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Nothing was the same without Arabella Maddux’s apartment was too quiet and devoid of any warmth His bed was too cold and filled with too ether intian becohout his body? When did it develop the ability to ache for a wohts twenty-four seven?
Standing out on his terrace, Maddux stared at the dark night sky and the twinkle of lights around the city Up until a little over a week ago, everything he did had been fueled by rage and retribution, to the exception of anything else He’d even taken Arabella as a for how one tiny, stubborn, and brave woe the way he viewed his life and his future
Except without Arabella, his life and his future felt ee of thirty-tith so h an integral, e, thanks to the prospect of spending all that ti his parents’ deaths, and now that he’d accoave him purpose anymore
Sure, he had a billion-dollar tech and security company that he still needed to run, but he’d never been a h he needed all the luxuries thata ss and to build the capital to eventually take down Theodore Cole Having s he’d purchased over the years had never truly made him happy deep inside or fulfilled that hollow, isolated part of his souluntil Arabella
What he noantedand facing the day, knowing he actually had so to look forward tolike Arabella’s sweet sed hi forward in life
Except a week had passed since she’d walked out of his hospital roo from her Not that he’d expected to when she’d ended their short-lived relationship in a way that had finality written all over it And things with hiwell Financial, the dozens of arrests, and his involveation
He’d also had several s with his lawyer to transfer all of Theodore’s assets into Arabella’s nas Maddux had taken everything to hurt her father and cut the other man off at the knees, and he didn’t want or need any of Theodore’s property Arabella, however, had nothingand she deserved everything He’d at least be able to give her as rightfully hers to make her life a bit easier
Inside his apart sound announced the arrival of the elevator on his floor He turned around, leaned against the railing, and pushed his hands into the pockets of his slacks as he watched through the open French doors as his brother and sister walked into his place His sister saw him out on the terrace first and headed in that direction, with Hunter following her, looking much more subdued and serious
So on with his brother, but with Maddux’s life in an upheaval since the night of the Wilder Way Charity Ball, he really hadn’t had a chance to have a more personal conversation with Hunter to find out what had hi from what Tempest had told him, his brother’s distracted mood had a lot to do with the woht after the ball If that was the case, it was a to see him so twisted up over a feet to hi deeper than a physical level
Maddux exhaled a deep, heavy breath, because the conversation he was about to have with his siblings wasn’t going to be an easy one It was the one last issue he needed to resolve when it ca how his brother and sister were going to react to what Maddux had decided
His brother and sister no everything—frowell Financial and the front it had been for organized crime, which both Gavin and Theodore had been a part of, to Arabella being kidnapped by Gavin and the other man’s intention to kill hiht of the shooting and told them the entire story, and while Tempest had been shocked and a little rattled by it all, Hunter had actually been contrite about his behavior toward Arabella that had sent her running in the first place
But none of that changed the fact that Arabella was gone, and the two of their lives were entwined in such a way that they both believed they had valid reasons for keeping their distance Because of Theodore killing his parents and Maddux being the one to finally incarcerate her father, they’d both believed their conflict was insurht of the situation, and those e to, thewas impossible Maddux knew this lesson firsthand and had lived it his entire adult life
When had he ever shied away fro he wanted, despite the obstacles in his way? Never He’d never feared rejection, because he’d refused to accept that anything was beyond his reach or unattainable It had never been in his nature to give up on anything worth having or ads that iven up on the one person who meant more to him than any possession he owned or any amount of wealth he’d acquired
He’d let Arabella go when she’d needed him the most in her life And God, the truth was, he needed her, tooin ways he never kneere possible She was his other half, and without her in his life, his future was incomplete and would stay that way
He wanted to give her everythingnot because she’d lost her family and was completely alone, but because he loved her The realization was a huge shock to his syste in love was a possibility, but as the truth settled around him, he couldn’t deny that Arabella fulfilled every part of him