by HELEN HARDT
“Riley…” Matt began.
“My brother’s right. I have to go in and face my demons.”
“Wait… Demons?”
“Leave it,” Rock said, his voice adamant. “Don’t make this more difficult for her than it already is.”
I placed my hand in the crook of Rock’s arm and let him lead me back to the ballroom. I didn’t look back.
I didn’t look back because I couldn’t bear the thought of seeing Matt standing alone by the elevator.
Matt, who loved me, but who didn’t know me.
Matt, who I loved, when I thought I’d never love anyone in such an intimate way.
“Easy, Sis,” Rock said as he opened the door to the ballroom. “Just take it easy.”
I put on my runway face. It wasn’t a smile. It was a surly look that fashion designers loved. I entered the ballroom as Riley Wolfe, supermodel daughter of Derek Wolfe.
And I got ready to play my part to the fullest.
I’m so sorry for your loss.
He was a great man.
I’ll never forget him.
He was so generous. He helped me save my company.
Loved his golf game!
Loved him. What an amazing man.
The words turned inaudible eventually. I simply smiled and nodded and said my piece.
Thank you.
Thank you so much.
Thank you for coming.
Your being here would mean a lot to him.
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
Hours passed, and finally I stood alone in the great ballroom with only my brothers, Lacey, and Charlie.
“Great job, silver,” Roy said to Charlie.
“You said to do it up right.”
“We did,” Rock said, “and you did. No one in the world will guess that we weren’t the most devoted children on the planet.”
I stayed quiet. I couldn’t let down yet. If I did, I’d collapse into a heap on this ugly carpeting—who designed hotel carpeting anyway?—and I wouldn’t rise for days.
“You okay, Riley?”
I looked up into the blue eyes of my brother Reid. Of my three brothers, Reid was the least likely to ask after me. He was usually into work, women, and himself and had little time for family.
Not that Roy and Rock had much to do with the family, either, but they weren’t as self-absorbed as Reid always seemed to be.
Perhaps I’d misjudged my youngest brother. Our father had passed him over in favor of Rock to run the business. Rock, who’d been gone since he was a teen and knew nothing about the family empire.
I’d expected Reid to go out on a booze-and-women bender, but he hadn’t. He’d stayed, helping Rock with his new duties as CEO of the company. Maybe he was changing.
Or maybe he wasn’t. How would I know? I was hardly ever around.
I really didn’t know my brothers at all.
They knew me better than I knew them. After all, they knew my darkest secret now. Not the details, mind you. Those were for my head alone. No one else should have to bear that burden.
I scanned the empty ballroom and looked down at my feet. A program from the memorial service lay on the floor, gray and black footprints shading the white paper.
Derek Wolfe. For so long, I’d thought I was my father’s darkest secret.
Turned out I was wrong.
Turned out I was dead wrong.
36
Matteo
Three hours had passed.
Three hours, and still I sat in the lobby of the Waldorf Astoria, waiting for Riley.
I hadn’t gone back into the ballroom. I didn’t want to make any of this more difficult for her than it clearly already was.
But I didn’t leave, either.
We were going to talk this out.
If she needed to cry all night, I wouldn’t stand in her way.
But my arms would be around her while she did it.
Damn it, I would not let her bear this alone. Why was she so determined to cut me out? Nothing could be that bad.
Nothing.
Eventually, two people I recognized walked through the lobby. Rock Wolfe and his wife, Lacey.
I stood. “Hey, Mr. Wolfe!”
They walked toward me swiftly.
“Rock, please. Mr. Wolfe doesn’t suit me.”
His wife smiled. “It certainly doesn’t.”
“Why didn’t you come back to the wake?” Rock asked.
“It was a family affair. Besides, you heard Riley. She didn’t want me there.”
“Look, man,” Rock said. “Riley… She’s been through some serious shit.”
“I got that impression.”
“So you may want to just let her…” He raked his fingers through his hair. “Let her go, man.”
Lacey whipped her hands to her hips. “Let her go? Seriously, Rock?”
“Lace, I’m trying to help him.”
“Look at him. He’s clearly in love with her.”
Rock’s jaw nearly dropped onto the marble floor. “Huh?”
I didn’t have the strength to lie. “I am. I love your sister.”
“How is that even remotely possible?”
“Beats the shit out of me.” I plunked back down on the plush couch. “I’ve never felt this way before. She struck me like lightning. Got under my skin.”
“I think you might be able to relate, Rock,” Lacey said.
“Yeah. yeah. But this is my baby sister.”
“She’s a grown woman,” Lacey reminded him.
“She is, but she’s been through so much.”
“She has,” Lacey agreed.
“Wait a minute.” I stood back up. “She mentioned demons. What the hell are you talking about?”
Rock sighed. “I’m afraid she’ll have to tell you that when she’s ready. If she’s ever ready.”
“I came two thousand miles to find her,” I said.
“You did. And don’t take this the wrong way, but are you looking for her money?”
My right hand curled into a fist and I had to stop myself from punching Rock Wolfe’s smug nose. “I’ll let that go, friend, but only because we just met and you don’t know me. But if you knew where I came from, you’d know that money doesn’t mean a damned thing to me. I have a great life, though a modest one.”
