Page 163 of Mad Love

He clapped a hand on my shoulder. “I’m so sorry, bro. You know he meant the world to us all.”

It was like I’d lost the ability to speak. My words were all locked up in my fucking throat, drowning me, as I realized I wasn’t even fucking here. I should’ve been, and I wasn’t.

He was alone when—

“Ryan.” Maddie stood in front of me, blocking out the world so all I could see was her. “Do you want to go upstairs?”

Oh, fuck. A sudden thought flew into my brain.

“Cori,” I muttered.

Maddie rolled back her shoulders before looking at Knight. “Where’s Royal? He should pick her up.”

No, I’m her brother, it should be me. I scowled at her, ready to argue, when Maddie laid her palm against my cheek. “It’s okay to let others help right now, Ry. We’re your family, and we’ve got this.”

“It’s late,” Knight pointed out. “Should we wait until morning to get her?”

Maddie nodded slowly. “Yeah. But I’d like Royal there first thing. Will Grandpa’s death make headlines?”

“Shit, yeah,” Ash murmured. “I mean, I can try and block people from reporting, but he’s well-known. It’ll be news.”

Maddie’s lips pressed together. “I don’t want Corinne finding out about this from strangers. She’s going to need a lot of support, and she needs to be with people she trusts.”

“I should go,” I muttered, rubbing the back of my neck and surprised by how clammy it felt. “She’s my sister.”

“She is,” Maddie agreed, “and she’s going to need you when she gets here. You need some time to process tonight for yourself, Ryan. Let us help.”

“Royal and Bishop can bring her back. They’ll be there before classes start, and they can bring her here so you can break the news,” Linc added. “I mean, the plan was to pick her up from school in two days for break anyway, so you’re just bumping it up.”

“And we all know Cori will be happy to see Royal,” Knight agreed.

It was amusing how attached my little sister was to the asshole mercenary who’d spent years perfecting the art of killing a man with his bare hands and a fun assortment of weapons. I sometimes forgot Royal was even human until I watched him talking to Cori about her stuffed animals or a princess movie.

The fucker would even watch that shit with her, completely at ease with kissing cartoons if it made my sister smile.

“Thanks, guys,” I managed. “I need to see my grandfather.”

“We’re here if you need us,” Court reminded me.

“Can I get anyone anything?” Mrs. Beechum pressed, fretting around us as she herded everyone toward the kitchen. We hadn’t eaten, but I was pretty sure we’d all lost our appetites.

I stayed still until it was just Maddie and I left in the foyer.

She squeezed my hand. “Do you need to be alone?”

An unfamiliar sense of unease wrapped around my throat, strangling me as I shook my head. “Don’t go.”

She stepped closer to me, and I breathed in her familiar peppermint and lavender scent. “I’m right here, Ryan. I’m not going anywhere.”

Still numb inside, I started up the stairs. With each step I ascended, I gripped her fingers tighter. At some point it must’ve hurt, but she didn’t complain. She just held on and let me take what I needed from her.

This day was supposed to end so differently.

I thought back to the surprise I’d planned for us after dinner. The ring I’d left in our hotel room for her, all but forgotten for now. The rose petals, the champagne on ice… It was all romantic shit I knew the guys would give me hell for if they knew, but Maddie was worth every fucking second of it.

I’d wanted to end today by asking her again to be mine. I’d lost count of my proposals, but I had a feeling I’d be asking—begging—her to stay by my side for the rest of my life.

Just the way she was now.

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