Page 17

"I mean it." Her fingers curl into the fabric of my shirt. "Don't take unnecessary risks because you feel responsible for me. I couldn't bear it if something happened to you because of me."

The raw honesty in her voice steals my breath. This woman who has been hunted, terrorized, forced to flee her home and her life, is worried about me. About what might happen to me while protecting her.

Something breaks open inside my chest. I pull her to me, my mouth finding hers in a kiss that contains none of the gentleness of last night. This is possession, desperation, fear and hope and need all tangled together in a way I can't express with words.

She responds instantly, her body molding to mine as if we've been doing this for years instead of days. Her hands tangle in my hair, pulling me closer, demanding more with every stroke of her tongue against mine.

The memory of last night floods my senses – Nova beneath me, around me, her body responsive and eager, her cries of pleasure as I claimed her completely. The way she looked at me afterward, with wonder and trust and something dangerously close to love.

For a brief, reckless moment, I consider staying. Sealing us both inside this room, letting my brothers handle Vance, keeping Nova in my arms where I can protect her directly, physically, and completely.

But that's not who I am. And it's not what she needs from me right now.

I break the kiss reluctantly, resting my forehead against hers as we both catch our breath. "I have to go."

"I know." She doesn't try to hold me back, doesn't make this harder than it already is. "Just come back to me."

"I will." A promise I have no right to make, but can't stop myself from giving. "Lock the door behind me. Don't open it for anyone but me, no matter what you hear, no matter who calls for you. Understand?"

She nods, her eyes never leaving mine. "I understand."

I force myself to step back, to move toward the door, to prepare to leave her alone while I hunt the man who wants to hurt her. It's the hardest thing I've ever done.

I take one last look at her, committing to memory the way she looks right now. Strong. Determined. Beautiful in a way that has nothing to do with her fame or her face on magazine covers.

Then I step out, hearing the heavy door seal behind me, the locks engaging automatically. She's as safe as I can make her, protected by steel and technology and contingency plans for every scenario I could imagine.

I just hope it's enough.

"She settled?" Cade asks as I rejoin my brothers in the main room.

"Yes." I check my weapons one last time, mind shifting fully into operational mode. "Panic room is secure. No one gets in or out until this is over."

"And how are you?" Sawyer asks, his eyes seeing more than I'd like.

"I'm fine."

"Are you?" He steps closer, keeping his voice low enough that only I can hear. "Because I've never seen you look at anyone the way you look at her, and that concerns me given what we're about to do."

"My feelings for Nova won't affect my judgment."

"They already have." He glances toward the master bedroom where Nova is safely locked away. "You're emotionally compromised, Finn. That makes you dangerous in ways that might not help us out there."

He's right, and I know it. After last night, my need to protect Nova has moved beyond professional obligation to something primal and consuming. I would tear apart anyone who threatened her with my bare hands if necessary.

"I can handle it," I say, meeting my brother's gaze directly. "Trust me, Sawyer."

He studies me for a long moment, then nods once. "I do trust you. But be aware of your blind spots. Don't let your feelings for her make you careless."

"I won't."

With that settled, we move to final preparations. Communication checks, weapons distribution, patrol assignments. The familiar routine of men preparing for conflict, a dance we've all performed in different contexts throughout our lives.

"Teams are as follows," Sawyer announces, taking natural command.

"Elias and Boone take the eastern perimeter where the tracks were found.

Luke and I will sweep north and west. Finn and Cade take the southern approach and the access road.

Check in every thirty minutes, maintain tactical silence otherwise. "

We all nod, accepting our assignments without question.

"If you find him," Sawyer continues, his voice hardening, "do not engage alone. Call for backup. We take him together, alive if possible."

"And if not possible?" Boone asks the question we're all thinking.

Sawyer's eyes meet mine, and I see understanding there. Permission for what might become necessary. "Then we make sure he never threatens anyone again."

It's as close to a kill order as my sheriff brother will ever give. The acknowledgment that some threats can't be contained, some dangers can't be allowed to persist.

If Vance forces our hand, if he makes capture impossible or creates a situation where Nova remains in danger, we have tacit approval to end him.

