Total pages in book: 196
Estimated words: 180438 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 902(@200wpm)___ 722(@250wpm)___ 601(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 180438 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 902(@200wpm)___ 722(@250wpm)___ 601(@300wpm)
“Nothing to say?”
“When the SEC comes knocking, you can deal with that shit. Leave me out of it. I’m tired. I have a hundred other kids to take care of, as well as their pain in the ass, mother. I can’t be bothered getting mixed up with you and Bernie Madoff Jr.” I don’t know why one of these assholes I go after don’t put me out of my misery and save me from my kid.
Chapter 61
*Elena*
Oh, dear! What exactly did he say to his daughter and her friends? I’ve only been gone a day and a half, and all hell has broken loose in L.A. Since I wasn’t given any information, I don’t know what the plan was or where she was going to attack.
I was so enraged by Scott and what he had done to Ryder that I wasn’t thinking straight when I made those threats and told Lyon that I wanted to talk to his daughter. When she finally did contact me, I was still in a rage, and my fingers had done the talking as I tried to be as delicate as possible while telling the ten-year-old what I wanted.
I couldn’t very well come right out and tell the child what had been done to him, but I’m almost certain she understood and was able to read between the lines, maybe too well.
But I didn’t think things would go this far this soon. There was complete chaos for which I feel partly responsible, and the hard part is that I can’t rush back there to be with Ryder while he goes through this.
Mary and Scott, two of the people he trusted most, had once again betrayed him, it seems, and don’t get me started on Matt. I’d had to call him, of course, between takes because I could only imagine the hell he was going through, and though he hates to admit it, his mind wasn’t as strong as it needed to be just yet.
One of my biggest fears is that he’d slip right back into his old habits, something I hate to admit even to myself, but it’s a real threat that gives me nightmares, especially now that I’m so far away from him. He’s only been clean for a short while, after all, and things have yet to calm down with so much still left up in the air.
Now this tableau is being played out in the press for all the world to see, and he’s caught up in the eye of the storm once again. My heart was racing while I waited for him to answer the phone, not knowing what to expect. “Hi, baby. How are you?”
“I should be asking you that, Ryder; what the hell is going on? Did Scott really try to rip you off? Didn’t he say fifty million? How did it become two hundred? And what’s Mary up to?”
“There’s a lot to unpack here, babe. I just got through talking to the guys, and it’s not what it seems.”
“What? I don’t understand; what’s not what it seems?”
“You and me both, babe, give me a minute. Let me catch my breath so I can try to explain it the best I can.” Wait, he didn’t sound in the least bit distressed; in fact, it sounded more like he was fighting back laughter.
“Ryder, are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. I’m just trying to come to terms with the fact that a group of ten-year-olds are this badass.”
“What’s that noise in the background?” It sounded like someone was arguing.
“Lyon’s fighting with his daughter.”
“Oh?” Why do I feel so protective of a little girl I have never met?
“Yeah, I think she’s the only one who stands up to him. Anyway, here’s the deal. My catalog is safe, it’s mine still, and I made a shit ton of money anyway. It’s hard to explain, and given the latest incidents, I don’t think we should discuss it over the phone.”
“You think they’re listening? MengeLiNi, I mean.”
“I’m not worried about them, but given what they do and how they do it, I don’t trust that someone else wouldn’t have the same idea. Just know that everything is fine over here now. By the way, I’m coming to you this weekend, so don’t make any plans.”
“So soon?” I was already smiling, and my heart felt so warm and giddy. Was it only a week ago that my life was still up in the air? How could so much have changed so drastically in such a short space of time? It was more than a dream; it was everything I never dared let myself hope for.
There were times in the very beginning I would admit that I’d wake up in the middle of the night thinking it was all just a nightmare, that Ryder hadn’t married someone else, that my life hadn’t become the shit show it truly had.