Page 121 of What Remains

Wyatt remains by the door, propping it open with his shoulder while zeroing in on me. “Can we talk?”

My stomach sinks as if I dropped ten thousand feet in the air. “Sure.”

Jesse pats my shoulder, careful of my back, like I’m being sent downrange and might not come back alive. Thanks for that.

I catch Diana’s eyes on the way out, and even she gives me a little good luck look.

Perfect.

This is juuuust perfect.

Once we’re alone in the hall, Wyatt snaps around toward me, hands balling into fists. I close one eye, tilt my head, and brace for that punch I’m fully willing to take.

I get slammed with something, but it’s not his fist. The words hit just as hard when he asks, “Do you have feelings for my daughter?”

I blink, startled. “What?”

He raises his palm, a silent warning to stop. But, hell, I’m not doing anything.

Not moving. Not speaking.

What does he want me to stop doing? Breathing?

“I don’t need to know if you’ve had sex.”

My stomach flips. Kill me now.

He winces. “As far as I’m concerned, she’ll be a virgin until the day I die, even if she makes me a grandfather, so please spare me the details.”

I drop my gaze to the floor, grappling with the fact those words just came out of that man’s mouth. I’d rather make another emergency crash landing—solo, of course—than replay what he just said to me, let alone give him an answer.

“No.” I shake my head, unsure what I just said no to.

His forehead tightens. “No?”

Where’s some gum when I need it? I slowly make eye contact, unsure if that’s a good idea. Aren’t you supposed to avoid that with bulls wanting to charge?

“Nothing has happened with your daughter.” For some reason, I feel the need to make that point clear as fucking day.

“Don’t lie to me.”

“You just told me to,” I snap out like a reflex, confused.

He closes his eyes, and I realize my mistake. Now he’s going to think I did have sex with his daughter, and the poor guy won’t ever be able to look at me again.

Fucking same. I take a sobering breath and try to dig myself out of this war-sized trench I’m in. “We all love your daughter like she’s family. Any one of us would die for her. Do anything for her.”

His lids part, and his eyes snap to me. “I’m not asking about anyone else, just you.” He stabs the air. “Do you have feelings for my daughter?”

“Why are you asking me this? Is something wrong?” I turn to the side, half expecting to see her there now. “Is she okay?” I face him again, only to find him still leering at me.

“I have to know how far you’re willing to go for my daughter before we continue this conversation.”

“To the ends of the fucking earth,” I rasp without second thought. “And if I die in the process, I’ll come back from the dead and do it again.”

He straightens his posture, and something in his expression settles down. Don’t know how to explain the transformation, it just . . . happens. “I know I can trust you with her life, what I want to know is if I can trust you with her heart?”

Every logical thought shatters inside my head in real time. “Gwen has to entrust me with her heart first,” I admit, my voice rough with my heart racing so fast.