Maddie looks up at me with a shrug, like she’s not sure what to do.
I don’t know what to tell her, not yet. “I’ll catch up to you,” I mouth then turn away to answer the call. “Elsie! How are Arlo and Odie?”
CHAPTER 42
Maddie
I feel like I’m going to be sick.
Rhonda is showing me around, talking incessantly in her typical rapid-fire way when she’s excited, pointing out all the wonderful reasons why this is the perfect solution, and I don’t hear a word, not really. Instead of paying attention like a good friend, I keep looking over at Riggs, wondering what on earth is going on because the way he’s waving his hands around and shouting into his phone doesn’t look good. Even Ash notices something is wrong and leaves us to go join his brother.
Riggs is holding his phone out now, which means he has it on speaker, and the conversation between the three of them gets loud, but they’re talking over each other so I can’t make out what they’re arguing about.
Determined to find out, I ignore Rhonda for a moment and start to head in their direction, but Riggs sees me and holds up a hand telling me to stop. I don’t like it, but I don’t know what else to do so I just stand hereand helplessly watch them make their way to the far side of the warehouse while still shouting at the phone. When they stop at the distant corner of the building, too far away to hear anything, Ash is standing there rubbing the back of his neck, clearly upset, while Riggs continues to argue with his sister.
Meanwhile, Rhonda is so excited about the idea of working on a film crew, she doesn’t even notice the mayhem.
Shaking his head, Riggs finally puts his phone away as Ash rests his hand on his brother’s shoulder. I’m forced to wait patiently while the two men talk. After what feels like an eternity, they finally start making their way back to us, and from the look on their faces, I already know.
“Babe, we need to talk,” Ash says to Rhonda. He’s giving her his killer smile. That probably means it’s worse than I’m imagining.
As soon as they leave, Riggs turns to me. “Yeah, we need to talk too.”
I don’t want to have this conversation here in front of all these strangers. “How about a drive?”
He’s rubbing the back of his neck like Ash was and my stomach ties up in knots. “Yeah,” he says looking around. “That sounds good.”
We don’t say anything until we’re out of the city and driving through the countryside. Riggs is gripping the steering wheel so hard his knuckles are white, and I try to brace myself for whatever is coming. No matter how bad it is, I’m sure there’s a way to work through it. There has to be.
I reach over and touch his hand. “Relax, it can’t be that bad.”
His eyes dart over to me, and I can see the sheer anger in them. “I hope you’re right,” he mutters.
Whatever happened, I’ve never seen him this upset and it’s unsettling. “What did Elsie say? Just tell me. Whatever it is, we can work through it.” At least, I hope we can.
He hesitates, then draws in a ragged breath. “Okay, but you’re not going to like it.”
Probably not, but I need him to calm down and tell me everything. “Start from the beginning,” I say with a soothing tone as I rest my hand on his thigh. “Whatever it is, we’ll deal with it together.”
It takes a moment for him to loosen his death grip on the steering wheel and get his breathing under control. “There was a contract from the network. Ash sent it to me when we were in Sweetbriar. I should have read it, but it was three hundred pages, and I’ve never had to read a contract before. That’s what Elsie’s lawyers are for, and I’ve always trusted the process. But things are different now.” He pounds his fist against the steering wheel. “I was so stupid!”
He's starting to scare me. “I don’t understand. Are you saying you shouldn’t have trusted Elsie?”
“No, it isn’t her fault, I’m the one who should have known better.”
“What isn’t her fault? What happened?”
He pauses, leaving me in the dark, and I don’t know what to do. I’m about to say something else, I don’t know what exactly, but I don’t have to when he exhales, and in a more subdued tone, turns to me with, “When Elsie negotiated the deal with National Discovery, she didn’t know anything about you and Rhonda. As far as she knew, I was determined to stay single because I didn’t want to hurt anyone bystarting a relationship only to never be there for it, and Ash was committed to being a manwhore. When the contract came, neither one of us bothered to read it. We knew Elsie cared more about us than the business, she always has, so we didn’t question it. There was no reason to, so we did what we’ve always done and just signed it.”
“Okay, so what’s the problem?”
The muscles in his forearms tense. “It’s a three-year contract, thirty-six million per year with an option for two more years. The first three years alone are over a hundred million.”
“Three years? Why do I feel like you’re about to tell me you can’t get out of it?”
“I’ll explain it the way Elsie explained it to us. First, you have to understand that we’re a big company. With the military contracts and outdoor gear, along with a number of other businesses we’re invested in, it’s worth about six billion. The military contracts make up the bulk of that.”
“Okay, but what does that have to do with the National Discovery contract?”
