Epilogue #2
The three older Griffin brothers appeared hard and heartless when I first met them, and it took a while to see the fissures in their granite surface.
Alice broke each of them in a slightly different way, and I hate her for doing that.
I could kill her for the cruelty she inflicted on her babies, in much the same way that Hunter wished Hugo dead.
Unfortunately, I don’t have the authority to order a hit.
All I can do is help Hunter heal, just like he healed me.
Anxiety tightens my chest as I leave the restroom and make my way back to the main function room.
Recent experience has taught me to be very much aware of my surroundings, but I don’t sense impending danger until I turn a corner and spy a group of men in tuxedos.
When I look into the face of the man who’s talking, I have a flashback to the night I was dragged from my bed.
Ray meets my eye for only a fraction of a second. There’s no shock, and he continues talking without pause. He was expecting me to appear.
“It’s been a difficult year for all of us,” he’s saying to his acquaintances. “But Barrett knows how to turn misfortune to his advantage. I was only talking to him a moment ago…”
His voice fades out of my consciousness as I watch him point in the direction of the gala. Ray doesn’t look at me again. He’s delivered his warning. Barrett’s here.
I wrap a clammy hand around my purse and pick up my pace. I’m not scared of my ex-fiancé, but I am worried about how Hunter will react. The lights have been dimmed, and loud music vibrates through my bones as I pause to scan the room.
Alice is in my seat. Hunter and Ash stare at her with arms folded, while Mace has his head down staring at his phone.
Reid seems to be the only one conversing with Alice.
I cast my gaze wider, searching for the only son who received Alice’s devotion.
It makes me wonder how corrupting her love must be given that Barrett is the only one without compassion or morals.
I spot the man himself leaning against a wall on the opposite side of the room.
His eyes are trained on our table, and he hasn’t noticed me yet, which gives me a moment to figure out what to do for the best. Persuading Hunter to leave should be easy, but I couldn’t leave without warning the others.
In which case, I’d have to tell Hunter too because they work as a team.
I search the crowd for Rory. He might be able to intervene before there’s a scene, but he’s sitting at a table in another corner. I can’t reach him without drawing Barrett’s attention. And if Barrett dares approach me, all hell is going to break loose.
If I were the one to confront Barrett, however…
I start moving before I’ve thought it through.
It seems inevitable that there’s going to be a confrontation, so I need to position myself front and center.
The feud between the Griffins and Emersons has been going on for decades, but this latest war is over me.
And I want Barrett to know that I’m not his pawn, and it’s not his game.
My strides become more confident as I draw nearer my target. I glance in the direction of Hunter and almost lose my step. He’s spotted me, and then his eyes train across to where I’m heading. His features darken, and he says something to his brothers. Four men shoot up out of their seats.
Barrett straightens up. There’s a smile playing across his face as if he’d been waiting for their reaction, but as I bear down on him, he finally spots me. His expression drops.
“I’m so glad you came,” I hiss. “Ever since our wedding day, I’ve wanted to tell you what a worthless piece of shit you are.” I stab a fingernail into his chest. “But now you’re here, I honestly don’t care enough to waste my breath on you.”
“My goodness, Maddison,” Barrett says as he regains his composure. “Hunter has turned you into a little monster. I do hope we’ll get to play together one day.”
Just the sound of his voice sends a shudder of revulsion through me.
I know I’m seconds away from being interrupted, and I need to contain the situation quickly.
I move in closer until we’re almost touching.
It crosses my mind to grab Barrett by the balls, but I don’t want to get that intimate, and Hunter would certainly object.
So, I stab a stiletto into the toe of his shoe instead.
Barrett yelps as he tries to move his foot, but I have him skewered. He could push me away, but he has the better view of the crowd. He must know my husband is closing in.
“You know Hunter would kill for me, don’t you?” I say, narrowing my eyes. I don’t need to mention he already has. “But what you might not appreciate is that I’d kill for him too. In fact, I almost put a bullet in your henchman’s head. ”
Beads of sweat break out along Barrett’s forehead. “Do you really want to make a scene in front of all these nice people, Maddison?”
“Her name’s Maddie,” Hunter growls as his hand clamps on my hip.
He’s about to pull me away as three more Griffins surround us, but I resist.
“I’ve got this,” I tell him, glancing down to the heel impaling Barrett’s shoe. The stiletto isn’t sharp enough to break through the leather, but I increase the pressure just to see the flicker of pain cross Barrett’s face. “I can only presume you came here to make a point, so make it.”
He snarls. “I didn’t come here for you at all. I’m here for my mother,” he says. Glancing at the four men surrounding me, his gaze fixes on Ash. “Did she tell you?”
