by HELEN HARDT
Nope. Couldn’t imagine that at the moment, or I’d get hard again.
She let out a slow sigh and a sweet vocal “mmm.”
Then she jerked upward.
23
Charlie
“Oh my God!” I jerked upward, nearly sliding off the table. It was coated in…well…me.
How had I let this happen? I hadn’t exactly been quiet. And Roy.
Roy had egged me on.
Where was his introversion today?
He eyed me like I was a side of prime beef. “You look succulent,” he said.
“How could you let me do this?” I scanned the floor for my clothes. “People outside must have heard.”
“So?”
“So?” I shook my head. “You’re crazy, Roy. This is nuts.”
“The Wolfes paid good money for this room.”
“For God’s sake, we have a suite upstairs. The Wolfes didn’t pay for us to have sex in this room.”
“The Wolfes paid for this room for the day. What we choose to do in it is our business.”
I regarded him. For a split second, I’d thought he was different.
But no. He was Derek Wolfe spawn, through and through, just like Rock and Reid.
Reid was a known womanizer, and Rock? Well, I’d heard with my own ears what Rock was like when he and Lacey had fucked in her office that first day.
Crazy.
Roy, though? He had an artist’s soul.
I stifled a chuckle.
Artists liked to fuck too, of course. Why wouldn’t they?
I scrambled to find my clothes and get dressed.
My blouse was a huge issue. All of the buttons had been ripped off and scattered throughout the room. Now what was I supposed to do?
“Just put it on backwards and then put your blazer over it,” Roy said, as if reading my mind. “No one will be the wiser.”
I had to admit it was a good idea. Thankfully I had the sundress upstairs that I could change into.
I dressed as quickly as I could. “I need to go back to the room and change. I’m not going around wearing a backward blouse that isn’t fastened at all in the back.
“Easier for me to get off that way.”
“Right. You didn’t have any trouble getting it off the first time.”
“Silver, I’ll never have any trouble getting you naked. I promise.”
A sliver of anger surged through me. “Do you take any of this seriously? Do you?”
“Sure, I do. I take what we just did in here very seriously.”
I punched his upper arm. “I’m not kidding.”
“You think I am? That was some amazing sex, silver, and you know why? Because it was forbidden. We did it in a hotel conference room without a locked door—”
“That door was unlocked?” I nearly screamed.
He smiled. “It was. It is.”
I rubbed my forehead. “Oh my God.”
“It’s no one’s business.”
“That’s just it. This is business. I came here on business. On my third day of work. And I fucked the boss’s brother in a hotel conference room. I’m history.”
“You think I’m going to rat you out?”
“Not you. The manager. Anyone who walked by this room and heard what was so obviously going on in here.”
“Like I said, it’s no one’s business. And if I know my brothers, they won’t fire you for something they both would have done in a heartbeat.”
I sighed. He was right about that. I’d been witness to one of them doing the same. Lacey could have easily been asked to leave her firm for that bout of unprofessionalism.
I respected Lacey more than anyone I knew. Never would I have expected…
I sighed again, regarding Roy. Silky strands of dark hair had come loose from his low ponytail. Sweat still beaded on his forehead.
He’d never looked sexier.
What was it about the Wolfe men?
They were gorgeous, no doubt. They were brilliant.
Yet I’d been around other gorgeous, brilliant men. I’d worked at a top Manhattan law firm, for goodness’ sake.
No one had affected me like Roy Wolfe did.
Not even my ex, who was also gorgeous and brilliant.
But he wasn’t Roy Wolfe.
No one was Roy Wolfe.
I’d made a complete spectacle of myself because I couldn’t resist Roy Wolfe.
What the hell was happening to me?
I inhaled and then exhaled slowly. Time to walk out of this room with my head held high.
I couldn’t help a laugh. Right. It would be obvious to anyone who saw us what we’d been up to. Roy looked lazily satisfied. And though I hadn’t seen myself, I was pretty sure I was glowing with a “just fucked” look.
“For God’s sake,” I finally said. “Let’s go.”
After an early dinner at a local five-star eatery, Roy and I returned to the suite.
“We need to call Rock and Reid,” he said. “Let them know how everything went.”
I nodded. My belly was full. Dinner had been nice, and Roy and I had talked mostly about art. For a split second, I’d let myself forget about the real reason we were here.
All the Wolfes plus Lacey had been implicated in Derek Wolfe’s murder.
Roy got his brothers on a conference call. I went to the bathroom to take a shower. It wasn’t my place to horn in on the phone call unless I was asked to.
I showered quickly.
As much as I enjoyed our encounters, I didn’t want Roy joining me this time. Why? I couldn’t say. Yeah, I was a little embarrassed by our display earlier, but that wasn’t the reason.
I was also as attracted to him as ever.
But as he sat talking on the phone with his brothers and Lacey, something bugged me.
I was putting my job in jeopardy. If I’d been representing Wolfe Enterprises today with anyone other than one of the Wolfe brothers, I’d be fired for what I’d done.
This hadn’t been professional, and I was always professional.
