The Rivals - Dylan Allen Page 0,243

left her and not come back if he could have.”

“He left us, anything was possible,” I say woodenly, a hollow spot in my chest opening wider as I come to terms with that again.

“I know. I’m sorry,” Hayes says.

“You have nothing to be sorry for. Our parents are fuckups. And we’re left holding all of the rubble from their mess.”

His shoulders fall a little and he sighs. “Thank fuck you feel that way, Remi.”

“Thank fuck you do, too,” I say sincerely. “We’re going to need to keep our wits about us.” I take a breath and tell him the rest. “Gigi didn’t just give me a letter in the hospital room. She gave me keys to the house where she and my -- our dad lived. She said she had papers drawn up a long time ago, deeding it to me and Regan and Tyson. That she thought it’s what he would have wanted.”

“So that’s where you’ve been? I have to say, your organization is a well-oiled machine. They ran seamlessly without you for months before the first real snafu happened.”

“My business manager is an expert in crisis management. And I’ve got ironclad NDAs for every single member of my staff. And, they’re loyal. We forgot that one event. If not, no one would have noticed.”

Hayes leans back in his chair. “Well, if your shit is so tight, why are you back?”

“A couple of reasons. First one’s a woman,” I say simply

“You look like the cat who caught the canary. Is she the one who got away?”

I give him a sideways glance. “Man, shut up. I have never mentioned anybody getting away.”

“You told me once, I should make up with Confidence before she got a taste of the world without me. I got the distinct impression you were speaking from experience.”

“That’s some damn good advice,” I say.

“Just fucking tell me, Remi.”

“Yes. She’s the one. She got away once, but I’ll be damned if she does again.”

“Do I know her?”

“She grew up in Houston, but she left the same year I went to college, so I doubt it. She lives in New York. She’s got a kid.”

His eyebrows shoot up. “So, the motherfucker got his MILF.”

I’m annoyed that he delivered that line better than I did. “Shut up, man. And as much as I’d love to talk about her all night, she’s not why I’m here.”

“Tell me, then.”

“When I went out to the house, I had hoped I would get some answers. Find out what happened to him.”

“Did you?” He leans forward, drums his fingers along the edge of his desk.

I don’t pull any punches. “I found Lucas Wilde. He’s very much alive. But only because the person who tried to kill him failed.”

He leans forward in his leather chair and stares at me like I’ve just told him I saw the Loch Ness Monster.

“Remi. Listen, my brother Beau… he spends a few months in the desert doing some very weird shit and he’s had hallucinations, too. Were you eating the cactus out there?”

“Hayes, shut the fuck up, please. I have never taken a drug in my life.” I lean forward and press my hands to his desk. “I found him. I brought him back with me. He’s been in the hospital. He was severely dehydrated. He has pneumonia, a slew of infections and he had to have almost all of his teeth extracted. He’s a mess. And he doesn’t know who he is. He only has memories after what happened to land him in a ditch.”

His expression flattens. His face pales.

“You’re serious?” His voice is gruff and thick with surprise.

“Very. And that’s not all.”

“What the fuck else could there be?” He huffs.

“I think my mother’s known where he’s been all the time. And that she knows exactly how he got in that ditch. He doesn’t remember anything. But get this. I found a dog, wrapped in some wire, tail cut off, lying in a ditch. I rescued her, and she was with me for the last six months. She’s kind of a guard dog.”

“That’s nice, Remi. But random.”

I spear him a with withering glare. “She was his dog. His. Of all of the stray dogs in Texas’ Hill Country, I found his.”

“No fucking way? What are the fucking chances of that?” He shakes his head incredulously.

“I would think next to none, but that’s how we found him. And guess what he named her?”

“Tina?” He laughs.

“Might have been more fitting. But, no. Gigi.”

“No shit.” Hayes slaps the table and laughs. “She’ll