Wilde Heart (Wilde Women Book 2) (35 page)

Liam grunted and clenched his fists. He wasn’t sure where this was going, but he knew it was no place good.

“Anyway—Miss Wilde was working a studio shoot for the New Year’s Eve project and as usual, Walsh had her butt buddy Katherine Martin riding roughshod over the whole thing. I’m guessing they were in constant contact. Here’s where the information gets murky so I’ll just summarize the official report and then fill in some holes with what I think really happened.”

His eye twitched and the scowl deepened until it almost hurt. Laying his head on the back of the sofa, Liam closed his eyes and listened.

“According to the statement Walsh gave, which was backed up by her little flunky, she dropped by the shoot to check on things. During a conversation with Miss Wilde, things became heated and again, according to Walsh, Miss Wilde got physically confrontational with her. After demanding that Miss Wilde stop touching her, when Walsh demanded she step back, an unbalanced and out of control Miss Wilde stumbled as if under the influence, lost her footing, and tumbled to the floor.”

Under the influence? Rhiann? A menacing growl rumbled from his throat, but he managed to remain seated, head back, eyes still closed.

“The paramedics were called to the scene; she was stabilized but had received an injury to her arm. EMS transported her to the emergency room where it was determined that she had fractured her wrist. She was fitted with a cast, and at the insistence of
your
legal department, Miss Wilde was compelled to submit to a drug test.”

There was no way to hold back his outraged reaction. Surging forward, he glared at Roman. “What?”

“Yeah, you heard me. Kim must have had legal on speed dial because they were all over the fiasco from the start.”

“They didn’t find anything,” Liam grumbled. It was a statement, not a question.

“By the time I got back, a full twenty-four hours had passed and before I was even finished reading the report, Miss Wilde was suspended from
Passion.
That bitch flat-footed me so perfectly, there was nothing I could do without making the whole thing worse. It was like she was taunting me.
Us.
Not a good move, although I’m sure she was pretty pleased with herself.”

“T
HERE ARE AN AWFUL LOT of holes in that story,” Liam muttered.

Roman snickered. “And you’d be right about that.”

“Please tell me you can fill in the blanks.”

“Get real. This is me you’re talking to. Once I realized that Walsh had effectively made a fool of me, I started digging.”

He looked at Liam and frowned. “You’re not going to like what I found out.”

“Oh . . . as if I like what you’ve told me so far? How much worse does it get?”

They looked at each other—their communication being of the silent type.

“I figured Walsh was following my every bowel movement, so I put Gary on working up an in-depth report about what really happened. Along the way, he found out that Miss Wilde had talked to the guy who heads building security where the
Passion
offices are located.”

“Security? Why? I don’t understand,” he grumbled.

“Here’s where the story veers sharply to the left. What Gary uncovered was that when Miss Wilde returned from Pennsylvania, she had a suspicion that her apartment had been . . . compromised.”

Liam leaped to his feet as a murderous intent overtook him. “Are you telling me that her apartment was broken into?”

“Boss,” Roman instructed, “calm down and let me finish. Believe me, you’ll have plenty of cause to freak the fuck out after you hear the rest.”

“Oh shit. There’s more?”

“You don’t even know,” Roman ground out.

Fireworks were going off in Liam’s head. “Before you say anything else, tell me again that she’s all right. That you
know
she’s all right.”

This time Roman sneered and the look in his eye turned dangerous. “What messes with you, messes with me, and vice versa. Miss Wilde was my responsibility in your absence. That fucking cunt went too far.”

“So, you’re sure she’s all right? Like right this very minute? Tell me honestly, Roman, because the message on her phone sounds an awful lot like someone who was ready to start a new life and cut all ties with the old one.”

“She can’t be faulted for reacting that way—and yes. Right this actual very second, she’s fine,” he said waving his phone for emphasis. “I checked with my guys when I got here. I’m serious, Boss. I have eyes on her twenty-four seven. And I used some personal contacts—people who aren’t in any way connected with BPG so Walsh won’t know.”