Yeah, I’d asked Lacey if there was a problem with me dating Roy. I hadn’t actually asked if it was okay if I had loud sex with him in a hotel conference room. Where anyone could hear. Or walk in, because the door hadn’t been locked.
This had to stop.
And the only way it would stop was for me to stop seeing Roy.
The idea made my heart want to shatter into a thousand tiny shards. How could I give up the best sex I’d ever had with the most magnificent man I’d ever met? A man with a beautiful body and an artist’s soul to match?
Still…Roy was not without issues. He was hiding something. I felt it in the marrow of my bones.
And the way he spoke of his sister… The naked envy in his tone. I couldn’t blame him. He and his brothers had supposedly been treated terribly by their father while watching their baby sister be doted on as his favorite.
My head swung back to Leta Romero’s words earlier.
Rock had said his sister was the reason he was sent away.
But his sister had been six then!
Still… the little girl was her father’s favorite.
God, was he…? No, he couldn’t have been abusing her. Reid and Roy would surely have known.
This puzzle had so many pieces, and none of them seemed to fit together.
I finished in the shower.
How the heck was I supposed to keep my distance from Roy when we were sharing a suite?
Easy enough. I’d retire to my bedroom and lock the door. I could do it now. I was already in here.
But that wouldn’t be fair. I had to explain my reasoning to Roy.
I toweled off, moisturized all over, and then put on my shortie pajamas and clad myself in the lush white hotel robe. I inhaled deeply and opened the door, leaving my bedroom and entering the living area of the suite.
Roy was still on the phone with his brothers. He put his finger to his lips, motioning for me to be quiet. I nodded.
&nb
sp; But I didn’t leave. If he didn’t want me there, he’d say so. I’d stay until he was done with his conversation, and then I’d talk to Roy about cooling things off.
Rock’s voice: You sure that’s what she said? What were her exact words?”
Roy: I can’t recall her exact words, but Charlie took really good notes.
Rock: Is she there?
Roy: Yeah. Right here.
Rock: Get her on the line.
Roy nodded to me, and I grabbed the laptop out of my briefcase. I also grabbed my phone. I hadn’t told Roy I recorded the conversation. Was now the time?
“Did you write down Leta’s exact words about her conversations with Nieves?”
I smiled.
He cocked his head.
“I took good notes,” I said, “and I also recorded the call.”
Rock: You’re a genius! No wonder Lace loves you so much.
Reid: Good call, Charlie.
Lacey: That’s my girl.
Roy simply smiled and mouthed, “Nice.”
“Can you play the recording for us?” Lacey asked.
“Yeah, of course. I was afraid you all would be angry at me for recording it.”
“Of course not,” Lacey said. “I was actually going to suggest you do so, but then I thought it might not be a very good idea. After all, it won’t be admissible in court.”
Rock: So what?
Reid: I’m with Rock. Thanks for thinking of it, Charlie.
I smiled to myself while Roy beamed at me. I pulled up the recording on my phone.
24
Roy
She was perfect. Perfectly beautiful, perfectly adorable, and perfectly brilliant. Who could ask for more in a woman?
I relived the conversation as the recording commenced.
When it was over, Reid spoke.
“What did she mean by that, Rock? Was she telling the truth? Did you tell her sister that Riley was the reason you were sent away?”
A cleared throat. Rock, I assumed. “I don’t recall telling her that.”
“Then she must have made it up,” Reid said. “This was all a waste of time.”
“The thing that bothers me,” Lacey said, “is the same thing Charlie brought up. Why would she be talking to her gynecologist about this stuff? I’ve got to say, I’ve never told my gyn about any conversations I had with an old boyfriend. Any conversations I had period. It doesn’t fly.”
“Did she know you were acquainted with Manny, Rock?” Reid asked.
“Leta? I don’t know,” Rock said. “Nieves did. Nieves hung out with me on the weekends. We rode, and we often ran into Hoss and Manny.”
“I meant Nieves,” Reid said. “That’s where this information allegedly comes from.”
“You think Nieves—or rather, Leta—could have told Manny on purpose?” Lacey queried. “And this is after she got the phone call the night of Derek’s murder.”
“Pretty convenient, all told,” Rock said. “But I sure can’t see how it means anything with regard to the murder. I couldn’t have done it. I wasn’t in the state, so why talk about it at all with her doctor?”
“I agree,” Lacey said, “in theory. But I also agree with Charlie that women don’t normally discuss this kind of thing while some doctor is looking between their legs.”
“Especially when that doctor is Manny,” Rock said.
“What do you mean?” Lacey asked.
“You saw him. Would you let that guy salivate between your legs?”
“That’s gross, Rock,” Lacey said. “I’m sure he’s a professional. But he is a little creepy.”
“A lot creepy,” Charlie added.
I thought of Charlie on the exam table, Manny’s fat head between her legs.
Yeah. That would never happen.
But still something bit at my neck. My little sister. The sister Reid and I had envied because she had our father’s attention.
He never beat on her. Only on us boys.
