Page 33 of The Wrangler

“You’ll be there.”

It wasn’t a question. For all his growling and bossing her around, there was no denying the truth in his voice. Jesse Bryant didn’t make empty promises.

She took a breath, then turned back to the table. “Then let’s figure out how to do this without me ending up in a body bag.”

Jesse muttered a curse, but he moved to stand beside her, arms crossed as he stared down at the blueprints of Alvarez’scompound. “Fine. But if you deviate from the plan even once, you won’t like how I handle it.”

She bit back a grin. “I don’t know, cowboy. I think I like how you handle me just fine.”

Jesse muttered something under his breath, but the heat in his eyes told her everything she needed to know. As much as he didn’t like it, he agreed with her and wouldn’t stand in the way of what he knew would be the best plan.

The air crackled with unspoken energy as Keely paced the dimly lit back room of the Silver Spur offices, running through the plan in her head for the hundredth time. The team had gone over every possible scenario, every potential outcome, but none of it made this any easier.

She was walking into the lion’s den, and she knew Jesse hated it.

“I still don’t like this,” Jesse muttered, arms crossed over his broad chest as he leaned against the edge of the table. The room’s overhead lighting cast sharp shadows across his face, deepening the scowl he hadn’t dropped since they’d finalized the details of the meeting with Nico.

Keely stopped pacing and met his gaze head-on. “I know.”

“That’s it?” He straightened, his muscles coiled tight as he took a step toward her. “You know? You think that makes me feel any better?”

“No,” she admitted, taking a deep breath. “But it’s the only answer I have. If there was a better way, you or Reed would have come up with it.”

Her big brother was no more of a fan than Jesse was. The silence stretched between them—dangerous and unyielding. Onpaper, the plan was simple. She would present herself to Nico as a desperate woman looking to save herself by returning the diamonds in exchange for Nico calling off his hunt. The goal was to bait him into lowering his guard just long enough for Jesse and the rest of the Silver Spur team to take him down.

Jesse raked a hand through his hair, his frustration rolling off him in waves. “I could go in your place.”

Keely shook her head. “No. He knows I’m a far easier target. He agreed to meet me, not you.”

“That’s what worries me,” Jesse ground out. “Nico doesn’t leave loose ends, Keely.”

She squared her shoulders. “Neither do we.”

Jesse let out a rough breath and turned away, gripping the back of the chair hard enough that his knuckles turned white. His control was fraying, and she knew why. This wasn’t just another op for him. This was her, and Jesse didn’t enjoy taking risks with the things he cared about.

Dawson stepped into the room, checking his watch. “It’s time.”

Keely nodded, ignoring the way her pulse spiked. She turned toward Jesse, but before she could speak, he was on her, backing her up against the wall in one swift move.

His fingers gripped her chin, tilting her face up to his. His eyes burned with something fierce, something furious. “You come back to me,” he demanded, his voice low and lethal. “No heroics. No bullshit. You do your part, and you get your ass out of there.”

Keely swallowed hard. “Jesse...”

He cut her off with his mouth, his lips crashing against hers in a kiss that stole the breath from her lungs. It wasn’t soft. It wasn’t gentle. It was possession, command, a promise and a warning all at once.

Keely moaned into him, fisting the front of his shirt, trying to pull him closer even as she knew she had to let go. Jesse’s grip on her tightened before he finally tore his mouth from hers, his forehead pressed against hers as he exhaled a sigh.

“You come back to me,” he repeated, his voice gravelly with emotion.

Keely nodded, unable to find the words. Jesse closed his eyes for a second.

The abandoned warehouse loomed in front of Keely like something out of a nightmare. Rusted steel beams jutted up into the night sky, the scent of damp concrete and decay thick in the air. Its seclusion—miles from the nearest town—was both a blessing and a curse. No one would hear the gunfire when things inevitably went to hell in a handbasket.

She adjusted the strap of the bag slung over her shoulder—the case filled with fake diamonds had been rigged to look like the real thing—and took a slow breath. Jesse and the team were already in position, hidden in the shadows, watching her every move.

“You got eyes on me?” she murmured under her breath, barely moving her lips.

Jesse’s voice crackled softly in her earpiece. “Every step you take.”

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