Chapter 36: The Renegade Billionaire: Chapter 36

“I’m going to kill him,” Braxton seethes.

We’re standing side by side in the park, staring down at what should be the outline of our booth. Instead, someone, likely named Harry, rearranged all the tape to say, ‘fuck you.’

“Braxton, it’s fine.” I pull the tape from the platform the town council insists we build on so we don’t kill the grass. “We don’t really need the tape anyway. It’s more ceremonial than anything.”

“He’s going to fuck with our booth every step of the way.”

Sadly, he’s right.

“I know. But I’ve been ignoring him for years, I’m not going to stop now. He’s throwing a tantrum because he didn’t get his way.”

“He’s not going to get away with it. We’re winning this entire damn thing.”

His vehemence makes me laugh. “Did you ever think you’d get so worked up over a festival celebrating caffeine?”

“I’m serious,” he grumbles.

“Serious about what?” Grey asks, joining us at our booth. Sage and Pops walk behind him with their heads together. Those two could be serious trouble if they join forces.

“We need to set up a neighborhood watch or something so fuckface turdroaster doesn’t mess with our station again.”

“Braxton.” I laugh. “This isn’t the Olympics. We’re not vying for gold. The prize is a freaking silver cup that is half teacup and half coffee mug. It’s so ugly, people fight over which side belongs to coffee and which side belongs to tea.”

“It’s the principle behind it. I did my research, and I know this event is about community, not the caffeine drink of choice. It’s about bringing people together, celebrating each other, and simply having a good fucking day with our neighbors.” His voice is raised with anger and passion, and I kind of melt a little because he’s mine.

He chose me.

A slow, annoying clap draws closer, and the chatter around the park drops to a low whisper as people pause to watch.

Grey and Pops turn at the same time, giving us a straight view between them to the man casually strolling our way with danger in his grave expression.

Cian, who is six booths away from us, follows the man. Close enough to lunge for him, but far enough away to be respectful. So it’s not only me weirded out by this stranger.

The closer he gets, the more my body begins to tremble as nineteen-year-old me claws her way to the surface.

“What are you doing here?” Braxton asks, pulling me behind him—he really needs to stop doing that. But he must feel my arms vibrating beneath my skin because he spins around to check on me. “I’m right here. He’s not your monster anymore. Okay? Trust me.”

I don’t know what’s happening to my body, but I can’t respond. He curses, then turns his back on me while still holding me close with one hand.

“That’s cute,” his father snarls. “You know, she’s ruined a man once before. Are you going for a double play, Madison?”

“Don’t,” Braxton warns.

“We’re here,” Savvy whispers to my left. Clover closes in on my right, and I lean on them both for support.

Braxton must sense them at my sides because he releases me and steps toward his father.

“I don’t want to be this meek version of myself anymore,” I whisper to my best friends. “This isn’t me, and he doesn’t have any right to take that power from me. Not anymore.”

Savvy nods as if she’s proud of me, but Clover looks terrified while attempting to be supportive.

“What do you need?” Savvy asks.

“Nothing. I know you’re here for me. I know I have support. But dang, it’s scary facing your fears.”

“You’ve got this,” Clover says with false bravado. I appreciate her trying, but confrontation isn’t in her DNA.

I bounce on my toes a little. It must be useful because fighters and boxers do it. Are they the same thing? Whatever, it gets the blood pumping, and I don’t care if everyone thinks I’m going to freak out—I know I’m not. Brushing the hair from my face, I focus on what’s happening in front of me, then take a small step, and another, and another until I’m close enough to press into Braxton’s side.

He flinches until he realizes it’s me, and whatever he finds on my face has determination growing on his.

“You’ve done enough damage, Alistair,” Braxton warns. “Not only to us, but to the kids you say you love and to your wife. You’re not going to do that shit to me or my fiancée.”

“Sweet. Really, that speech is sickeningly sweet. But you don’t get to cut me from my own company, take everything I’ve worked for, and leave me with nothing.” His body is twitchy, almost as if he’s on something, and that makes him dangerous, but his gaze is clear even if it is ice cold, so I know its rage making his body react this way. That might make him even more dangerous.

Cian stands nearby, but the older man barely spares him a second glance.

“I owe you nothing,” Braxton says.

How the heck is he remaining calm? I’m ready to charge this jerk. I’ll be a bulldog who hasn’t eaten in days. Glancing down, I almost laugh when I realize I’m still bouncing on my toes. I guess I really am ready to fight my battles.

His dad steps forward, and I can’t control the way my body flinches. He sees it too because the evil gleam in his expression turns downright vicious.

Clenching my teeth until my jaw aches, I square my shoulders and glare right back.

Grey leans into Braxton’s side. “Mr. Coop’s team doesn’t have a case against him yet.” Braxton nods but never takes his gaze off Alistair Montgomery.

He’s dressed in a suit that was probably made just for him. Everything about him screams dirty money in a way that makes good people run and hide. There’s nothing about him that’s welcoming or kind. From his too-narrow eyes to his turned-up nose and shiny gold watch with too many diamonds, he radiates arrogance constructed on the backs of others.

“It was such a shame, what happened to you.” He tuts. “Had I known how this would end up…” He flicks his wrist as if I’m a gnat he can’t get rid of. “Well, maybe this time around will end better for me.” His laugh is sinister.

“Are you threatening her?” Braxton steps into his father’s space. He towers over the older man, and I can’t find a single resemblance between them.

“I wouldn’t have to if you’d only be reasonable.” Alistair leans around his son to peer at me. “It’s never easy, is it, Madison? Those fifteen minutes of fame you never asked for. Just imagine what will happen when the world finds out you’re marrying the son of a Montgomery. The very Montgomery you say harmed you terribly.” He spits with so much venom I’m stunned into silence.