Rock let out a low chuckle. “Brother, I do know where you came from.”
I nodded.
“Montana’s an amazing place. Big sky country. As close to heaven as you can get. It will always be my home, no matter where I’m actually living. Lace, you mind a quick trip to the bar? I want to buy Matt here a drink.”
“You go ahead,” she said. “I think I’ll go back to the suite. I’m exhausted.”
Rock kissed her lips. “Okay, babe. See you in a few hours.”
“Nice to meet you, Matt.” Lacey waved
Rock turned to me. “Let’s get a drink. I’m going to tell you my story.”
“I still have my cabin,” Rock said. “And not a day goes by that I don’t miss the fresh air and sunshine. Not to mention riding those hills on my Harley. It’s freedom, man. Pure freedom.”
“So why’d you end up back here?” I asked. “I mean, New York has the Met and all, but it sure doesn’t have fresh air and sunshine.”
“It’s a long story,” he said.
“Okay, then. How did Riley end up in Montana? And why was she calling herself Chloe Mansfield?
He widened his eyes. “Who the hell is Chloe Mansfield?”
“Riley’s alter ego, apparently. She has a driver’s license in that name. Chloe L. Mansfield. That’s how I knew for sure she’d been lying to me. When she first told me her name was Riley, she said it was her middle name. I happened to see her ID, which showed that her middle initial was L. It wasn’t until the florist in town showed me a spread in a fashion magazine that I figured out who she actually was. But I already knew she wasn’t Chloe L. Mansfield.”
“That fucking bastard,” he said
under his breath.
“What? Who?”
“I’ve told you all I can, man.” He finished off his bourbon. “The rest is up to Riley.”
“You’re really going to leave me hanging?”
“I don’t have a choice. Riley has her secrets. We all do, but not from each other. At least not anymore.”
“What family doesn’t have secrets?” I asked. “Seems pretty normal to me.”
He scoffed. “If you heard this family’s secrets, you’d realize most other secrets are harmless in comparison.”
“Rock—”
“Listen.” He signaled the bartender for the check. “Our father was murdered. You already know that. What you don’t know is that…”
“What? For God’s sake, what?”
“It’ll be common knowledge before long. The police won’t be able to keep it under wraps. All of us are suspects, including my wife.”
My heart plummeted to my stomach. “You mean… Riley?”
“Yeah. Riley, Roy, Reid, Lacey, and me. And here’s the kicker. I’m the only one with an ironclad alibi. I was in Montana at the time. But they won’t let that rest. They think maybe I had it done.”
“But… What about motive?”
He scoffed again, and this time it sounded almost like laughter. “One thing about living in small-town Montana. You don’t hear nearly as much news. There are about a hundred people who’d have liked to see my father six feet in the ground, but none more than his own progeny.”
I dropped my mouth open.
“That surprises you.”
“Well…yeah. Though Riley did mention demons.”
“My sister has been to hell and back, like I said. Her demons are real. And they’re big. She probably had the most motive of all of us.”
“My God… What did he do to her?”
“It’s not my story to tell. But if you love her, you’re going to need to give her time.”
“I… Fuck. Did he…?”
“I won’t tell you, but if your mind is going where I’m guessing it is, you’re on the right track.”
“He hurt her,” I said more to myself than to Rock.
“He hurt all of us,” Rock said. “But yes. He hurt Riley the most.”
37
Riley
“Get the fuck away from her.”
My brother stands in my doorway, something shiny in his hand.
Daddy sits on my bed. My nightgown is up around my chest. Daddy likes it that way. He says I’m prettiest when he can see all of my skin.
“What the hell are you doing in here?” Daddy demands.
“I know what you’re doing,” Rock says. “You won’t get away with it. Get away from her, or I swear to God I’ll kill you.”
Daddy laughs and tugs my nightgown over my small body. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“I know exactly what I’m talking about. My room is right next to hers. I hear her screams. I hear her sobs. You’re going to stop this now.”
I did scream, but not tonight. I’m not sure what Rock is talking about. I screamed that other time because Daddy’s hands were cold on my skin. When he tugged my nightgown up.
“You’re so pretty, sweetheart,” he said.
I like being called pretty. If Daddy thinks I’m pretty when my nightgown is pulled up, then I want my nightgown pulled up. I want to be pretty. Mommy says girls are supposed to be pretty.
“Don’t you fucking touch her,” Rock says. He walks into my room.
I can finally see what the shiny thing is. It’s a knife. A big silver knife like Cook uses in the kitchen. She chops onions into tiny pieces with a knife like that.
“Watch out, Miss Riley,” she always says to me when I watch her chop. “This knife is sharp. Don’t you ever touch it.”
“Be careful, Rock!” I cry out. “Cook says that’s sharp!”
Still he comes closer, and Daddy stands.
“Give it to me, Rock,” Daddy says.
“You leave her alone.” Rock’s voice cracks and squeaks. Even shakes a little. His voice is lower now, but it still cracks sometimes.
