you, the LAPD, and every other person in this building can go back to your regularly scheduled circle jerk.”

He frowned, looking annoyed and constipated. “Mr. Cain, I don’t think you understand—”

“I don’t think you understand, Agent Shit-for-brains,” I sneered. “You can fuck all the way off, okay? And get me my goddamn lawyer before I slap you all with a harassment lawsuit that will have your grandchildren sucking dick on the corner for rent.”

Agent Paulson regarded me coolly, and then he stood up, tugging the ends of his suit jacket back down over his wrists. “You’re making a mistake.”

“And yet, I still don’t give a fuck.” I leaned forward, my eyes flashing. “Lawyer, asshole.”

He gave me a thin smile. “Sure thing, Mr. Cain. We’ll get right on that.”

I watched him leave, seething as my hands curled into fists. Before I could stop myself, I jerked them against the cuffs. The metal dug into my bruised wrists. But I didn’t care.

Yeah, I was well versed in playing the spoiled douchebag. It was a role I’d been training for my whole life, but it was a shell, and the longer I sat here, the more it cracked.

All I could think about was Maddie.

The slow way she’d blinked her unfocused eyes in the courtroom. The way she’d been wheeled in, limp and silent.

I knew what a drugged woman looked like, and rage had filled my blood like hellfire at seeing her like that.

But it was a mere flicker compared to the impotence I felt now at not being able to do a single fucking thing to get to her. To save her.

I bowed my head, sucking in a deep breath as I tried to be patient.

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