Page 7 of In the Mouth of the Wolf

He let out a deep laugh. “You’re almost there. I like to spend my time drinkingcraftbeer on myimmaculate,full-grainleather sofa, celebrating another Packers win.”

The door finally opened and Elias led me into the tastefully decorated room.

“At least until they choke in the playoffs,” he sighed bitterly.

The hardwood floors were polished to a warm gleam, and an ornately decorated Persian rug sat under a pair of damask upholstered armchairs in front of a dark mahogany desk. Built-in bookcases were filled to the brim with law texts.

Elias gestured towards a fireplace. “I have no idea if that actually works, and I don’t control the thermostat for the building, unfortunately. But here.” He took off his puffy, down jacket and placed it around my shoulders. “I wouldn’t want you freezing to death.”

Another blush crept up my cheeks, his enticing scent and lingering heat enveloping me. “Oh, thank you. Are you sure you don’t need it?”

He walked around and sat in his chair, turning on his computer. “Not at all. I run pretty hot.”

You sure do.

Elias gestured towards one of the armchairs. “Please, have a seat and we’ll get started. Your father’s business partner should be here soon. He was also named in his will.”

That’s right. Oliver had mentioned my dad had a business partner. But in what? “I have so many questions, because honestly, all this talk of my dad being some upright pillar of the community slash business owner slash devoted husband until the end is really confusing me.”

Elias rubbed his thumb along his lip as he listened. Something about his gaze seemed calculating and predatory. Combined with his intoxicating scent and the nice coat, I was getting pretty warm, and I crossed my legs subconsciously.

His eyes darted towards the movement and his expression glazed over for a second, as though he could sense how inappropriately turned on I was.

Ugh, I wasn’t normally so horny for strangers like this. He was probably exhausted. He’d just driven up here from Chicago, and I needed to stop thinking about sex.

“I don’t know if I can answer all of them, but I’ll certainly do my best,” he replied. “Why don’t we start with his business? Your father owned a large construction company with another family, the Wolcotts. They’re responsible for most of the new buildings in the Chippewa Valley, and employ close to 500 people. Wolfcrest Construction is also one of the largest corporate donors in the area. You can’t go to a local event or high school game without seeing their name plastered all over everything. He didn’t request a large funeral, but I’m sure the service will be well attended by the community.”

I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Who the hell was my dad? All those years, not a single peep. He didn’t even seem to care when his own son had died, but he could buy new uniforms for the school’s football team? Could sponsor a Veteran’s Day parade?

Elias watched me intently, his body still as he gauged my reaction. “This comes as a shock, I take it.”

My tongue ran along the bottom of my teeth, and I looked out the window as the storm progressed. “I haven’t seen him for twenty-two years. No cards, no letters, no phone calls. He’s as good as a stranger to me. I suppose any news of the type of life he led would be a surprise. Although honestly, with the lack of contact, I’d always assumed he just led a sad, simple life. I gotta say, it hurts a bit to know he was so successful and put together yet couldn’t be bothered to maintain a relationship with me.”

He let out a deep sigh, a pained expression falling across his handsome face. It looked like he was trying to hold himself back from saying something, some secret information that would help me understand why my dad had abandoned us that would help it all make sense.

But I was probably reading too much into it. How could he know what my dad’s motivations had been?

Elias let me sit with the news for a few minutes, and I tried to come to terms with it all. But for some reason, my mind kept wandering back to the meeting with Oliver.

“Why isn’t it safe for me to go to his house alone?” I finally asked, breaking the silence.

Elias stiffened in his chair. “Who told you that?”

“That weirdo counselor at the hospital. He said it wasn’t safe for an ‘unbonded’ – whatever the hellthatmeans – woman to go to the town my dad lived in alone. What was he talking about?”

His brows furrowed and a look of inner turmoil presented itself on his features.

Okay, maybe it wasn’t in my imagination. What was he wrestling with?

He opened his mouth to speak when heavy footsteps sounded, coming up the stairs. Elias’s office door burst open, and another large man stood there fuming. He had close-cropped dark hair and a short beard, his eyes piercing blue. Underneath a brown Carhartt jacket, he wore a green flannel with a cream-colored henley shirt. His jeans were stained with paint, his work boots scuffed.

Why was everyone in this city so hot?

“What the fuck do you mean his half is going to hisdaughter?” he boomed.

And such an asshole?

The inflection on the last word raised my hackles. I assumed this must be the aforementioned business partner – and wouldn’t you know it, he was a misogynistic dick with a chip on his shoulder.

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