Did Rock feel the same way? Did he get angry because our father favored his only girl? Time for him to fess up.
“Is there any truth to it, Rock?” I asked. “Was Riley the reason you got sent away?”
A throat cleared, presumably Rock’s.
“There’s a story to tell,” he said, “about what happened back then. I always felt it was Riley’s and not mine.”
“Things are getting real, here,” Reid said. “We need to know all that you know.”
A pause. Then, “You’re right. We meet when Roy and Charlie return.”
“Good enough,” Reid agreed. “We should all be together. But what about Riley?”
“I’d like her there. Any word?”
“No,” Reid said. “The best PIs in the business can’t find her. I don’t know who can.”
“We’ll fly home first thing tomorrow,” I said.
“Good. Come straight to the office when you get here,” Reid said. “We’ll be waiting.”
“All right. We done here?”
“Not quite,” Reid said. “Terrence has set up Father Jim to do a memorial service.”
Father Jim. The man who’d done my first communion. The man who…
Not going there. Can’t. Not yet. The blurred images knocked on the door of my mind. Knocked loudly this time.
I didn’t answer. Couldn’t answer.
“Okay,” Rock said. “When? Let’s get this bullshit over with as soon as possible. We have real problems to deal with.”
“Agreed,” Reid said. “Terrence is getting the word out. It’ll be next week. Wednesday at two p.m. at St. Andrews.”
“Because Dad was such a good churchgoer,” Rock scoffed.
“Dad donated a shit ton of money to that parish,” Reid said. “Father Jim owes us. Plus, having it at a church will make it look better to the public.”
“And a wake afterward, I suppose?” I said.
“Of course. Derek Wolfe style.”
“A fuck ton of cash,” Rock complained.
“We have it. We won’t even notice it’s gone,” Reid said.
“Still…”
I agreed with my older brother. Money wasted as far as I was concerned. As far as we all were concerned. I was ready for this conversation to end.
“Is that it?” I asked.
“I think so,” Rock said, an edge to his voice I hadn’t heard before.
“Okay. Bye then.” I ended the call.
I turned to Charlie.
She was sex on a stick in that robe, her hair freshly washed and wet. Normally I’d be all over her.
But something niggled at me.
Rock had been keeping a secret.
Something about Riley.
He wasn’t the only one with a secret.
Those undefined images whirled in my mind. I hadn’t let myself see them in so long.
But if Rock was going to show us what he’d been hiding…
I should do the same.
I hadn’t let myself think about that time clearly in over a decade.
For so long, I’d kept it a blur, let it fuck with my mind but stay out of my life.
Oh, it came out. It came out in my art, particularly in the abstract in the lobby of the Wolfe building—the painting that had brought me to Charlie.
The painting that had tortured my soul to complete, but that, to this day, was my best work.
I’d had offers in the seven figures for it, offers I’d never had before for anything I’d painted.
I’d turned down every single one of them.
Every. Single. One.
That painting was too personal. Locked inside it was a truth I couldn’t yet acknowledge.
And I didn’t paint a key.
25
Charlie
Back at the office the next day, I dived into my work. Anything to get my mind off Roy Wolfe.
Oddly, he hadn’t balked when I refused to sleep with him last night. I’d expected a fight. Honestly, I’d expected I’d give in.
Even though I knew it was for the best until I knew him better, I was disappointed he’d acquiesced so easily.
Something was bothering him.
Lacey asked me to help Terrence put the memorial service for Derek Wolfe together. We had five days to plan a first-class service that showed the world how much the Wolfe siblings missed their father.
Big problem number one—one of said siblings had disappeared.
Big problem number two—the other three hated him.
Money was no object, I’d been told. Plan the most elaborate service and hang the costs.
So I would.
Roy would be in the office later. The siblings and Lacey were meeting to discuss what Rock had to tell them about Riley. I hadn’t been included in that, which was just as well. First, I wasn’t family. Second, I didn’t particularly want to see Roy.
We’d both be better off away from each other until I figured him out a little better and he stopped hiding whatever he was hiding.
Leta Romero also never left my mind. Someone had made that phone call to her sister an hour before Derek was actually murdered.
Was it possible the cops got the time of the murder wrong? Not likely.
I sighed. Better not to dwell on Leta or anything else. I had work to do.
Terrence had given me a bunch of numbers to call for catering for the wake after the service. The wake would be held at the Waldorf Astoria, with limos transporting guests from St. Andrew’s.
The Wolfes were spending a crazy amount of money.
A crazy amount of money to make it look like they were mourning their bastard father.
Of course, it was pennies to them.
I shook my head. I couldn’t even comprehend the amount of money in the Wolfe coffers. When you got into billions, did numbers even matter anymore?
Damn.
My phone buzzed.
“Charlie Waters,” I said into my Bluetooth.
“Charlie, hello.”
Blaine Foster. I could tell by his voice, of course, but more so how he said “hello.” It came out more like “hell-oo.”
“Blaine, what can I do for you?”
“Just checking in. How’s the new job?”