The Renegade Billionaire: A Small Town Romance (Happiness Ever After Book 1)

We arrive at the house to find Sage in the kitchen. He freezes with a fork in the air halfway to his mouth.

“Oh, please, keep eating,” Madison says. “I’m sorry I wasn’t here when you checked in. My grandfather means well, but he’s not exactly the best host.”

He swallows with an audible gulp, then lowers the forkful of pie and reaches out a hand. “I’m Sage. Thank you for…” He waves a hand around the room. “This.”

“It’s my pleasure. I’m Madi. Can I make you something to eat? A sandwich? Some pasta, maybe?”

“No, thank you, though. I just needed some sugar, you know, eat my weight in feelings.”

“I’ve been there before. I totally get it. How about…” Madison glides through the kitchen and opens the freezer. “Some vanilla ice cream to go with that peach pie?”

“God, yes,” Sage blurts, then promptly snaps his mouth closed.

“You’re my kind of kid.” Madison’s breezy demeanor has Sage instantly relaxing.

I cross the room and wrap my arms around Sage. “I’m sorry, bud.” Hugging him now is so much different than when he was little, but when his body sags into mine, it feels the same—it’s my job to protect him.

He’s always been able to make me feel ten feet tall, and I’m pissed my family could put him through this shit.

“It’s not your fault, Uncle Brax. I’m fine. Well, being handcuffed and having my face pressed into the gravel while someone took photos of me wasn’t great, but I’m fine now.”

Rage makes my skin burn. I glance down when Madison places a hand on my forearm and find that my fists are clenched so hard, I’m trembling.

My family clocks her movements too. Sage lifts his brows but appears happy. Grey…well, Grey doesn’t trust anyone.

“Maybe we should talk about this another time.” Grey not-so-subtly nods toward Madison, and I try not to get too angry with him. He doesn’t know what I’m feeling. I’m not even sure I fully understand it yet.

“It’s okay,” I say. “Ace trusted her and Pops.” Madison turns her pale-blue gaze my way. “And I trust them too.”

Grey grumbles something unintelligible and goes back to pacing.

“It’s okay. Maybe you should talk with your family alone.”

I take her hand in mine, momentarily struck by how tiny and fragile hers is in my palm. “Madison, we’re filling your inn. You should be aware of what’s going on.”

She shrugs free and runs her fingers around the light-brown hair elastic she always has on her wrist as tension fills the room.

“I’m Sage,” my nephew repeats, stepping forward, taking up much more space than normal, and holds out a hand to Madison. “Don’t worry about Uncle Grey, he’s still learning how to express himself without being a total douchebag.”

Leave it to this kid to break the tension. God, I love him.

Madison laughs nervously while she gazes between him and Grey, but Sage and I burst out laughing.

“The kid doesn’t lie.” I barely get the words out through my snorting fit of laughter.

“I’m not a douchebag,” Grey mumbles. His hands are stiffly in his pockets, and he’s so rigid you’d think he’s made of stone. It makes us laugh even harder.

Sage crosses the room to pat his shoulder. “Not to anyone in this room, but out there?” He points in the general direction of the front door. “You are a single-man douche brigade of epic proportions.”

Grey swats his hand away. Sage treats him as though he’s the child sometimes just to mess with him, and I’ll admit, it usually loosens him up.

“I’m cautious and protective.” Grey isn’t exactly glaring at Madison, but he’s definitely not giving off any warm-and-fuzzy vibes either.

“Greyson? Or Grey? I don’t know what to call you. Braxton says both. But if it puts your mind at ease, I’m not here to hurt anyone, or Braxton wouldn’t have brought you here. And.” She twists her fingers together so tightly I’m afraid she’ll break one. “I’ve been hurt, ruined actually, by people who were supposed to love me, so I understand being cautious, and I promise that you’re in a safe space.”

Her face twists with a wicked gleam. “Just be careful of Pops. Before you know it, he’ll have talked you into climbing up onto a roof to assess damage you have no clue about.”

Grey’s gaze darts between me and Madison before his ever-present scowl finally relaxes. “He got you on the roof?”

I nod, unable to hide my grin.

“Whoa, Uncle Brax. That’s…”

“Stupid,” Grey fills in.

“My grandfather has a giant heart, but he’s trouble. Harmless, mostly, but trouble always.”

“He created a blob in the oven when we were trying to make breakfast, and I almost had to buy a new one because I was an accomplice.”

“Shut up.” Sage chuckles. It’s good to see after the forty-eight hours he’s had.

“You wouldn’t believe the shit that old man has gotten me involved in since I’ve been here.”

“You look…” Sage steps closer and inspects my face. He took some test to find out that he’s a number one empath, and he thinks that gives him magical powers to read people, and unfortunately, he’s not usually wrong. “Happy,” he finally says after an eternity.