“You little piece of shit,” Daddy says.
I don’t know what that word means. I don’t know the F word either—the one Rock said. The one Daddy and Mommy say a lot when they fight.
Rock still walks toward Daddy, and then…
The knife. It’s touching Daddy. Blood trickles through his white shirt.
“No, Rock, no!” I scream. “Don’t hurt Daddy!”
I jerked upward.
I was back at my place. The limo driver dropped me off first. Rock wasn’t in the limo. Lacey said he stayed to have a drink in the bar with a friend. Why? There’d been plenty to drink at that stupid wake. Did Rock even have any friends here?
I rose from my couch where I’d been sitting in a daze.
Sitting. Thinking. Remembering.
Remembering how it all began. How Rock got sent away.
Funny. Until Rock told us the truth, I’d forgotten that night. That night so long ago had been buried inside my mind, making room for much more horrific things.
The bloody white sheets.
The new dark-brown ones that I hated.
“Damn it!”
I hurried to my bedroom, threw the blankets off my bed, and then tore off the sheets. “I hate you!” I screamed as I ripped the sheets down the middle.
These sheets weren’t brown. They weren’t white.
They were lavender, actually.
But I didn’t care. I ripped and I ripped and I ripped until I’d torn the entire sheet into two separate pieces.
My breath came rapidly. From exertion or rage, I wasn’t sure.
I threw myself on my naked mattress then, and I sobbed.
I sobbed and I sobbed and I sobbed.
I cursed my father. I cursed my life. I cursed Matt for coming here and making me want him even more.
I cursed everything I could never have.
And then I cursed my mother.
Nothing is happening to you that isn’t happening to a hundred other girls, Riley. Just close your eyes and think of diamonds.
Diamonds.
Right.
I never wore diamonds. The few I owned were locked up in a safe deposit box.
Thinking of diamonds never helped, Mom, thank you very much.
Weren’t mothers supposed to protect their children?
For that matter, weren’t fathers?
Rock. The only person who ever tried to protect me. I’d never forgive myself for telling him to stop. If I could go back in time, back to that innocent little girl I’d been, I’d tell my brother to plunge that knife into the bastard’s heart.
Then I’d be a different woman today.
My brother might have gotten a few years in juvie, but he’d be fine now. He was strong. So strong.
I sat up.
No.
I didn’t actually want that at all. Rock had already paid for trying to help me, and Roy and Reid honestly hadn’t known. In fact, they’d been envious of the time Dad spent with me.
They didn’t know…
They didn’t—
Someone pounded on my door.
I was a mess. The tattered pieces of my sheet lay strewn on the floor along with the rest of my bedding. I glanced in the mirror quickly. My face was streaked with tears, my eyes red and my nose runny.
Well, of course. I was mourning dear old Dad.
Might as well answer the door. I could put on a good show right now. One devoted daughter coming up.
I sniffled and walked to my door, still wearing my black dress. I’d kicked off the uncomfortable Louboutin pumps as soon as I got home.
I opened the door.
And I melted.
Matteo Rossi stood there, his arms open.
I fell into them.
“It’s okay, baby,” he murmured against the top of my head. “It’s all going to be okay.”
He was wrong, of
course. My life would never be okay. But maybe I could play make-believe for a few moments, much like I did in Sumter Falls only days ago.
Yes, make-believe.
Pretend.
Let’s play house, Daddy.
I pulled away from Matt and grabbed two fistfuls of my hair. “Get out of my head!”
Matt maneuvered himself into my apartment, pushing me gently inside and closing the door.
“I’m not trying to get in your head,” he said soothingly.
“No, no, no!”
“Baby, please.”
“Not you. Not you. Him!”
“Easy.” He touched my arm gently and led me to the couch where I’d been sitting earlier. “Sit. Come on. I’m going to get you a drink.”
“Don’t want it.”
“Just water, baby. You’re dehydrated.”
“I’m not.”
“Of course you are. You’ve been crying all day.”
He wasn’t wrong. I had been crying all day. Just not for the reasons he thought.
He found his way to the kitchen. Cupboard doors opened and closed, and then the whooshing of water from the faucet. The clink of ice cubes.
Soon he was back, holding a glass to my lips. “Drink. Come on.”
I took a sip and let the cool water wet my mouth and throat. It felt nice. Really nice.
“What can I do for you?” he asked. “And don’t say leave.”
“I wasn’t going to,” I said.
“Good.”
“I’m a mess, Matt.”
“So you’ve said. I happen to think you’re beautiful.”
That got a scoffing laugh out of me. “Right now? Please.”
“Riley, you could be covered in dog shit and still be the most beautiful woman in the universe. You’re a supermodel, for God’s sake.”
“There’s nothing super about me.”
“I beg to differ.”
I took another sip of water. Then another. My throat felt raw from the sobs, and the water soothed it.
“I love you,” Matt said.
I sigh. “I love you too.”
“At least we’re in agreement on that.” He took the glass from me and set it on the coffee table. “What do you need, Riley?”
I let out a soft huff. “Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Look around you, Matt. I’m an heiress. I have everything anyone could want.”
