AllFreeNovel
Share Us
____________
Callie
Tonight is different from all the other times I walked the red carpet with Wyatt. His movie premiere is tonight and in two weeks he has to fly to London where it will premiere there. I, however, am not going to London with him. Tonight, in fact, is my last red carpet walk. Ever, if I have anything to say about it.
Instead of the big, fake smile I usually give the cameras, tonight all they get is a lackluster half-smile that doesn’t reach my eyes. I’m tired of faking every minute of my life. I’m tired of having to be around people I can’t trust and who don’t trust me.
I think that is what hurts the most about my brother and Wyatt’s little game - they didn’t trust me to do my job and keep someone safe…not even myself. Thinking about it has my jaw clenching and I’m sure instead of a romantic movie star’s lover I probably look like I am constipated. And in a way, I guess I am. I’m not moving, I’m stuck right where I am, and I can’t move forward or backward until I find a way past the blockage in my life.
Thinking about my brother as a big stinky turd has me actually smiling for real for the first time since all of this happened. I am so focused on the image of my brother that I don’t realize Wyatt is being pulled away from my side again. I turn but spot my brother off to the side, dressed in a suit and standing watch. Everyone agreed that heightened security was a must tonight even if the stalker found out about us.
It's not really an unusual thing, being alone. Since I found out about the deception, I’ve been walking away from Eli and Wyatt every time they start to speak. I don’t want to listen to their lies or fake apologies. So, it takes me a minute to realize Delilah has snagged Wyatt again and the two of them are busily talking about something I’m sure is very important. I literally roll my eyes, not being able to contain the sarcasm.
Someone shouts and commotion grabs my attention and makes the little hairs on the back of my neck go up right before a pop goes off and someone screams. Then all hell breaks loose, and chaos surrounds us. I start to head towards Wyatt to get him the hell out of here when I hear another loud pop and this time the screams are louder, and heat hits my upper arm causing me to fall back against other people around me. It takes me a second before I actually realize I’ve been shot. And the force of it has knocked me off balance. I start to fall as the people I’ve bumped into start to move away from me. I realize if I go down, I’m going to be trampled by the scared people trying to find cover. But it doesn’t help me stay on my feet as I start to fall backward in what feels like slow motion, my eyes still on Wyatt as my world becomes a wall of dresses and tuxedo pants…and shoes running all around me.
Being trampled is so going to be a lot worse than being shot. I can’t imagine this is going to be a quick death. But on the bright side, my whole body is going numb so maybe I won’t be in pain for very long. And just when I come to an acceptance of my fate, the wall of people begins to part, and I spot Wyatt in full military mode. He’s moving through the crowd while yelling at security who are working to bring everything under control. He’s by my side in seconds, even if it feels like hours.
I’m scooped up from where I fell and am being carried somewhere when my brain finally turns back on. I’m supposed to be keeping him safe, not the other way around.
“Wyatt…I have to…,” I clench my teeth at the pain I’m having to fight back.
“You just watch my blind spot, baby. That’s all you have to worry about.”
Blind spot? Blind spot. I can do that, especially since he’s carrying me through the crowd and all I seem to be able to manage to do is to rest my head against his shoulder and watch as we move to what I am hoping is a safer spot than right out in the open.
My brother surprises me by popping up out of nowhere. Normally I’m very attentive to what is going on around me, but I seem to be going in and out now and not very observant. He mows through the crowd of people and I’m being put in the back of a car. Wyatt’s with me since he hasn’t put me down and I am still in his arms even when the car starts to pull away.
My brother’s voice calling my name jerks me back awake, I didn’t even realize I had closed my eyes so it’s a shock to be jerked from the darkness that calls to me. I’m vaguely aware of someone fighting with Wyatt, telling him he has to put me down if they are going to look at me. I don’t know how Wyatt answers though because I slip back into nothingness until a needle prick stings my skin and warmth floods through me.
I wake up for a matter of seconds when I am jostled as Wyatt leaves the car we are in, taking me with him. We’re in someplace dark and cool. I think it might be a parking garage but it’s hardto tell when my head is so heavy and laying against Wyatt’s chest is such an easy thing to do.
Wyatt slips into another car and holds me tighter to his chest. So tight that I can hear the thump of his heart under my ear and it’s a lot better than the sound of my own thoughts running around through my head. The steady thuds put me to sleep finally, and I drift off to a better place where the pain isn’t running over me like water running from a shower, to the sound of his heartbeat.
Chapter Twelve
____________
Wyatt
I hold her close to me and watch as she slow-blinks, each one taking longer and longer for her to open her eyes after.
“Rest, baby. Go ahead and rest, we’ll be there soon.” I hug her tighter to me but am mindful of her shoulder where she’s got gauze wrapped around her soft skin. It tears my heart out that she got hurt - shot. She got shot! With me only a couple of feet from her.
I had just pulled myself from Delilah’s clutches when our eyes met, and I started to head back to her. Things between us have been…tense since Eli ran his mouth and told my Peach about the deal I had with him. We got into a fistfight after she left the room, and I got a couple of good hits in. I run my tongue over my lip which is still tender and a little sore. He got some good hits in, too.
And now, here I sit holding her, bandaged and hurt…because of me, god damn it! I look down at the bandage again and check to make sure she’s not bleeding heavily through it. Her left arm is in a wrap because when she fell, she landed on it wrong and sprained it. She’ll have to have a brace on it once we get to where we are going but for now, the wrap will have to work.
Her brother, who is sitting in the front, looks back at us and I can read the worry in his eyes. I'm not sure how this all went to shit but I want someone’s fucking blood. No more pampered Hollywood movie star, no more pussyfooting around the factsomeone out there is trying to hurt the woman I love. This time…whoever the hell is stalking me has gone too far.
I have no fear of not finding whoever this is. No worries about my ability to hunt this person down and end them. But for right now, all I want to focus on is the small woman sleeping in my arms.
“Is this going to work, Dagon?”
I look him in the eye without an ounce of hesitation, “If someone comes for her where we’re going, they won’t be leaving the top of that mountain.”
He stares in my eyes for a long time before finally giving me a nod and turning back around. We drive for most of the night, and when we finally arrive at the cabin I secretly own, I don’t wake Callie up as I slide out of the back of the car. I just carry her in and lay her on the bed.
I want to change the dressing on her arm and make sure everything looks good. The wound is a through and through and didn’t hit anything vital but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt like hell. And still needs to be cleaned and looked after. I also want to get a brace on that wrist to immobilize it so she can’t move it around as much.
