She must be in the other room.
I rose and headed to the can to take a leak. Hmm. Her wallet no longer sat on top of the toilet tank. She was obviously up, so she’d probably moved it back to her purse.
I walked into the living area, expecting to see her sitting on the couch or in the kitchen making coffee. Did she even drink coffee? Yeah, she did. She’d enjoyed JoJo’s coffee. She liked it dark and rich.
Still, I really had no idea who she was.
“Riley!” I called.
No answer. I hastily put on my jeans and walked into the kitchen. No Riley there either.
The hot tub. Of course! I hadn’t bothered covering it last night, so she probably got back in for a morning soak.
I ambled out onto the deck.
Sure enough, the tub was still bubbling…
But no Riley.
Okay, this was getting weird. I walked around the side of the cabin. Only my truck sat in the drive. Her rental car?
Gone.
I hurried back into the cabin to take a closer look. Nothing seemed amiss in the living room or kitchen, so back to the bedroom I went.
And it hit me.
The suitcase I’d moved off the bed?
Gone.
And in the bathroom? Not just her wallet was gone. Her toothbrush, toothpaste, moisturizer, hairbrush… Everything that I’d seen last night…all gone. How hadn’t I noticed when I took a leak earlier?
Easy. I wasn’t looking.
All I noticed was her missing wallet, and that was only because I’d snooped in it last night.
She was gone.
Riley Mansfield—or whoever she was—had left without a trace.
I ran my fingers through my disheveled hair. I still had no idea what time it was. I found my watch sitting on the coffee table.
Fuck. Eleven a.m.! Since when did I sleep this late?
Good thing I didn’t have a job today. My phone had indeed died. I got the rest of my clothes on, left the cabin, and got into my truck. I needed a cup of black coffee and something in my belly.
Fortification. Only with fortification would I be able to take the next step.
The next step.
Even as I let the words form in my mind, I couldn’t believe I was thinking them. I’d never chased a woman in my life, but that was indeed my next step.
To find Riley.
23
Riley
I arrived in New York late in the afternoon with the time change. My limo was waiting, and within an hour, I was back at my luxury apartment in Manhattan.
Time to call my brothers.
I wasn’t close to any of them. I hardly knew Rock, since he’d left when I was six, and Roy was so quiet he didn’t get close to any of us. As for Reid? He was outgoing, quite the partier in some circles. Also the closest to me in age. He and I might have been close but for our father.
My father had kept me distanced from my brothers. He was probably afraid I’d tell them the truth. He needn’t have worried.
I kept the truth buried far beneath my surface. I had to in order to exist.
To the outside world, I was Riley Wolfe, supermodel.
On the inside, I was a void of darkness.
Last night, though… Last night I’d seen the light. Matt had given me a precious gift, one I wished I could return. Leaving him had been one of the hardest things I’d ever done.
But this was where I belonged. Here. In Manhattan. Despite the horror that had taken place here, it was my home. My brothers needed me.
Derek Wolfe was gone and he wasn’t coming back. I thanked God on a daily basis for that one. I’d stopped praying long ago, but now I was free. Did I even believe in God? I wasn’t sure, but I thanked Him nonetheless. I thanked Him for finally freeing me.
I was a mess inside, for sure, but at least I didn’t go to bed every night wondering whether Derek Wolfe would show up and demand…
I didn’t even want to think about it.
I looked around. The décor was modern, with clean, crisp lines and simple colors of brown, beige, and white. Steel sculptures sat on the mantle, and the coffee table and end tables were covered in clear glass.
It was the envy of many in my circles.
And I hated it.
It was sterile.
Now, I longed for the hominess of the cabin in Sumter Falls.
Time to put this place on the market and move.
But not until I helped my brothers solve the murder of our father. We’d all been implicated, and the only one of us with an ironclad alibi was Rock, who’d been in Montana at the time. The police might try to say he’d ordered a hit, but with what? Rock had been living a modest life in Montana, working construction. He didn’t have the kind of money required to order a hit.
No, Rock hadn’t done this.
None of my brothers had, though they all had a motive.
The strongest motive, though?
That belonged to me.
I’d suffered the most at Derek Wolfe’s hands, and no one had known.
Until now.
Rock had told Roy and Reid why he’d been sent away all those years ago, and I’d told Roy in a phone call before I ran away to Montana.
God…Montana.
Montana and Matteo Rossi.
I absently brought my fingers to my mouth. I could still feel his lips on mine.
Lucky for me he’d turned out to be a sound sleeper. I’d tiptoed through the cabin this morning, packing up and getting out of there. Had he woken up, I didn’t know what I’d have said to him, but I’d have thought of something.
Lying came very naturally to me, thanks to my father, although lying to Matt was a challenge.
Good thing he hadn’t woken up.
I’d choked back tears as I left the cabin, as I got into my rental car, as I drove into Billings, as I got on the plane.
Finally, now that I’d kept the tears at bay all day, I was myself again.
Riley Wolfe, who buried her emotions inside. It was the only way I could exist.
Time to let my brothers know I was back. I called Roy. He was the one I trusted the most, though I couldn’t tell you why. Of all my brothers, I felt the most like Roy would “get” me.
“Sis?” he said frantically into the phone.
“Yeah, it’s me.” I cleared my throat. “I’m back.”
“Thank God. Where are you?”
“At my place.”
“Are you okay?”
“Better, anyway.” Thanks to Matt Rossi.
“We’re here for you. All of us. What do you need?”
I sighed. “Right now I just need for all of this to be over, you know?”
“God, do I. I have news. When can we see you?”
I was exhausted. But this needed to get resolved.
“Tonight,” I said.
A few hours later, I sat in Rock’s hotel suite. He hadn’t moved into the penthouse because it was still considered a crime scene. His new wife, Lacey, was there, along with her assistant, Charlie Waters. Apparently she and Roy were an item now.
I smiled. Roy looked happy. Actually happy. I wasn’t sure I’d ever seen him that way before.
Once Reid arrived and room service had been ordered, we settled in for a long night.
“The memorial service is tomorrow,” Rock said. “I know the thought of acting like children destroyed by our father’s death makes us all want to hurl, but we all need to be there and do it.”