Touch My Daughter, and You Die

Chapter 004

Wyatt's tall frame had appeared in the doorway without a sound. Elena's eyes went wide, fixed on the man standing there.

Disbelief flooded every inch of her face.

The man who had destroyed her life. Had he really come back?

"Who... who do you think you are? You dare lay a hand on me?"

Julian had been sent sprawling into the corner by a single slap. Backed by dozens of bodyguards, he still had the nerve to puff himself up in front of Wyatt.

"Let me tell you something. Before you play the hero, you'd better figure out exactly who you're dealing with."

"The Calloway family owns businesses all over Harborcrest. Dozens of restaurants, over a hundred bars in this city, every one of them mine."

"You really think you can touch me? My father will tear you apart."

He jabbed a finger at Wyatt. "Get on your knees right now and apologize. Three kowtows, and bark like a dog three times. Maybe, maybe I'll consider letting you live."

Julian spat the words out with all the arrogance he could muster. Wyatt only smiled, cold and thin.

"The Calloway family. That's supposed to impress me?"

"Heh. That's exactly how you should feel, and I hope the fear keeps you on edge."

"Let me spell it out for you. My Uncle is a powerful Harborcrest crime boss. One word from him and you'll be chopped into mincemeat."

Julian laughed, loud and unhinged, looking at Wyatt the way a man looks at an insect he's about to crush underfoot.

"So kneel now, while there's still time. Wait any longer and I might change my mind."

A cold, humorless laugh escaped Wyatt, carrying an unmistakable note of warning, while an undercurrent of murderous intent simmered beneath his voice.

"That's funny, because I was just about to say the exact same thing to you."

"Get on your knees and apologize to my woman. If you do as you're told, I might even consider letting you walk away with your body intact."

The man burst into mocking laughter, clearly finding Wyatt's threat utterly ridiculous. "You must be out of your mind if you think I'd ever do that!"

Julian's face twisted, as if he'd just heard the funniest thing in his life, and his laughter rose to a shriek. He spun toward his men.

"Did you hear that? He wants to leave me in one piece? Get him! Teach this bastard exactly who he's dealing with!"

At his order, the bodyguards surged forward as one.

Wyatt didn't retreat an inch. As the first man swung a blade at him, he simply reached out.

A scream tore through the room. The bodyguard's arm, the one gripping the knife, had been snapped clean in half.

Three bone-cracking impacts followed in quick succession as Wyatt's boot sent three more men flying through the air.

Then came a sharper sound, the crunch of ribs giving way under a single punch, and another body folded to the floor.

Everyone in the room froze, and if they hadn't watched it happen with their own eyes, none of them would have believed it. In under a minute, Wyatt had killed more than a dozen of them.

What he had witnessed was more than frightening; it was the kind of horror that left a person too terrified to even breathe.

Julian had watched every second unfold, yet he could barely force a coherent word past his lips as his face turned deathly pale. His legs trembled uncontrollably, threatening to give way beneath him, while his eyes widened in sheer terror as though he had just witnessed something straight out of hell.

Wyatt took a single step forward, wrapped one hand around Julian's throat, and lifted him effortlessly off the ground before slamming him down like a sack of meat and planting his boot firmly on his chest.

A piercing scream tore from Julian's throat as the bones in his leg snapped under the crushing pressure.

"Please, have mercy on me! I beg you!"

Julian writhed helplessly on the floor, tears and mucus streaming down his face as a foul stench spread around him.

"I gave you a chance a moment ago," Wyatt said, his voice flat and cold. "You just didn't know how to value it."

"If you touch me, my father will never let this go!" Julian stared up at him, terror written across every feature.

Wyatt's smile didn't waver. "The Calloway family. I don't consider them worth my attention."

Before the words had finished leaving his mouth, he raised his leg and brought it down hard.

Julian went limp, unconscious.

"Wyatt... Wyatt?"

Elena stared at the man standing before her like an unsheathed blade, and six years of buried hatred surged up all at once. Her hands curled into fists without her realizing it.

Wyatt turned to look at her, and what filled his eyes wasn't triumph but a kind of aching regret.

"It's me. What happened back then was my fault, and I've come back to make it right."

"From now on, I'll protect you and our daughter. Anyone who dares to hurt either of you will pay for it in blood."

His voice was iron, thick with guilt, as he took one step toward her, then another.

"Don't come near me."

Elena's eyes brimmed with tears, but she refused to let a single one fall. Whatever coldness she'd shown Julian was nothing compared to what she felt looking at Wyatt now.

She looked at his face the way one looks at a mortal enemy.

Six years, and she still hadn't escaped the nightmare of that day. This man had returned to hurt her again and again in her dreams, and even now the memory of it stole the breath from her lungs.

She had imagined this moment countless times, had told herself that if she ever saw him again, she would kill him.

Now that the day had actually come, she found she couldn't bear to look at him at all.

"You're the bastard who destroyed my family. You have the nerve to come back here?"

Chloe, standing beside her, knew better than anyone what her friend had suffered, and she wanted nothing more than to tear Wyatt apart with her bare hands.

She jabbed a finger at him, her voice shaking with fury. "Get out, or I swear I'll beat you to death myself!"

Her usually gentle face had twisted into something fierce as she grabbed a broom from the corner of the room and held it like a weapon, ready to strike at any second.

"I'm sorry. I'm the one who hurt you, and I came back to make amends. Once I've finished what I need to do, you can do whatever you want with me, kill me, cut me apart, I won't so much as flinch."

Wyatt had spent six years fighting across the North, his record soaked in victories, earning the title of Marshal of the Northern Army. Enemy soldiers went pale just hearing his name spoken aloud.

If anyone in his old command had seen him now, grieving over one woman's pain, offering himself up for her to punish however she wished, it would have shaken the entire army to its foundations.

Elena could see the guilt written plainly across his face. Over the years she had come to understand that the Wyatt of back then hadn't been in control of himself.

But that understanding changed nothing. It wasn't a reason to forgive him.

"Bring our daughter back to me, and what happened before is settled. That's all I want from you."

She wanted nothing else from Wyatt. Only their daughter mattered to her now.

"I already brought her back. From this point on, I'll make sure neither of you is ever hurt again."

Scarlet stepped forward carrying Nora in her arms. The little girl's cheeks were flushed pink, and she was deep in untroubled sleep.

Only then did Elena and Chloe notice Scarlet standing there, but their attention went straight past her to the child.

"Nora..." Days of unbroken worry had worn Elena down to nothing, and the instant her eyes landed on her daughter, the strength left her legs and she collapsed.

"My lady!" Scarlet cried out in alarm.

Wyatt knelt beside her and checked her pulse. "She's only exhausted from all the worry. She'll be fine after she rests."

He rose slowly, his expression hardening again.

"Right now, there's still a debt that needs settling."

At Calloway Manor, Augustus Calloway had already heard that his son had been crippled.

His face had gone the color of ash as he stared down at Julian, barely breathing, every bone in his body shattered.

Pure murder burned behind his eyes.

"Augustus! We cannot let this go. Not for a second." Victor Calloway, Augustus's younger brother, spat the words out, trembling with rage.

"Some washed up nobody from a dead family dares to touch my nephew..."

Augustus's face darkened further, decades of calculation hardening behind his gaze.

"I'll take men there myself and finish him. The entire Hale family will go into the ground with him."

"Bring the dogs."

A vicious smile spread across Augustus's face. Victor understood immediately and ordered two cages brought out.

And locked inside those cages were not animals at all. They were Wyatt's father and younger brother.