“I want to see her,” Liam snapped.

“That’s not going to be possible.”

“Why?”

“Well . . . she’s not in the city.”

“Did she go home, then? Is she with her parents? Or her sister?”

“Not exactly,” Roman murmured. “Let me finish and you’ll understand. After quietly asking around, Gary came up with more. During this so-called physical altercation, Walsh taunted Miss Wilde with the newspaper photo of you two together. Whatever happened after that is still murky, but at least one person nearby, not Walsh’s lying sack of shit stooge, swears that it was Walsh who struck first, grabbing her by the arm as she tried to walk away. When Miss Wilde defended herself, Walsh yelled loud enough to get everyone’s attention and accused her of being the aggressor. Somehow, she fell, and you know the rest.”

“I need a minute here,” Liam croaked hoarsely as his mouth went dry from the anxiety running rampant inside him.

This was so much worse than anything he imagined. Furious with himself for not patching things up with Rhiann before he left, waves of guilt crashed into him. If he’d just manned the fuck up and did whatever he needed to in order to make things right between them, she would have been untouchable and under his protective wing. By simply leaving and thinking he was letting her cool off, he’d put her in danger.

Had he known Kim was this off her rocker? No. But he should have. All the batshit crazy signs were there.

Mentally adjusting the heavy mantle of guilt due to his neglect, he processed what he knew.

“Continue—only this time, tell me where she is.”

“Following the suspension, she took to her apartment and cut off all contact with everyone. The only visitor she allowed was her assistant, but both those meetings were short. If you want my opinion, the guy’s a spineless shit but maybe that’s because Walsh is playing the part of the Evil Queen and has thoroughly scared the bejeebers out of everyone at
Passion.
Nobody in their right mind wants to cross her—not after how effectively she dealt with Miss Wilde.”

Scowling darkly, he muttered, “Yeah, well, the Evil Queen isn’t going to know what hit her after I’m through trashing her sick little kingdom.”

Roman’s hand shot out, and he snickered. “Fist bump, man.”

After smacking their clenched fists together, Liam felt a tiny bit better.

“So, where was I? Uh, holed up in her apartment, the cowardly assistant. Right. Okay. This is where it gets interesting. About a week ago, her sister and new husband show up. Probably to find out what in the hell was going on. They stayed in the city a few days and then the brother-in-law . . . guy by the name of Jackson Merrill, charters a flight to take Miss Wilde to North Carolina.”

“What the fuck is in North Carolina?”

Roman smiled. “Well, besides one of the most beautiful beaches imaginable, apparently the newlyweds purchased a house there. Nags Head, to be precise. They packed Miss Wilde up and sent her off, which from our point of view was the very best thing that could have happened. Puts up a barrier between your lady and the crazy bitch trying to destroy you both. It also gave me the perfect opportunity to set up around-the-clock surveillance and protection. She doesn’t know it, but Miss Wilde is effectively on lockdown at the moment.”

“She’s at the beach? In the dead of winter?”

“Actually, Boss—that worked in our favor. The tourist trade is twelve months a year down there, but many of the rental homes are empty during the off-season. I have a husband and wife team directly across the street. She’s being watched and doesn’t have any clue.”

While he digested all that information, his secretary knocked and entered at the same time. Looking up in surprise, he found Gardner’s face filled with a sort of savage fury that he’d never seen before.

“Liam,” she exclaimed in a gruffly blunt manner, earning her his complete attention. She
never
addressed him by his first name. “You have to hear this,” the no-nonsense older woman informed him.

He then noticed that his secretary had her arm protectively around a young woman. She looked to be in her very early twenties and was wearing an expression that bordered on fright.

Bringing the girl into the office on feet that clearly wanted to run in the other direction, he saw Roman studying her, too, as Marjorie brought them both to a halt right in front of him.

“This is my granddaughter. Shayne Benson.”

Granddaughter? Well, there was a surprise.

