Recluse: Wolfes of Manhattan Two

by HELEN HARDT

  “But you would have eventually taken it?”

  “I don’t know. I initially resisted. Corporate law isn’t my area, but I’ll learn quickly. And to tell you the truth, writing up trusts all day was getting pretty boring. Plus, I’m a Wolfe now. I need to be here to help Rock.”

  I nodded. “Frankly, Lace, I always thought you were made for bigger and more exciting things than writing wills.”

  “Yeah, well, corporate stuff will be on the back burner for now. Dealing with the fallout from Derek Wolfe’s murder isn’t exactly the excitement I banked on. It’s becoming downright scary.”

  A shiver swept over me. I knew what I was getting into by following Lacey over to Wolfe Enterprises. She’d assured me I could stay at the firm and work for another attorney if I wanted to and there would be no hard feelings.

  But I’d come along, and not just for the outrageous benefits. I liked working with Lacey, and I wanted to help her clear her name and all the names in her new family. Lacey wasn’t a criminal lawyer, and I had no experience in criminal law, but I was willing to learn. I was happy Lacey still wanted me to work for her.

  “We’ll be in the conference room in fifteen minutes. I need you there to take notes. All the Wolfe brothers will be there.”

  I’d just arrived, and this was my first day. I had no idea where anything was, how to use the computer system, nothing. But a meeting was a meeting.

  “What about the sister?” I asked.

  “Riley’s still missing.” Lacey sighed. “Rock’s really worried, and so am I. We’ll probably discuss that at the meeting.”

  “Are you sure you want me there, then? It sounds personal.”

  “Charlie, until we get all our names cleared, this is part of our business. I need someone I trust there, and I already okayed it with Rock. Be prepared to get very personal with the Wolfes.”

  I nodded. I could do that. I could do whatever Lacey needed. I owed her a lot. I looked around my new digs. It wasn’t a corner executive office, but it was a room instead of a cubicle outside Lacey’s office, and it even had a window. I looked out at the early summer day. The rays of the sun shone over the city buildings. I smiled.

  This would work out fine.

  The boxes I’d packed up at the old office sat in the corner. Might as well at least make this seem like my office. I ripped the tape off one box with a letter opener I found in the top drawer of my desk.

  The ding of my phone interrupted my task. A text from Lacey.

  We’re meeting now. Come to the conference room.

  Great. Where the heck was the conference room? I’d need a pad of paper and some pens. Where were they?

  No worries. I’d take notes on my phone and figure the paper and pen thing out later. I still had no idea where the conference room was, though.

  I raced out of the office, nearly losing my footing as one stiletto heel caught in the short pile carpeting. I held back a damn. Probably not a good idea to curse the first day on the job.

  I bothered the first person I saw, a young man in a suit. “Excuse me, but this is my first day. Could you tell me where the conference room is?”

  “Which one?”

  Which one? I had no freaking idea. “The one where Rock Wolfe and his brothers are?”

  “Probably their private conference room. Down the hallway to your right. The door should be open if they’re expecting you.”

  “And if it’s not?”

  “Then enter at your own peril,” he said ominously.

  Not that he’d freaked me out or anything. I headed down the hall and turned right. The door, thankfully, was open.

  I stepped inside and immediately met a dark gaze.

  The artist from the lobby sat at one end of the conference table, flanked by his brothers.

  Roy Wolfe. Of course. He was an artist, but was usually photographed wearing jeans and a T-shirt, his hair unbound and flowing over his shoulders. I’d seen him once before, at the reading of Derek Wolfe’s will. Why that fact hadn’t registered this morning in the lobby, I had no idea.

  Yeah, I did. I’d been captivated by both him and the painting—so captivated that I was seeing him for the first time.

  His lips turned upward ever so slightly.

  And my pulse raced.

  2

  Roy

  So the hottie from the lobby was Lacey’s assistant. Right, I remembered her now.

