Recluse: Wolfes of Manhattan Two

by HELEN HARDT

  What? This was the first I’d heard of a memorial service. “He’s already been cremated, Rock.”

  “Yeah. I know. But I’ve been talking to the attorneys, and they feel we need to have a lavish memorial service for our esteemed father. Make it look good, you know?”

  “Look good for whom?”

  “For everyone, but mostly for the law. Every one of us is implicated, so we need to at least act like we care.”

  “If we cared, we’d have done this before now.”

  “Maybe. Maybe not. We weren’t expecting Dad’s death. It was a homicide, so no one will think twice that we didn’t have the service the next day.”

  “They might. This was Derek Wolfe. He could buy anything, including the most expensive memorial service on the planet the day after death.”

  “Well, that didn’t happen. Our story is that we wanted to wait until Riley returned.”

  “Riley was here when he died.”

  “Try to keep up with me, Roy. Yes, I know she was here. But now she’s not, and that’s our plan. We waited a few days for Riley to return, and when she didn’t, we went ahead with plans for the service. Got it?”

  “Don’t treat me like an idiot, Rock. Yeah, I get it. I just don’t think anyone in the free world will buy it.”

  “They’ll have to. It’s all we’ve got.”

  “Why do I have to take part?”

  “Because you’re a dutiful son.”

  “Nope. Not doing it. You be the dutiful son.”

  “Dude, I’m the only one who has an ironclad alibi. I wasn’t in the state when this all went down.”

  “So? You’re the new CEO of the company. You should take the reins here.”

  “Then who’s going to Montana to meet with our witness?”

  “I am.”

  “Why the hell would you want— Oh. I see.”

  “What?” I asked, trying to sound innocent.

  “You have the hots for Lacey’s assistant. I thought I saw a look pass between you two today. That’s it.”

  I said nothing.

  “No offense, but you don’t know these guys.”

  “Hoss and Manny, you mean?”

  “Yeah. And their witness. You won’t know what to ask or anything.”

  “And you will? Or Charlie?”

  “Lace is giving me a list of questions.”

  “Which you can easily give to me.”

  Silence.

  Let him try to discount the logic. He wouldn’t be able to.

  “Fine. You go.”

  I smiled into the phone. “When do we leave?”

  “Tomorrow morning. Eight a.m. sharp. Be at our private terminal at JFK.”

  “Got it. We’ll be there.” I ended the call.

  Back to business.

  I had a naked woman in my bed.

  To my dismay, however, Charlie had fallen asleep.

  I smiled and kissed her silky cheek, and then I walked to the studio to have a look—

  I stopped just short of the door.

  No.

  I’d promised her I wouldn’t look at the painting.

  Normally, I’d think this was an innocent little violation of a promise that didn’t mean a whole lot. I mean, seriously. Who cared if I looked at her painting? She’d never know.

  Odd.

  I knew who cared.

  I did.

  I fucking cared.

  I didn’t want to violate Charlie’s trust, even over something so minute.

  I walked out to the kitchen, ate two spoons full of cold ziti, and drank a glass of water.

  Then I joined Charlie in my bed.

  The phone alarm went off at five a.m.

  Charlie jerked upward. “What? Where am I?”

  “Shh. You’re with me, silver. You fell asleep last night, and I didn’t want to wake you.”

  “Oh. Yeah. What time is it?”

  “Five o’clock.”

  “Five? Why did your alarm go off at— Oh, shit! That’s right. I have to go to Montana with Rock. I have to get home. Pack. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.”

  “Relax. We can buy whatever you need once we get there.”

  “But I should look professional.” She bit her bottom lip. “I still have the suit I wore yesterday in the car. I changed at work before I— Wait. What do you mean we?”

  “New plan. I’m going with you instead of Rock.”

  “But you don’t work for the company.”

  “I do today.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “Nothing to understand,” I said. “I’m helping out.”

