As soon as Shane gets his hand on Wes’s neck, Wes comes at Shane with a fierce uppercut to thejaw, causing Shane’s head to fly back and his hand to slip. Then Wes bends Shane’s wrist until he screams. The knife falls to the dirty barn floor with a dull clatter.
Wes lets Shane go, and the man stumbles back. I expect Wes to finish the job, but instead, he stands at the ready, watching the scene unfold.
Then Noah strides up from behind me and swings a baseball bat at Shane’s head, making contact with his skull with a sickening thud.
Shane crumples to the ground, unconscious.
“Sorry about that. I had to get the bat from the bed of the truck.”
“Fuck, took your sweet time, huh?” Wes growls.
Noah shrugs and looks down at Shane. “I wonder if he’s dead?”
I let out a crazed laugh, trying to process it all. They came for me. He came.
“Calliope.” Wes appears in front of me, dropping to his knees. “Are you okay?” He reaches up to cup my face with his hands, rubbing his thumbs along my sore cheeks, wiping away the tears.
I nod because there are no words.
“I’m sorry it took us so long to get to you.” Wes leans around me and pulls a knife out of nowhere to cut me free of the duct tape.
It’s in this moment that I realize that I’m completely in love with Wesley Winters.
Chapter 41
Some Answers
WES
My rage fades as I touch Callie’s face. I stare into her eyes, searching for answers.
“Did he hurt you?” I force out. Her eyes are wide, her cheeks wet with tears.
Fuck, I love this woman so much.
Behind us, Noah is loudly securing an unconscious Shane with strips of duct tape. Without looking, I’d guess he’s targeting the ankles, wrists, and mouth.
“Not really.” But she flinches when my thumbs skim her cheekbones.
“Callie. Your cheeks are red.” There’s a faint bruise forming in the middle of one cheek, and—oh fuck no—ahandprinton the other side. Black spots start on the edge of my vision. “Callie.”
“Fine. He hit me.” Her eyelids flutter.
I completely black out for a second, the rage taking over, and when I come back to my body, I’m kicking Shane viciously in the ribs. Noah pulls me away from him half-heartedly.
“No, Wes. No killing him.” But he doesn’t sound super concerned, and he probably wouldn’t fight me too hard if I shrugged him off and kept kicking.
“Yet.” I grind my teeth together and settle. Shane’s awake now, and he’s whimpering like the pathetic scumbag bully he is. “You did not hit him hard enough with the bat.”
“I know, sorry. Maybe later.” Noah’s voice is soothing.
“Wesley,” Callie says from behind me.
With one last lethal glare at Shane, I turn back to Callie.
“I’m going to rip his throat out for hurting you.” This man is as good as dead. I’m going to kill him with my own two fucking hands.
Shane makes gasping sounds through his taped mouth. I hope he’s having trouble breathing.
