Page 73 of Shielded Hearts

She felt the same.

“There has to be a better way.” He thumped a fist lightly on the table. “Than to let my little sister…”

He thumped it again, harder this time.

“And mywoman”—he hit the table a third time, with force—“be the bait.”

Aspen let out a small noise, scarcely a puff of breath. A pink flush climbed her cheeks.

Carson pushed away his plate with a few crumbs left there and leaned forward, his voice low and urgent. “We fucking hate it too, bro. But if all goes according to plan—and we have to believe it will—thenwewill be the ones in control.”

Gray nodded. “In an hour, Aspen will arrive at the lake and drive slow enough for Gideon to see her. If he’s in the vicinity, he’ll follow. Aspen will continue on to the cabin, and Willow will meet her.” He cast a glance at their surroundings, making sure no one could overhear, but the closest diners were toward the front of the restaurant.

Brushing crumbs off her lips, Willow picked up on the thread of the plan. “Gideon will believe that Aspen is going to the Tahoe house to meet with a client. That client will be me.”

Colt narrowed his eyes at her. “How the hell can you eat knowing what you’re about to do?”

She blinked at him.

He barreled on, “No. Of course you’re calm. What girl with six brothers isn’t chill about danger? Hell, we urged you to jump off the porch roof into stacks of hay. You’re going to trust anything we ask of you.”

Aspen squeezed his hand. “Colt, you’re going to be watching us every minute. You won’t let anything happen to us.”

He hoped to hell they weren’t leading Willow into something much worse than the possibility of breaking her neck in a daredevil jump.

And Aspen…

Christ.

He had to bury all of his fears for this.

He shoved away from the table, the metal chair legs screeched on the floor. “Let’s get this party started.”

Willow raised her hands in the air and pulsed them in a mock dance, which had his brothers chuckling and a smile twisting Aspen’s sweet lips. But Colt was anything but amused.

He’d been in enough battles to know how quickly things could go bad.

As they left the restaurant and piled into the SUV, Colt worked on getting his head in the game. He was good. The fucking best. This son of a bitch wasn’t going to best him. He had the skills with a sniper rifle to end Gideon from half a mile away, and if it came to a threat against his sister or the woman he loved, goddammit, he would take the shot.

Everyone in the vehicle was silent as they drove to the next stop. The big car park had two cars planted just for them.

Carson stopped at the end of a row. “Red Mercedes. Third space in.” He twisted in his seat to level their baby sister in his stare. “Good luck, Willow.”

She tossed them all a smile and climbed out. Through the glass, Colt watched her walk with the long, confident steps of awoman who knew her role, but he couldn’t help but think how young she was. A baby compared to the rest of them who had seen war, taken lives to preserve others.

Before she even reached the Mercedes, Carson pulled away and drove to the back of the lot. In the row, Colt picked out the vehicle that Aspen would drive. His muscles hardened one by one.

Aspen turned to him. “This is me.”

She started to get out, but he wrapped his fingers around her wrist, keeping her in place.

Swooping in, he kissed her with a hard stamp on the lips. When he pulled back, he stared deep into her eyes. “Be careful, princess.”

With a nod, she smoothed her thumb over his bottom lip. Then she jumped out and took off walking with all the confidence that Willow did.

“Fuck, those two are going to kill me,” he muttered.

Carson scrubbed a hand over his face. “I know the feeling.”

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