Page 78 of Wild Bliss

Wayne stared at him for a moment. “You took out all fourmen? Or did Sawyer get his freak on too?”

In this he didn’t have to lie. “Sawyer didn’t touch them. Itwas all me.”

And Sabrina. Actually it was half Sabrina, but he was nevertelling that story to his brother. The men would keep quiet too because theywould never let it be known a five-foot four-inch curvy schoolteacher had takenthem down without breaking a nail. But they would still mention her.

“I often wonder what you could have been if you hadn’t beensuch a pussy,” Wayne spat out with disdain.

“We’ll never know,” Wyatt replied.

“Oh, I have an inkling.” His brother looked him up and down.“You look good. You look taken care of. You got a woman? I would bet Sawyerisn’t the one putting meat on your bones.”

He hadn’t eaten much back then. The last few years in the MChe’d kind of wasted away. Now he realized it was due to depression and anxiety,and when he wasn’t dealing with those things, he ate like a horse. “I’mlearning to cook.”

Wayne’s eyes rolled. “Of course you are. So this thingbetween you and Sawyer is… I mean, you’re the girl, right? I always knew Sawyerwas a lightweight and you probably swung both ways, but the thought of the twoof you together kind of makes me sick.”

If his brother wanted to believe he and Sawyer were lovers,it was fine with him. It might throw him off the scent when it came to Sabrina.

“It can make you sick all you like, asshole,” a deep voicesaid.

Fuck a duck. Sawyer was leaning against one of the bigcedars lining the back of the parking lot, Bella at his side.

Had he been betrayed by the dog? Had Bella run back andgotten Sawyer up? And he’d given her treats…

There were suddenly a whole bunch of guns pointed Sawyer’sway, and the big guy’s hands came up.

“I’m unarmed, assholes,” he said. “And the dog’s asweetheart. She’s only dangerous to ground meat and my knees when she tries totrip me. I’m serious. You want to see me go all John Wick on your asses, hurtmy dog.”

“You’re all about protecting your dog and not your lover?”There was a nasty challenge in Wayne’s tone. “That’s sad for my brother. I’msure he thought he was gaining a protector.”

“Wyatt doesn’t need one,” Sawyer replied, his hands comingdown as the weapons were holstered again. “Wyatt’s good at taking care ofhimself.”

“He seems to think he’s good at taking care of you.” Waynewas all masculine taunting now, as though he thought if he pushed them enoughhe might get the fight he truly wanted. “He was telling me how he’s learning tocook.”

“And he’s reading a lot.” Sawyer moved closer. He wore apair of pajama bottoms and a hoodie Wyatt would bet wasn’t covering a shirt.He’d obviously dressed with haste since he had on a set of slippers instead ofthe boots he would normally wear. Wyatt knew those slippers had been a giftfrom his friend Lucy the year before. He never wore them outside the house. “HestartedTwilight. Picked it up at the library last time he was in DelNorte.”

The men behind Wayne snorted.

Wyatt wasn’t about to be shamed for his reading choices. Itwas good. He was almost finished and would be moving on to the next book in theseries. It would be fun to talk about it with Sabrina. Well, it would have beenif his asshole brother hadn’t shown up to ruin his life. Now Sawyer was being ajerk, too. It was just his night. “I wanted to know about Bella’s name,” hesaid under his breath before turning back to his brother. “I’ve got the accountnumbers you need on a drive along with the codes. They were all there, justhidden, as they should be since you’re a criminal organization and lawenforcement is pretty good with computers these days. I took a look through thesystem your new guy brought. He’s sloppy with the laundry, if you know what Imean. I would watch him.”

The new guy was the asshole who’d started this wholefucked-up mess of an evening. If Wyatt could get him executed with a fewtruths, all the better for the world.

“Does law enforcement have my laptop now?” Wayne’s voice hadgone dangerously low.

“No. We didn’t disclose the reason your men had for comingto visit,” Wyatt explained, and now he realized how lucky/unlucky he’d been.Though if Wright had the laptop, there would likely have been a disturbance atthe sheriff’s office, and someone could have gotten hurt.

“I’ve got it.” Sawyer moved back to where he’d been standingand retrieved the small tote bag he’d left there. “One of the reasons I camedown was to give you this. Can’t have it hanging around.”

Wyatt felt his face flush. He’d forgotten the damn laptop.The one in the cabin where Sabrina was sleeping. At least he hoped she wassleeping and didn’t show up like a warrior princess to save the damn day.

“He can be forgetful,” Sawyer said, handing the bag over.“Now, you have what you came for. I need to know this is over.”

Wayne took the bag, handing it off to one of his men. “Itcould have been if Wyatt had kept his temper in check. An ex-DEA agent has mymen. We could have avoided this.”

“They won’t talk, and Wright’s not one to do what it wouldtake to make them talk.” If there was one thing he’d figured out about thesheriff it was that the man was fair. He wouldn’t engage in the kind of tortureWayne would use to loosen up lips. “Pay their bail and I’ll see if I can’t getthe charges dropped so we can all move on.”

“I’m not so sure about Wright,” Wayne countered. “Once a DEAagent and all. But I’ll have our lawyer up here in the morning. Wyatt, you dounderstand what I’ll do to you and your boy toy here if you’re lying to me.”

Sawyer huffed. “I’m not the boy toy. He is obviously the boytoy. I’m like a… What do they call them? Bears. I’m like a bear. A grizzlybear. He’s a teddy bear.”

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