Page 42 of Saving Wyatt

"And so is your brother and your men," I added to cover up my fumble.

It wasn't as if I meant anything to him to count.

"Not so sure about that, but yeah, I guess you're right."

I put my elbows on the table too and sat up a little closer. "Excuse me. Dr. Ari is always right."

He raised an eyebrow, smirking. "Are you now?" he asked in a low growl that burned through my insides like a bonfire, and even though I shouldn't, even though I should be smarter—I was smarter—I wanted nothing but to let myself be consumed by his fire.

FIFTEEN

WYATT

“Need a ride to Luna’s Lodge?” he asked me after dinner, and even though it wasn’t too far to walk, I wasn’t ready to say goodbye to him yet.

Not after the morning we’d just had, the way he’d looked after me and helped me rebuild a part of my life I’d lost to the fire.

His eyes were like anchors, pulling me closer, body, spirit, and mind, and I couldn’t let go. I didn’t want to. Even if I had to.

The fact I’d found out there was nothing going on between him and my brother didn’t help. Because whatever hesitation I’d had before dissolved as soon as he confirmed they were just friends.

“Sure,” I said and walked with him to his car, passing the spot in the boardwalk where Zach’s bakery truck had been before it got burned to the ground.

I felt a pang on my chest. Why was I worrying about my love life when I should’ve been worried about the motherfucker destroying all our lives. It didn’t—or shouldn’t—matter that Ari was single, which in all fairness he hadn’t confirmed. It was an assumption I’d made. Either way, I should’ve been spending all my time trying to undo this fuckery instead of worrying about being seen with a guy I was most definitely crushing on and doing my absolute best to resist the temptation to kiss him.

As soon as we got into the car, I pulled out my phone and searched for Wilson’s name, scrolling through the results as if I’d uncover his biggest secret. It was better than staring at Ari as he drove though, but a pointless task anyway. If there was something to be found, Slade, with his much more superior research skills, would have found it.

I needed to use my strengths. I needed to use my trained tactical brain. I hadn’t spent over three decades in the Silver Squadron for nothing.

“Are you okay?” Ari asked me at the first stop lights, and I looked up at him and found his sweet, wonderful gaze on me, and my breath got a little softer. A little easier.

“Yeah,” I mumbled. “Just…trying to figure out this mess.”

“You’re looking for digital footprints?” he asked.

“Digital, physical, but of course, he’s covered all his—” I started and paused.

Physical footprints…

How did I not think of that sooner? I was such an idiot.

I excused myself and turned my attention back to my phone, scrolling through my contacts all the way to K before I pressed the dial button. Ari set off again and drove down Main Street before he came to a stop at the next traffic lights.

“Furfection, King speaking, how can I help?” Slade’s partner said, and for a moment, all I could hear was barking and howling from the background before the line went a little quieter.

“Hey. It’s Wyatt,” I said.

“Oh hi, Wyatt. How can I help?”

I looked at the windshield and ran my hand through my beard before I spoke. “I was wondering if your brother could,” I said.

“My…my brother? How?” he asked.

“I know your father had a vested interest in finding Salieri and getting his money back. Does your brother?”

I had been just as surprised as anybody to find out King came from one of New York’s biggest crime families and that he had left that life behind when he’d had his daughter.

But his younger brother hadn’t. After their father’s death, he had inherited the throne that was meant for King.