  Did she look disappointed? Did she want me to admit I was going because I didn’t want her traveling alone with my brother? Didn’t want to have her out of town where I wouldn’t see her? I couldn’t tell.

  Finally, she said, “But I don’t have any of my sundries.”

  “Which you can find at any drugstore.”

  “But I use a special cleanser. I have really sensitive skin—”

  I placed two fingers over her beautiful lips. “We’ll find it. We’ll find everything you need, and I personally will make sure nothing harms your beautiful skin.”

  “But—”

  “Everything will be fine. Trust me.”

  “Lacey was supposed to give me the details.”

  “Check your email. She probably did.”

  “Of course. What did I do with my purse?” She hopped out of bed, her breasts swaying gently against her chest.

  Yeah, I was rock hard.

  But we didn’t have a lot of time.

  Then again, I didn’t need a lot of time.

  “Come back to bed for a minute,” I said.

  “No way. We need to get out of here.”

  “I’m not sure you heard me,” I said. “Get the fuck back in bed.”

  15

  Charlie

  Had I heard him right?

  It was the same voice with the same deep timbre.

  But his words weren’t kind. They were demanding. A little bit of a turn-on, but very unlike Roy Wolfe.

  I walked backward until I hit a chest of drawers, the handle of one of the drawers clawing into my back.

  “I’m sorry,” he said immediately. “I didn’t mean that to sound—”

  “Okay… But we have to get moving.”

  “So we don’t take off on time. It’s a private jet. No big deal.”

  “But it’s my job!”

  He didn’t get it. Roy had been born with a silver spoon in his mouth. But I wanted to keep this job.

  “Your job is safe. Lacey loves you.”

  “I want her to continue to love me for me. Not keep me around because I’m sleeping with the CEO’s brother.”

  “The CEO who happens to be her husband.”

  This wasn’t the Roy I thought I knew. Then I laughed aloud. I didn’t know him. We’d met exactly forty-eight hours ago. This was crazy.

  For a minute, I’d allowed myself to think this could be a fantasy love-at-first-sight story like Rock and Lacey’s.

  I was wrong.

  Rock was who he was. He didn’t hide himself from anyone. He came in like a bull in a china closet, made all the waves he could, and didn’t apologize for any of it. From what I’d heard in the old office that first day, he was that way in the bedroom as well.

  Roy?

  Roy was a puzzle.

  The soul of an artist and the beauty of a Renaissance sculpture…but something wasn’t adding up.

  Did I want to know what it was?

  Did I?

  I exhaled slowly. Last night I’d been fancying myself in love with him. Oh, I hadn’t allowed myself to think the words, but that was where I was headed. I’d known it at the time, just hadn’t wanted to form the words in my head.

  I had to slow down.

  Way down.

  Of course, getting on a private jet with him and flying to Montana wasn’t exactly the way to do that.

  But I didn’t have a choice.


  It was my job.

  “Silver…”

  “What?”

  “You just haven’t said anything in a few minutes.”

  I nodded. Time to get serious. “You might not take this seriously, but I do. This is my job, and I want to do the best I can. I plan to be at the private terminal on time, preferably a little early. What you do is up to you.”

  “They won’t take off without me.”

  “Doesn’t matter. I’ll be on time no matter what. I want a good report to go back to Lacey and Rock.”

  He smiled. “You’re something.”

  “Is that a compliment?”

  “Your work ethic. It’s wonderful. I actually share it—when it comes to my real work. My art.”

  “This is just as important as your art right now,” I said adamantly. “If we don’t solve this case, one of you is going to go down for your father’s murder.”

  “None of us offed the bastard.”

  “I know that. I believe you. But the cops want someone to pay for this, and if we don’t find out who did it—or at least prove you and your siblings didn’t—it could happen.”

  Chills rushed through me at the thought. Roy was big and strong, but he wouldn’t fare well in prison. Rock and Reid would do okay, but Roy? There was a vulnerability about him, something I didn’t want to see tainted.

