Wild at Heart (17 page)

“Fifth Ave, near the bottom of the Park.” Her voice shook, which sent my pulse hammering. If my father or one of his thugs laid even one finger on her…

“You know the south entrance to the park? Sixth Ave?”

“Yeah.”

“I’ll meet you there in a few minutes. Just keep walking, okay?” She didn’t say anything, and for a moment I panicked. “REE? Are you still there?”

“Yeah. Just hurry, Dare. He’s freaking me out.”

“I’m on my way.”

The motorcycle roared to life and I wove my way through traffic and turned onto Sixth Avenue. Several blocks up, I could see the entrance to the Park, and sped toward it as fast as I could. At 58th Street I had to stop for the light and I scanned the sidewalks, looking for her long, honey-colored hair.

I spotted her hurrying toward the corner a block away, looking for me, then glancing behind her. And that was when I saw him. Tall, blond, and menacing. He strode up behind her, grabbed her by the arm—the one with twenty fucking stitches in it—and pulled her into him.

And I saw red.

The light turned green and I floored it around the taxis and sedans, aiming for the sidewalk where Ree struggled with her assailant. I didn’t even think about it as I rode onto the sidewalk, flew off my bike, and ripped the guy off of her.

I pulled her behind me and dove for him, knocking him backwards several feet.

“What the FUCK do you think you’re doing?” I came at him again, punching him square in the jaw, ready to beat him to a pulp if I had to. Fuck, I WANTED to do it, and it was taking all my control to keep myself in check. Blood roared in my ears, and I couldn’t feel anything but raw, primal anger. I grabbed the lapels of his jacket, yanked him forward, and rammed my forehead against his. “You touch her again, I’ll fucking kill you. You understand me, asshole?”

The guy glanced over my shoulder at Ree and smirked. I grabbed his face with my bad hand and squeezed, which hurt like fuck, but no way in hell was I letting go.

“You want to see if I’ll really do it?” I squeezed a little harder and pain flickered into his eyes. I brought my face close to his. “
Try me.
”

His eyes met mine and he smirked again.

And that was all it took.

I let go of his face, pulled back, and hit him again. He yelped in pain, holding his hand to his nose as blood gushed out of it. My hand was throbbing like a son-of-a-bitch, but the guy staggered backwards. Then he cursed, pivoted on his heel, and sprinted back down the block.

“Don’t you dare come near her again!” I yelled at his retreating back. “I won’t let you live next time.”

When I turned around, Ree was watching me wide-eyed, her whole body rocked by tremors. I was at her side instantly, pulling her into my arms, kissing the top of her head.

“You okay?” I said, leaning back just a little so I could see her. “Did he hurt you?”

She shook her head. “I’m okay.”

I cupped her face in my hands. “I’m so sorry I wasn’t there. I never should have left. I should have just waited outside until you were done.”

“No, I left early, never even pretended to go to the party as I’d planned because I got into my father’s office right away. And I wouldn’t have wanted you stuck outside waiting for hours. It wasn’t supposed to go like this.”

“With my father it rarely goes the way you’d expect,” I said.

Her eyebrows shot up. “Your father?”

“That guy was probably one of his thugs. A plant, judging by his clothes. Looks like my dad knows about you for real this time.” I pulled her closer again. Fuck it all. I couldn’t lose her. If my father did anything to her, there would be no saving him from me.

Because I would have nothing left to lose. The bastard probably didn’t factor THAT in when he’d decided to ruin my life. I would rip him limb from limb, and I’d enjoy every little bit of it.

“Dare?” Ree said quietly, hesitantly, like she wasn’t sure she wanted to tell me. “That wasn’t one of your dad’s thugs.”

I scanned the sidewalk where the prick had been moments ago, then I looked back at her, confused.

“How do you know?”

She bit her lip, shaking her head slightly. “Because I know him.”

“What? Who the fuck was that?”

Fear filled her eyes, which nearly sent my heart into overdrive. She was scared of that guy. No doubt about it.

“Ree? Who was it? Does he work for your dad? Is your dad threatening you again?” I ran my hand up and down her arm. “It’s okay, baby,” I said. “I’m here.”

“No, he’s not…” Her eyebrows slanted up toward the middle of her forehead, and her breaths came out short and choppy. “That was…that was Jackson.”

The world around me went silent, and for a moment all I could hear was her voice echoing in my head.
That was Jackson. That was Jackson. That was Jackson.
Before I even realized my feet were moving, I was already storming down the block after the bastard, fueled by pure hatred and fury.

I’d find him and I’d kill him. Right here, right now.

“Dare!” Ree’s voice pierced the red-hot rage of my consciousness. “Stop!” Her hands wrapped around my arm and tugged. I looked down at her, out of breath and frightened, and came to a halt. “You can’t hurt him, Dare. He’s Senator Fitzgerald’s son.”

“I don’t care who the fuck he is. He’s not getting away with it.”

“He already did.” She shrugged sadly. “And we have bigger things to worry about right now. Let’s just go home, okay?”

