Page 10 of Wild Ride
But that’s a great goddamn name.
Shade must have named her.
CHAPTER FOUR
DAKOTA
Sitting across from the attorney,I stare at him and blink. I’m not sure what I expect, but it is not what he’s telling me. My father had money, a business, and a house. He left it all to me. But I still don’t understand why.
Opening my mouth, I start to ask just that when the attorney continues. “Now, the other partners in his business will probably wish to buy your share out. Which will just mean signing some documents and receiving a check.”
“Can I meet them?” I ask.
John lifts his eyes from his paperwork, his gaze finding mine and holding it for a moment before he speaks. “You want to meet them?”
Nodding, I clear my throat. “I don’t know anything about Nathan Vaughn, and I would like to find out more about the man he was. I figure whoever these partners are can help me with that.”
The attorney leans back in his chair, and his eyes widen. I can tell he thinks I’m crazy. He’s just got enough manners not to tellme to my face. His phone rings on his desk and he frowns, then picks it up.
“Okay. Yeah. Send them in.”
I’m staring at him with confusion when he clears his throat. “Well, you’re about to meet two of them. One is a defense attorney in my office, and the other is here, I’m sure, by happenstance,” he says, his last words coming out in a grunt.
He doesn’t seem very excited about them coming in, but I am thrilled. I want to know these men. I want to know my father. Is he as bad as my mother claimed? Or was my mother using it as an excuse to leave him and never look back? What is the truth? Because I know that the truth always lies somewhere in the gray.
And this all feels very gray.
There is a soft knock before the door opens, and I watch as two very tall, very broad men walk into the room. One is dressed in a suit, probably the attorney. He’s handsome with neatly cropped hair and a trim waist. And everything he’s wearing is, without a doubt, tailored to his body because I cannot imagine it not being made just for him, down to his shiny shoes.
The other man…
My heart stops beating in my chest when my eyes land on him. He’s dressed in worn black boots that have chains hanging from them. Jeans that have a slight bootcut but are otherwise fitted to his long legs and thick thighs. My god, I can’t imagine the muscle that lies beneath those thighs of his.
His middle isn’t as trim as the one in the suit, but there isn’t an ounce of fat on him. He’s thick, muscle that’s likely been earned doing manual labor or something.
I’ve seen all the men at the commune, and the ones who did all the hard work had different muscles than the ones who did yoga and gardening. Neither is bad, just different, except in this case, different is very,verynice to look at.
I watch as he crosses his arms over his chest, and my eyes widen at the sight of his bulging muscles. He’s wearing a black vest, but I don’t even look at it because his arm… it’s as big around as my thigh.
Wow.
Wow.Wow.
When my gaze finally reaches his face and then his eyes, I suck in a breath. He’s gorgeous in a rugged way. His face is covered with a day or two’s worth of stubble. His hair is short, really short, but that’s not what causes my breath to hitch. It’s the way he’s looking at me.
He’s glowering.
Like he hates me.
If John senses this man’s disdain for me, he doesn’t say anything. “This is one of my partners, Justin Whitaker.”
Standing, I slip my hand into the suit’s palm. He curls his fingers around mine and gives me a gentle shake. “I’m Dakota,” I say, my voice sounding foreign even to my own ears. It’s soft and shaky, timid sounding, and I know it’s because that’s the way I feel on the inside, too.
Justin releases me and takes a step backward, then the other man moves forward. But he doesn’t extend his hand to me. Instead, he grunts his name, and I know that my expression looks just as confused as I feel when I hear it.
“Name’s Bullet.”
“Pardon?” I ask.
