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“Then let’s listen,” he murmured, unlocking my phone and going to the recording app. He hit the play button and let the recording start.
It took everything in me to remain still and placid while I heard them all talking. I wanted to laugh at Linc and Court’s outrage. But it was the way Ryan talked about me that echoed in my heart.
The sincerity in his voice couldn’t be faked, and Gary’s smile grew bigger and bigger as he came to the same realization.
Ryan sounded completely and utterly in love with me, to the point of his own ruin.
When it became clear the recording was over, he pushed my phone across the desk to me.
“Well done, Maddie,” he praised, his tone almost warm and caring.
Almost.
I huffed a little, playing up my indifference to Ryan’s feelings when in reality, I was falling even more in love with him. “Is that what you needed to hear?”
He nodded. “I have a few calls to make. Why don’t you go see your mother? She’s been asking for you.”
My brows shot up. “She has?” My heart started to pound in my chest, worried about how she was doing. “She’s here?” I had assumed he’d be keeping her locked away somewhere. Not in his own house.
He waved a hand, dismissing me. “Mrs. Delancey will show you where she is.”
I rose from the chair and barely stopped myself from curling my hands into fists. “Actually, I should probably be getting back. You see how needy Ryan is.”
Gary snorted in amusement. “Clearly, but we’re not done. I’ll make my calls, then we’ll talk.”
Suspecting I would piss him off if I stayed, I turned on my heels and stalked out. Sure enough, Mrs. Delancey waited in the front hall. Her tight-lipped smile seemed like it was meant to be an olive branch, but I didn’t have the emotional capacity to accept it.
Instead, I walked past her and started up the stairs, leaving her to follow. When I got to the top of the stairs, I realized that I still wasn’t sure where in this giant house my mom was being kept.
With a sigh, I turned to Mrs. Delancey, but she was already looking at me like she was gearing up for an apology tour. “Madel—”
I held up a hand, glaring down at her. “Don’t.”
She flinched. “I’m sorry. Madison.”
My teeth clicked together as my jaw clenched. “I meant, don’t talk to me at all. I don’t care what name you call me, as long as you do it in your head. Where’s my mom?”
Her cheeks flushed. “I…” Her shoulders slumped. “I’ll take you to see your mother. But, I have to warn you, she’s…”
“High? Trashed? Unconscious?” I snapped my fingers. “Lounging in a puddle of her own throw up? Trust me, Mrs. Delancey, I’ve seen my mother in every imaginable state, from fucking a random guy on the floor of our shitty kitchen to semi-normal at the end of rehab.”
She gave a silent, tight nod and moved around me to continue lead me down a hallway in the opposite direction of my room. When we reached the last door at the end, she pulled a key from her pocket and unlocked the door.
I let out a strangled laugh. “Wow. Locking her up, huh?”
“It’s for her own safety.” Mrs. Delancey stepped aside to let me in. As soon as I was through the doorway, she started to close the door. “I’ll wait out here.”
It took a second for my eyes to adjust from the brightly lit hallway to the dark interior of the room. I was able to make out the shadow of a bed with rumpled sheets, half hanging to the floor. A chair was shoved against a wall, and a coffee table lay on its side in front of it. The room smelled like my childhood—sweat, old cigarette smoke, and hopelessness.
Against my better judgment, I hit the light switch by the door and bathed the room in brightness.
“Maddie!” The sharp squeal was my only warning before my mother came running toward me in her underwear. She was all skin and bones, sharp angles and sallow color. But she was smiling as she pitched forward into my arms.
I grunted as I caught her weight, rolling my eyes to the ceiling to pray for strength.
She was high out of her fucking mind.
Her hands clumsily framed my face, nearly poking me in the eye. “My sweet, sweet baby girl. I told him that I needed to see you or… or…”