  Which meant I couldn’t pursue her, of course. Not that I would have anyway. I wasn’t the pursuing type. My quick one-nighter with a server at a strip club in Montana a little over a week ago had been a fluke. That wasn’t me.

  “Hey, Charlie,” Lacey said. “Everyone, this is my assistant, Charlene Waters. She goes by Charlie.”

  “Hi,” she said timidly.

  “Welcome,” Rock said. “Don’t let these guys overwhelm you. That’s Roy next to me and Reid across from me.”

  Reid and I stood.

  “Nice to meet you,” Reid said.

  I simply nodded.

  “Our sister should be here,” Rock continued, nodding toward Charlie, “but she’s still missing. That’s another puzzle we need to solve.”

  “We won’t solve it,” Reid said. “Not unless she wants to be found.”

  Silence for a few deafening seconds.

  Then Lacey spoke up. “That’s Rock’s assistant, Jarrod, and, Reid’s assistant, Terrence.”

  Rock had inherited Jarrod from my father, and Reid had always hired a male assistant. My younger brother was a known womanizer, and my father had taught him to always hire males for positions of trust to avoid any sexual tension and possible claims of harassment. Reid followed the advice, but not because our father had dictated it. He’d actually hired Terrence because he was the best qualified. At least that was what he said. I couldn’t care less, frankly.

  I didn’t have an assistant because I didn’t actually work here. This was a meeting to discuss the fallout from our father’s murder.

  I stayed quiet in these meetings. Right now, though, I was nursing a huge hard-on for the hottie with light-brown ponytail. She looked adorably uncomfortable in her suit and stilettos. This was a girl who preferred yoga pants and tank tops, I could tell.

  Her cheeks were painted a rosy pink that was natural, not the product of makeup. She had a fresh look that I found very inspiring. Most of her features, by themselves, were merely average—average-sized eyes, average nose, average chin, average light-brown hair. But her fine bone structure took all those average parts and put them together in a uniquely beautiful way, drawing attention to the silvery radiance of her irises. I could make her image come alive on canvas. Show the world what true beauty was, for she shined beauty not just from the outside, but from the inside as well. Through her appreciation of the finer things in life.

  She appreciated art, and by only knowing that about her, I already knew so much.

  She probably appreciated music, gourmet food, fine wine…

  I wanted to know.

  I wanted to get inside her head and find out everything about Miss Charlene Waters.

  Shit. She was a “miss,” wasn’t she? Luckily, she was holding her phone and typing into it as Lacey spoke, so I discreetly checked out her left hand. No wedding ring.

  Thank God.

  Not that I was interested.

  Except that I was.

  I was so bad with women, and getting involved with someone who worked for the company wasn’t the smartest path.

  But damn. I wanted this woman. Right here. Right now. If I could grab her and fuck her right on the oblong conference room table, I would.

  How to approach her?

  Easy. She admired my work. She liked art. I could take her to the Met. Of course, an art lover like her had probably been there numerous times. I could take her to one of my showings. Or I could take her to my private studio and show her what I was currently working on. Afterward, we could have some wine and cheese at a small tavern.

  I held back
a scoff. To do any of this, I’d have to ask her.

  That was the part I sucked at.

  Sure, it was fine to talk to a stranger in the lobby about one of my paintings.

  But a woman I was interested in?

  That didn’t come easy to me.

  Not that any of this mattered.

  It couldn’t happen for one important reason.

  My own mind prevented me from getting involved with anyone seriously. I was a mess, for I held a secret darker and more hidden than anything my painting showed to the most noted art connoisseur. A secret trapped in my subconscious.

  And the key she’d been looking for?

  It didn’t exist.

  3

  Charlie

  I forced myself to type rapidly into my phone. If only I’d brought my tablet today. Lacey said the company would supply one but I hadn’t gotten it yet. My skin was icy and my pulse in overdrive just from the nearness of Roy Wolfe.

  No. Must concentrate.

  Failing to document even a few seconds of this important discussion wouldn’t bode well for my first day on the job.

