Page 24 of Saving Wyatt

WYATT

His brown eyes shone in the sunlight as his gaze bore seemingly into my soul. A shiver ran down my spine at the attention, and I tried to keep my composure, tried to keep the mask I'd perfectly cultivated for forty-odd years so that it didn't give away how he made me feel, how my heart skipped an extra beat under his watch, or how my cock pulsed in my pants.

And then he smiled, making my resolve even harder to maintain.

What was it about this man that could break down decades-old walls I'd built around myself? Because it certainly felt like my shield was breaking down in real time the more time I spent in his presence.

"Are you okay?" he asked and stepped closer.

Then he took another step, and all of a sudden, he was mere inches from me. He reached for my hands at the same time as his lips brushed mine, and I tensed up but was too weak to stop the oncoming overwhelm of my senses.

Ring, ring.

Huh?

I pulled away and looked around us, at all the people staring at us and this intimate moment between us.

Ring, ring.

They frowned. The people watching. Their brows furrowed deeper and deeper until there was nothing else written on their face but anger.

Why were they all so mad? What were we doing that was so wrong? What was I doing to deserve all this wrath?

Ring, ring.

I opened my eyes, and it took several attempts before they could adjust to the darkness. Only then did I manage to look at my ceiling and the light flickering from the lamp on my bedside.

Ring, ring.

I turned toward my phone and rubbed my eyes as I slid my thumb across the screen to answer it.

"You think you won?" a deep raspy voice said on the other end, and I shot upright.

"Who is this?” I growled.

“Just delivering a message from my boss.”

"Wilson! Or does he prefer Salieri?"

The man laughed. "I don't know who or what you're talking about," he said, and I bit my tongue.

Of course he wasn’t going to admit who his boss was on the phone, was he? Plausible deniability and all that shit. Didn’t expect any less from the guy who’d built a whole criminal empire under everyone’s nose.

"My boss wants you to know you might have cleared your name, but that doesn't mean this is over."

I huffed. "I didn't think it was. I will bring him down. He can be sure of that. And so can you."

Gosh. Why was I taunting the guy? Hadn't I already made everything ten times worse by going after Salieri? Did I need to tell him that nothing he did could scare me?

No. Because it wasn't the truth. I was scared. Scared shitless. But not for me. For everyone else I'd dragged into my mess.

"We'd love to see you try," the man said, and I removed the covers off me.

I was actually sweating, but I couldn't tell if it was from the call or because Autumn forgot to turn off the heating.

"Tell him his reign of terror won't last," I told him.

Another laugh. Boy, this guy was getting on my nerves. Though what did I expect? Who else would be working for an arrogant piece of shit than other pieces of shit.