Page 4 of Ranger’s Justice (Lone Star Wolf Rangers #1)

CHAPTER 3

RUSH

C assidy Marlow is a damn problem—a reckless, stubborn, infuriating problem wrapped in a body that’s all legs, curves and attitude.

And right now, she’s sitting in the passenger seat of my SUV, fuming like I just offended her by dragging her out of a goddamn war zone.

She’s in my SUV, still breathing, still glaring at me like she’d rather shoot me than thank me, and I should focus on the fact that I just pulled her reckless ass out of a cartel firefight.

Instead, all I can think about is how close I came to losing her before I ever really had her.

She’s lucky I didn’t toss her over my shoulder and haul her out of there like the sack of trouble she is, because every single instinct inside me—the human ones and the wolf—was telling me to do just that.

And that too is a problem—a big one.

I tighten my grip on the steering wheel, my knuckles flexing as I force my breathing under control. The warehouse is already in my rearview, the chaos of gunfire and shouting fading into the distance, but my pulse is still pounding. Not from the op, but from her.

I’ve shown her the file we have on her and given her a basic rundown of what’s in it. She looks as if she’s trying to decide whether to be impressed or concerned. She should be both.

“Are you going to tell me what the hell that was?” I grind out, keeping my eyes on the road.

Cassidy crosses her arms, the leather of her jacket creaking as she glares at me. “I was gathering evidence.”

“Gathering evidence?” I repeat slowly, barely resisting the urge to slam the brakes and let her feel just how pissed off I am. “You mean walking into a cartel deal with nothing but a damn cell phone and a bad alias? That kind of gathering evidence?”

She doesn’t flinch. “It was a good alias.”

I bark out a laugh, sharp and humorless. “Not good enough to keep you from getting made.”

Silence. She knows I’m right. She looks away, staring out the window as the city lights streak past. Her scent lingers in the tight space, something sharp and determined under the mix of gunpowder and sweat. It shouldn’t affect me.

But it does, and that pisses me off even more.

“You don’t get to be reckless with your life,” I say, in a voice rougher than I intend.

Cassidy’s head snaps back toward me, her eyes flashing. “It’s my life.”

Something dark stirs in my chest. “Not anymore.”

She blinks. “Excuse me?”

“You just put yourself on the Del Toro cartel’s radar,” I say, keeping my voice steady. “They don’t forget a face, and they sure as hell don’t forgive an insult.” I shoot her a look. “You showing up in their warehouse and sticking your nose where it doesn’t belong? That was an insult.”

Cassidy lifts her chin, stubborn as hell. “If you think that’s going to scare me off…”

“It should,” I growl, cutting her off.

Her jaw tightens. “Then maybe I don’t scare as easily as others.”

I grit my teeth. She’s playing tough, but she doesn’t get it. Doesn’t understand the kind of men she just pissed off.

The cartel doesn’t give warnings. They don’t make idle threats. They don’t come at you once and let it go. They make you disappear, and everything in me—human and wolf—is not about to let that happen.

That realization rattles me more than the bullets that flew past my head tonight. I made a promise when I took this job as a ranger, the same promise every man on my team swore—no attachments, no weaknesses, no fated mates.

We were made for war, for hunting men who thought they were untouchable. We weren’t made to settle down, to claim what shouldn’t be ours.

But my wolf doesn’t give a damn about promises.

My hands tighten on the steering wheel until the leather creaks. I need to get my head on straight. Fast.

“You don’t understand what you just walked into,” I say finally, keeping my voice measured. “You think this is a game, Marlow?”

She bristles, turning to face me fully. “I’m not stupid, Rush.”

“No?” I glance at her, and something inside me tightens at the way she’s looking at me—like she’s daring me to challenge her. “Because you sure as hell acted like it tonight.”

That gets a reaction. Her eyes flash, her fingers curling into fists on her lap. “I had a plan.”

I snort. “Yeah? What was it? Piss off a dozen armed men and hope they were feeling generous?”

Her cheeks flush, and damn it, I shouldn’t find it sexy that she’s this pissed off at me.

“I was getting proof,” she grits out.

“You were getting yourself killed.”

We’re at a stoplight, and I turn to look at her, really look at her. Her jaw is tight, her body tense, but there’s something else underneath all that fire—something sharp and desperate.

This isn’t just about exposing Hollister. This is personal. But then I suspect for her, it’s always been personal.

I watch her carefully. “Tell me what you were hoping to find.”

Cassidy hesitates. That’s new—thinking before she speaks.

Finally, she sighs. “I traced a shipment to that warehouse. A shipment tied to my stepfather.”

Hollister. That name alone is enough to make my wolf growl inside me.

She squirms in her seat. “I had to see it for myself.”

The light turns green. I don’t hit the gas right away. Instead, I study her, my pulse a slow, deliberate thud. There’s a line between bravery and recklessness, and Cassidy Marlow has a bad habit of walking that line like a tightrope.

She’s so damn determined, and that determination is going to get her killed.

I take a breath. “Listen to me carefully.”

She arches an eyebrow, like she’s daring me to order her around. If history is any predictor of the future, she will not have much of a choice. She won’t back down, and I won’t let her get herself killed.

“This is over,” I tell her. “You’re out. You stay the hell away from the cartel. From Hollister. From all of it.”

Cassidy laughs. Actually laughs.

