Two Bar Mitzvahs (No Weddings #3)(66)

When I turned around, Madison wore a shit-eating grin on her face. I glared at her. “All this because you wanted something you could never have?”

“I always believed I could. We were so right for each other back then.” She sniffed as she pushed herself into a seated position, curling her legs to the side.

I let out a heavy sigh, dropping my hands into my pockets as I gave her a hard stare. “The image you have of us back then was a mirage. The real you was hidden from me.”

She stared at her lap on a shrug. “I didn’t have the courage then. Really, I had no idea that I had a problem. That there was a clinical definition for it.”

“Madison, look at me.” When she lifted her face, her gaze locking with mine, I continued, “You have more than a sex addiction. You have a compulsive personality. Obsessive. You never explained why you f*cked with our businesses. I’m not even sure you understood. But it all makes perfect sense now.”

Her brows drew together. “It does?”

Yeah. She had no idea. Which made her all the more dangerous. “Sure. You wanted to get close to me. When you had no control over that, you scrambled for anything you could affect. Maybe some twisted part of you wanted to hurt me, like you felt it connected us in some way. I don’t know. Don’t really care now. You need help. And thanks to you, someone I truly care about is in pain.”

“I’m sorry, Cade.”

I didn’t ask what for. In her narcissistic world, she would only be able to have remorse about things not working out in her favor. I pegged her with a warning look. “Just keep away, Madison. From everything.”

She gave me a short nod. “No problem there. You got me fired.”

I stared at her a beat longer. “No, Madison. That was all on you.”

Without another thought, I left her on the rug in the hallway. If guests saw, so be it. After the stunt she pulled, and her blood alcohol level, security needed to escort her ass off the property.

I fired off a quick text to Suzanne.



Send security to the hallway past the lobby. Madison. Drunk.



I needed to find Hannah. She thought we needed space, but we needed to sort it out together. The few minutes of time I’d given her was all the alone time I could afford. I hoped she would realize that Madison had been ambushing us and me all along—not only the business sabotage, but also the other day at lunch and tonight in the hallway. I’d f*cked up. I got that. But I hoped Hannah had faith in me, the man beneath all my screw-ups that she’d fallen in love with. That she’d trust in her instincts—trust in me.

In the seconds it took to reach the lobby area, my heart raced. I stopped to scan everyone mingling in the wide-open space and those who sat in the chairs. I passed by a mirror and paused when I caught the damage. Red still stained my lips and smeared off of one corner. No amount of wiping with my hand removed it entirely. “Goddammit!”

Searching for Hannah, but not finding her anywhere, I rushed into the men’s room and grabbed one of the rolled wash cloths, wet it, squirted a shit-ton of soap onto it, and washed my mouth, face, and hand off.

Then I crossed the hallway to the women’s bathroom and barged in. “Hannah!” I ignored the indignant looks of two younger guests and one older woman, who seemed shocked but not alarmed.

No one answered. I bent over and peered at the shoes under the only two closed stalls like a pervert, in plain view of the women now washing their hands who eyed me with guarded interest. None of those feet belonged to Hannah.

I stormed back out and leaned a shoulder against the wall, pulling my phone out, texting Hannah.



Where are you?



No text bubble popped up in reply on her end. Nothing. A few seconds later I sent her another.



Please, Hannah. It wasn’t what it looked like.



Which is what everyone says when they get caught, guilty or not.



You know Madison. This was her plan all along.



Impatient, and worried with her nonresponse, I backtracked through the lobby and down the corridors. I approached the two ongoing parties, muted sounds of their competing music filtering out their closed doors. Then I realized I’d gone the wrong way. She’d never want to be around other people when upset.

But she wasn’t in the bathroom. Not in the lobby. We’d driven separately, and she’d parked her car near my Jeep in the front parking lot. I raced out, bursting through the front doors of the air-conditioned lobby into the muggy night air. Five running steps down the pavement, I stopped. Her car was still parked next to mine. Hannah: nowhere to be seen.

Firing off duplicate texts to my sisters, I sent them an emergency all-call.



If you see Hannah, text ASAP.



Madison pulled a twisted stunt.



Hannah upset.



“Fuck. Think, Cade. Think.” My chest grew heavier with every second that ticked by.

Not knowing where else to look, I yanked the main entrance doors back open. The same people milled about in the front lobby. A concierge sat at his desk, and I walked up to him.

“Who’s the person directly above your general manager?”

The young man blinked. “I’m not sure, sir. The board members I think.”

Blowing out a breath in frustration, I texted Suzanne again. She hadn’t responded yet.