  I typed furiously, capturing every detail. The information went in and out of my head so quickly I barely knew what I was typing. I stayed quiet. My job here was to be the conduit of information.

  “Charlie?”

  I nearly typed “Charlie” before I realized Lacey was addressing me.

  I looked up. “Yeah?”

  “Could you go down to the lobby? Our lunch is on the way, but they won’t come up here.”

  Not even for the Wolfes? Surprising. “Yeah. Sure.” Lunchtime already? We’d started at ten. Had I truly been taking notes for two hours? I rose.

  “I’ll go with her.” Jarrod stood. “She may need help carrying everything.”

  “Good idea,” Rock said. “Thanks, Jarrod.”

  “No problem.”

  “Crap,” Rock continued. “Wait. I need you for something else. Terrence, can you go?”

  Roy stood then. “I’ll go.”

  My body erupted in quivers. I tamped them down as well as I could.

  “Okay, that’ll work,” Reid said. “We’re officially on our lunchbreak. No business until Roy and Charlie get back.”

  “You mean no business until after lunch,” Rock said. “You’re not dragging me into your ‘I’m too busy to take time off to eat’ thing.”

  “That’s why we order in, Rock,” Reid said. “So we can continue working.”

  “Well, fuck that.” Rock loosened his tie. “We’ll go out, then.”

  “The food has already been ordered,” Lacey reminded him. “That’s why Charlie and Roy are going downstairs.”

  “We’re still taking a solid hour for lunch.” Rock eyed Reid. “You need to learn how to take some time for yourself, bro.”

  I stood there, mesmerized by the dynamic. Rock, the reluctant CEO, a biker from Montana in the position only because his dead father’s will mandated it. Reid, the youngest brother who’d been groomed to take over but relegated to second fiddle.

  And behind me, the middle brother. Roy Wolfe. Quiet. Creative. A reclusive genius. An old soul.

  Nothing like either of his brothers.

  A truly magnificent work of art in himself. The gods had definitely smiled on him when he was born.

  “They’ll be arguing about this for a while,” Roy said quietly. “Let’s go.”

  We left the conference room and Roy closed the door behind us.

  Silence as we walked to the elevator.

  Silence as Roy pressed L for lobby.

  Silence as we descended. Roy seemed…rigid.

  Silence when the door opened, and we walked across the tiled floor.

  The thought-provoking painting again drew my gaze, and I slowed my pace. Then I turned to Roy. “Why didn’t you tell me who you were?”

  “Because I wanted you to see me as the artist, not as Roy Wolfe.”

  “I don’t even know Roy Wolfe. Why would it have mattered?”

  “Because I wanted your honest opinion. Not the opinion you’d give an heir to the Wolfe fortune.”

  “What makes you think I wouldn’t have been honest?”

  He chuckled. “No one wants to criticize a Wolfe, silver.”

  Silver? “Uh…what?”

  “You heard me.”

  “My name’s Charlie.”

  “I know that.”

  “Then why did you call me silver?”

  “Your eyes. They’re silver. Sparkling silver. I’ve never seen eyes like yours.”

  Wow. Double Wow. My eyes were gray, maybe a hint of blue. Honestly, my most mundane feature. Sparkling silver? Not even close.

  “I’d like to paint those eyes,” he continued.

  Wow again.

  I opened my mouth, but nothing came out.

  “Looks like lunch is here.” Roy strode toward a young guy carrying two bags with a nearby Indian restaurant logo on them.

  For a few seconds, I stood dumbly, unable to make my feet follow him. I simply gaped at him, his suit fitting so perfectly on his body, his nearly black hair hanging in a silky tail over the dark gray wool.

  He took the two bags, mumbled some words to the delivery guy, and then he turned back to me.

  “I guess I could’ve handled this myself,” I said.

  “These are actually pretty heavy,” he said. “I got them.”

  “Then you don’t need me.”

  “You got plans or something?”

  “Well…no.” Could I be any more stupid? “I mean, just lunch upstairs with the rest of you.”

