31. Ryan

My mind was actively being blown. I could only imagine how Maddox felt right now. Seeing him tentatively make amends with his mom was better than I even dared to hope when he told me she was coming over.

I looked up at where he sat beside me, a boyish smile on his face as he caught up with the family he never thought he’d have. He looked younger and lighter than I’d ever seen him. He had a carefree energy around him that seriously made my heart sing. His mom looked lighter, too. They both needed this, and I couldn’t believe it took Yates trying to hurt him to bring him the kind of freedom he always wished for.

And Griffin? He could almost be Maddox’s twin, except he was covered in tattoos. While Maddox had a rebellious reputation, I had a feeling his little brother could give him a run for his money. He was bad boy personified with his dark eyes, tattoos, and cocky smirk. He even walked with a swagger meant to make all the panties in a three-block radius spontaneously combust.

He kept shooting me flirty glances that I hoped his brother didn’t pick up on because Maddox was possessive as hell, and I wanted them to have a good relationship. So, I glared at him in return, not wanting to give him any signals at all that could be interpreted as anything other than not interested.

“So, Ryan,” Monica turned to me with a bright smile on her face, the tears that streaked down her face just an hour ago long since dried and scrubbed away. “How long have you and my son been together?”

I tried to choke back a giggle, but it burst out, and before I knew it, I was full-on laughing. The head thrown back kind that wasn’t cute. But, what a loaded question, one I really didn’t know how to answer. Maddox’s grip on me tightened as he chuckled and pressed a kiss to my temple.

“Sorry,” I apologized, wiping my eyes. “That’s a really complicated question to answer. I know it shouldn’t be, but you’re not the only one who left and took way too long to come back. I think it must be genetics,” I teased, and Maddox’s eyes narrowed slightly, almost like he was wondering if I was taking a shot at him or just teasing.

I smiled lovingly up at him, and he dropped a kiss on the tip of my nose. I melted a little because I loved it when he did that. “I was head over heels in love with this guy before I even really knew what love was,” I started, poking him in the ribs as I turned to face his mom and Griffin, who made himself more comfortable on the couch. It seemed like he’d gotten the message and toned it down.

“I was ten, and he saved me from a couple of bullies. We’d been neighbors our whole lives, but I’d only seen him from a distance until that day,” I recalled.

“She was so small, and it was heartbreaking watching the boys pick on her. Especially over something so stupid,” he added, jumping in to tell a little bit of his side of that day.

“What were they picking on you about?” Griffin asked, leaning forward. He actually looked curious, which surprised me since he also looked like the kind of guy who only got to know you well enough to get in your pants but forgot your name as soon as he got off.

“My name.” I shrugged. “Little boys are mostly all dicks, no offense.”

Maddox and Griffin both laughed, and the sounds were eerily similar. “None taken, Freckles.” Maddox’s thumb rubbed gently along my shoulder, making me shiver like he always did. Every little way he touched me today was slowly building, making it harder to concentrate on anything but his touch. I wanted more, but I’d have to wait until later when we were alone. He flashed me a quick grin that said he knew exactly what he was doing to me.

“What’s wrong with your name?” Griffin asked, genuine curiosity on his face as he picked up the bottle of water I’d brought out for him, twisting open the top and taking a sip.

I rolled my eyes. “Nothing except it’s usually a boy’s name. So they’d tease me about having boy ‘parts’.” I made air quotes. “Or being a boy or whatever. Now it seems kind of ridiculous, but at the time, it was relentless until Maddox stepped in.”

“Aww, I’m proud of you,” Monica said, pressing her palm to her chest with a warm smile on her face.

“Thanks.” Maddox almost looked like he was blushing, and I really wanted to tease him, but I’d let him have a freebie. It was a big deal for him to have his mom tell him she was proud of him. It had probably never happened before in his life. He deserved to enjoy it.

“I’d seen it happen a few times, but the bus came, and I didn’t want to get in more trouble. But that day, the bus was nowhere to be found, and they had her pinned. They were going to pull down her pants and try and prove she was really a boy. You should’ve seen the look on her face. She was this terrified, angry little girl who was trying desperately to save herself. But she couldn’t. It was two against one, and she tried to fight them off, but it wasn’t a battle she could win.”

