Ryan had him by the front of the shirt in an instant. Caging the man against the wall, he spoke directly into his face. First to make sure his assumptions were right. “Did you hit Maxine?” he asked, his tone quiet. Deadly.
It was clear from the cousin’s reaction he knew exactly what Ryan was talking about. He opened and shut his mouth, growing pale. “I didn’t mean to hurt her.”
Ryan punched him again. And again. White fury rode hard and removed rational thought. When Maximilian crumbled to the ground, Ryan was tempted to finish the man for good for daring to touch Maxine. Instead, he hauled him to his feet and dragged him to the nearest chair. Maximilian sat in a bleeding heap, whimpering lightly.
“You’re in so much fucking shit, you have no idea.” Ryan pulled out his cell phone and called the police, letting them know he’d interrupted an intruder and crime suspect. When he hung up, he dragged a second chair over to sit comfortably across from his captive. It was time to get to the bottom of the whole fucking mess.
“I assume the passage leads somewhere away from the house.”
Maximilian wiped at the blood trickling from his mouth and nodded slowly. “There’s a tunnel all the way across the yard to where the old caretaker’s home stood. When the house burned down a few years back, I discovered the access and decided to keep the information to myself.”
Ryan frowned at him. “Why?”
Mill leaned back in his chair, groaning in pain. “Because it was a way to get into the damn house without anyone knowing I was here.”
“But your grandmother lived here. You could get in anytime you wanted by visiting her. What the fuck were you up to?” Ryan stood, ready to beat the answers he needed out of the man if necessary. Maximilian held out his hands in defense.
“Stop, I’ll explain. Everything.” Defeat was clear in his tone and Ryan paced away a few steps. “I’ve been slipping into the house and sneaking up to the attic, removing small valuables to sell. I’ve got debts to pay. I didn’t want the family to know, and if I was constantly visiting, I knew someone would figure out I was guilty when things were finally noticed missing. Since no one knew I was here, no one would suspect me.”
Ryan froze in shock. It was the last thing he’d expected to hear. “I thought you were the family golden boy—financial king of the hill. That’s all I’ve ever heard, how you’d made a killing in stocks and threw money around. Why the hell didn’t you tell someone you had troubles?”
“Because I’d have to admit to the family I was living a lie. The investments failed, I’ve lost two of my condos and I’m barely making payments on the one left.”
“So to pay your debts you’ve been stealing the family heirlooms. Nice tight-knit relationship you’ve got with the clan. Were you responsible for the vandalism too?”
Maximilian hung his head in defeat. “If Maxine would have sold the house, I wouldn’t have had to try to scare her out.”
Ryan fought down his temper. The ass dared to blame any of this on Maxine? “She offered to sell and you insisted she stay. What kind of royal bastard are you to tell her you were fine with her moving in and yet turn around and try to drive her out?”
“You don’t understand what it’s like living with this family. They would be all sympathetic and shit, but I know they’d never look at me the same again. I tried to find other ways to get her to move. Hell, I even hoped she’d move in with Jamie and turn down the house when it came available in the first place. I didn’t count on the fact all he’s got is a pretty face.”
“Does Jamie know anything about this? Has he been helping?” Now Ryan understood how Jamie had exited the bedroom at Thanksgiving.
“Him? Hell, he’s too stupid to trust with a secret. Somehow the door locked behind me when I used it last, so I snuck in at Thanksgiving to open it up. The ass followed me, and I had to make up this story about secret passages and shit. I didn’t know he had gone in again for a lark when I slipped upstairs. He was damn surprised when he started to come out of the closet and heard you in the bathroom. I guess he hid for a bit before getting scared, which is why you saw him trying to sneak away.” Wailing sirens floated on the air in the distance and Maximilian sighed. “He was still freaking by the time I got him home. Damn idiot.”
“What about Maxine?” Ryan asked. “Why in the fuck did you hit her today? You might have seriously injured or killed her. Was it worth enough to kill your own cousin?”
“None of this was suppose to happen,” Maximilian swore. “She surprised me. I didn’t mean to hit her that hard. I had just come out of the closet when she left the bathroom, and I freaked out. The bat was sitting there, and I thought I could tap her lightly but I slipped. The bat swung heavier than I planned.”
“You should have picked her up and helped her instead of leaving her.” Ryan clenched his fists again, the urge to do permanent damage to the ass growing with every word.
“I was scared, okay?” Max shouted. “I totally lost it when she fell, and I ran. I hid in the passage for a while trying to decide what to do. I was going to come back and help her, I swear I was, but then the alarm went off and I was trapped into leaving her there. I’d already decided I’d had enough of the sneaking around, and I figured I’d take one final trip to store a few things away and then I’d leave it alone. I came back tonight and this was the last time I was going to be here.”
Ryan was silent, fury whipping through him. The need to defend his woman from her self-serving cousin made it difficult to hold back his anger. All the frustration Maxine had gone through because of this man, all the nights of fear and the physical pain she was experiencing right now were his fault. Maximilian sat all smug and contrite and obviously didn’t understand Ryan could kill him without a qualm. “Stand up. You’re a disgusting piece of crap and I’ll be glad to get your stench out of this house.” He waited until Maximilian rose before gesturing toward the front door. “Your escort will be here shortly.”
They made their way down the stairs. Ryan remained a few paces behind to make sure Maximilian didn’t do anything stupid like try to make a break for it. There was one thing left to do. Just shy of the front door Ryan stopped him. Something of his intent must have shown on his face because Maximilian backed away rapidly.
“No more hitting. How are you going to explain to the police you beat the shit out of me and not expect to be arrested?”
“Home invasion. I was protecting myself. You’re fucking lucky you’re family or I would protect myself even more. Knowing Maxine, she’s going to be tender-hearted enough to want you standing when the cops get here.” He slammed a final fist into Mill’s gut and watched with grim satisfaction as the man collapsed to the floor. “I’ll be sure to hold you up while they cuff you.”
Chapter Twenty
Maxine laughed as Ryan led her up the wide steps at the front of the house. “Are you planning on telling me the surprise now?”
A gentle kiss brushed her cheek, and she turned her head to try and catch hold of his lips. He evaded her with a chuckle. “Patience. You’ll see soon enough.”
She clung to Ryan’s arm as he entered the security codes to unlock the front door. She was so thankful to be able to be coming home and know the house was finally safe.
It had shocked her immensely to learn Maximilian was the cause of all her troubles. When the news spread like wildfire, the whole clan had gone quiet, almost like they were in mourning. There was anger at her cousin, but also guilt within the family as a whole for not recognizing the danger as it had developed. Her auntie and uncle were hardest hit—they’d apologized for Maximilian’s action a dozen times before Ryan had whisked them out of the hospital room, insisting they join him for a coffee. When they returned an hour later, they’d kissed Maxine and said nothing more about their son’s choices, instead helping plan Christmas activities.