Runaway Wolfes of Manhattan Three - Helen Hardt Page 0,72
while I was down there if I truly wanted to die.”
I nodded. “I understand completely.”
“So neither one of you are suicidal,” Roy said. “That’s a good thing, but it doesn’t help us out here.”
Zee finally took her sunglasses off and met my gaze. “Wait a minute. Are you saying…”
Her eyes were a gorgeous blue, lighter than Reid’s but still a clear sapphire. The kind of eyes I always wanted.
I attempted a smile. “I’m saying we all understand. We all had motives, and we’re all innocent. That’s all I want to say right now.”
But would my story help her make a decision to help us? I didn’t know, and I certainly wasn’t about to confide in a complete stranger. But maybe she didn’t have to be a stranger.
“Look,” I said. “Can we take you to dinner? My whole family? You can meet all of us and tell your story.”
“No. Not in public.”
“We’re in public now.”
She hastily donned her sunglasses once more. Damn. I had to remind her we were in public. Not my finest moment.
My big brother saved me. “It wouldn’t have to be in public. We can have dinner in one of our private suites or in a private conference room.”
“I’m not sure I could eat,” she said.
“It doesn’t have to be dinner,” I said. “Just a meeting. My brothers are awesome, and my sister-in-law, Lacey, and Roy’s girlfriend, Charlie, are great too. Lacey’s an attorney, so she can help you as well.” I sighed. “Please, Zee. We need to get to the bottom of what our father was doing.”
“I… I’ve told you all I remember. Your father—and I only knew him because I’d seen his picture—and the priest. He was wearing his collar, plus I recognized him from mass.”
“Wait…” Roy wrinkled his forehead. “Are you saying you went to St. Andrew’s?”
Zee nodded. “For years. He gave me my first communion.”
“Did he do anything else to you?”
She shook her head. “Never, which was why I never understood… Why was he there? Why was he with your father?”
“That’s what we need to find out,” I said. “Father Jim may have had the biggest motive of all to kill my father. And you could be the key to all of it.”
44
Matteo
“I want to marry Riley.”
I’d just finished my first Pappy Van Winkle fifteen-year when the words tumbled out of my mouth.
Rock sat next to me at one of the hotel bars. Reid was still working in the conference room, and Lacey and Charlie had gone to the spa for massages.
I expected his mouth to drop open, but it didn’t. In fact, he didn’t seem surprised at all.
“Are you asking for my permission?”
“No. Not really. I guess… Well, maybe I am. I’ve known her for all of a week.”
“About the same amount of time I’d known Lace when I figured out she was the one. So none of this surprises me.”
“I’m just afraid…”
“Of what?”
“Not of anything, really. Just afraid she’ll never want to marry. You know, after what your father did to her.”
“Riley’s a smart girl. She won’t let her past color her future.”
“But didn’t you? You ran off to Montana. Left everything behind.”
He took a drink. “I did. And now I’m back. Confronting the past wasn’t easy, and certainly not painless, but I’m glad I did it. Riley might only weigh a hundred and twenty pounds soaking wet, but she’s a Wolfe, and she’s as strong as I am, if not stronger.”
“She is that.”
“Still, you need to give her some time. If you ask her to get married now, she may run again.”
“She ran to me last time.”
“She ran away last time. Running to you was coincidence.”
I signaled the bartender for another. “You’re right.”
“She loves you, though,” Rock said. “I’ve never seen her look at anyone the way she looks at you.”
“You weren’t around.”
“You got me there. But when I came back after Dad was killed, Riley looked… Not sad, exactly. Not angry. Just…resigned. Like her life was her life and it could never change.” He smiled. “She doesn’t look that way anymore, and if you have anything to do with that, you’ve made a friend for life in me.”
“Where did you live in Montana?”
“A little biker town north of Helena called Grayforke. You know it?”
I nodded. “Yeah. I’ve been there a few times.”
“Do you ride?”
“No, though I always wanted to. I got my license a few years ago, but I haven’t been able to afford the bike I want.”
Rock stood. “No more drinking, then.” He shoved several bills on the bar.