by Allen, Dylan
“Those are the least of his troubles.” I open the door and squint against the morning sun. We’re going to be late getting back to Houston, but it doesn’t matter. He’s sitting on the porch steps with his back to the door and I recognize the set of his broad, but very frail shoulders. It’s just like mine. And Hayes’.
“John,” I call his name and he turns around and smiles. It strikes me as so sad that this man, who had such a promising start to his life, has ended up here. And that he’s sitting on the porch of a house he lived in but doesn’t recognize. And is talking to a man he sired but doesn’t know.
“Thank you, kindly. Both of you.” He nods and smiles a closed-mouth, grateful smile at Kal and takes the sandwich from me. His hands are a mess. Dirty, with fingers that look like they’ve all been broken with what looks like decades of dirt under his fingernails.
“John, you have no idea where you came from?”
“Nope. I have some snatches of memories. I dream. But nothing I can remember. The first thing I remember is the lady who found me.”
He takes a bite of the sandwich and Kal hands him the Thermos cup she’s filled with hot coffee.
“She stayed until the hospital let me go. Then, she took me to an apartment in San Antonio. Said it was mine.”
“She took you to her apartment?” Kal’s expression is as bewildered as mine.
“Yeah. Said it was mine. I stayed there with her for a few days, but then…” He shakes his head. “It didn’t feel right. So I left one night when she was sleeping. I started walking… right back to that ditch.”
“Is that where you live?”
“No. I don’t live anywhere. I move around. I get by with odd jobs. Sleep outside and try to remember. But I don’t.”
“Do you remember the lady? The one who took you from the hospital?”
“Oh, yeah. Of course. My memories from the hospital and everything after that are clear.”
“What did she look like?”
“She was pretty. A black lady. Long dark hair with a streak of white down the middle of it.”
35
BROTHERS
REMI
THREE DAYS LATER
“Thank you for seeing me.” I sit down across the desk from Hayes Rivers. I study his face. I’ve seen it countless times in the last year, but now, I can see my father’s features stamped all over it.
It’s in the broad tip of his nose, that deep bow on his upper lip. His dark wavy hair, his hazel eyes and his olive coloring, he must have gotten from his mother’s side.
But everything else, his height, his build, his confidence, all of that are from the part of him that is a Wilde.
“Fuck you for missing my wedding,” Hayes says and I grimace apologetically.
“I didn’t know there was a wedding…” I say vaguely. When he cocks his eyebrow at me, I shift a little uncomfortably. “And, I’m sorry I missed it.”
He eyes me, and he smiles. “I held your spot.” He picks up a picture that’s facing him and hands it to me.
He and his wife, Confidence, stand in the center of the picture, kissing while their wedding party flanks them on either side. Next to his brothers, and in between another man I don’t recognize is a space where I guess I was supposed to be standing. I feel a pang of real regret as I look at what I missed.
“You look great. I mean your jacket is about half an inch shorter than it should be, but other than that,” I say without looking up.
“Ah, shut up, Remi. There’s not a damn thing wrong with my jacket.”
I huff a small laugh and hand it back to him. “Confidence looks beautiful, as always. When is the baby due?”
He picks up his phone and pulls open an app. It has a countdown clock.
“Eight weeks, three days and fourteen hours left to go.”
I nod approvingly. “Congratulations, kid. You did good.”
He puts the picture down, his smile falling and his eyes growing serious.
“We have a lot to talk about, Remi.”
“I know. I’m sorry I ghosted on you like that. I know you were probably reeling, too.”
He sighs, and steeples his fingers under his chin. “I was. But… I’d known for a couple weeks by the time she told you. I’m sorry for that. She wasn’t sure that you didn’t know. She said she’d come to your family to tell them she was pregnant with me and that your dad was missing and they turned her away.”
He drops this last bit of news and it lands like a two-ton bomb.
“You didn’t know that?” he deduces from my silence and expression.
“Clearly, I don’t really know anything. They told us that our father died in a boating accident when I was two. That’s all. I was too young to remember anything. They had a memorial service for him and everything. I’ve seen the pictures. What a crock of shit,” I spit.
“Why is a memorial service a crock of shit? They thought he was dead, right? I mean Gigi did. She said he wouldn’t have left her and not come back if he could have.”
“He left us, anything was possible,” I say woodenly, a hollow spot in my chest opening wider as I come to terms with that again.
“I know. I’m sorry,” Hayes says.
“You have nothing to be sorry for. Our parents are fuckups. And we’re left holding all of the rubble from their mess.”
His shoulders fall a little and he sighs. “Thank fuck you feel that way, Remi.”
“Thank fuck you do, too,” I say sincerely. “We’re going to need to keep our wits about us.” I take a breath and tell him the rest. “Gigi didn’t just give me a letter in the hospital room. She gave me keys to the house where she and my -- our dad lived. She said she had papers drawn up a long time ago, deeding it to me and Regan and Tyson. That she thought it’s what he would have wanted.”
“So that’s where you’ve been? I have to say, your organization is a well-oiled machine. They ran seamlessly without you for months before the first real snafu happened.”
