And I got ready to play my part to the fullest.
I’m so sorry for your loss.
He was a great man.
I’ll never forget him.
He was so generous. He helped me save my company.
Loved his golf game!
Loved him. What an amazing man.
The words turned inaudible eventually. I simply smiled and nodded and said my piece.
Thank you.
Thank you so much.
Thank you for coming.
Your being here would mean a lot to him.
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
Hours passed, and finally I stood alone in the great ballroom with only my brothers, Lacey, and Charlie.
“Great job, silver,” Roy said to Charlie.
“You said to do it up right.”
“We did,” Rock said, “and you did. No one in the world will guess that we weren’t the most devoted children on the planet.”
I stayed quiet. I couldn’t let down yet. If I did, I’d collapse into a heap on this ugly carpeting—who designed hotel carpeting anyway?—and I wouldn’t rise for days.
“You okay, Riley?”
I looked up into the blue eyes of my brother Reid. Of my three brothers, Reid was the least likely to ask after me. He was usually into work, women, and himself and had little time for family.
Not that Roy and Rock had much to do with the family, either, but they weren’t as self-absorbed as Reid always seemed to be.
Perhaps I’d misjudged my youngest brother. Our father had passed him over in favor of Rock to run the business. Rock, who’d been gone since he was a teen and knew nothing about the family empire.
I’d expected Reid to go out on a booze-and-women bender, but he hadn’t. He’d stayed, helping Rock with his new duties as CEO of the company. Maybe he was changing.
Or maybe he wasn’t. How would I know? I was hardly ever around.
I really didn’t know my brothers at all.
They knew me better than I knew them. After all, they knew my darkest secret now. Not the details, mind you. Those were for my head alone. No one else should have to bear that burden.
I scanned the empty ballroom and looked down at my feet. A program from the memorial service lay on the floor, gray and black footprints shading the white paper.
Derek Wolfe. For so long, I’d thought I was my father’s darkest secret.
Turned out I was wrong.
Turned out I was dead wrong.36MatteoThree hours had passed.
Three hours, and still I sat in the lobby of the Waldorf Astoria, waiting for Riley.
I hadn’t gone back into the ballroom. I didn’t want to make any of this more difficult for her than it clearly already was.
But I didn’t leave, either.
We were going to talk this out.
If she needed to cry all night, I wouldn’t stand in her way.
But my arms would be around her while she did it.
Damn it, I would not let her bear this alone. Why was she so determined to cut me out? Nothing could be that bad.
Nothing.
Eventually, two people I recognized walked through the lobby. Rock Wolfe and his wife, Lacey.
I stood. “Hey, Mr. Wolfe!”
They walked toward me swiftly.
“Rock, please. Mr. Wolfe doesn’t suit me.”
His wife smiled. “It certainly doesn’t.”
“Why didn’t you come back to the wake?” Rock asked.
“It was a family affair. Besides, you heard Riley. She didn’t want me there.”
“Look, man,” Rock said. “Riley… She’s been through some serious shit.”
“I got that impression.”
“So you may want to just let her…” He raked his fingers through his hair. “Let her go, man.”
Lacey whipped her hands to her hips. “Let her go? Seriously, Rock?”
“Lace, I’m trying to help him.”
“Look at him. He’s clearly in love with her.”
Rock’s jaw nearly dropped onto the marble floor. “Huh?”
I didn’t have the strength to lie. “I am. I love your sister.”
“How is that even remotely possible?”
“Beats the shit out of me.” I plunked back down on the plush couch. “I’ve never felt this way before. She struck me like lightning. Got under my skin.”
“I think you might be able to relate, Rock,” Lacey said.
“Yeah. yeah. But this is my baby sister.”
“She’s a grown woman,” Lacey reminded him.
“She is, but she’s been through so much.”
“She has,” Lacey agreed.
“Wait a minute.” I stood back up. “She mentioned demons. What the hell are you talking about?”
Rock sighed. “I’m afraid she’ll have to tell you that when she’s ready. If she’s ever ready.”
“I came two thousand miles to find her,” I said.
“You did. And don’t take this the wrong way, but are you looking for her money?”
My right hand curled into a fist and I had to stop myself from punching Rock Wolfe’s smug nose. “I’ll let that go, friend, but only because we just met and you don’t know me. But if you knew where I came from, you’d know that money doesn’t mean a damned thing to me. I have a great life, though a modest one.”
Rock let out a low chuckle. “Brother, I do know where you came from.”