  He laughed softly. “That’s what I thought.”

  A tiny sliver of anger poked at me. He was making fun of me. I walked silently behind him as we headed toward the elevators. Roy’s hands were full, so I pressed the button. Again, silence as we rode up to the fiftieth floor. I’d learned this morning that the forty-ninth and fiftieth floors were the main offices of Wolfe Enterprises. The fifty-first and fifty-second were the Wolfe family residences. Rock’s penthouse on floor fifty-two was still roped off by the police.

  My body was hyperaware of the man standing next to me. I’d never had sex in an elevator, and oh my God, right now would be a perfect time to remedy that. Roy Wolfe in an elevator? Already I was getting wet thinking about it.

  But Roy Wolfe was silent, staring at the elevator doors, probably wishing they’d open so we could get out of this awkward silence.

  I breathed a sigh of relief when the bell dinged, indicating we’d reached our floor. The doors began to glide open—

  Roy set the two bags of food on the floor of the editor and quickly pushed the “doors close” button. He turned to me, his dark gaze unreadable.

  “Will you have dinner with me tonight?” he asked.

  My mouth dropped open.

  “Please, silver?”

  Please? Hell, he didn’t have to say please. Still, he was a Wolfe, and I worked for the company. “Are you sure that’s…appropriate?”

  “Appropriate? You do eat, don’t you?” His eyes were still unreadable. Gorgeous and long-lashed, but still unreadable.

  I squinted slightly, trying—and failing—to analyze his enigmatic expression. “Well…yeah. I mean, I work for you.”

  “You work for Lacey.”

  “I work for the company. Your company.”

  “I’m not a part of the company, silver. Rock and Reid run it—Rock under duress, I might add. I’m a silent partner if there ever was one.”

  “Still…”

  “Never mind.” He pushed the “door open” button. “I get it.” He walked out of the elevator carrying the bags.

  Good job, Charlie. You just let the most interesting man you ever met walk out of your life. He calls you silver, for God’s sake. Silver!

  What a moron I was.

  I followed Roy numbly back to the conference room. As Roy suspected, Reid and Rock were still arguing over whether they’d continue working through lunch.

>   “Don’t make me play the CEO card,” Rock said.

  Reid rolled his eyes. “CEO in name only. That’s what you like to tell me. Until it suits your purpose.”

  “Hell, yeah. And right now it suits my purpose. We’re not working through lunch.” He directed Jarrod, Terrence, and me to get the food set out while the rest of them cleared their work stuff off the table.

  Jarrod and Terrence were great, and I liked them both immediately. The two of them were actually best friends, a bromance if I ever saw one, though physically they couldn’t have been more different. Jarrod was tall, dark-skinned, and rugged sexy with short dreadlocks, and Terrence was shorter but more buff, fair-skinned, and sported a shaved head. Both were incredibly good-looking.

  Of course neither was as magnificent as Roy Wolfe, who was now refusing to meet my gaze.

  “You’re not taking this seriously, Rock,” Reid said.

  “Because I’d like to take a break to eat? For fuck’s sake.”

  Terrence chuckled under his breath, nearly making me break into nervous giggles. We quickly got the food set out.

  Once we’d all filled plates and returned to our seats, the room became eerily quiet.

  “See?” Reid took a drink from his bottle of water. “We should be working.”

  “What? We must have conversation during lunch or we have to work?” Rock shook his head. “You’ve gone off the deep end. Enjoy your food, everyone. Don’t talk if you don’t feel like it.”

  This first lunch on the job turned out to be the longest meal I’d ever sat through. Or so it seemed, at least. I had to force myself not to look at Roy, though it wouldn’t have mattered if I had. He was still refusing to meet my gaze.

  I’d made a huge mistake, though I truly was concerned about the appropriateness of going out with one of the Wolfes when I worked for the company. This was my first day. My first day!

  As soon as we were done here, I’d grab Lacey and get her input.

  I swallowed a bit of the tikka masala, normally a favorite of mine. It tasted like dirt.