“That she’s dying? Yes.”
“Then you should do the decent thing and leave us in peace.”
For a fraction of a second, I consider removing my foot. Despite the unworthiness of the people involved, compassion is about to get the better of me. But then I recall what Ray had said in the corridor about Barrett turning a misfortune to his advantage.
“You just want us to look the other way so you can get up to your usual nasty tricks,” I say.
“Our mother is dying ,” he replies. “Does that mean nothing to you?” His voice catches, but not enough to sound convincing.
“The woman who birthed us is dying,” Mace says dispassionately. “Boo-fucking-hoo.”
“The only allowance I’m going to make is not killing you before she’s dead,” Hunter says. “But one day you will pay for what you did to Maddie. I can promise you that. ”
Barrett attempts a laugh. “You’ll have to wait in line. Your supposed-wife has already threatened me.”
“Then we’ll stand back and watch,” says Ash.
Hunter leans over my shoulder, coming closer to Barrett. “And there’s no ‘supposed,’ about my relationship with Maddie. She’s my wife, and the only way you’ll come into contact with her again is when she’s rolling your dead body into the shallow grave I’ll dig for you.”
There’s movement in my periphery as Alice closes in. She’s being accompanied by our tall and handsome host.
“Now, isn’t this a lovely family reunion.” Rory remarks. “Would you like me to arrange a private room for you all?”
“I’d say the talking’s done,” says Reid. “And if Maddie can stab a man in the foot while in a crowded room, can you imagine what she’d do to him in private?”
“I’m imagining it now,” I say. And I am. I really am.
“Barrett,” Alice says. “We should go.”
I remove my heel from Barrett’s shoe, making him wince.
“Go home like a good little boy,” Ash tells him.
As Barrett clears the wall of bodies, he hesitates. “She was mine first,” he says to Hunter with a snarl. “You can never change that.” The bastard wants to cause a fight.
As Hunter tries to side step me, I follow, blocking him.
“Hunter was my first,” I correct Barrett. “And he’ll be my last. He’ll also be my next. And very soon.”
“He can have you,” Barrett mutters, limping away.
“Oh, and I’m sorry about the table in your private jet,” I call after him, loud enough for anyone to hear. “It was fine taking my weight, but not when Hunter was on top of me.”
Rory laughs the loudest. “I think I should take that key card back. I don’t want you wrecking the joint. ”
“You can have it back in an hour,” Hunter says, his voice low and deep as he starts pulling me away.
As we cross the room, I spot Alice back at her table with Barrett. There’re taking their time gathering their things. They don’t want it to look like they’ve been frightened off.
“We should dance first,” I say, tugging on Hunter’s sleeve.
Reluctantly, he lets me guide him onto the dance floor. It’s not a slow dance, but it’s slow enough for us to hold each other close. Hunter hooks a finger under my chin and tips my head back. He shakes his head, but he’s smiling.
“You did it again, Maddie,” he says, his thumb tracing my mouth. “Just when I think I know you, you pull another stunt that has my jaw dropping.”
I thread my fingers through his hair. “You do know me, Hunter. Or as much as I know myself. I didn’t know I was going to confront Barrett until I was practically in his face.”
“You did well, little bird.”
“So did you,” I reply.
It’s only now, as the adrenaline washes out of my bloodstream, that I can process what just happened.
“Are you OK?” I ask. “The news about Alice…”
Hunter looks about to dismiss it, but he knows I won’t let him get away with that. “I’d like to say it means nothing – that I feel nothing.”
“But?”
He thinks on it a moment. “If I have to grieve, it’ll be for the mom I never had.
The imaginary person that Alice could have been, but wasn’t.
She’s making out she wants to build bridges, but she’s only doing it for Barrett.
She wants us to form some kind of alliance, because she knows, without her around, there’ll be more battles until Barrett becomes an issue we can’t ignore. ”
“He wanted to cause a fight tonight.”
“He probably had the headlines all set. ‘Hero tries to rescue stolen bride.’”
“I prefer, ‘Dark, brooding billionaire steals blushing bride and ruins her – utterly and completely.’”
Hunter’s lips ghost mine when he says, “I thought we agreed that it was you who ruined me.”
“And I’d do it again.”
“I’d let you,” he whispers huskily. “There’s you, and only you, Maddie.”
He kisses me harder and deeper as our bodies grind together.
If Barrett’s watching, we’re putting on quite a show, but I no longer care.
Everything and everyone around us falls away as Hunter pulls me into our own little universe.
We’re safe here. I’m safe. I’m whoever I want to be, and Hunter will love me for who I am, and whoever I become.
His little bird has been set free. But she’ll always be his.
Thank you so much for reading Wretched HEART.