“Oh, Ranger,” she says, her voice dripping sweet mockery, “you really don’t know me at all, do you?”

I grip the wheel, letting that settle in my chest. She’s wrong. I do know her.

And that’s what scares the hell out of me.

The second I pull onto the open road, Cassidy twists in her seat and crosses her arms like she’s bracing for a fight.

Good; because she’s about to get one.

I grip the wheel, jaw locked, forcing my breathing to slow. The rush of combat is fading, but my instincts are still screaming at me to do something reckless. Like pull over and make her swear on whatever god she believes in that she’ll never pull this kind of shit again.

She won’t, of course—swear never to endanger herself again. Cassidy Marlow doesn’t scare. She should, and that pisses me off more than anything.

“Alright, Ranger,” she says, voice sharp as a blade. “I’m done waiting. Who the hell are you? I know your name, but why did you pull me out of there?”

I glance at her, my grip on the wheel tightening. “You were about to get yourself killed. That’s why. Was I supposed to leave you and just retrieve your bullet-ridden corpse?”

She lets out a short, humorless laugh. “Funny. I don’t remember hiring a bodyguard.”

I grit my teeth. “You didn’t. But your boss and the governor are friends. You made yourself a problem for some very bad people, and like it or not, that means you’re my problem now, too.”

Her eyes flash. “I don’t belong to you, my boss, or the governor.”

Something dark stirs in my chest, my wolf pacing just beneath the surface. This is not the fight we need to have right now.

I keep my voice measured. “You might not belong to me, and you should be glad of that.” The lie comes too easily, but she doesn’t need to know that. “But the governor, who is my boss, wants you alive. So he sent me and my team to save your sorry ass.”

She holds my stare for a beat longer than she should, her body still humming with adrenaline, the way mine is. Damn it. I need to focus.

“You’re lucky I was there tonight,” I say, dragging the conversation back on track. “The Del Toro cartel doesn’t issue warnings. You being there means you’ve got about a day, maybe less, before they start to hunt you.”

She doesn’t blink. “I can handle them.”

Goddamn it; she’s infuriating. Not only doesn’t she understand, she seems determined not to.

I slam my palm on the wheel. “Handle them? Are you hearing yourself? You’re a financial analyst, not a federal agent. You just waded into cartel business without a plan, without a weapon, without…”

“I had a plan,” she cuts in.

“Yeah? What was that? To piss off a dozen armed men and hope your wit saved you?”

She glares at me, her breathing too fast, her scent still thick with fight.

“You’re right,” she snaps. “I’m not a cop. I don’t have a badge. I don’t have training. But I do have something none of you do.”

I narrow my eyes. “And what’s that?”

She leans in, voice dropping just enough to feel like a punch to the gut.

“The truth.”

Damn it. I don’t want to admire her, but it’s hard as hell not to.

I drag a hand through my hair and let out a slow breath. “Alright. You want to tell me what the hell you think you know?”

Cassidy’s expression hardens. “Hollister is working with the Del Toro cartel. He’s not just laundering their money—he’s facilitating their operations. He’s using what used to be my father’s business empire as a front for their shipments, covering their movements under legitimate oil and shipping contracts.”

Fury ignites in my blood. I knew Hollister was dirty. But this? This makes him a traitor in my book.

“And you have proof?” I press.

Cassidy clenches her jaw. “According to my boss, not enough. Not yet. That’s why I was there tonight.”

I shake my head. “You’re gonna get yourself killed chasing ghosts, Marlow.”

She doesn’t back down. “They’re not ghosts. They’re criminals, and my father tried to stop them.”

I glance at her. “You really think Hollister had him killed?”

She looks out the window, jaw tight. “I’m sure of it.”

I study her, the way her fingers grip her thigh, like she’s holding something inside—something too painful to let loose. She’s been carrying this for a long time. Long enough for it to shape her into the woman sitting next to me.

Damn it all.

I grind my teeth and pull off the road, parking the SUV in a dark, empty lot. I kill the engine and turn to face her fully.

“Listen to me,” I say, voice low, firm. “This isn’t a game. You think you can keep going down this road without consequences?”

She tilts her chin up. “What are you saying?”

I lean in, letting the air between us snap tight. “I’m saying if you keep digging, there won’t be a safe place left for you.”

Her breathing picks up, but she doesn’t look away. “I don’t care.”

I run a hand down my face, barely stopping myself from grabbing her and shaking some goddamn sense into her.

Damn her.

Damn me.

“You should,” I bite out. “Because the moment Hollister knows you’re on to him, he’ll burn every trail you’ve uncovered. And if that doesn’t work, he’ll put a bullet in you and call it business.”

Cassidy inhales sharply.

For the first time tonight, a flicker of doubt passes over her face.

Good.

She needs to be afraid. I sure as hell am. Not for me. For her.

I grip the steering wheel, needing something to ground me. “You’re under my protection now.”

Her eyes flash with fire. “I didn’t ask for that.”

I drag my gaze over her, letting my wolf press against my control just enough to make my meaning clear. I don’t care what she asked for.

“I don’t take requests, Marlow,” I murmur. “I take control.”

She sucks in a breath, and for one long moment, neither of us move.

Then she leans forward, voice steady despite the heat in her gaze. “And what happens when I don’t follow orders, Ranger?”

I meet her stare, something dark and hungry curling in my chest.

“I guess we’ll find out.”