Page 49 of Sugar (Gilded #1)

Chaos Waits for No Guppy

MADDIE

“ M ine.”

I swatted at my handsome boyfriend who I loved with a scary intensity.

Usually.

Not right then.

“Madeline, wake up.”

“It has not been ten hours.”

He pulled the pillow off my head before I could finish burrowing under it. “Sorry, but the next chaos didn’t wait.”

Oh, what now?

I blinked up at him. And then blinked a few more times to get my eyes to focus. “What’s going on?”

“Your dad’s been trying to call you.”

“Shit, my phone must be on silent.”

“When he couldn’t reach you, he called my office, and June called me.”

Oh hell. That was not a good sign.

At all.

My dad hadn’t disowned me or anything, but he still wasn’t thrilled about my age-gap boyfriend.

He pointedly avoided conversation about my dating life in any of his succinct, fatherly texts.

The fact that he’d willingly called him to reach me was as bad of an omen as plague locusts, falling frogs, or evil little boys named Damien.

I bolted upright, as wide awake and alert as if I’d gotten an espresso IV. “Is he okay? And my mom?”

“Yes. Mostly. Greer must’ve told her mom, who then told yours and Wren’s mom.”

“And?”

“And I need you to get dressed so we can bail them out.”

Bail ended up being unnecessary.

For the OGs, at least.

Thanks to whatever strings Easton had pulled, they were released without any sort of processing. All they received was a strong reprimand and a warning to never so much as pick up a golf club again.

For the second time in their friendship, they’d grabbed clubs. Their spousal vengeance had a theme.

I wasn’t sure exactly what happened during Greer’s hike, but by the time she’d returned down the mountain, she had proof.

Of Doug’s fraudulent prescriptions and procedures.

And of his affair.

With Gloria of all people.

I got the feeling she might’ve cut him some slack if it was only the first part. Or if his affair partner was anyone but Josh’s mom.

It made my eye twitch just thinking about it, and I wasn’t the one with the cheating father.

Since that was a step too far, Greer had driven straight home to tell her mom.

Doug’s prized sports car ended up in dented, shattered pieces.

The OGs ended up in cuffs—and not the fun, golden kind.

But it was Doug who ended up behind bars because Eve had turned on her husband faster than she could say divorce.

Which she’d also done.

At the top of her lungs.

I had no clue what happened to Josh beyond the fact he was cooperating . I hoped that didn’t mean he would be getting a deal he didn’t deserve.

There were probably a million other details that I missed in the chaos. I would get the full scoop from the source herself when Greer was ready, and for once, I was fine to wait.

In the meantime, I was spending my evening in the living room of my childhood home with my parents, my boyfriend, two other lawyers, two detectives, three fish, and a bubble bully.

I’d started the semester with the knowledge that things would never be the same again.

I just hadn’t known how right I was.

As it turned out, my parents had begun to suspect that something hinky was going on with Doug—Mom’s words. Those discrepancies she’d discovered had been the source of my dad’s stress, not me.

Okay, also me.

They’d worried that Doug was using the drugs himself and had been keeping a close watch on him for any signs of impairment. They hadn’t wanted to implode a decades-long friendship with unfounded accusations.

All the while, they’d been assembling a folder of potential evidence.

One of the detectives pointed to it in my mom’s hold. “We’re going to need to take that.”

My parents’ lawyers didn’t object.

Mine did.

“They’ll bring it in tomorrow,” Easton said.

“Why not now?” the detective asked.

“We want to make sure we have everything.”

The detective didn’t look happy, but considering they already had a treasure trove of evidence from Eve, everything else was golden. They asked some more questions, most of which my parents answered.

Every so often, Easton interjected with an evasion or an outright refusal to let them respond.

Once they were done, the detectives stood and handed my parents and Easton their cards. They must’ve noticed how useless the other lawyers were because they didn’t offer cards to them.

The younger detective gave my dad a somber look. “We’ll see you tomorrow with those documents. Your prescriber privileges will be suspended as we sort through this.”

“That’s fine,” Dad said. “I’m retiring effective immediately.”

“Can’t say I blame you.” The older one looked at Mom. “Just no more golfing in your retirement.”

“I’m thinking a cruise,” Mom said, and I barely held in my giggle at her unknowingly echoing my thoughts.

The police left, and my parents spoke with their lawyers at length about the process of dissolving Exquisite Aesthetic.

Closing a chapter of their life was already bittersweet.

But to be forced to go out that way thanks to someone else’s selfishness was devastating.

They tried to hold it together, but both of them got choked up more than once as the weight of everything sank in.

Fine, I did, too.

With the promise to be in touch once they’d reviewed the business contract, their lawyers departed.

Leaving just my parents, my boyfriend, and me.

Plus, the four fish, but they weren’t contributing anything to the conversation.

My mom lifted her folder. “Why didn’t you want me to give this to the police? I already made copies.”

“I want to review everything myself to ensure nothing inadvertently implicates you,” Easton said.

Dad bristled. “I would never?—”

“I know. But things can be twisted. For all you know, Doug purposefully left a trail that would lead to you and not him.”

More tears spilled down Mom’s cheeks, and Dad looked ready to find the nearest golf club to avenge her heartache.

“I’m just being thorough,” Easton tacked on.

Dad slumped forward and ran his palm down his face. “Do you think you could look over our business contracts, too?”

“Of course.”

“I’ll grab my computer to email them now.”

“And I’ll order pizza,” Mom said, following him out of the room.

“Quick,” I rushed out. “We have about ninety seconds to fool around.”

“Neither of your parents look like they want to beat me with a nine iron, guppy. I’d like to keep it that way. Otherwise, holiday dinners are going to be awkward as shit.”

Despite the horrendous day—that had technically started the night before—my heart soared at his nonchalant mention of the future.

I played it cool, though.

Or tried to.

I knew I failed when he gave me that soft smile. The one I was worried I’d become addicted to.

Like his hand on my lower back.

Or around my wrist.

Or the way he said my full name.

Or basically everything about Easton Wells.

“Are you sure you don’t mind helping them?” I asked.

I regretted my question when his smile fell to a glower that showed his displeasure at even being asked that. Then he immediately backtracked on his refusal to touch me as he wrapped a hand around my throat to tilt my face up. “You can still make it up to me later, Madeline.”

“Just tell me how.”

He gave a light squeeze. “Good girl.”

Like he hadn’t just made me wet, he dropped his hand seconds before my parents returned with more documents and questions.

We didn’t get a break in their unending onslaught until the pizza was delivered.

I took advantage of it and leaned close to whisper, “I love you, Attorney Hot Stuff.”

“I love you, too. And I’m updating my business cards first thing Monday morning.” He grinned down at me. “Does this finally earn me the right to call you Mads?”

“We’ll see.”

“Not we’ll see.”

“Maybe.”

“Madeline.”

“Not with that attitude, Tyrant.”

He discreetly tugged my hair. “You know I prefer obedience not punishment, but I can be swayed.”

I bit my lip, and his dark eyes dropped to watch. “You can call me whatever you want. I’m yours, remember?”

“Because I bought you, and I’m never giving you back.”