Wilde at Heart (Wilde Security, #3)(43)

She touched that last mark, imagined the two older boys groaning and rolling their eyes as their mother corralled them for the measuring. “You were happy.”

Reece moved up behind her, close enough that the subtle scent of his cologne wrapped around her like a comforting hug. She smiled back at him. “I can tell. You were all happy here.”

His Adam’s apple bobbed, and he also reached out, dragged his fingers along the marks. “We were.”

“I’m sorry that ended.”

“Yeah. Me too.” After another moment, he shook his head and grasped her hand, pulling her up the stairs. On the second floor, he opened the first door they came to and flipped on the light. “This was Greer’s room.”

Like the living room, it looked untouched, as if teenage Greer would be home from football practice at any moment. There were posters of sports icons, and one of Pamela Anderson from her Baywatch days. Several trophies and awards lined the dresser—baseball, football, wrestling. He had pictures of his friends on his desk and nightstand, including several of a pretty blonde girl who must have been his high school sweetheart.

Reece continued on down the hall and opened the next door. “This was the twins’ room.”

Fascinated, she stepped inside and immediately knew which side of the large room was Vaughn’s and which was Cam’s. Cam’s more laid-back attitude showed in every nuance of his side of the room, and he was the kind of teenager who was interested in music and pop culture. Vaughn’s side of the room had a definite counterculture vibe to it with darker colors and Goth-rock band posters decorating the walls.

She picked up a photo of the twins from Cam’s dresser. Teenage Cam was in his usual jeans and T-shirt combo—though the jeans were baggy, more in line with the style of the mid-90s. Teenage Vaughn was dressed head-to-toe in black, wearing a lip ring, spiky black hair, and a bad attitude.

“Vaughn went through a Goth phase,” Reece said from the doorway.

“So did I.” She set down the photo and grinned over at him. “And, you know, I’m not surprised. I can see why the culture would have appealed to him. Vaughn has this natural…intensity. As a teenager, he must have been a hormonal wreck trying to get control of it.”

“He was, but he got over it when he joined the navy. Ended up funneling all that intensity, as you put it, into SEAL training. Probably the only thing that got him through.” He tilted his head to indicate the corner of the room where a pile of hockey gear sat. “But even at his angstiest in high school, he never stopped playing hockey. Both of the twins lived for the game. They were good, too. Dad always fantasized about one or both of them going pro.”

“But they both went into the military instead?”

“Greer’s orders.” He shut off the light and waited for her to join him in the hallway again. “After we lost our parents, the military was the only way we were all going to college. Jude and I both chose college first and enrolled in ROTC—NROTC for Jude since he chose the marines. Greer and the twins went directly into the military and studied for their degrees while serving.”

The next door he opened led to Jude’s old room. Typical teenage boy, the walls lined with late 90s pop culture and Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition covers, but there was color here, a playfulness that was lacking from his brothers’ spaces. A handful of old board games sat on a bookshelf, along with some comics and video games. He had a few trophies as well, appeared to have played football and baseball, like his oldest brother had. There were also pictures of him hiking, rock climbing, kayaking, surfing—he’d been more outdoorsy than the rest of his brothers.

“It looks like Jude,” she said and backed out of the room. “But I don’t get why you’re showing me all this.”

He motioned to the final room at the end of the hall. “My old room.” She waited for a moment, but he didn’t move, so she walked over and opened the door herself, surprised to find a set of stairs leading up to the attic.

“They kept you in the attic?” She meant it as a joke, but couldn’t quite hide the sudden horror that gripped her by the throat. Had their family not been as picture-perfect as it first appeared? Oh God. For his sake, she hoped they had been.

He gave a small snort of laughter and shook his head. “Relax. They didn’t lock me away. I chose it. More room up there.”

Curious now, she climbed the stairs. His room took up the entire attic, and he had computers everywhere, in all states of disassembly. Instead of posters of a favorite band, he had one featuring the cast of Stargate and pencil drawings of fantastical creatures. His shelves were stacked with books and comics. All neat and categorized, demonstrating his OCD.

It was all so different from his brothers’ rooms, she stopped short and blinked in stunned surprised.

This was what his apartment should look like.

This was Reece.

He had a bunch of gaming systems pulled apart, including some newer ones. While his brothers’ rooms had been frozen in time the year they each left for college or the military, Reece’s room had life.

She turned to him. “You still come here.”

“Sometimes. I do my best thinking here. It’s where I came up with the military simulations that started DMW Systems.” He walked out in front of her toward the desk, pushed aside a plastic crate of computer parts, and gathered up several of the notebooks stacked there.