Page 20 of The Wrangler

Hawke added, “And now that you’ve seen what was inside, you’re a liability.”

Keely forced herself to breathe. This was just another problem to solve. She’d handled high-stakes before.

But it seemed Jesse had other ideas.

“This ends now,” he growled.

Keely lifted an eyebrow. “Yeah? How, exactly?”

Jesse turned toward her, his body too close, too intense, radiating command in every muscle. “You’re done. No more running, no more pretending you’ve got this under control. You don’t.”

Keely straightened. “Excuse me?”

Jesse caught her upper arm and turned her to face him, leaning in, his voice deadly calm. “You’re under my protection, Keely. And that means you listen when I tell you something. You don’t argue. You don’t push back. You just do what the hell you’re told.”

The air went thick between them, and not just with anger. Something else simmered there—something unspoken, something dangerous.

Keely’s pulse spiked, but she refused to back down. “You don’t get to decide that for me, Jesse.”

His jaw flexed. “I just did.”

Her body lit up with challenge, with something hotter, something reckless.

Keely lifted her chin, refusing to look away. “What are you going to do? Tie me to the bed?”

The danger in Jesse’s expression shifted. Something darker flickered in his gaze, something unreadable. He leaned in closer, so close she could feel the heat of his breath on her lips.

“Don’t tempt me, darlin’,” he murmured, voice rough as sin.

Keely’s breath hitched. Her whole body reacted, her blood pounding, her skin tight and hot and restless. She should have pushed back harder. Should have fought him on principle alone. But instead, she trembled, wanting to know what would happen if she kept pushing.

Jesse watched her for a long moment, then breathed deeply, reining himself back in. He stepped away, putting just enough distance between them.

“For now, you’re staying put,” he said, voice firm but softer than before. “We’ll figure out our next move. We’ve got patrols roving the property, and someone will be watching the security feed twenty-four hours a day.”

Keely let out a breath, still flushed from the moment before, from the heat rolling off him in waves. “Fine. I will do what you tell me,” she muttered, mostly just to see what he’d do.

Jesse’s eyes narrowed. “That didn’t sound convincing.”

She lifted a shoulder, teasing now, because God help her, she liked the way he reacted to her defiance. He muttered something under his breath, something unintelligible but definitely a curse, before turning away and joining the others at the island. Keely watched him go, her pulse still a little too quick, her skin still tingling.

Nico Alvarez might have sent a warning, but she was certain Silver Spur Security could handle him. But Jesse Bryant was a whole different kind of threat, and she had no idea how to handle him.

The debate had gone on for too long, voices overlapping, strategies tossed back and forth, none of them feeling solid enough to Keely. Jesse stood near the kitchen counter, arms crossed, his broad shoulders looking even bigger in the dim light. He had said little in the last ten minutes, just watched as Gavin, Reed, Hawke, and Dawson tossed out ideas about what to do next.

Keely had tried to take part, but every time she opened her mouth, someone cut her off, like she wasn’t the one with her name on a goddamn hit list.

She leaned back against the couch, crossing her arms. “If you all could stop acting like I’m not in the damn room, that’d be really great.”

Reed pinched the bridge of his nose. “Keely...”

“No,” she snapped. “I’m serious. You’re all sitting here debating my future like I don’t get a damn say in it.”

“You don’t,” Jesse said, his deep voice cutting clean through the noise.

Everything stilled.

Keely’s head whipped toward him, heat prickling at the back of her neck. “What did you say?”

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