Untamed (Untamed #1) (18 page)

“Reagan?” My father turned on his phone and began scrolling through his contacts.

“Reagan?” Archer looked over at me. “Who the hell is this guy?”

“Some degenerate off the street,” my father said. “Probably looking for a morphine hit for his mother. Or maybe himself. We’ll let the DA decide.”

Dare's name was on my lips—the name I used to say to show that he owned me, body, mind, and soul. But now, with that name, my father owned me. Because I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t let him destroy Dare’s life. He’d already been through too much for me to fuck it up.

I’m sorry
, I mouthed at Dare, shaking my head.

He took a step back. “Ree,” he said, disbelief coloring his face. “Tell them.”

“Dude, back off.” Archer grabbed Dare’s shoulder, but Dare shook him off. “You’re upsetting my girl.” When he reached for Dare the second time, Dare shoved him in the chest so hard Archer fell back into his chair.

“Reagan, I’m going to ask you one last time.” My father’s words sounded distant, like he was at the far end of a tunnel. “Do you know this man? Yes or no?”

Hot tears welled up in my eyes, but I forced them back. I shook my head and muttered the most painful words I’d ever said in my entire life.

“I don’t know him. I’ve never seen him before.”

Dare’s shoulders sagged. “No…Ree…
no
.” He staggered back as if he’d been punched in the gut.

“Call security,” my mother said.

Dare raised his hands and took a step toward the door, his face void of all emotion, his eyes completely dead. “Don’t bother. I’m leaving.”

He took another step back. And another. Until he was in the doorway. Before he stepped through, disappearing from my life forever, he looked at me one last time and said, “You’ve clearly made your choice,
Reagan
.”

Reagan.

Like that, I was Just Reagan again.

twenty-two

I
was moved back into my parents’ home as part of my “treatment.” My father paid my way out of mandatory rehab by forcing me to see a counselor three times a week and keeping me under constant supervision.

I was never alone.

My “little fall that ended up with a trip to the hospital” was fed to the press as a bad bout of food poisoning.

For a full week there were serious discussions about how the next year would go. How my parents would control my schedule. How I would get rides to and from school and could only attend sanctioned events with approved chaperones.

And I was not included in any of them.

I was told where to go, what to do, how to dress, when to eat—everything that had been mine was taken away.

And that was when I cracked.

This was a mistake—the biggest mistake of my life.

I’d made the wrong choice at the hospital.

The more my family took away, the more I knew I needed to get to Dare and break free.

But he wasn’t answering his phone.

He didn’t respond to texts.

So I played the part of reformed daughter, plotting my escape, until I knew I could see him—at the art show.

He’d have to be there.

I’d explain everything.
Everything
—including my plan to run. I wouldn’t use my parents’ money—I had savings from the commissions I’d earned on various art shows. I just had to get away. With Dare. I needed to save myself. Save Dare. Save us. And my father’s wrath? We’d figure it out together.

Because this could not be my life anymore. Not after the freedom and happiness I’d known with Dare. Life could be so much more than I’d ever imagined. It could have meaning, color, and real smiles.

I wanted that. It was worth the risk.

On the day of the showing, every single minute of every one of my lectures felt like a slow, agonizing hour. After my final class, I convinced Victor—my bodyguard du jour—to take me to SoHo for a seminar. Thankfully, he was all brawn and very little brain. He didn’t question why. As long as he could keep an eye on my ass—literally—he would tail me wherever I wanted to go.

The moment I stepped through the door of La Période Bleue, my eyes couldn’t help but go straight to Dare’s work. It stood out among all the rest. I listened to the chatter floating about—people loved his paintings. They were raving.

I was so fucking proud of him. And for him.

I glanced around the gallery, my heart bursting, dying to throw myself in his arms. But I didn’t see him anywhere.

My eyes connected with a pair of hazel ones. “Sabine?”

She shook her head. “Sorry,
chérie
,” she said, coming up to me. “Wilde did not show.”

I glanced around the room. “Are they sold?”

She nodded and smiled. “All of them. Every single one.” She pointed to the floor behind the counter. “But I saved one for you. Your favorite, no?”

Sia.

No. My favorite was—

I looked up at the wall where his other paintings hung. It wasn’t here.

Real Ree
wasn’t here.

Dare wasn’t here.

Oh no. No, no, no. He didn’t. He couldn’t have.

I tried to keep my composure even though I knew what this had to mean. As I handed her my credit card for Sia, I said quietly, “I need a favor, Sabine. See that tall, bulky guy right there?”

“
Oui
.” She grinned. “Tell me what to do.”

Five minutes later, I was in a cab to Brooklyn—hope, the only thing still keeping me breathing.

Dare’s door was unlocked, the keys on the counter. But the place was empty, completely bare. As if no one had ever lived there. As if he hadn’t even existed.

Gone. Everything gone.

My head spun. I couldn’t breathe.

No more Dare. No more Ree. No more us.

His mother’s number. I had it. I scrolled through my contacts and pressed her name. It rang and rang and rang.

My legs gave out and I fell to my knees. Hot tears flooded my eyes and my chest felt like it was being sliced open as I looked around this space so filled with memories and so empty of everything I wanted, of the only guy I’d ever loved.

Yes,
loved
.

Maybe.

Probably.

DEFINITELY.

Yes, that was what love felt like. I was sure of it. Like the other person was your second half. Like you were two parts of one whole.

Without Dare, I was just one shattered part.

One half of a broken heart.

Reagan and Dare’s story continues in...

OUT OF CONTROL (Untamed #2)

Three years have passed since Dare Wilde walked out of Reagan McKinley’s life. Three years of radio silence. Three years of regrets.

But she’s not the same girl anymore. Now, at twenty-two, Reagan has big plans to change her life, and it all starts with a trip to Europe. Instead of heading into Harvard Law like her parents had planned, she’s crossed the ocean to follow her dreams in the art world.
Her
dreams. For once.

A chance meeting in Paris brings Reagan and Dare face-to-face again, but is it serendipity…or penance? A chasm of unspoken hurt stands between them, but they can’t fight the passion they have for each other. And now that she’s found Dare again—the one person in this world who makes her feel whole—she doesn’t want to let go. Problem is, she may not have a choice.

Two parts. One whole.

Together…they’re out of control.

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A Note from the Authors

T
hanks for reading Untamed, the first episode in the UNTAMED Series. This is episode 1 of 6. Just like an episode of your favorite TV drama, each book in this series tells a
complete
part of a
continuing saga
. The entire Untamed Series is NOT one book, one story. It is a SEASON of stories, giving you a greater glimpse into the lives of Dare Wilde and Reagan McKinley than you could ever get in a stand-alone novel. You are getting so much more of these characters in this serial format, which is why we chose to write in this style.