Page 57 of Mad Love

“About what?” I prompted.

He took a deep breath and reached for my hand. “Keep walking with me.”

“Tell me—”

“Maddie, please.” He gave me an imploring look that didn’t relent until I accepted with a huff. He pulled us farther from the house. “I have a confession.”

“Okay,” I spoke evenly. “I can’t wait to hear this one. Did you have them start fertility treatments on me, too? Wait—am I already pregnant thanks to some artificial insemination when I was drugged?”

“Of course not.” He stared at me, clearly repulsed by the idea, before shaking his head as if dislodging the thought. “But I think you might still hate me a bit when I tell you this.”

I wasn’t sure how to brace myself for whatever was about to come next. As it was, I couldn’t imagine being surprised by anything at this point.

Charles stopped again, turning to face me and grabbing both of my hands as he looked down at me. His green eyes were hard and unflinching. “I knew you weren’t Madelaine Cabot when I met you.”

CHAPTER 22

MADDIE

I was wrong. I could still be surprised.

With a gasp, I tried to rip my hands free from Charles, but he held fast. In fact, he moved closer to me, transferring both of my hands into one of his larger ones and wrapping his free hand around the back of my neck.

“Your father is watching from the window,” he murmured, his face inches from mine and entirely too close. “Don’t pull away or I’ll have to prove I can control you.” His gaze flashed to where my cheekbone had bruised from when he’d struck me before.

“How did you… I don’t…” My world was tilting on its axis.

Again.

Dammit, I was so sick of being blindsided. Of things flipping over and leaving me exposed and vulnerable when I thought I’d finally figured them out.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath before looking at him and gritting out, “Explain.”

“It’s a long and complicated story that we don’t have time for right now,” he told me, almost gently, “but I can give you the overarching details. Madelaine knew I hated her father. She approached me in the spring about a plan she had to ruin him and asked me to meet with her in Greece. But when I arrived, the hotel had—”

“—burned to the ground,” I finished for him.

He nodded, releasing my hands. “I tried to get in touch with her but couldn’t find anything. Tyler was able to dig up enough surveillance footage from the camera across the street to prove she had checked into the hotel a day earlier, but that was all. We retraced her footsteps and found… you.”

My breath caught.

“I decided to switch to Pacific Cross. I hoped to see Madelaine there, but when I met you on the quad, you had no idea who I was, and I could tell it wasn’t an act.” He watched me closely, but I wasn’t sure what he was trying to find.

“Why didn’t you say something?” My brow furrowed.

His mouth flattened. “Because I wasn’t sure what you knew. And when I saw how close you and Cain had become… Maddie, your sister wasn’t just trying to find something on her father. She also alluded to something Ryan and his friends were up to.”

I forced myself not to react. “Oh?”

His green eyes narrowed, piercing me with a look that demanded answers. “They’re mixed up in something, too. I know you think Ryan’s a good guy—”

“He is.” Taking a deep breath, I lifted my chin and stepped back. “I know exactly what Ryan and our friends are doing, because he told me. Now I’m part of it, too. It’s why Gary’s done all of this.” I waved a hand in front of myself. “I don’t know what Madelaine thought she knew about Ryan, but I have a feeling she thought the wrong thing.”

“Did you know that Court Woods has five half-brothers?” Charles challenged. “That three of them joined the military, and once their tours were finished or ended, they disappeared? Tyler has found evidence that they’re working for a company that Madelaine stumbled upon.”

“Phoenix,” I said simply.

He stared at me, his jaw going slack.

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