“What’d you do?” Griffin questioned, and he looked like he was genuinely invested in this story. It made me wonder if he was actually the kind of guy his outward appearance and attitude suggested or if there was more to him. Maybe he didn’t even know yet since he was only twenty-two.

Maddox smirked. “All I had to do was tell them to let her go. They took one look at me towering over them and twice as broad and got the hell away from her.”

I pulled his hand into mine. “And he didn’t let me wait for the bus alone for the rest of the year. He walked me home every day. And those two little jerks never messed with me again.”

“Damn, my big bro’s a knight in shining armor,” Griffin snickered.

“More like a wolf in sheep’s clothing,” I corrected as Maddox’s hand moved from my shoulder to my thigh, squeezing as desire pooled inside of me. He was driving me insane with his touches. Was it possible to die from sexual frustration?

“What’s wrong, Freckles?” he whispered darkly into my ear, his warm breath making goosebumps break out over my entire body. Damn him.

“Is it hot in here?” Griffin asked loudly, while my cheeks heated up.

“That’s enough,” Monica chastised her younger son gently, a soft smile on her face. She looked happy to have both of her boys in the same room. I couldn’t imagine the weight of guilt and longing she’d been carrying all these years. “I think we’re going to go, but I thought we’d stick around a few days if you don’t mind. We’ll get a hotel room, of course.”

Maddox smiled and stood when his mom and brother did, smoothing out his shirt. He almost looked… nervous? “Are you sure? You guys can stay here, we have room.”

My heart soared at the fact he’d included me as someone who lived here with him even if I wasn’t.

“No, I… I can’t stay here,” Monica shook her head, shadows crossing her face before she blinked, and her smile was back. “The hotel will be fine. Griffin might want to stay, though.”

“Would you mind?” he asked, his dark eyes locking with Maddox’s.

“Not at all. Let’s go grab your bag,” Maddox offered, walking out the front door with his family. Before he stepped over the threshold, he looked back and gave me a smile of pure joy. He was radiating such happiness tears sprang to my eyes. Seeing him so happy made my heart full.

By the time Monica left for the hotel and Maddox got Griffin settled in his room, the three of us were sitting back around in the living room, and Connor walked in the front door with Sebastian. I didn’t know where the other guys were, but then again, I hadn’t known we were supposed to meet up with Connor today, either.

Everything but dealing with Maddox’s family had fallen away today. I even forgot about Yates and what a mess we were dealing with. It was hard to be mad about his latest attempt to sabotage my boyfriend when it ended up bringing him so much happiness. The only times I’d seen him happier was when we had sex for the first time and when I chose him over Yates.

Connor plopped down across from where Maddox and I were tangled with each other on one side of the sectional. It was huge and in a U-shape, so there was plenty of room for everyone as Sebastian sat next to Connor. Griffin sat in the middle as he and Connor studied each other wordlessly.

“You’re the little brother?” Connor finally asked, his eyes still unreadable. I looked at Maddox, who was watching his friend get a read on his brother. Truthfully, we didn’t know anything about the guy. But I’d be willing to bet Connor had a file thicker than a dictionary on Griffin. If he gave his approval for him to be here and a part of everything going on, we could relax. If not, well… We’d figure it out.

“Apparently so,” Griffin drawled, relaxing back against the cushions and crossing his ankle over his knee.

“There’s a lot of shit going on that you know nothing about. If you stay, you can’t breathe a fucking word to anyone outside of this room. Do you understand?” Connor demanded. It was as good as an approval from him that he was giving Griffin the choice. I relaxed back against Maddox and felt the tension melt from his body at the same time. That would go a long way towards Maddox accepting and trusting his brother.

Griffin nodded, suddenly more serious. The indifferent and somewhat asshole-ish expression he’d had on his face when the guys walked in dropped away, and now he just looked concerned. It looked like the protective instinct wasn’t only strong in Maddox but his brother, too.

Sebastian dropped the messenger bag he always kept with him onto the ottoman and started pulling out thick files. “These are everything we’ve gathered on Yates. This one’s every transactional record I could find between Rutherford Bank and his offshore account.” He passed the folder to Maddox.

