Page 84 of Saving Wyatt

“It wasn’t nothing. It was…it was everything for me. I…I’ve never had anyone in my corner like that.”

“I’m sure that’s not true,” he replied, and I reached for his hand.

His eyes bored into me as I brought it up and kissed the back of it, certain my heart would burst out of my chest or that my body would give up and shut down.

I’d never done this before. Be so intimate with someone I liked when there was danger all around. When we could be discovered any second now, but I couldn’t help it. And Dare was right. I needed to find him to thank him after the way he stood up for me.

“It is. I…I needed that. I need you. You…” I had to pause to tame my breath that had turned ragged as if I’d run a mile. “You make everything better. You make me feel…less alone. You make me feel like I’m not a monster.”

In an instant, his free hand came up to my face and he stroked the skin under my eyes, causing a flurry of goosebumps to form under his touch. Goosebumps that traveled to the back of my neck and all down my spine.

“You’re not a monster, Wyatt. Not by a long shot.”

“It’s easier to believe when you’re with me.”

He smiled. “Then I guess I have to be with you until you believe it.”

My heart stopped for a moment, and a frog formed in my throat. “And what happens after?”

He smirked, leaned in, and his lips ghosted over mine for a second before he kissed me. “After that we can just be happy. Like we deserve to be.”

And just like that, with those simple words, the goosebumps prickled my skin everywhere and I could breathe again.

“I…I’d like that very much,” I answered, and he kissed me again.

A soft kiss that was way too short and fleeting for my liking, but it meant so much more than any other kiss we’d ever shared. Because it wasn’t just a kiss. It was a promise. A promise that motivated me now more than ever to bring the real monster down.

So I could be happy with Ari forever.

“I’ll see you later,” he whispered in my ear, then retreated into the room to check on Nino and Santiago.

And me? I returned to the living room downstairs, punched my hand, and looked at my men.

“Right. Let’s end this once and for all.”

TWENTY-NINE

ARI

Iwoke up in the middle of the night, an eerie quiet that shrouded the entire estate rendering any move ear-splitting. I looked toward Nino and tried to get off the armchair I’d crawled up in before falling asleep. The floorboards caved under my weight. He didn’t stir though, and neither did Warren, sleeping on the other armchair we’d dragged in from another room.

Sleeping in uncomfortable positions whenever I could get a chance was something I hadn’t done in a long time. I was out of practice, and my aging body didn’t exactly agree with it. But it wasn’t as if I could go home when I had a patient hanging on by a thread. Nino had somehow made it out alive. I didn’t know how, but he’d made it. That didn’t mean I wasn’t worried for him still. I’d be more comfortable with him in the ICU, but seeing as we couldn’t drag a crimelord to the hospital with a bullet wound, this was the next best option.

I tiptoed to the door, in desperate need of stretching my legs and found my way to the living room downstairs. Wyatt was sleeping on the sofa with a thin blanket covering his top half, and not wanting to disturb him, I sat at the armrest on the other end and watched him sleep.

He opened his eyes after a few seconds and turned to me. I pressed my lips together and apologized.

“I didn’t mean to wake you.”

“You didn’t. I can’t sleep. Not after what happened.”

I got up and made a move to sit by his side but glanced around before I did. “Where are the others?”

He sat up and patted the space next to him before he said, “They went to take care of the bodies.”

A shiver ran through my spine. There wasn’t anything that wasn’t wrong about that phrase.

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to get you involved in all this.” He gazed into my eyes, a sadness in the deep blue of his that made my heart ache.