“My business manager is an expert in crisis management. And I’ve got ironclad NDAs for every single member of my staff. And, they’re loyal. We forgot that one event. If not, no one would have noticed.”
Hayes leans back in his chair. “Well, if your shit is so tight, why are you back?”
“A couple of reasons. First one’s a woman,” I say simply
“You look like the cat who caught the canary. Is she the one who got away?”
I give him a sideways glance. “Man, shut up. I have never mentioned anybody getting away.”
“You told me once, I should make up with Confidence before she got a taste of the world without me. I got the distinct impression you were speaking from experience.”
“That’s some damn good advice,” I say.
“Just fucking tell me, Remi.”
“Yes. She’s the one. She got away once, but I’ll be damned if she does again.”
“Do I know her?”
“She grew up in Houston, but she left the same year I went to college, so I doubt it. She lives in New York. She’s got a kid.”
His eyebrows shoot up. “So, the motherfucker got his MILF.”
I’m annoyed that he delivered that line better than I did. “Shut up, man. And as much as I’d love to talk about her all night, she’s not why I’m here.”
“Tell me, then.”
“When I went out to the house, I had hoped I would get some answers. Find out what happened to him.”
“Did you?” He leans forward, drums his fingers along the edge of his desk.
I don’t pull any punches. “I found Lucas Wilde. He’s very much alive. But only because the person who tried to kill him failed.”
He leans forward in his leather chair and stares at me like I’ve just told him I saw the Loch Ness Monster.
“Remi. Listen, my brother Beau… he spends a few months in the desert doing some very weird shit and he’s had hallucinations, too. Were you eating the cactus out there?”
“Hayes, shut
the fuck up, please. I have never taken a drug in my life.” I lean forward and press my hands to his desk. “I found him. I brought him back with me. He’s been in the hospital. He was severely dehydrated. He has pneumonia, a slew of infections and he had to have almost all of his teeth extracted. He’s a mess. And he doesn’t know who he is. He only has memories after what happened to land him in a ditch.”
His expression flattens. His face pales.
“You’re serious?” His voice is gruff and thick with surprise.
“Very. And that’s not all.”
“What the fuck else could there be?” He huffs.
“I think my mother’s known where he’s been all the time. And that she knows exactly how he got in that ditch. He doesn’t remember anything. But get this. I found a dog, wrapped in some wire, tail cut off, lying in a ditch. I rescued her, and she was with me for the last six months. She’s kind of a guard dog.”
“That’s nice, Remi. But random.”
I spear him a with withering glare. “She was his dog. His. Of all of the stray dogs in Texas’ Hill Country, I found his.”
“No fucking way? What are the fucking chances of that?” He shakes his head incredulously.
“I would think next to none, but that’s how we found him. And guess what he named her?”
“Tina?” He laughs.
“Might have been more fitting. But, no. Gigi.”
“No shit.” Hayes slaps the table and laughs. “She’ll get a kick out of that,” he says.
“He has no memory of her.”
His smile sobers and his eyes get sad. “She has very vivid ones of him. The way her eyes light up when she talks about him.”
“Yeah, I figure there’s something strong there if he gave his dog that same weird-ass name.”
“Hey, don’t talk shit about Gigi.”
“Look, kid. I know she’s your mom or whatever. But she’s the reason my dad left us. And I don’t understand how she could live with herself.”
He drums his fingers on his desk and eyes me skeptically.
“Let me ask you something—about this woman. You telling me that if you loved her and she was with someone else, you wouldn’t have tried to win her back.”
“She was with someone else.” I hate saying those words. They offend me and stir memories that never sit well with me. “For almost ten fucking years. I kept my distance and respected her marriage.”
“You sure she’s the one? Confidence couldn’t be married to anyone else and me not at least try.”
“I respect marriage, Hayes. That doesn’t mean…” The memory of Regan’s wedding to Marcel pops up. I meant it when I asked her to leave him. If she’d said yes, I would have walked out of there with her in my arms and not given a damn what happened.
“I did ask her to leave him. She said no. She has a kid. She didn’t want to break up her home.”
“What changed?”
“She’s divorced.”
I’ve been thinking about Kal’s daughter a lot. She supposed to be coming for a visit and I’m nervous as fuck because I know Kal wants to live close to where she is. I don’t know what that means, but if I have to move Wilde Law to New York, I’ll do it.
The very thought sends a river of unease up my spine. I’m the head of our family. I run Wilde Law, but I own forty percent of Wilde World’s stock. I am still the face of the family’s philanthropic efforts. Moving would be… I push the thought away. Cross that bridge when I get to it. Right now, I’ve got a huge fish to fry.
“So, my mother’s been in DC all week meeting with our lobbyists and having meetings with some suppliers. She’s back tomorrow and I’ve invited her to dinner. I want you to come. I want Gigi to come. I want everyone in that room when I tell them I found him.”
“I had no idea you were so fucking dramatic, Remi. You know that’s going to be a spectacle of epic proportions.”
“I don’t care about optics. It’s the most efficient way to find out what happened.”
