Chapter 2
Rage crackled and hissed within Wyatt. The Reeds knew to keep their distance from Callie. He’d made sure of it. What the fuck was Melvin doing harassing her again?
“What do you mean they won’t bother me?” Callie asked as she followed him inside the house.
Wyatt clenched his teeth. That comment should’ve never passed his lips, but the deed was already done. If he didn’t give her some type of answer, she’d pester him for eternity. Though she didn’t need to know the entire truth.
“They know you don’t want anything to do with them. They won’t waste their time trying to recruit you,” he said.
She paused. “Yeah. You’re right.”
He grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge and turned to her. It physically hurt to look at her, she was so goddamn beautiful.
Her sun-kissed skin had a gold tint to it, making her long-lashed, light blue eyes stand out in her oval face. Full, bring-a-man-to-his-knees lips were slightly parted as she stared at him.
A tilt of her head brought her long, chestnut hair falling over one shoulder in thick strands. One lock fell against her cheek, the end brushing against the corner of her mouth.
The white V-neck sweater she wore was thin and molded to her breasts, while dark denim encased the lower half of her body. She barely reached his chest, but he’d learned long ago that what Callie lacked in height she made up for in determination, spirit, and skill.
As he drank, he looked his fill. He allowed himself this small violation to the rules he’d put in place for himself concerning her.
With the water finished, he tossed the empty bottle into the trash. She walked past him to the dining room where her computer was set up.
For a week, they’d kept their distance from each other, rarely speaking. He told himself that this was a mission like any other.
Except it wasn’t.
Because she was there.
Willful, impetuous, fierce Callie.
He moved so he could see into the dining room as she began working. Life had been stacked against her since before her birth.
But she looked any obstacles in the face and told them to kiss her ass. Despite her family’s illegal empire of fraud, identity theft, extortion, and larceny, as well as their predisposition for being alcoholics, Callie had gone her own way.
He’d told his father it was foolish to hire her because Wyatt hadn’t thought she would last longer than a week. A year later, and Callie had not only come every day, but she’d worked longer and harder than most men.
Over those months, Wyatt watched as his father taught her to ride and shoot. No longer did she cower, she walked with a self-confidence she’d lacked before.
As much as she flourished on the ranch, however, not all was good in her life. Wyatt recalled the conversations at dinner where his youngest brother, Cullen, told them how Callie was being bullied at school by members of her large family.
She never spoke of it, never complained. Not once. Even when Orrin asked her how things were. Wyatt wasn’t the only one who began to think of Callie as more than just a ranch hand.
Maybe it was because of the interest his father had taken in her. Wyatt didn’t know or care. Somehow, Callie had come to be important to all of them. His brothers watched over her at school. And Wyatt kept guard at the ranch. Not that the Reeds would dare venture onto Loughman land.
All seemed to be going well. Until one day, Callie didn’t show. She was never late, so her absence alarmed everyone. Wyatt had immediately known something was wrong. He’d saddled a horse and went looking for her.
An hour later, he found her beaten and unconscious at the edge of the property. There were marks on the ground where he could see she’d pulled herself toward the ranch. Seeing her lying so still had brought back memories of finding his mother after she’d been murdered.
And something snapped inside him.
Wyatt brought Callie back to the ranch. While his father, uncle, and brothers doctored her, he went to the Reeds. There, he unleashed his fury on those responsible for her thrashing.
By the time he left, he had a busted knuckle and a bloodied lip, but he felt immensely better seeing all of the men either knocked out or rolling around on the ground, moaning in pain. And with the beating, he’d let every Reed know to leave Callie alone—or he’d return.
She didn’t know he’d been the one to find her that day in the woods. Callie didn’t like feeling defeated—or being reminded of it.
It was because of his mom and Callie that Wyatt had begun his quest to save others. It eventually brought him to Delta Force. The counter-terrorism unit worked hard to dismantle and bring down extremists.
“You’re staring,” Callie said without looking up from the keyboard.
“I’m thinking.”
She shot him a wry look. “About what?”
“The information Cullen and Mia gave us last night.”
Callie sat back in the chair and lowered her hands to her lap. “Russians and Americans working together in a secret organization that wants to take over the world. It’s been on my mind, as well. At least Orrin is free.”
“We’ve not heard from him.”
She flattened her lips. “Orrin and Yuri are gone. One of Yuri’s men told Cullen that they left together. Are you suggesting the man lied?”
Wyatt knew he hadn’t because that man was an undercover agent for the CIA who had once been with Delta Force—Maks Petrov.
“No.”
Her eyes narrowed as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “I know Delta Force works closely with the CIA.”
“Your point?”
“My point is that I think you know more than you’re telling me.”
“So?”
She rolled her eyes and made a sound in the back of her throat. “You may not care about Orrin, but I do. He’s the father I never had. If you know something, then tell me.”
There was no reason for him not to tell his brothers or Callie about Maks, other than he was so used to keeping secrets that it became difficult to reveal anything.
To anyone.
“I know you know something,” she said as she pushed back the chair and stood.