  Was there, though? Or was I making that up? He seemed to be hiding something. Perhaps I was stereotyping an artist’s soul as vulnerable.

  Maybe Roy Wolfe was just as strong as his brothers.

  Maybe he was stronger.

  16

  Roy

  “I was being selfish,” I said. “You look so beautiful, and I’m hard as a rock. I just wanted to have you once more before we left.”

  “You didn’t have to get so demanding about it.”

  “You don’t like to be bossed around in the bedroom?”

  She appeared to think for a moment. Then, “Not when I’m running late.”

  A-ha. When we had more time, I’d try again.

  Not that I was any kind of Dominant in the bedroom, but something about Charlie Waters made me want to have all of her on my terms. I wasn’t sure why. I’d never had a lot of luck with women, and even when I did get lucky, I performed well but never did I get overly dominant.

  My experience was horribly lacking compared to my little brother’s. Reid lived up to our last name with a vengeance, and while I knew little of my older brother’s antics in the last decade, something told me he’d had his share of bed warmers as well.

  I was shy.

  Not shy so much as a classic introvert who enjoyed his own company. Especially when I was painting. The colors and brushes became an extension of me—in effect, became me as I created. Art was a solitary endeavor.

  I never went looking for anything more than a fuck because I figured I’d always be a solitary. Never have a long-term relationship.

  Charlie Waters made me think about a long-term relationship.

  And that scared the shit out of me.

  I had to keep this casual, for both our sakes.

  I had to.

  The secret ate me up inside, even though I never let myself see those images that were embedded deep in my mind. Hear those words of so long ago.

  My father had deserved his fate, no doubt.

  But the others… How many were there? Were they still out there? Did they still have the leverage they once had?

  And why was I such a fucking coward?

  Didn’t matter. Nothing mattered except proving the innocence of my family. We weren’t going down for the murder of that bastard. Not on my watch.

  Charlie was frantically grabbing her clothes. “I’m going to take a quick shower. Want to join me?”

  “If I join you, it won’t be quick.” I smiled.

  “True. Then stay out of the bathroom until I’m done. Give me ten minutes or so. I’ll be fresh-faced today. The only makeup I have in my purse is some lipstick and mascara.

  “You don’t need it. Those silver eyes don’t need any other adornment than their natural sparkle.”

  She giggled and headed into the bathroom.

  And I took care of my stubborn hard-on.

  Charlie’s eyes were big as saucers when we boarded the Wolfe Jet. I hadn’t used the jet nearly as much as Reid had, but I’d been on board enough times not to be completely entranced by its luxury.

  Hell, I’d grown up in luxury. It was nothing new to me. Who needed parental love and devotion when you had luxury like this?

  Apparently not the Wolfe kids.

  When we reached our cruising altitude, two attendants offered us breakfast, complete with mimosas.

  “I couldn’t.” Charlie shook her head. “It’s a work day.”

  My first instinct was to argue with her, as I had this morning about being on time. But she was right, and I did respect her work ethic.

  “No alcohol for me either,” I said. “Just coffee.”

  “Perfect,” Charlie agreed.

  We noshed on bacon, eggs, and whole wheat English muffins with raspberry jam, hardly conversing at all.

  Yet it wasn’t awkward, the silence.

  It seemed normal.

  It seemed…natural.

  Being with Charlie Waters seemed very natural to me.

  “You’re cute when you eat.” I wiped a tiny smudge of jam from the corner of her mouth.

  She swallowed the bite of English muffin. “Cute? Can’t say I’ve ever heard that before.”

  “You just seem to enjoy food.”

  “I do. Don’t you?”

  “Yeah. Always have. We Wolfes have good taste in food. Except Riley. She eats like a bird. She’s too thin, I think.”

  “She’s gorgeous,” Charlie said. “I’d give my left arm to have her body.”