“And this one’s all the transactions from the offshore account to his private account.” He set another folder onto the ottoman.

“And lastly, but definitely most disgusting, pictures from the past couple of days along with transaction records of his interactions with a couple of different prostitutes,” Sebastian finished, plopping the disturbingly thick file down and then squirting a huge amount of hand sanitizer in his hand and rubbing it in. “Too bad this doesn’t work on my eyes.” He looked at the bottle wistfully.

Griffin grabbed for the folder with the pictures in it and flipped it open. His eyes widened, and his lip curled. “Jesus,” he muttered, slamming the folder closed and setting it back down. “Mind if I get some of that?” he asked Sebastian, pointing to the bottle of hand sanitizer.

“Sure,” Sebastian agreed, tossing it to him.

As he rubbed his hands together, Griffin glanced down at the folders. “What is all of this?”

Connor looked to Maddox, his head cocked to the side, and his eyebrow raised. Maddox turned to his brother. “Yeah, so didn’t you wonder how your picture suddenly ended up all over the media?”

He shrugged. “Once mom told me who you were, it made sense. I’m surprised it didn’t happen sooner.”

“Well, I’ve always kept my past private. I preferred to make as many distractions in the present as I could so everyone focused on that shit instead.” I never realized Maddox had calculated and planned so much of his image. I always sort of figured it was just the way he was.

Griffin nodded along as Maddox continued. “Until someone tried to take Freckles from me. When I fought back, he played dirty. Now it’s time I play dirtier. That motherfucker’s going to regret not just letting her go.”

“I think I missed a lot,” Griffin noted, his eyes darting between Maddox and me.

“You did, but the most important thing to know is that despite your brother threatening him and me rearranging his balls back up into his body, he keeps coming at us. And at this point, we’re convinced he’s not going to stop. Plus, he deserves to pay for everything he’s done,” I explained, leaning my head against Maddox’s shoulder. He brushed the hair off of my forehead gently.

“Wait, is this why I saw Russell on TV the other night?” Griffin asked, anger suddenly replacing his concern.

Connor nodded. “That was all Yates, Sebastian confirmed it by hacking his email.”

“I’m not even going to touch his ridiculous name,” Griffin started. “But mom told me on the way here about Russell and everything he did to her. She kept it to herself all these years. I never knew I had a brother, and I never knew she was married before my dad. But if I ever meet him, I’ll fucking kill him,” he vowed, his voice dark with his threat. The mood had gotten a lot more serious.

“You’re going to have to get in line,” Connor agreed.

“Getting back on track,” I cut in because we could talk about how much of a dick Russell was and how much we all wanted a turn ripping into him all night. We had a mission and needed to stay focused.

“First, we hand this all over to the cops. Then, we crash a party,” Connor outlined, gathering the files up and stuffing them back into Sebastian’s bag.

“How is crashing a party going to help us?” I asked.

“It’s not just any party,” Sebastian grinned deviously. “It’s Yates’s parents’ quarterly charity ball. They throw it at the country club for some ridiculous, undeserving charity that doesn’t actually help anyone. This quarter’s is happening tomorrow night, coincidentally. It’s the perfect place to expose Yates as the thief he is. Among other things.”

“We’re going to embarrass him in front of everyone.” The more of this plan I heard, the more I liked it.

“Right. Sebastian’s done here, so he’s going back to the hotel. The three of us have got a date with Sergeant Ferraro in,” Connor glanced down at his watch. “A little more than an hour, so let’s go.”

“What about me?” Griffin asked, sitting up.

“Just hang out. It’s a long drive, and it’s going to be boring. We’ll be back in a couple of hours, and then we’ll get some dinner.” Maddox stood up and pulled me with him. “Feel free to drink all my beer.”

He glanced around. “Do you have a music room?” It would’ve been a weird question if he was talking to someone not in a world-famous band. But Maddox always had his bass or a guitar nearby.

“You play?” Maddox asked his brother, who nodded.

“Drums.”

