Page 103 of Breaking Conviction
“I’ve only known you a few months, Naomi, and this definitely isn’t the right time. But you two have quickly become my world. She’s the light of your life, and you’re mine. I’m not going anywhere, love.”
Naomi grabbed his hand before giving him a watery smile, opening and closing her mouth like she was getting up the nerve to say something.
His phone rang and Wes winced, slightly annoyed that the moment had been interrupted, but more afraid of not answering it and missing literally vital information about Phoenix. He looked at the caller ID before he waved his phone at her. “Give me a minute.”
She nodded before giving his hand three squeezes. He closed his eyes, surer than ever of what she felt for him, before he turned, placing the phone to his ear. “Henry? What’s the status?”
There was a pause and Wes felt his brow furrow. “Henry?”
Finally, there was a choking sob on the other side of the phone. “He’s gone, dude. Phoenix is gone.”
Chapter Forty-Three
“She’s asleep,” Naomi whispered, pulling the cedar door shut behind her. It’d taken several hours of consoling and clinging to Naomi the entire drive from Ashland to BlackStone’s hidden cabin on Mount Ash, but Thea had finally passed out.
Wes’s face was a mix of emotions with his furrowed brow and soft smile. “Good. Hopefully, she’ll sleep through the night.”
Naomi leaned against the door, closing her eyes. “Hell, I hope I do, too. But I think she will. She’s a heavy sleeper already. Plus, it’s been a long ass day for everyone.”
“No fucking kidding,” Wes huffed, analyzing the bandage Devil had used on his hand. Having the glass splinter removed had to hurt like hell, but he never complained. Thankfully, his other injuries were superficial, although he was still clearly exhausted.
“Aren’t we a pair,” she half joked with a grimace, pointing to the wrap and then to the lightening bruises on her own arm. “I’m sure mine hurts much less than yours does.”
His lips tightened into a grim line before he spoke. “The fact that you were ever injured at all hurts me more than my hand does, I can promise you that.”
Her heart stuttered as she caught his striking blue gaze. “I know what you mean.”
His eyes softened with an emotion she wasn’t quite ready to admit to herself, so when he spoke again, she was both grateful for the reprieve and disappointed in her hesitance.
“Speaking of everyone, it looks like it’s just us tonight. Hawk’s still with the authorities. He said the facility’s black box is still intact, so he’ll be bringing it tomorrow morning.”
“Black box?” Naomi asked.
“It’s basically BlackStone’s hard drive. We still don’t know for certain why we were attacked. We think it was because of Ascot, especially since all evidence points to him being taken from BlackStone during the attack. But if it was for what we know in the trafficking case or for anything else, they miscalculated. I wired the place so I could have it nearby in my own apartment at all times.”
“Shoot, that’s good, I guess.” She didn’t fully understand what he meant, but the relief relaxing his shoulders guided her reaction.
“It’s very good. That box has the security tapes downloaded on it and will help us figure out what happened to Phoenix. There’s no sign he was hurt during the attack, but that means we have no idea where he is. It kills me that I can’t do anything to help find him right now. I’m injured and basically useless without that camera footage.”
“Hawk practically ordered you to rest up too. You’ll do no one any good if you don’t take care of yourself. Oxygen mask, remember?”
His grin was small, but it was still a smile, so she’d take it. She couldn’t stand seeing him so defeated, and ever since they found out Phoenix was missing, he’d been destroying himself with guilt.
“Well, as soon as Hawk brings me that black box early tomorrow morning, I’ll be back in action, injuries and exhaustion be damned. I have to ID who was behind the bombing and make sure Phoenix is okay. Hopefully, he got out before the second bomb.”
A shadow crossed his face again and Naomi cringed at the pain there. There was no way she was going to let him feel bad for putting her daughter first and she refused to feel guilty for being grateful for that fact. She wrapped her arms under his and hugged him close to her, trying to embed those feelings past fabric and skin into his heart.
“It’s not your fault, Wes. You had to get Thea outta there.”
His sigh fluttered the hair on the crown of her head. “I know... I’ve just never left a man behind before. The guy’s an asshole, but he’s our asshole and our teammate, potentially in enemy territory. We’re going to make finding him priority one as soon as I have that damn hard drive.”
Wes pulled back and used his thumb and forefinger to massage his nose, but stopped himself from doing the same to his closed eyelids. His glasses broke during the explosion, so he probably didn’t want to damage the only pair of contacts he’d squirreled away at the cabin.
Instead, Wes smoothed back his freshly washed midnight blue hair. The tattoos on the back of his hand rolled with the gesture. The artwork was so dense, she could hardly make out the skin underneath, but ink always did it for her. She swallowed and resisted the urge to beg him to touch her again. The need to feel his skin on hers was nearly overwhelming, but now wasn’t the time to get horny. Right?
Right. Not the time. He nearly died today, saving Thea.
Of course,thatreasoning didn’t help get her mind off wanting him. Nothing like a hero crush.