She was right. We had more pressing worries, but standing there staring down the street where that monster had disappeared, I swore he would pay for what he did all those years ago. If I ever got my hands on him again, he would pay dearly.

Ree brushed her thumb across my cheek. Her touch was featherlight and warm, instantly easing my anger. I couldn’t help but melt in her hands, and I marveled that she had this effect on me. No one in my life ever had. But then I’d never loved anyone like I loved Ree. Spending these last months apart had nearly killed me.

“Jackson won’t ever hurt you again,” I promised her. “I won’t let him. You’re safe.” She nodded, her eyes watering. “You’re mine, Ree. And when this is all over, I want you to be mine forever.”

The remnants of my rage numbed every other feeling in my body on the ride home, and it was only after I’d parked the bike and we’d gone inside that I realized how badly my hand hurt. I winced when I handed a glass of water to Ree.

“Oh my god, your hand.” She gasped, reached out for it, then pulled back. “I’ll get you some ice.”

She slid the papers off her lap and hurried into the kitchen. I sat down on the couch, and picked up the printouts, scanning them. Detailed notes about all the crimes I’d committed over the years, every dirty deed I’d ever been involved in and even some that I hadn’t. My entire sordid past was laid out in front of me. Looking over the files, I seemed like a real low-life.

There were even pages on my dad.

Ree returned with an ice pack, placed it on my hand, then sat down next to me, drawing her legs up under her as she picked up some of the papers.

“What’s all this?” I said.

“Files from my father’s computer.” She looked a little sheepish, waving the paper around. “This was the only way I could get them.”

“You did well,” I said. “It’s all here.” My heart clenched at the thought of her reading through my dark, horrible history, because once she finished, she’d know all of my secrets.

Every sinful one.

And she’d probably want nothing more to do with me.

“Ree.” I tried to pull the pages out of her hands. “Why don’t I look through them?”

Her brow crinkled. “I can help. I’m actually ridiculously smart, you know. Pre-law at Columbia, summa cum laude.”

“Yeah, but—”

“Dare,” she said, and her tone made me stop. “I love you.” She waved the papers again. “This is
history
. This is who you
were
—in large part because of your father, I know that. It’s not who you
are
. I love who you are, and that’s not going to change. Regardless of what I read.” She leaned over and kissed me, her lips melting against mine. “So just calm the fuck down already.”

I kissed the smile that came with those words, then sucked her bottom lip into my mouth. She moaned as I deepened our kiss, ran one hand through her hair, and wove her tresses through my fingers.

But then she suddenly pushed me away. “No way. You’re not distracting me from this. No matter how amazing you kiss. THIS is more important.” She scooted down the couch from me, and settled in with a stack. “You need to make us some coffee while I go get Rex, because this could be a long night. There’s a lot to go through.”

I raised an eyebrow at her. “
You
are going to drink coffee?”

“For you, Dare,” she said, “I’d do anything. Now let me read.”

Six hours later we’d combed through every page at least three times, and had come up with nothing.

No-
fucking
-thing.

And no Stanzi.

Fuck.

“You know what I don’t get?” Ree said, fingering the pages, a thoughtful expression on her face.

“What?” At this point, I was no longer getting ANYTHING. I was so fucking tired, my eyes were about to fall out of my head. Rex had passed out an hour ago, and was softly snoring in the old, beat-up, green recliner.

“Stanzi. There’s no mention of anyone named Stanzi in all of this stuff.” She ran her thumb across the papers like it was a flip-book. “Everyone else you’ve ever dealt with in any capacity is documented in detail, right?”

I nodded. “As far as I can recall. And there are some here that I don’t remember.”

“So where’s Stanzi?”

“Maybe your father missed one. Though the thoroughness of his files makes that hard to believe.” The mayor’s work on my background was alarming. It appeared nothing was truly as secret as you thought.

Ree was already shaking her head. “My father doesn’t miss anything. No…it’s almost like all info on Stanzi is
purposefully
missing.”

That didn’t make any sense. But it was almost four o’clock in the morning, and we were both exhausted—a lot wasn’t making sense.

“But why would your father leave something as important as Stanzi, and his connection to the Douglas case, out of the files?”

“So no one who went digging would find it.” Ree’s eyes gleamed as she stood up and started pacing the room, her mind clearly going a million miles an hour. “Remember when Rex said that someone didn’t want Stanzi to be found?” She froze, her eyes as huge as bright blue saucers. “
Oh my god
.”

“What?”

“Holy shit, Dare. This is HUGE.” She sank down to her knees and stared at the pages spread all over the coffee table.

“What is? Ree, tell me.”

“HE KNOWS.” Her gaze locked on mine.

“What?”

“My father. He knows about Stanzi.” Her voice was low, filled with horrified amazement.

“But why would that…oh, shit.” It hit me all at once. If her father knew about Stanzi, it meant he was withholding information about a cop’s murder.

Which made him a guilty party, too.

Holy. Fucking. Shit.

We had the bastard.

And, willing or not, he was going to help us bring my father to justice.

twenty-one