Page 73 of The Renegade Billionaire

“Lord of the Turds,” Pops says with as much glee as he can muster. “It’s easy, Mads. I trust him because Ace trusted him. It’s not the same as how I trusted Turdknocker and Sam. No, I trusted them because I was trying to be supportive like Grams always was. I trust the boy because Ace had a good soul. He proved that the first time I met him, and I’ll believe in the boy because of the love Ace had for him.”

“That’s so super clear, Pops, considering you never told me how you even knew Ace. He just showed up here one day and you two acted as though you were long-lost brothers, so thank you for that flowery speech about trust.” My eye roll is epic even by snarky standards. “I love this place with my whole heart.” I hate how my sadness bleeds into my words.

“Listen, Madison, please.” Why does Braxton have to use the tone that reminds me of silky smooth chocolate? “I’m a businessman, but I’ve never felt connected to anything…not until I found this place. I like that your friends check in on youand run interference for you. I appreciate that Cian tried to rip my head off for being on the roof earlier?—”

Pops whistles an ear-piercing tune, and Braxton shuts his mouth.

Tapping my forehead with my pointer finger, I take a moment to collect my thoughts that are running in a million different directions.

“Wait a minute.” When I spin to face Pops, he immediately looks anywhere and everywhere but at me. “Why was he on the roof? Why were you on the roof?”

“Assessing damage.” The old man I love so much nods once. He will forever be an insolent toddler when backed into a corner.

“Do you have any idea what to look for?” I ask.

“Ah,” Braxton scratches his chest and I have my answer. “No, but Cian does, and he’s going to help.”

“Mads?” Clover calls from the front of the house.

“In here,” Pops says.

“This isn’t over just because Clover’s here.”

“Agreed.” Braxton nods his head. “Let’s table it for now, go to the fundraiser tonight, get Grey and Sage settled in the morning, then we’ll draw up some standard contracts and go from there.”

“Contracts for what?” Clover asks, entering the kitchen.

“Pops sold part of the inn to Braxton, well, Braxton’s grandfather, and now Braxton is going to bring a lawyer into it.”

“Whoa, that’s not what I said.” Braxton keeps his tone gentle, which irritates me even more. “The contracts are to protect you, Madison, not me. You don’t have to believe me, but you’ll see.”

“It’s kind of shitty that you’ve been here this long and didn’t say anything about owning part of the inn.” Though I hear the bite in Clover’s tone, no one else does. To them, she probably sounds as gentle as ever.

“I, ah.” Braxton turns to Pops. “I didn’t know until about half an hour ago.”

And I believe him. While he’s handling this news better than I am, he still seems surprised.

Wait… “Oh my God, Pops. That means you’ve been a little devil running Braxton all over town when you must have known who he was this entire time.”

He merely waves her away with a flick of his wrist. “Boy, we got some work to do before you drive the girls to the fundraiser. Madi, don’t forget those brownies.” Then he grabs Braxton’s shirtsleeve and drags him toward the foyer.

Braxton’s gaze finds mine, and he mouths the wordsI’m sorryon his way out the door.

“Ah, what the heck just happened here?” Clover stares at me, and then the slowly swinging door.

I try to swallow but it hurts. Getting a throat full of burrs down would be easier. “Clov.” My chin wobbles. “I think I just lost part of the inn.”

“But to Braxton.” She says it so casually I wonder if she actually heard what I said. “Hot, sometimes grumpy, Santa Claus-playing Braxton.”

Okay, hot, yes. Grumpy, maybe sometimes. But Santa?

“What are you talking about?”

“Oh, come on. It’s no secret he’s the one going around doing good deeds all over Georgia. He signed the check for the STEM program over in Hopevale, and everyone in a fifty-mile radius knew about it within minutes,” she says dreamily.

“He did?”

Clover nods so happily that the ponytail on top of her head flops around, resembling a cowboy on top of a bucking bronco.