“Walk the fuck away, and don’t come back. If you think what I’ve done so far is unjust, you wait until you see what I do next.” I’ve never heard Braxton sound this way. He’s as dangerous as his father, but protective and caring.

“Leave,” Cian rumbles low in his chest. “Now, or I will escort you out.”

Alistair finally takes in my giant friend, but ignorance gives him a false sense of confidence.

“You have five days to hand back control of Montgomery Media, Braxton. Or I’ll make sure the world knows the truth.”

“Go for it, old man. I have nothing to hide.”

Alistair makes a point of looking from Braxton to Grey before turning to me. “Are you sure about that?”

“Out,” Cian says, taking hold of Alistair’s elbow.

“Get your hands off me. I have lawyers who will take everything you love should you touch me again.”

“Yeah? And how are you going to pay for them?” Braxton taunts.

“You’d better run, little girl.” The old man’s tone sends a chill down my spine, but I don’t back down.

“I was a child when you sent those reporters after me, spewing lies and hate. I’m not that little girl anymore, you overinflated egotistical piece of shit.” Holy crap. Did I just say that?

The stunned expression on Cian’s face tells me that yes, yes, I did say it, and I smile just as manically as the monster before me.

“You hurt innocent girls.” I take a step forward, but Braxton grabs me by the belt and holds me back. “And they were girls, Alistair. Young girls, not yet women, that you exploited for a fabricated exposé that got you nothing in the end. But I’m all grown up now, and this time I won’t run, no matter what you throw at us.”

“That’s where you’re wrong,” he seethes. “I got millions of clicks and ad revenue from your face alone. Imagine what a few, shall we say, racy photos would do for me now?”

“That’s enough,” Braxton roars, but I hold up a hand to stop him. This is my battle today, and it’s one that I can win.

“Racy?” I scoff. “The closest I get to being racy is wearing a bikini. So, if that’s what gets your rocks off, go for it, you old pervert. I’m not ashamed of my body.”

Standing up for myself against the worst person I’ve ever dealt with is both terrifying and invigorating.

“Bikini or birthday suit. It’s all the same thing, isn’t it?”

God, he’s so slimy.

“I’ve never once taken a nude photo, you idiot. Cian, get him out of here.”

Cian grabs him more forcefully this time, not giving a crap about his threats. But as he’s pulling him away from us, Alistair digs in his heels to glare into my eyes.

“Are you sure about that, Madison? You don’t have to be the photographer for them to exist.”

Braxton loses it then, and the next thing I know, he’s dragging Alistair out by one arm and Cian has the other. The man’s feet don’t even touch the ground.

I stand strong until Braxton returns, and then the adrenaline flees my body faster than a failing dam.

“I’ll see what I can find out,” Grey whispers. I barely hear him, but he’s talking to Braxton anyway, so I tune him out.

“Everyone’s staring,” I mumble.

Their gazes feel like an attack by a million tiny needles up and down my body.

“They’re worried about you, Mads.” Clover and Savvy step in front of me, blocking me from view, and that’s when the tremors start. They’re not noticeable from the outside, but my insides riot violently.

“What do you want to do?” Braxton wraps his arm around my shoulder, easing my internal war.

“What’s he going to do to you?”

“Me? I don’t care about that.”

Pressing up onto my toes, I kiss him, hard. “I do. I care. There are no naked photos of me, and if he even tried to photoshop something, I’ve got enough birthmarks and freckles to prove it’s not me.”

He frowns, and the hard lines along his face show me how troubled he is.

“He won’t hurt you. I’ll do everything I can to make sure he never even says your name again.”

“I trust you.” I trust him more than I’ve ever trusted anyone.

“What do you think he’ll do in five days?” Clover asks.

“I don’t know,” he mutters. “But Grey will look into it. If there’s something to find, he’ll find it. And when he does, I’ll end my father in the ways that matter most to him—social standing and financial power.”

“What do we do in the meantime?” Savvy asks. They were witness to my breakdown when Harry turned my world upside down, and I see the fear in her expression now.

“I’ll be okay, Sav. I’m not the same girl I used to be. I’m stronger, and I have all of you.” I point to all my favorite townspeople, who are making no effort to hide the fact that they’re eavesdropping.

It’s then that I realize Pops has been quiet this entire time, and I find him standing with Sage.

“Pops? Are you okay?”

“Fine,” he says, and I lift my brows in surprise. That’s it? That’s all he’s going to say?

“Are you sure?” Braxton asks.

“Yes. Gonna go find Grey and see if he needs some help. Sage will take me.”

He walks out of the park before I can ask any more questions.

“That was weird.” Braxton places both hands on his hips and watches my grandfather walk away. “Should I go after him?”

“No,” I say. “Let’s—let’s get started on our booth. If we get behind, we’ll never catch up.”

“Are you sure?” The concern on his face would be endearing if the reason for it wasn’t such a viable threat.

“I’m sure. We all have a lot to do.”

“We’ll just be over at the Chug booth helping Blissy,” Savvy says. “If you need anything, and I mean anything, you shout our names, and I’ll put these track and field legs to good use.”

“Same,” Clover says. “But without the athletic ability.”

Clover is so deadpan, it’s hard to tell when she’s joking if you don’t know how to read the signs, but I do, and I laugh. It eases the tension that’s hanging in the air, and eventually everyone gets back to work.

But I know that the looming threat hanging over our heads is about to change something. Maybe everything, and I don’t think there’s any way to stop it.