“Matt, take Tyler upstairs and check out Grandfather’s study,” I tell them without taking my eyes off of Margret. “There should be some books up there on music he might like.”
“What are you doing here? You aren’t allowed to be here.” she demands. “With this little scrubber no less. I thought I took care of this problem years ago, but here you are with her and her bastard offspring. Really, Ryder, have you no concern for the family’s reputation? To take thistrollop's child as your own?”
“Don’t play dumb, Margret. You know exactly what she’s doing here. Just like you know that’smyson.”
“I’m calling the police. You’re not supposed to be here.”
“Stop with the pretending, Margret Catherine,” Grandfather booms.“The charade is over. My daughter has been given everything in life, butsomehow,I never noticed the person you’d become. Though, you are right about one thing. The police were notified the moment you arrived. They’ll be here any minute.”
Her eyes grow wide. Not with fear or worry but outrage and outright shock. Because my mother cannot see where anything she does is wrong.
“You’ll be charged with a plethora of things including blackmail, extortion, tampering with medical records, and accessory to murder.”
“Murder,” she gasps. “What are you talking about? I’ve done nothing of the sort.”
“Rayna,” my voice is deep and rough and threatening. Heaven slips her hand into mine, rubbing up and down my arm. Grounding me. “She’s dead because of you. And before you deny it, I have proof. It has taken me years to get it, but I have it. Grandfather has acopy, and a copy has been sent to the police.”
She waves her hand in the air like I’m ridiculous. “Anything you have is simply the machinations of your imagination. Nothing you have could get me convicted.”
“But it will ruin you. Your precious little reputation will be tarnished. No one will want a thing to do with you.” I don’t try to stop the wicked grin from stretching my face. “Everyone will know exactly who you really are.”
“You are ill, Ryder,” she says, trying to twist this back on me. “You needhelp,and you obviously aren’t getting it. I think it’s time you come home.”
“One more thing, Margret,” my grandfather says. His demeanor astounds me. How he can be so calm and controlled? “You are to vacate the townhouse tomorrow. And the penthouse in New York. You will no longer have access to the company’s files or finances. You will only be left with your trust, but I’m certain once legal fees, fines, and restitutions are made, there won’t be much of that left either considering how much you’ve blown through in your life.”
Of course,thatgets her attention. But I’ve heard enough. With Heaven’s hand in mine, we make our way upstairs where we find Matt and Tyler. I take them to the theater room, and we enjoy movies for the rest of the night.
Ryder
You Are the Reason
We all sit at the house in Craryville. Dane is manning the grill while Jake tosses the football with Tyler out back. Heaven and the rest of the girls are all in the kitchen preparing the rest of the food when I walk through,grabbing a cream puff from the plate.
Heaven slaps my hand with a grin. “You can wait like everyone else,” she teases before she drops her voice low. “You talk to him?”
I scrub my hand down my face with a nod. “He sounds off.”
“Are you still going down there?”
“Weare going down there,” I tell her with a nod.
I gave Bastian a month. His month is almost up. Since I’ve been twelve years old, this is the longest I’ve gone without seeing Maddoxexcept for the last time he was in rehab. Even when he was back in River City for that year and a half, I still went down there every weekend.
Yes. I’m in therapy. Yes, I’m well aware how unhealthy our codependency has been. But he is still my best friend. More than a friend. More than a brother. If you can have two soulmates in life, I do. Heaven and Maddox. They playquite distinct rolesin my life. I no longer need Maddox for the sexual release I once did. But he has always been more than that. He gets me on a level that I’m not sure anyone else ever will.
He needs me. I can feel it in my bones. And as great as life has been treating me these last few weeks, I need him.
“We,” she nods in agreement. “I need to see him too.”
Okay, so maybe Heaven gets it. She doesn’t feel for Maddox quite the same as I do, but if anyone ever understood, maybe she does. I sometimes wonder if their souls aren’t intertwined as well. If that is the case, then Maddox Masters’ soul has been split into multiple pieces. He connects so deeply with people that he gives each new person a piece of him. I canthink of one other person that feels the same. I just hope he has a piece left out there somewhere. A piece for him like Heaven is for me. I hope that piece hasn’t been taken by someone who will never be what he needs them to be.
I continue my path out the back door and take a seat next to Angel and Tyler, who are practicing on the guitar. Angel shows him a new chord progression, and Tyler is quick to pick it up.
Angel’s eyes snap to mine in amazement. “He’s really good, Ry. Scary good.”
Tyler grins wide as he continues to move his fingers across the strings. “Dad has been helping me every day after school.”
“Not every day,” I remind him.