The knowledge should disturb me more than it does. I was CIA, not an assassin. I operated within parameters, followed rules of engagement, maintained the thin veneer of legality that separated what I did from murder.

But when it comes to Nova's safety, those distinctions feel meaningless. I would kill Robert Vance with my bare hands and sleep soundly afterward if it meant she never had to fear again.

"Move out," Sawyer orders, breaking my dark thoughts. "Radio check at position one."

We disperse in pairs, moving through the cabin's multiple exits to avoid creating an obvious pattern. Cade and I take the south trail, slipping into the forest with the silent efficiency of men who have spent their lives in these mountains.

For the first mile, we maintain complete silence, communicating with hand signals and the unspoken understanding that comes from years of shared training. The forest embraces us, familiar territory that offers a thousand hiding places for predator and prey alike.

"You're in love with her," Cade says suddenly, his voice barely above a whisper but still startling in the quiet.

"Not the time, Cade."

"Never going to be a better time." He moves alongside me, eyes constantly scanning our surroundings even as he pushes a conversation I don't want to have. "We're hunting a man who might try to kill us. Seems like a good moment for honesty."

I don't respond, focusing instead on a broken branch about twenty yards ahead. Fresh break, recent passage. I point it out to Cade, who nods and adjusts our approach accordingly.

"She feels the same way," he continues as if I'd engaged with his original statement. "It's obvious in how she looks at you. How she stays in your orbit. How she fought you on the panic room plan."

"Drop it," I growl, irritation flaring. "We need to focus."

"I am focused. On making sure my brother doesn't do something stupid because he's not being honest with himself about what's really at stake here."

I stop walking, turning to face him fully. "What do you want me to say, Cade? That I have feelings for her? Fine. I do. That I made love to her last night and it meant more than just sex? It did. That it's complicated? It is. That I don't know what happens when this is over? I don't. Happy now?"

"Getting there." He meets my glare without flinching. "Now tell me you're not planning to do something suicidally heroic if we find Vance."

The accusation hits closer to home than I'd like to admit. Because part of me has been considering exactly that. Finding Vance alone. Dealing with him permanently. Keeping my brothers' hands clean while ensuring Nova's safety in the most direct way possible.

"I'm not an idiot," I say instead of answering directly.

"Didn't say you were. Said you're in love, which is a different kind of stupid sometimes." His expression softens slightly. "Look, I get it. When I met Harper, I would have burned down the world to keep her safe. But you've got to think beyond today, beyond Vance."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning what kind of future are you planning with Nova? She going to live in your fortress on the mountain? You going to follow her to LA and be her security detail while she records albums and does world tours?"

The questions I've been avoiding since the moment I realized my feelings for her had become something I couldn't control. The practical realities that exist beyond the immediate danger, beyond the intensity of what we've found in each other during this crisis.

"I don't know," I admit finally. "We haven't gotten that far."

"You need to." Cade starts walking again, forcing me to follow or be left behind. "Because if you're risking your life based on feelings you haven't even fully acknowledged, that's not fair to her. Or to yourself."

He's right, and I hate it. Hate that my brother is lecturing me about emotional maturity. Hate that he's forcing me to confront questions I've been deliberately avoiding.

I don't have answers. Not yet. But Cade's questions have forced me to acknowledge that I need to find them, and soon. Because he's right about one thing. I am willing to risk everything to keep Nova safe, and that's a level of commitment that deserves honesty. From both of us.

Our radios crackle, breaking the tension between us. Elias's voice comes through, tense but controlled.

"Movement at coordinate echo seven. Single male, armed, moving west toward the cabin. Definitely not local."

Vance. It has to be.

"All teams converge," Sawyer responds immediately. "Maintain distance, establish perimeter. No engagement until we're all in position."

Cade and I exchange a look, all personal conversation forgotten as we shift into combat mode. We change direction, moving swiftly but silently through the forest toward the coordinates Elias provided.

This is it.

I push all thoughts of tomorrow from my mind, focusing only on the hunt, on the threat, on the man who dared to terrorize the woman I've come to care for more than my own safety.

Robert Vance made a critical error when he followed Nova to Montana, to my mountain, to territory where the McKenna brothers have been hunting predators since childhood.

He came looking for vulnerable prey.

He's about to find something very different.