Page 36 of Desire Him

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

“Is that a threat?” the man says through clenched teeth. Wayne stiffens. He knows that voice. He had dropped the owner of that voice off in the city a few days ago. His voice is low and dangerous, and it’s definitely a tone that Wayne has never heard Jim take before.

He’s always known Jim to be a good guy, and now that he’s seeing him in his element, he can tell that he’s always been wrong about him. He hasn’t been the smiley, carefree Jim this entire time. A monster lurked beneath that surface.

He feels like a fool for not knowing. He feels stupid that he never knew Jim was like this. And, he pities Viola for never knowing either. He doesn’t deserve her. He never has.

Wayne can hear the entire conversation over the phone that Sammi had left on. She had stuffed it in her pocket before she entered as was the plan.

They’re all driving to the building, having pinged her phone and given her a head start so that they could know what building she was in and which room she entered.

She had been right about the rogues being there. He doesn’t hear the girls, however, and that worries him. Knowing that Jim was behind this whole thing enrages him. Logan should have killed him, and because he didn’t, the girls might die. How Jim had managed to climb to the top so fast, Wayne will never know. He plans to kill him before he finds out.

“Not from me,” Wayne hears Sammi say.

“From who then?” Jim asks.

“You have the Brook Mountain Alpha and one of their shifters tied to a seat,” Sammi continues on.

Wayne breathes a sigh of relief. The girls are there, and Sammi can clearly see them. “They have them,” he tells Logan who is driving Wayne’s car. He insisted on driving, and Wayne wasn’t going to argue with him when he was all wide-eyed and jaw-clenched. Even his knuckles are white from how hard he’s gripping the steering wheel.

“I’m going to fucking kill him this time,” Logan growls out.

Wayne couldn’t agree more. Wayne isn’t the alpha, but he’s confident that even he himself could take Jim down, considering how livid he is. All the rage for Jim and fear for the girls have his wolf slamming against his insides. It’s making it hard to keep a level head.

“Did you know that there are Brook Mountain shifters in the city?” Sammi continues. “And you had the audacity to take their females right from under their noses? Do you know how dumb that is? And to add to it, you kept them close by? A smart guy would have taken them out of the city. But you’re not a smart guy, are you, Jim?

Wayne can hear Jim’s deep growl, and he smiles. Draven’s mate struck a nerve. She’s as quick-witted in the face of danger as she is when she’s been caught red-handed with a bag of wolfcalm. Draven definitely has his work cut out for him when he takes her back to their territory.

“You don’t even have enough rogues here to take them on if they show up.”

Wayne knows she’s saying all this aloud more for him than for Jim. He’s grateful that she’s giving them a play-by-play on what to expect. Without her, they’d be going in blind, which could mean an even more dangerous situation. Going in blind could mean one of them might get hurt, and Wayne needs everyone to make it home. Especially Val.

“They won’t show up,” Jim says confidently. “They don’t even know where we are. The city is large, Sammi. People go missing all the time. Bodies that never get found. Be careful, or yours will be buried with these two.”

Wayne’s grip on the phone tightens considerably, and he growls to Logan, “Drive faster.”

“I am!” Logan shouts, honking his horn at a slow driver.

Wayne knows that Logan is weaving through traffic, driving as fast as he can already. But he can’t help himself but demand more. He can feel Jim and Sammi’s conversation coming to an end, and when it comes to an end, anything could happen.

“Don’t point that gun at me,” Sammi demands. There’s no fear in her voice, and he has to give her credit that she’s being brave and keeping the conversation flowing to buy them time.

Draven, who had been silent next to Becca this entire time in the back seat, stiffens. He clearly heard what she said. Wayne glances fully at him and notes that his jaw is flexing, but he’s looking out the window with a pissed-off expression on his face.

“She can handle herself, Draven. I promise,” Wayne assures him, though he can’t promise anything. Literally anything could happen, but he has faith that Sammi could talk her way out of anything. Even her own death.

“You should have never put her in this position!” Draven nearly shouts. He practically vibrates, and his fists clutch his knees. Wayne knows he’s trying hard not to deck him.

“She’s the only chance we have,” Logan grinds out, putting Draven in his place.

“What, exactly, are you going to do about it?” Jim asks Sammi.

Wayne can’t believe he has a gun in the first place, though he shouldn’t have expected anything less. Normally, wolf shifters take care of things in their wolf form, but for some odd reason, the asshole chose a weapon. It’s low. Lower than he thought Jim would ever go, but Jim obviously isn’t the Jim they thought he was.

Logan, Wayne, and Draven don’t have guns with them. They didn’t even think to bring them to the city. Even though they each have one back in their own cabins, guns aren’t really their thing. They preferred tooth and claw. And because Jim does have one, the only thing they have going for them right now is the element of surprise.

Sammi says nothing, so Jim adds, “That’s what I thought. You will continue to sell wolfcalm for me. I won’t allow you to leave the business. And, you will walk out of here right now, alive, if you turn around and leave. If not, I will put a bullet in your head, and I won’t think twice about it.