Page 97 of Billionaire Unreachable: Wyatt

“Yeah, but she doesn’t have to live with you three,” I pointed out.

“Why does it sound like you have no intention of letting her move out even though she’s not in danger anymore?” Kaleb said.

“I don’t,” I confirmed.

I saw no reason to bullshit Kaleb, even if he was a protective male figure in Shelby’s life.

“Friendship or no friendship, if you don’t treat her right, I’ll knock you senseless,” Kaleb warned.

I smirked. “I don’t think you’ll ever have a reason to deck me.”

“I believe you,” he said reluctantly. “I just want you to know that her family is always going to be there for her if you aren’t.”

I reached out and slapped him on the back. “You won’t have to be. From now on, you can just love her like you always have. Let me take care of everything else. I’m going to work from home until she’s recovered, and she has a lot of worried friends that will be there for her, too.”

There was so much more I wanted to say to Kaleb, like there wasn’t a chance in hell that I was going to let anything bad happen to Shelby again. And that I was going to do my best to make sure she never had a reason to shed a tear again because it killed me to see her cry.

I wanted to tell him that she was mine, and that she was my everything.

However, I needed a chance to convince Shelby about all those things first.

“They’re here,” Kaleb said as he stood. “Are you sure you two can’t stay longer?”

I shook my head. “I think she’ll recover better in San Diego. I don’t think she needs to see the place where she was abducted over and over right now.”

Shelby was brave as hell, and she’d put this behind her. She’d decided on her own last night that she’d feel better while she was recovering if she could see Montana in her rearview mirror for just a little while.

It would also help if she had support to get over her kidnapping, and her friends in San Diego could be there for her and understand exactly what she was going through.

If she needed to see a special therapist, I could more easily provide that, too.

Selfishly, I also wanted her with me at home. I might live in the city, but my security was a whole lot better than it was here.

I clenched my fists and tried not to lose my mind when I saw her being wheeled toward the door by the nurse with all the rest of her family trailing behind.

Every time I saw her swollen and bruised face, I remembered how much she’d been through, and just how much I wished I could make Young pay for what he’d done to Shelby.

It also made me recall that I’d fucked up.

I should have been here in Montana with her.

I should have done a better job at keeping her safe.

I should have listened to my instincts, even though everything had pointed toward her being in the clear.

I’d failed at keeping her from going through this kind of pain, and I hated myself for that.

Unfortunately, all I could do was make damn sure it never happened again.

Shelby

“If I didn’t know that you were telling me the truth,” I said to Wyatt on the plane ride home. “I’d say that this whole story was downright unbelievable.”

He’d spent the last hour and a half explaining the existence of Last Hope, and answering questions.

He’d started from the time he’d joined Marshall’s efforts in Last Hope and ended with exactly how he’d rescued me.

One of the things that had surprised me the most was that Hudson and Jax had personally rescued Taylor instead of sending an active team, and that all of my friends had somehow been a Last Hope interest at some point or another.

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