Page 56 of They Will Fall

“It had nothing to do with trust and everything to do with keeping you safe.And this situation can’t be compared. Your life wasn’t in immediate danger then. Someone fucking kidnapped you, Angel.” He grasps his chest as if the thought physically pains him. “What if something had happened to you? Something…something I can’t even fathom.” He turns around and bends with his hands to his knees before springing back up. “Did he fucking touch you? I swear to God if he laid a hand—”

“He didn’t. I’m fine. He knocked me out, put me in a car and I escaped. The end.”

“Knocked you out, how?”

“Chloroform, maybe?” I guess, not knowing of any other drugs that can knock you out from a rag, but also knowing I’m not experienced in that department.

“Son of a bitch,” Ridge grumbles. “Yep. He’s a dead man.”

“They’re going down,” Maddox chimes in, his voice low but stern. “Every one of those fucking Elders who have made our lives hell are going down. They will all fucking fall.”

It's surreal hearing Maddox speak this way. The harsh words coming from his mouth are far from his usual gentle tone. He's mentioned in passing about how he's always felt like a weak link and I'm proud to see that he's standing up for himself. Even if it is going to be against the man he desperately sought approval from. I can see it in his eyes, hear it in his voice, he’s out for blood.

“No one is dying, yet,” Ridge pipes up. “In fact, I think I know of a way to use this to our advantage.” Maddox and I shift our attention to Ridge as he continues. “First, we need to find out exactly what your dad was so hell-bent on keeping a secret.”

A look of defeat washes over Maddox’s face. “And how the hell are we supposed to do that? I’ve searched this place high and low and found nothing.”

“Give me five minutes alone with your dad. I’ll find out what he’s hiding.”

“No,” I pipe up, a plan already forming in my mind. “I think it’s best if we don’t let Maddox’s dad know we’re onto him. If we do this right, we can clear all our names, while bringing down the real villains at the same time.”

Ridge quirks a brow. “What did you have in mind?”

“If we’re framing Cade for the other murders, what if we give him an accomplice?”

Ridge scoops me off the floor, my feet dangling in midair as he twirls me around. “You’re a fucking genius.”

As he sets me down, I see Maddox, and my heart splinters. He’s on the couch now, elbows pressed to his bare knees as he stares at the floor with a scorned look on his face.

Ridge catches my gaze and follows me over to Maddox’s side. I sit down beside him and rest a comforting hand on his leg. “I know this is a lot to take in.”

He jumps up in a state of disbelief, throwing his arms out wide. “He’s my fucking dad. How could he do this shit to me, to our family?”

Giving him his space, I remain on the couch while he hovers over the shattered picture on the floor. “Does my mom know about the shit he’s been up to, or this horrible secret he’s been keeping?”

“Doubtful,” Ridge says. “Your mom’s a fucking saint.”

Maddox’s eyes slide up and the pain in them reappears. “I thought my dad was, too. At least, as much as he could be in this world. We’re Guardians. We’re supposed to protect members, not kidnap them. Whatever the hell he’s hiding must be really fucking bad.”

“We’ll know soon enough,” I say softly. “And hopefully, it’s not as bad as what you think.”

“Well,” Maddox says with a sudden shift in his demeanor, “we’re not accomplishing anything by standing around here.” His eyes dart to Ridge. “Call Lev on that burner phone and fill him in, then we need him to get into Cade’s house to put the first part of the plan in motion. After that, let’s hear what Riley has planned. I think it’s time she knows our endgame here anyways.”

“Fuck no. She’ll be an accomplice if we fill her in,” Ridge says through gritted teeth.

I cross my arms and glower at Ridge. I’m not a damsel in distress that sits on the sidelines, and Ridge Foster needs to come to terms with who the fuck I am.

“I’ll be your partner,” I say in a condescending tone, moving to stand over him. “If we want this shit to work, we better all get on the same fucking page. First of all, I am not going to sit on the sidelines while the three of you throw yourselves into the lion's den. It’s all of us or none of us. And second,” I point my finger at both of them to make this very clear, “there will not be another damned secret among us. If you cheated on your math exam in the third grade, I better fucking know about it. No. More. Lies.”

Maddox smiles and I can see Ridge debating on agreeing to my terms or throwing me over his shoulder and tying me up to put me in a padded box for the rest of my life where he knows I’ll remain safe.

“Deal,” Maddox says as we watch Ridge’s shoulders sag in defeat.

“Ridge?” I ask, needing to hear him say it out loud.

“All right, it’s a deal.” He walks over to me and fists my hair. Smacking his lips to mine, he shows me exactly who’s in charge here before there’s anything I can say about it. He breaks the kiss and looks me in the eyes as he says, “We planned to take down The Society from within, but I feel like you could have probably guessed that by now.”

I nod. “I figured as much.”

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