  “Haven’t you ever noticed how skinny her arms are?”

  Charlie cocked her head. “I’ve never interacted with her, actually. She always looks great to me.”

  “She’s too thin,” I said. “Reid and I agree on that. Her agent keeps her on a forced starvation diet. No fat. Pretty much all brown rice and vegetables and the occasional lean piece of fish.”

  “That’s not healthy.”

  “Damn right it’s not.” I sighed. “I worry about her.”

  “Have you tried looking for her?”

  I shook my head. “We gave up the last time. When she takes off, she doesn’t want to be found.”

  “You don’t think she—”

  “Murdered him? No way. She was his little angel. He kicked the shit out of the rest of us.”

  Charlie jerked in surprise.

  “Sorry. You didn’t think he was a model citizen, did you?”

  “Of course not. I knew none of you were fans, but…”

  “You didn’t consider why none of us were fans?”

  “But if Riley was his favorite, and he doted on her, why does she have…”

  “Issues? Her diet, probably. Our mother always expected her to be the perfect little mini Connie Wolfe.”

  “And she was your dad’s favorite?”

  “God, yes. He whaled on Reid and me. Reid got the worst of it after Rock left. I was a loner. I learned how to avoid him. But Reid got his ass kicked regularly.”

  “And Riley?”

  “He wouldn’t dare lay a hand on his perfect princess,” I said. “She was everything to him. They went on special trips overseas and everything.”

  “Wow. Really?”

  “Yeah. Reid and I didn’t care too much, though. We hated the bastard, and he seemed to hate us. The last thing either of us wanted was to be alone with him anywhere.”

  “Hmm.” She lifted her brow, looking pensive.

  “What?”

  “If she had such a good relationship with him, why hasn’t she been clamoring for a major memorial service sendoff?”

  “Well, she’s not here, for one.”

  “Why would she take off now?”
>
  “Who knows? None of us knows why she takes off. Reid and I tried to help her when this first began, but we didn’t get anywhere.”

  “It just seems, if they were so close, as you say, sharing trips and all…”

  I shook my head. “Like I told you. I have no idea.”

  But I did have an idea. An idea I couldn’t force to the forefront of my mind for fear of what I’d find there. Those images, those words… The things I couldn’t unbury…

  But I had to. The time was coming.

  If we were all going to find the truth, we needed all the facts.

  Even those facts buried deep within my psyche.

  The problem was…I wasn’t sure what bringing them to the surface would do to me.

  And I didn’t want to find out.

  17

  Charlie

  I was riding in a limo. In a damned limo!

  I’d come to Helena in a private jet, and now I was in a Hummer limo, going to the best hotel in the city.

  Crazy, this life. So crazy.

  Roy sat beside me, dressed in jeans, Italian leather shoes, a white shirt unbuttoned at the top, and a sports jacket.

  And my God, he looked scrumptious.

  He hadn’t come on to me on the plane, a fact which had surprised me quite a bit. We’d talked a lot, mostly about nothing in particular, but some about his family. His brothers and sister.

  Riley Wolfe seemed to be as much of a puzzle to her brothers as she was to me.

  If she and Derek Wolfe had been so close, why wasn’t she here mourning? Or if running off was her way to deal with stress, what had happened the other times she’d run off? How many times had she pulled this? I’d have to ask Roy. If he even knew. He wasn’t exactly family-centric.

  We pulled into the hotel and the driver opened the door for me and helped me out of the limo. Crazy!

  I didn’t like the fact that I was wearing the same suit I’d worn yesterday, but no one knew that except Roy, and he didn’t seem to care one bit. Why should I?

  “Mr. Wolfe, Ms. Waters.” A tall and slightly masculine woman greeted us. “I’m Toni Franks, the hotel manager. We’re so pleased to have you as guests here. We’ve got a conference room set up for your meeting in an hour. In the meantime, the bellhops can get you settled in your suite.