No Turning Back (Breaking the Rules #4) - A.M. Madden Page 0,77

doing out here?” Riana said from the front door, her eyes zeroing in on our clasped hands. Cooper remained silent, clearly deferring the response to me.

I needed to tell her… and I knew this would kill her.

Chapter Twenty-Six

Riana

August

For the last fifteen minutes, I’d been lying on my left side, staring at the smiling woman holding a baby. Shiny auburn hair, perfect white teeth, pale-green dress that had her eyes popping like jewels. And then there was that gorgeous little boy in her arms with a hint of his mother’s hair color dusting the top of his head and an adorable toothless smile. The photographer needed to be commended for snapping his camera at the precise moment that captured an ideal shot. Picture perfect.

The last nine months prepared you to fall in love for a lifetime.

Although that inspirational poster was a bit presumptuous, implying every woman in that room would have a lifetime to love their baby, it wasn’t the real reason emotions overwhelmed me. Its only fault was serving as a catalyst in its flawless display of health and vitality, one that prompted all I’d bottled up to come rushing out.

“Don’t judge me,” I murmured at the poster while wiping away relentless tears. Who could blame her, though? While she held her gorgeous baby, one she would love forever, I needed to magically lower my blood pressure to keep the two I carried safe for someone else to love forever.

Piece of cake, right?

Squeezing my eyes shut to kill the visual her image represented, when I opened them, I quickly shifted my gaze to stare at the poster beside her, detailing stages of a pregnancy. My hand instinctually spread over my belly. It was my job to protect them, and today I was failing.

After Dr. White took the first reading, I had pathetically rambled that it’d been a stressful time for me. That claim had come minutes after she’d noticed my ring, and she had offered her heartfelt congratulations. A bit of a contradiction. But she’d simply smiled sympathetically before explaining high blood pressure was very common during pregnancy, especially while carrying twins.

I wasn’t buying it… and if I wasn’t, then how would Ryder?

I had spent the last fourteen days internally fuming, because I needed to keep my anger in check and secret from him. If Ryder knew the extent of my hatred for his ex-boss, he would use it as leverage to continue to keep things from me. In fact, I wondered if I would’ve even known this was happening at all had I not interrupted his chat with Cooper on July Fourth.

Cooper had tried to downplay their discussion as an opportunity to make amends. But based on the guilty expression written all over Ryder’s face, I knew better. Still, I’d played along, hoping upon hope Ryder would be honest with me. I’d waited it out through the fireworks Marco had arranged, and the ice-cream sundae bar that had been wheeled out.

Later that night, once we were back in our bed, Ryder reluctantly told me what Cooper had discovered and that he suspected it was Doug. First thing I felt was relief he didn’t hide it from me… next came fury.

How could that despicable person sleep soundly each night? After all Ryder had done for him, gratitude was nowhere to be found. Instead, he wielded his vindictiveness like a sword in battle.

Ryder was understandably livid, but I could see defeat in him before he even began the fight. I did all I could to support him. Ricky, knowing the situation through Cooper, called Ryder and recommended that he hire his lawyer. In his opinion, Ryder needed to protect himself sooner than later. Where there was smoke, there was fire, and a few rumors could easily spread like a forest fire if ignored.

Joseph Hammil was the lead counsel on Ricky’s legal team at RMR. Apparently, Joseph was the best in Florida. Ricky had hired him because of his accolades. Those same accolades came at a price.

Ricky assured Ryder he wouldn’t be charged the same fees as the outside world. Still, hating to be indebted to them, it took a few days for us to convince Ryder that was the only way. Clearing his name had to take precedence over the financial burden that he worried about. If his reputation was on the line, he wouldn’t have a business to salvage to begin with.

Once Ryder finally agreed, Cooper arranged for him to meet with him. According to Joseph, we needed proof of