“It’s okay, dear,” she murmured to the frightened looking girl. “He always scowls like that. I’m afraid the look is now permanent on his face,” she assured her and then gave him a mocking glare.

“Just tell Mr. Ashforth what you know, sweetie. He won’t bite.”

“Shayne Benson,” Roman mumbled. “You’re an intern at
Passion,
right? You were there when Miss Wilde had her accident. I saw your name on the EMT’s report.”

So. Marjorie Gardner’s granddaughter was an intern at the magazine?
Interesting.

Marjorie gave her shoulders a little squeeze for reassurance and told her, “Go ahead. I’m right here.”

Liam felt like a giant douche as the pretty young woman clutched nervously at her skirt and bit down on her lip while she eyed him with suspicion. Making an effort to appear less threatening, he softened his expression and offered a half smile.

“Um, okay,” she stammered.

Wait a minute,
Liam thought. I’ve seen her before. She was at
Passion
that day he went to talk to Rhiann about her Thanksgiving plans. He remembered thinking at the time that the timid girl had a huge case of fangirl going on where Rhiann was concerned.

“I, uh . . . saw what happened, Mr. Ashforth, and Rhiann didn’t do anything wrong. I swear. It was all that other lady. The one with the blond hair.”

Gardner nodded at him and gave Liam one of those looks that suggested a beat down was in the planning. “Just tell him about the box, Shayne. Explain what you saw.”

“Oh, well you see. The lady was giving Rhiann a hard time—but she always did whenever she came around,” she said looking to her grandmother for support.

Roman gently asked, “You saw her, the blond lady, give Miss Wilde a hard time before?”

She huffed out a snort and nodded at Roman. “All the time. In person. On the phone. Memos. You name it. Everyone was talking about what a bitc . . . uh, I mean how rude the other lady was. She even put one of her people in our department who watched every little thing and reported back.”

Marjorie grunted. “Never did like that woman. Go on, sweetie. The box, remember?”

“Um, anyway . . . they were sort of going at each other, but Rhiann, she never lost her cool. Not even after she saw a newspaper with your picture, Mr. Ashforth. I know it was you because after the ambulance took her away and I was putting everything back in order, I took it and stashed it in my bag.”

“You still have it?” Marjorie asked.

“Uh-huh.” Shayne nodded.

“Good girl. You did the right thing. I’m proud of you.”

“So, when they were arguing, the lady grabbed Rhiann’s arm and when she tried to jerk away, her elbow pushed the blonde away. I saw her; Mrs. Walsh, is that right?” she asked her grandmother who nodded, yes. “I saw her kick a box full of condiments for the craft table that was on the floor next to where they stood, so it was directly behind Rhiann. When she stepped back to get away, her feet got tangled up because of the box and she went crashing to the floor.”

How many years would I do for punching Kim Walsh in the fucking throat,
Liam wondered.

“Are you saying that Mrs. Walsh deliberately placed an obstruction behind Miss Wilde that caused her to fall? Are you absolutely sure?” Roman asked.

“Yes, sir,” Shayne answered. “I saw the whole thing.”

“Have you told anyone else what you witnessed?”

“No, sir,” she said with a shake of her head. “I mean, just Gramma and not till just now when she asked. I was worried about Rhiann and wasn’t sure if anyone would believe me. They’re all so afraid of that lady. But I like Rhiann. She’s ah-mazing. I’d do anything for her.”

Roman looked at Liam and made a
holy shit
face.

Standing as he smoothed his tie, Liam turned a friendly smile on the young girl and held out his hand for her to shake.

“Thank you, Shayne. I appreciate you coming forward like this. And don’t worry about Miss Wilde. I’m going to make sure everything’s all right, okay?”

Turning to Marjorie he said, “Let’s just keep this between us for now.”

“Understood.”

Going to stand by the window so he could gather his thoughts while Roman walked the two women out, he pieced together everything he’d learned in the last ninety minutes.