Page 57 of The Billionaire's Secret Heir

Beckett didn’t walk through the hospital; he powered through at almost a run. Graham was close on his heels as he made his way back toward Madi. She literally was not in the right frame of mind to have conversations right now because of the concussion. But she could at least answer the question of whether or not she knew. He felt fairly confident in the answer. Nothing about Madi made him think that she would have kept this from him or knowingly tried to con him out of money.

A tiny voice of doubt whispered in his mind: Unless she’s an incredible liar and has wrapped you around her finger to better fool you.

He just couldn’t quite silence the fear, but Beckett also couldn’t believe this of Madi. He needed to ask her, but then he wanted to tell her that it didn’t matter whether the DNA said that he was Becka’s father. He wanted to be. Not because of a clause or anything else, but because he loved Becka and he loved Madi. The words in his mind sounded like a proposal and he did not mind one bit. Maybe she wasn’t ready now to hear it, but he would keep on saying it every day until she was ready.

They were about to turn the corner to reach Madi’s room when Bret came from that direction. He didn’t see them at first, looking down at his phone. When he glanced up, he was only a few feet away, and stopped abruptly. He quickly schooled the shock on his face into something more neutral. The ease of that action made Beckett’s lip curl. Whatever Madi did or did not know, he had no doubts that Bret knew everything.

“Beckett, it’s good to see you. Madi was just asking me to find you.”

“Why are you here?”

Bret slipped the phone into his pocket. “Madi messaged me and asked me to come. You were the one driving the car when you blew through the intersection?”

If the implication wasn’t clear in his words, the slight tilt to his lips made it obvious. Rage like he had never known it before filled Beckett. He drew his shoulders up and opened his mouth, but Graham stepped in front of him.

“You must be Bret with one T, lawyer extraordinaire. Heard all about you. From what I’ve seen so far, your reputation is completely deserved. Say, let’s talk about Becka for a moment. When exactly did you find out that Beckett wasn’t her biological father?”

Beckett had spent years being annoyed by his brother’s smart mouth, but in this moment, he couldn’t have loved it more. Bret couldn’t hide the look on his face, which was not quite fear, but definitely wariness. He rocked back on his heels, shifting his weight away from Beckett and Graham.

“I’m not sure—”

“Think carefully before you speak. You’re a lawyer. I think that running a scam for child support could have some serious impact on your career, right?” Graham took a step forward and Bret shifted again.

Beckett moved to stand shoulder to shoulder with Graham. “Did Madi know? I know Calista must have, but I can’t imagine that Madi did.”

Bret looked down at the floor. “I’m not sure what you’re talking about. Hypothetically speaking, Madi would never be involved in something like that.”

Of course not. “Which means that you tried to use Madi to get a bigger settlement from me, hoping you could manipulate her to pay you a percentage. Maybe not as much as you would have gotten from Calista, but more than you got by me paying you hourly.”

“I tried to help her. And I did, by the looks of it. She had no money, now she does. She and Becka are taken care of.” Bret crossed his arms.

“Sure, you’re a real standup guy and a champion of the poor. Got it,” Graham said. “Except you were manipulating Madi and trying to extort the Van de Kamp family.”

Bret tilted his head to the side and looked at Beckett. “Are you going to take away the child support now that you know? It’s all about the Van de Kamp fortune, huh? Guess you and I aren’t so different after all.”

Beckett couldn’t speak for a few seconds. The idea that Bret would think he would stop taking care of Madi and Becka—even if he couldn’t win her back—made him feel physically ill. Clearly, Bret didn’t care about them at all and made the same assumption about Beckett. His pulse raced and a tightness began building in his chest.

Again, he was grateful when Graham spoke up. “Breathe, brother. Bret with one T, it’s been a very enlightening conversation. For the record, neither of us would let something happen to Madi or Becka. Not because of a sense of obligation, but because my brother cares deeply for them both, and so do I. She’s family now. We could explain more about that, but I feel certain it would be a waste of everyone’s time. I’m not sure what it would take to shock your dead heart into beating, but frankly, we just don’t have the time. Excuse us.”

Pulling Beckett by the arm, Graham steered them to the side of Bret and around the corner to the first door.

“This her room?” Graham asked. “Want me to go in with you?”

Beckett let out a breath. “Give me a minute. I have some things I need to say. Thank you, by the way. That was incredible and very cathartic.”

Graham smiled. “No, thank you. It’s been quite a while since I’ve gotten to unleash on someone who really deserved it. Most of the time, I feel like I’m supposed to be kind and compassionate and all those Christian things. I miss a good tongue-lashing.”

“You didn’t feel like you should be kind and compassionate toward Bret, huh?”

“That guy is a snake. To put it mildly.” Graham sighed. “Honestly? Of all the people, I probably should have shown him mercy. I mean, if there’s someone who needs to know God, it’s that guy. It was probably a mistake to be such a jerk. But it felt really good in the moment. I’ll probably have to repent later.”

Beckett gave Graham a fast hug. “Thank you, brother.”

“Of course. Go get your girls.”

Beckett ignored the nerves he felt and walked through the door into Madi’s room. He had thought about what he wanted to say, but had decided not to over-think it. He needed Madi to know that he was here, no matter what the circumstances, and letting the words come out naturally would be more convincing than trying to plan something, even if he stumbled over the right words.

But as he got past the small adjoining bathroom door, Beckett saw that the bed was empty. Madi was gone.

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