Runaway (Wolfes of Manhattan 3)

“Why didn’t you take the power, Riley?” I hated myself for asking the question. I knew better. “God, I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be.” She looked down, unable to meet my gaze. “I don’t know. I’ll never be able to answer that question, Matt.”

“I shouldn’t have asked it. It was unfair of me.”

“No.” She shook her head. “It was a fair question, and one I’ve asked myself millions of times. He had some kind of sick hold on me.” She sighed. “You’re right. I need to get some help. Roy gave me the name of his therapist—the one who helped him remember what he saw over a decade ago. I was thinking I wouldn’t call her. But maybe I will.”

“I’ll go with you if you want me to.”

“I’d like that.” She smiled hesitantly. “I’d really like that.”The next day, after holding Riley all night and nursing a nasty case of blue balls, I went with her to meet with her brothers at the Wolfe Building.

“Can he be trusted?” Reid, the blue-eyed brother, asked.

“Fuck off, Reid,” Rock said. “If Riley trusts him, that’s good enough for me.”

“And me,” Roy agreed.

“He’s the man I love,” Riley said, “and if you want to know how wonderful he is, he took care of me last night. He didn’t lay a hand on me.”

My cheeks warmed, and I wished she’d shut up. Our personal life was our personal life, but I understood the point she was trying to make. I didn’t take advantage of her when she was a mess.

“That’s more than you’d have done, Reid, with a woman in a similar situation,” Rock said snidely.

“Fuck off, Rock.” From Reid.

“Both of you fuck off,” Roy said. “Let’s bring Matt up to speed.”

I sat, my jaw nearly on the table in front of me, as Rock relayed everything.

Everything.

He’d tried to kill his father to protect Riley.

He got sent away.

Roy and Reid—mostly Reid—got the shit beat out of them.

They were jealous of Riley’s princess trips.

Until Rock told them what really went on during those trips.

How they’d wished she’d told them so they could stop it.

How they wouldn’t have been able to stop it no matter what.

And then Roy’s buried memory.

The woman who Derek Wolfe—and that priest from yesterday—had been hunting somewhere in the basement of the Wolfe Building.

I raked my fingers through my hair. My body throbbed with nausea, anger, disgust, repulsion. If it was negative, I felt it as my heart pounded like a jackhammer.

I’d just walked into chaos.

Fucking chaos.

But I’d deal. I’d deal because I loved Riley. I wanted the best for her, and I’d do anything I could to help find out who truly offed Derek Wolfe so Riley could be at peace.

“You can walk out, no questions asked,” Riley said. “I wouldn’t blame you.”

I placed my hand over hers. “Nothing doing.”

“Are you sure?” Rock asked. “You look a little green around the gills.”

“Can you blame him?” Lacey said. “It was a lot for Charlie and me as well. But this family, all of you, are worth it.”

I nodded. “You are. I’m fine.”

Rock went on, “You seem like a hell of a good guy, but we’re dealing with some major shit here. We don’t know what’s going to come up. Someone killed our psycho of a father, and we have no idea who. He had thousands of enemies. It could seriously be anyone.”

“But it’s not anyone in this room,” I said. “I believe that with my whole heart.”

“You don’t even know us,” Reid scoffed.

“Do I have to tell you to fuck off again?” Rock said.

“Sorry, bro, but I’m the one who learned this business at Dad’s side, and one thing I learned was never to trust anyone.”

“If you trust me, you can trust Matt,” Riley said.

“It’s okay, baby.” I squeezed her hand. “He doesn’t know me, but I’ll prove worthy of his trust. Of all of your trust.”

“Good enough,” Rock said. “Reid and I have to fly to Vegas first thing tomorrow to deal with some contract issues on the hotel. This holdup is costing us millions per day, and we need to get it taken care of.”

“Why don’t we all go?” Roy said. “How about it, silver? Want to go to Vegas? We can take in a show.”

Charlie Waters, Roy’s girlfriend, smiled. “It sounds great, but there’s a lot of work to be done here too.”

“You know what?” This from Lacey, Rock’s wife. “I think we could all use a break.”

“What break?” Rock said. “Reid and I will be working.”

“True,” she said, “and so will I. But Roy and Charlie should take some time. And you too, Riley. You deserve it.”

“How are we supposed to take time off when all of you are persons of interest in this case?” Charlie asked. “I don’t think I can.”

“I can,” Roy said, “and if I can, you can, silver. We need it, especially after that farce of a funeral yesterday.”