Page 86 of Billionaire Unreachable: Wyatt

I nearly smiled myself because I wondered what a grumpy, cynical Wyatt had to say when Aunt Millie called him anice boyto his face.

Honestly, I was pretty sure he was charming and dropped the bad attitude around my aunt. He was fond of her, and she probably got away with calling him anything she wanted.

“Wyatt’s still concerned about your safety because the person responsible for your break-in hasn’t been caught,” Kaleb said in a more serious tone.

“You’ve been careful,” Aunt Millie observed. “No one has let Shelby go anywhere alone. Do you think we should still be worried?”

I shook my head and sent Kaleb a warning look. The last thing I wanted was to upset my aunt. We had been careful, and despite my familiarity with the area, my cousins hadn’t let me take a step outdoors alone. “You’ve all done your security duties well,” I said as I smiled at my family. “I haven’t had a single issue in San Diego since the break-in. I think we’re going to have to assume that it was an isolated incident.”

“Try convincing Wyatt of that,” Kaleb replied grimly. “He isn’t going to be happy until this person is caught. None of us are going to let you out of our sight tomorrow. While I agree it’s very unlikely that anything will happen here, I’m glad that Wyatt is so bullheaded about it.”

“Me, too,” Devon agreed.

“I’d very much like to see this person caught,” Tanner added. “Even if it was just a prank by some teenager or teenagers. At least we’d know who did it.”

“We may never know,” I warned all of them. “There was really nothing to investigate since they left no evidence behind. And Wyatt can’t keep a security detail on me forever.”

“You obviously haven’t learned how stubborn Wyatt Durand can be,” Kaleb said wryly.

I shot Kaleb an amused smile and reflexively fingered the object that Wyatt had insisted on giving me Tuesday night before I’d left. “I know exactly how hardheaded he can be, believe me. I had to put my foot down pretty hard on not having his security all over me here, but it would have been weird here in Crystal Fork. It would have drawn more attention to me, no matter how well they try to blend in. When has it been possible for that many strangers to come to Crystal Fork without raising some eyebrows? I wanted to come back to town with as little fanfare as possible, and I really just wanted time alone with all of you.”

“It’s been so nice having you home,” Aunt Millie said tearfully. “I know I’m not your mother, but you’ve always felt like a daughter to me.”

Tears welled up in my eyes as I reached across the table to take her hand. “And you’ve always been like a second mom to me. I’ll get home more often now that everything has died down. I promise.”

The four people sitting at this table were the only family I had. My aunt was like a mother to me, and my cousins were like brothers. Now that it wasn’t painful to be here anymore, I’d try to make sure I saw them all as often as possible.

“I hope so,” my aunt said as she squeezed my hand. “It’s a short plane flight, and my sons can send one of their fancy jets to pick you up more often now that you’re comfortable being here.”

My heart ached over all the stress I’d put my family through because of my stupidity with Justin, but I knew none of them blamed me for what happened. And I no longer blamed myself for my one big mistake.

Thank God that horrible period of our lives was over now, and we could just be family again.

Wyatt

“I’m here,” I said to Marshall as I strode into his office at Last Hope headquarters a little before noon on Sunday. “What in the hell was so important that I had to delay my trip to Montana.”

I was impatient as hell.

My endless meetings were finally over, and all I wanted was to get to the airport.

I still hadn’t been able to connect with Shelby by phone, and I was cranky as hell because of it. I’d forced myself not to try to call her yesterday because I knew the annual picnic would take up most of her day. However, when I’d tried to call her on my way to see Marshall to let her know I was arriving early, my call had gone straight to voice mail.

Fuck!Was she pissed off or upset? Had she turned her phone off?

She hadn’t sounded angry when she’d left her voicemails, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t hurt or still confused about what had happened Tuesday night.

My goal was to end this uncertainty as soon as possible in person, and I really couldn’t get that accomplished when my ass wasn’t on my jet headed for Montana.

I’d even tried to call Kaleb to let him know I was on my way, but he hadn’t answered his damn phone, either.

Marshall stood up and slapped me on the shoulder on his way toward the door. “Let’s go down to the meeting room. I sent out an emergency signal to everyone else. They should all be here by now. I have a theory about who might have broken into Shelby’s apartment.”

I’d done my last meeting this morning alone, but I had no doubt that Chase had hightailed it to the headquarters as soon as he’d gotten the emergency signal.

Marshall had my attention, and I followed him down the stairs.

For a man who had ended his special forces career because of a leg injury that had left him with a limp, Marshall moved quickly, and I had to hustle to keep up with him.

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