Greyson makes a sound of annoyance, and he spins on him next.

“What, Uncle Grey? He does. Just look at him. Maybe a little time here would do you some good too, you curmudgeon. You act as if you’re a ninety-year-old man, and you literally just turned thirty.” Sage is seventeen going on forty.

Greyson has never gotten along with many people, but he is a natural leader. It’s why his teammates hated him but he led them to the championship every year.

Maybe Sage is right and Happiness will be good for him too.

“Okay, why don’t we go into the family room and sit down so you can tell me what happened?” I suggest.

“Before or after you sang your heart out on stage?” Greyson’s facial expression doesn’t change, but I see the mischief in the twitch of his cheek. He knows he just opened a whole can of shit.

“Shut. Up.” How Sage manages to turn two syllables into four every time he says that is truly impressive. “Like, in front of people?”

“In front of a barn full of people who were bidding on him.”

Sage holds up both hands to create a T in front of his face. “Time out. We have to sit for this. Mads, is it okay if we bring this pie in there?”

Mads I mouth, and he shyly drops his chin to his chest and offers a shoulder shrug in return. For a kid who has always shied away from people, he’s instantly comfortable around Madison.

“Oh my gosh, yes. Yes, please. But only if you grab a fork for me.” She’s so warm and welcoming. I think Sage is half in love already.

Greyson’s body deflates. Not a lot, but the stick up his ass has moved an inch. Madison and Pops will have him won over before the end of the week.

Sage grabs forks and napkins, Madison picks up the pie and hands me some water bottles, then we all pile into the family room.

Madison and Sage squeeze together on the loveseat, probably to give Grey a wide berth, and I perch on the edge of Pops’ recliner while Grey paces the length of the room.

I know Madison will have a million questions from the conversations she’s about to hear, but I asked her to stay for a reason—I want her to be part of my world. I haven’t done more than kiss this woman, and I’m already envisioning myself packing up my entire life so I don’t have to leave her side.

Grey will say I’m out of my mind, but I can’t help thinking that Ace truly did send me here to find happiness. Did he know happiness would come in the form of Madison?

“Okay.” Time to stop prolonging the inevitable. Plus Sage looks as though he’s about to pass out, despite making googly eyes at Madison.

The heavy eyeliner he normally hides behind is nowhere to be found, and for the first time in years, I see the lost little boy inside him. He’s always had an old soul, but being arrested on my father’s order has obviously shaken him.

“What do we think my father was hoping to gain from this?”

“It wasn’t just Sage,” Grey says, still pacing.

“What do you mean?”

“Archie had some trouble in Maine.”

“Archie is my older brother,” I explain to Madison. This isn’t what I was expecting, but whatever Alistair did, I’m sure it was horrible. “What kind of trouble?”

“Someone announced that he had a DUI, and the farm he’s working on is owned by a woman whose husband was killed by a drunk driver.”

“When did he get a DUI?” How the hell did they manage to keep that quiet?

Greyson’s dark, thunderous expression says it all. But he answers anyway, “He didn’t. Someone spread lies yesterday on the town’s Facebook page.”

“I hate social media,” Madison mutters, and I notice she’s snapping that elastic against her skin now.

Before I can move to her, Sage reaches over and cups her fingers with his own. “Same, girl. Same.”

There’s not a soul alive that can tell me this, right here, with all of us together isn’t right. I feel it in my bones.

Greyson’s mind is working. Not only does he know and retain every bit of information that could ever benefit us, he also has the uncanny ability to guess my father’s actions before he makes them.

Something tells me he wasn’t expecting this though—a hunch that’s quickly confirmed.

“This is not the route I expected him to take,” he spits out in frustration.

“It’s not your fault you couldn’t predict the actions of an unpredictable asshole.” I say the words even as I see them fly over his head. He believes this is his failure.

He rolls his lucky coin through his fingers, over and over again, the motion almost soothing. “I was convinced he’d come after you.”

Madison makes an uncomfortable noise, and Sage inches closer with a shrug. “We all grew up in this mess. It’s a lot to take in for a newbie.” He comforts Madison while Grey continues to pace and roll his coin.

Greyson is in his own world right now, where he’s running probabilities and scenarios as though he’s a freaking computer program.

He stops short and finally appears to see the room for the first time. “There’s no way Alistair isn’t behind this. If he went after Sage and your brother, that means he’s willing to take down everyone in your family.”

“What would that get him though? There’s no way Ace didn’t set up his will specifically to keep him from getting anything—especially if the rest of us don’t accomplish his goals.”

The coin goes around and around.

“He must be so sure of his success in New Mexico that he’s willing to sabotage everyone else. He’s always been shortsighted.”

“So that means he’ll do something to you too?” Madison tucks her feet beneath her on the loveseat, making herself even smaller.

“He’ll try,” Grey says flatly. At least he isn’t snapping at her anymore.

