“I have no fucking clue. We’re getting played, Lacey. Played like a fucking violin. And I’d bet the entire Wolfe fortune that my father himself set this up before he had himself offed.”
Oh, God. I fell into Rock’s arms. Why had I agreed to draft Derek Wolfe’s will?
Rock kissed the top of my head. “We’ll get through this.”
I choked back a sob. Not a great time to be a whining woman—not that there was ever a good time for that.
Rock held me tightly while I attempted to piece the fragments in my brain into some sort of logical sense.
Derek Wolfe.
He was a mogul. A master strategist. A bastard extraordinaire.
But he was too much of an egotist to end his own life.
Rock was wrong. Derek had not been behind this.
Someone else had.
55
Rock
Of all the people I cared about—and a select few I didn’t—I was the only one with an ironclad alibi.
I hadn’t been in the state of New York when the murder occurred.
They could steal my Glock, use another with my prints on it and leave it at the scene, and it was still all circumstantial.
I could not have committed a murder if I wasn’t in the state.
But Lacey. Roy. Reid. Riley.
My mother.
Fonda, my father’s last flavor of the month.
They had all been here.
I didn’t know much about Fonda, but my brothers would. I’d bend their ears as soon as possible.
The others? None of them were guilty, especially not Lacey.
I knew it in my gut.
Someone was, though. Someone had killed my father and set us all up to turn on each other.
Who?
Who hated all of us that much?
I was going to find out.
But first—
“We’re getting married,” I said to Lacey, kissing the top of her head.
She pulled away, her eyes wide. “Huh?”
“We’re getting married. Tomorrow.”
“You sweet talker you.” The words were teasing, but not her tone. It was monotonous. Robotic.
“I love you, Lacey. You love me. We’d probably get married eventually anyway. This way I can protect you better.”
She nodded, again robotically. “Yeah. Okay.”
I gripped her shoulders. “Look at me.”
She met my gaze, her gorgeous blue eyes filled with terror.
“We will get through this. I will protect you. I promise you.” I kissed her trembling mouth softly.
She relaxed a bit then, and I deepened the kiss.
I’d protect her—and my siblings—with my life if I had to.
She broke the kiss, meeting my gaze. “I love you, Rock. I’d be honored to marry you.”
I cupped her cheek, her skin so silky under my calloused fingertips. “I love you so much, Lacey, and I promise you. We will have our happily ever after.”
Epilogue
Roy
The secret had lodged in my gut, always present, sometimes churning, and occasionally clawing its way up my throat as acidic bile, eating through my flesh.
For most of my life I’d ignored it. Not like I hadn’t had years to tamp it down, pretend it didn’t exist. Days had begun to pass where I didn’t think about it. Days turned into weeks, into months, eventually into years.
But always it was there, like a black cancer haunting me from the inside out.
Who to trust?
I was a recluse, never close to anyone, really—certainly not anyone in my family.
Flying to Montana to talk to Rock had been a mistake. I couldn’t expose my secret with his girlfriend there—his girlfriend who was a lawyer, for God’s sake.
Now I existed in a perpetual cold sweat, trapped in the ultimate mind fuck.
Help me. Please. Help me.
* * *
Wolfes of Manhattan continues with Recluse, coming soon!
A Note From Helen
Dear Reader,
Thank you for reading Rebel. If you want to find out about my current backlist and future releases, please visit my website, like my Facebook page, and join my mailing list. If you’re a fan, please join my street team to help spread the word about my books. I regularly do awesome giveaways for my street team members.
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Helen
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Acknowledgments
Thank you so much to my editor, Celina Summers; my proofreader, Christie Hartman; my beta readers, Martha Frantz, Theresa Finn, Karen Aguilera, Angela Tyler, Linda Pantlin Dunn, and Toni Barone Paul; and my cover artist, Marci Clark. You all helped Rebel shine!
Also By Helen Hardt
Steel Brothers Saga:
Trilogy One—Talon and Jade
Craving
Obsession
Trilogy Two—Jonah and Melanie
Melt
Burn
Surrender
Trilogy Three—Ryan and Ruby
Shattered
Twisted
Unraveled
Trilogy Four—Bryce and Marjorie
Breathless
Ravenous
Insatiable
Trilogy Five—Brad and Daphne (coming soon)
Fate
Legacy
Descent
* * *
Follow Me Series (coming soon):
Follow Me Darkly
Follow Me Under
Follow Me Always
* * *
Blood Bond Saga:
Unchained
Unhinged
Undaunted
Unmasked
Undefeated
* * *
Sex and the Season:
Lily and the Duke
Rose in Bloom
Lady Alexandra’s Lover
Sophie’s Voice
* * *
Temptation Saga:
Tempting Dusty
Teasing Annie
Taking Catie
Taming Angelina
Treasuring Amber
Trusting Sydney
Tantalizing Maria
* * *
Standalone Novels and Novellas
Reunited
* * *
Misadventures:
Misadventures of a Good Wife (with Meredith Wild)
Misadventures with a Rockstar
* * *
The Cougar Chronicles:
The Cowboy and the Cougar
Calendar Boy
* * *
Daughters of the Prairie:
The Outlaw’s Angel
Lessons of the Heart
Song of the Raven
* * *
Collections:
Destination Desire
Her Two Lovers
* * *
Non-Fiction:
got style?
About the Author
#1 New York Times, #1 USA Today, and #1 Wall Street Journal bestselling author Helen Hardt’s passion for the written word began with the books her mother read to her at bedtime. She wrote her first story at age six and hasn’t stopped since. In addition to being an award-winning author of contemporary and historical romance and erotica, she’s a mother, an attorney, a black belt in Taekwondo, a grammar geek, an appreciator of fine red wine, and a lover of Ben and Jerry’s ice cream. She writes from her home in Colorado, where she lives with her family. Helen loves to hear from readers.
http://www.helenhardt.com