“It’s the last door on the left. There are a couple of guitars, a couple of basses, and a drum set in case Jericho visits.”

“I still can’t believe you not only know those guys but are part of the band,” Griffin marveled, looking a little star-struck for a minute before he snapped out of it. I giggled but tried to hide it behind my hand.

“Have fun, little brother.” Maddox tested the words like a new food he wasn’t sure he liked the taste of, but Griffin didn’t seem to mind.

“We’ll pick up dinner on the way home,” I added, pulling out my phone. “Put your number in my phone, and I’ll text so we can decide what we want.” I handed my phone over to Griffin, and he tapped the screen before handing it back. I sent a quick text back. “I texted you Maddox’s number, so you have it, too.”

He nodded, pulling out his own phone and getting lost in it as I grabbed my purse and slid my boots back on. We stepped out of the house, ducking quickly into Connor’s waiting SUV. The crowd of reporters outside had thinned considerably since we’d been avoiding them and not giving them anything usable picture-wise.

The drive to the police station passed quickly since I rested my head on Maddox’s shoulder and dozed the entire trip. He was lost in thought, and I wanted to give him some space.

We pulled up to the station, following Connor inside. It was one of his old Marine buddies we were seeing, a guy he served with, who was a sergeant here with the DPD. The building was taller than I expected, this precinct one of the larger ones if I had to guess. It looked like it’d been recently remodeled, and it had a modern feel to it.

Judging by the fact Yates’s parents lived in this area, I wasn’t surprised.

Connor checked in with the front desk while Maddox and I hung back. Before we could even sit down, a surprisingly young man walked into the room, greeting Connor like old friends. “This must be the guy,” Maddox murmured near my ear before kissing my cheek and weaving his fingers between mine.

Connor turned toward us, waving us over. “Maddox, Ryan, this is Sergeant Ferraro.”

He held out his hand for me to shake first, then Maddox. His smile was open and friendly, and I couldn’t help but smile back. “Call me Lucas. Please.”

Maddox’s hand dropped to my lower back as we followed Lucas and Connor back to his office. Once the door was safely closed, Connor pulled out the three files and handed them over. “These are yours to keep, I’ve got copies.”

“And what am I looking at?” Lucas asked, thumbing through the pages.

“Are you familiar with the Rutherfords?” Connor asked instead of answering his question.

“Sure, everyone around here is. Old money, they own the bank downtown.”

“As I’m sure you’re aware, they have a son. Yates,” Connor continued.

Lucas’s happy demeanor shifted to something a little less friendly and a little bit more annoyed. I could relate. “I’m familiar with him. I wish I wasn’t.”

“A sentiment we all share,” I offered with a soft laugh.

“He’s been skimming from the company. And, as you’ll see, he really enjoys prostitutes. Tread carefully when flipping through that file,” Connor suggested, pointing out the folder with the prostitute pictures in it as if it were radioactive, keeping a fair distance.

Sergeant Ferraro looked at it like it might bite him, and I fought off a laugh. “I’ll keep that in mind. What do you need from me?”

“We were hoping you’d arrest him tomorrow night at the charity ball his parents are throwing.”

Lucas sighed. “At the Imperial Cedar Country Club, right?”

Maddox nodded.

“This is either going to go really, really well, or fuck up my whole day,” Lucas noted, resigned.

“We’re going to make a speech, and once it’s done, we want you and your men to move in and take him. We plan to show his parents and all his parent’s snobby friends the kind of man he truly is. But we need your help,” Connor laid out, explaining the details of what we planned to do tomorrow night.

“I’ll get everything set up and in place. I’ll need to get a warrant,” Lucas confirmed after he’d flipped through the evidence we brought him.

“We don’t want anyone to know this is going down until it happens. If we don’t surprise him, he’ll run,” Connor added, lifting himself out of the chair. Maddox and I did the same, and Lucas followed.

“I’ll only bring in my most trusted guys. We’ll get him,” he promised, holding out his hand for Connor to shake. If Connor trusted him, Maddox and I did, too. I couldn’t wait for tomorrow night and the end of the nightmare that I’d started for all of us a couple of months ago.

I couldn’t wait to watch Yates get everything he deserved.