“So, you’re going to have him walk in and see who starts confessing or tries to run for the hills?”
“Of course not. We’ve got a lot of he said, she said going on right now. Lots of hiding and lies. Lots of untruths. I want to know who tried to hurt him. And I want to see their faces when they realize it’s not a secret anymore.”
“Holyyy shit.” He whistles long and low.
“To say the least. I’ll send you the details.”
“Can I meet him? Ahead of time, I mean?”
“You want to? I didn’t think you would.” I’m surprised. He was very close to the man who raised him.
“Yeah, of course. I mean, biologically, at least he’s my father. I can’t think of him like that, but I want to meet him. And since I’m clearly not a suspect in his disappearance…”
“Yeah, man. Of course. I’m sorry I didn’t come sooner. It’s been a busy week.”
“Oh, I understand. You’ve had all that fucking to do.”
I laugh. “When you meet her, you’ll understand.”
“No doubt.”
I stand to leave and Hayes calls my name. “Wait. So… how do you feel about the fact that we’re brothers?”
“Elated. I love Tyson, but if I could have picked a man to be my brother, it would have been you,” I answer honestly.
“Me too. The coolest motherfucker, I know. I’m just sorry it went down the way it did.” He pats my shoulder.
“Me, too. But I’m fucking glad it went down.”
36
THREE CONVERSATIONS AND A FUCK UP
KAL
“I swear, you’re the best cook in this entire city.” Remi rubs his hands together gleefully as Sweet drops off two plates of steaming garden omelets.
She puts a hand on her ample hip and glares down at him, her pretty face pinched in annoyance. “That sweet talk may work on your gal here, but it doesn’t work on me, Remington.”
“You wound me. I’m being sincere. I’ve been in here every day since I got back. That’s got to count for something.” He gives her a charming flash of his smile and she rolls her eyes.
“You’re nothing but a flirt. Thank goodness you got your girl back. Be good to see you settle down.”
His girl, that sends flutters through me.
“I’m trying to convince her to stay.” He grabs my hand and squeezes it. I squeeze it back.
“She doesn’t look like she’s going to need much convincing. I can practically see the stars in her eyes.” She nods at me.
“Stop talking about me like I’m not here.”
“Maybe you should try having breakfast in bed one morning instead of rolling in here every day,” she says eyebrows raised knowingly before she pats Remi on the shoulder and strolls off.
“I love it here.” I smile after her.
“I’m glad. I do, too. So, what do you think? Breakfast tomorrow, my place?”
“Are you asking me over to your house, Mr. Wilde?” I bat my lashes at him and drawl my words.
“I am. And not just tomorrow. When all this shit with my dad is over, I want us to talk about how we’re going to close the distance between us.”
“You’re getting ahead of yourself.” I say and try to laugh around the bundle of nerves in my gut. We’ve got a lot to figure out.
“Nope. Just finally catching up actually.” He wolfs down the last bite of egg and stands up.
“Where are you going?”
“I have a meeting in fifteen minutes. I’ll see you tonight.”
“So, you’ll be there by six?” I ask Remi.
“Yeah, but you and Lucas don’t have to get there earlier than eight. The fireworks won’t start until after seven.”
“You’re awfully glib for someone who’s planning to try and catch a potential murderer tonight. Sure this is how you want to do it?”
“Absolutely. It’s the only way. The element of surprise will be like a truth serum.”
“I think everyone’s going to be surprise
d. I doubt that will tell you who actually hurt him. Unless you get someone to confess, you’ll need proof.”
“You’re right, I guess. But at least when we’re all in one room, there can’t be any he said, she said. Everyone will be shocked. Everyone except you, me, Hayes, and probably Confidence since I know his pussy-whipped ass tells her everything.”
“What if you’re wrong?”
“Ah, my little pessimist. But, I’m not.” He taps me on the nose with a wink.
“Look who’s talking, Mr. Worst-Case Scenario. I’m just asking what yours is.”
“Worst-case scenario is that neither of them did it, but at least we’ll know the role they played. Between the two of them, we’ll find out everything we need to know.”
“Yeah, we’ll definitely know more than we do now.” I close my laptop and reach for his hand. I wince at the way the muscles in my neck protest. I reach over to rub the points of tension that have made a permanent home in the muscles of my neck.
His fingers brush mine out of the way. “Let me do that.”
“Oh, that feels so good, never stop.” My head lolls forward and I groan in relief as his strong fingers work a knot that’s been bothering me since I woke up.
“God, your neck is tight.”
“This week has been intense. I’m actually pretty tired.” I close my eyes and he digs deeper and the tension starts to dissipate. If only he could make the rest of my problems go away as easily.
He sighs. “I’m sorry. This thing with my dad has stolen all of the oxygen in the room. I haven’t even asked you about your story. Did you get everything you needed?”
At the mention of the story my stomach gives a small flip. Thank God he can’t see my face, because I’m sure it’s turned green.
“Today’s a big day for you. Let’s just focus on that. We’ll have plenty of time to talk about my story later.”
He stops rubbing my neck and tilts my chin up with his finger. His eyes move across my face like they’re taking an inventory.