“We’ll protect him,” Madison says with a forcefulness that surprises me.

Grey snorts, and Sage chucks a throw pillow at his head.

“You’re going to protect him how?” Grey tilts his head as though he’s studying an exotic animal instead of an incredibly kind and beautiful woman.

“Does he know where you are?” The corners of her eyes tighten, and fear has her voice pitching higher.

Fear for me, I realize. She may not be willing to admit it yet, but she cares for me.

“No, sunshine,” I keep my voice calm. “I messed up and said I was in Georgia, but not what town.”

“And I left my plane in New York. We chartered a smaller plane to get us here.” Grey finally takes a seat on the sofa—but I know him. He’s cataloging every movement, every gesture between Madison and me.

“You have your own plane?” she blurts, then wildly waves her hands in front of her. “Sorry, that was, I’ve just never, wow.”

This time Grey’s lips twitch at the corner. It isn’t a smile per se, but it’s close.

“Okay, good then.” Madison stands and claps her hands together. “Well—” She bursts out laughing. Was this all too much for her?

Slowly I approach her, and when I place a hand on the small of her back, she stands upright.

“Don’t you get it?” She can’t control her laughter. She’s the fresh air after spending too long in a city.

“No, sweetheart. I don’t get it. What’s so funny?”

Behind her, Grey flashes Sage an I don’t know hand gesture.

“We’re going” —giggle—“to hide you” —giggle—“at the Hideaway Inn.”

Okay, so she might be a little punch-drunk, but she does have a point.

Grey leans forward and steeples his fingers. “She’s not wrong. Your father knows you have investments outside of Omni-Reyes. He’s never going to come looking for you in some run-down inn.”

“Hey,” Madison warns.

He holds up both hands. “Sorry, that was rude, and I apologize. It’s been a long fucking few days.”

She turns to face him. “You’re forgiven. But you’ll also find your happy in Happiness. You just wait and see.”

A bark of laughter escapes Grey. “I don’t mean to offend you, Madison, but⁠—”

“Madi,” I say. Grey is a brother to me, but him calling her Madison makes me twitch.

The mirth in his expression grows.

“Madi. I don’t mean to offend, but I’m already happy. Joyful even. Can’t you tell? I’m fine just as I am.” He holds his arms out wide, as if to prove a point, but he still comes across stiff, and yeah, maybe a little douchey.

She doesn’t let it faze her though. “Right. Well, you’ll see. Just wait until Pops coerces you into digging up old pipes.”

“That will never happen.” He shudders, crossing his foot over his knee, exposing his very expensive shoes.

“If we’re hiding out at the Hideaway, we’ll need to get the two of you some new clothes,” I tell them.

“Ooh, shopping.” Sage instantly perks up.

“At Walmart,” I amend. “You can’t be walking around town in one-thousand-dollar shoes.”

“Who paid a thousand bucks for shoes?” Pops asks as he enters the house. The auction must be over.

Pops has been more lively since we’ve started going on our outings. I only hope that doesn’t mean he’ll up the stakes on our handiwork.

“Uncle Grey did.” Sage rats him out and points a finger in his direction.

“Well if that isn’t the biggest waste of money I’ve ever heard. Are you an idiot, Greyson?”

Grey sits up taller. “No, sir.”

I almost laugh. It took a lot of willpower to add that sir in his statement.

“Do you need someone to put you on a budget?” Pops is really going at it.

“I manage hundreds of millions of dollars. I know how to budget, Mercutio.”

“Now don’t you go spreadin’ that name around nowhere.” Pops scratches his head. “I don’t even know how you got me to spill it.”

“I’m good at what I do.” Grey’s words are what I imagine an eye roll to sound like.

“Uh-oh, Pops. Have you met your match and finally found someone you can’t talk into doing your bidding?” Madison teases, and I fall a little in love with her cheekiness.

“Don’t you go spreading rumors, young lady. Now why are we talking about shoes?”

“They need to go shopping tomorrow to get some stuff to blend in better,” I say.

“Good.” Pops nods with his hands in his front pockets. “We’ll add it to our list for tomorrow, boy. Now, I hear it’s been a hell of a few days for you. Let’s get everyone to bed, and we’ll regroup in the morning.”

“Am I being sent to bed by your grandfather?” Grey asks Madison in dismay.

“I’ll let you in on a little secret,” she says, moving closer to Grey. “If my grandfather has anything to do with it, he’ll not only help you find your happy, he’ll also have you married with a white picket fence before you even know what hit you. Sometimes it’s just easier to do what he says.”

As far as I know, Grey has no plans to settle down. His belief in love was shattered a long time ago. He says the only pieces he has left are for me, Sage, and Ace.

When he walks up the stairs with Pops shouting after him about breakfast, I can’t help but hope there’s a little magic in this town after all.