“I heard you on the phone last night. We’re supposed to trust each other so we can stay ahead of the Saints.
You know, the group after us, the ones who killed your aunt and uncle, those who tried to kill us at the ranch? But you’re making it difficult.”
He blew out a breath because he knew she was right. “The man Cullen and Mia spoke with in Virginia is Maks Petrov. He was part of my team before he went to work undercover for the CIA. In Russia,” he added.
Callie blinked, unfazed by Wyatt’s revelation. “Is Maks Russian?”
“His father was Russian.”
“Did Maks lie about Orrin?”
“Major General Markovic and Orrin left the warehouse together. Yuri’s men, including Maks, helped them escape.”
She stood there for a moment before she closed the distance and slapped him. Fury burned in her eyes. “How dare you keep that from us. Or was it just me?”
“All of you.”
Her nostrils flared in anger as she continued to glare. “You’re a cold bastard, Wyatt Loughman.”
She turned on her heel and walked out the front door. He knew exactly what he was, but too many years had passed for him to suddenly change his entire way of life.
He walked out the back door to do another perimeter check and give Callie time to calm down. There had been no sign of anyone nosing around, fortunately. He and Callie traded off going into town, but it was only a matter of time before the Saints found them. Melvin spotting Callie was a bad sign.
Wyatt wondered if she knew that two more of her kin were facing jail time in Dallas for identity theft. Though it was probably better if he didn’t bring up her kin since it was such a sore subject, and she was already pissed at him.
He rubbed his cheek where it still stung from her slap. He’d deserved it. The sad part was that he hadn’t even realized he should’ve told everyone about Maks until she’d brought it up.
The life he led made him shut down his emotions, but the truth was, every bit of love, hope, and happiness died the day his mother had—when he’d learned just how horrible human beings truly were.
Cold, he most definitely was. How else could he get through each day? Being with Callie was a particular type of torment. No matter how much fate piled on her, she kept a hold of hope with an iron grip.
She was stronger than he could ever think to be, and she didn’t even know it. He’d tried to tell her once, long ago, but like usual, the words had locked in his throat.
Every day he fought against terrorists targeting innocents with suicide bombings. Every radical he brought down was cause for celebration, but he simply moved on to the next. It was a never-ending war.
Now, he was in the middle of another one—a new one that changed all the rules. And this time, his brothers and Callie had been brought into it with him.
Who were these people running this secret organization? It was no mystery that these clandestine organizations wanted power and world domination. The fact that the Saints were willing to have a bioweapon created told him how serious they were.
Though the bio-agent was safely locked away on the base at the ranch with Owen and Natalie, there was still a chance that the Russian scientist could create more.
It was why Wyatt had calls in to his contacts, because the scientist, Dr. Konrad Jankovic, had defected to the US and was even now in DC. Wyatt needed to get to Jankovic and put an end to the mad scientist before more of the weapon could be made.
At least he didn’t have to look for his father any longer. If Orrin had freed himself, then he had his own agenda.
Wyatt blew out a breath. At night, he heard Callie pacing in the lone bedroom she occupied. He saw the searches she did on the computer for anything pertaining to Orrin or a man fitting his description. He knew of the texts exchanged between her and Natalie.
What he’d never tell her was that he agreed to search for Orrin because of her. Too many years of hating Orrin for his mother’s murder made it impossible for him to want to help his father in any way.
He felt Callie’s presence before he heard her. Standing still, he waited for her to join him as he looked out over the back of the property.
“I’m sorry,” she said tightly.
He glanced at her. “You were right. I should’ve told you.”
“You keep too many secrets.” Her head turned to him. “You’re not alone in this, you know. I’m here with you.”
“I usually have my team, so I’m not alone.”
She arched a brow. “You’ve always been alone. You made sure of that.”
It bothered him that she was right. No matter how much he tried to hide, she always saw everything—and called him out on it.
But being alone was what kept him going. “A habit that kept me from telling you about Maks.”
“A practice you need to break.”
“I’ll try to remember that in the future.”
She looked forward. “You were sent to find Orrin. Now that your father appears to no longer be kidnapped, I’m sure you could make an argument to return to duty.”
It was true, and something he’d thought about last night. Then he’d heard her moving about in the next room, and he’d forgotten all about it.
The problem was, staying with Callie meant he was constantly reminded of what they’d once had—and what he’d left behind. Yet he couldn’t seem to walk away from her now.
“Is that what you want?” he asked.
“You don’t want to be here. You made that clear at the ranch.”
He took a deep breath and released it. “The Russians went after Natalie for what she knew. The Saints ran Cullen and Mia off the road and down a mountain, nearly killing them. They’ll come for us next.”
“You’re staying to fight, then?”
“And to protect you.”
Blue eyes met his. “And Orrin?”
His father wasn’t a bad man, but Wyatt couldn’t forgive him. But this wasn’t about his feelings. This was about Callie and what she wanted. “We’ll find him.”
“The odds are stacked against us.”
He shrugged since it was nothing new. “That’s just how I like it.”