Page 26 of Ranger's Justice

A shiver runs down my spine. Because for the first time in my life, I know—without a doubt—that justice is coming.

The silence in the room is thick, a suffocating blanket of barely restrained fury and unspoken threats. I keep my hands clenched into fists, my pulse hammering in my ears as I force myself to process the horrors before me.

Hollister isn’t just laundering money for the cartel. He’s trafficking people. Girls.

The truth of it settles in my bones, heavy and unrelenting. I’ve spent years chasing shadows, clawing through ledgers and offshore accounts, trying to prove he was dirty. I thought I wanted revenge for my father, to see Hollister burn for what hedid to my family. But this? This is worse. This is something that can’t be ignored, something that needs to be stopped now.

I push the file away, shoving back from the table. “I’ve got a lead I need to follow up on.”

Rush, standing across from me with his arms crossed over his chest, doesn’t move. His golden eyes darken, something dangerous flashing across his face. “Not happening.”

I grit my teeth, trying to level him with a glare; it doesn’t work. “I wasn’t asking for permission.”

Dalton lets out a low whistle from where he’s lounging in his chair. “Oh, sweetheart. You really don’t know how to pick your battles, do you?”

Rush’s head snaps toward him, and the former SEAL has the sense to lift his hands in surrender. “Just saying,” Dalton mutters, clearly amused.

Rush reverts his focus back to me, and my stomach tightens at the sheer force of him. The man commands space, making the room feel smaller just by existing in it. He leans forward, planting his hands on the table, his fingers splayed across the worn wood. His voice is controlled, but I can feel the undercurrent of anger just beneath it.

“You are not following anything. You are not going anywhere.”

I lift my chin. “You don’t get to decide that.”

The room goes deadly quiet.

Rush straightens, his movements precise, measured. His golden eyes pin me in place, unblinking, unrelenting. “The only way you’re leaving my sight, Cassidy, is if I let you.”

My heart kicks against my ribs. A warning. A challenge.

I push back. “This isn’t just your fight, Rush.”

His eyes flash. “You made it my fight when you got yourself tangled up in the cartel’s business. They want you dead. Theywill not stop. And I am not…” his voice drops lower, rougher, “… going to stand by and let you walk into their crosshairs.”

Something hot and sharp coils between us. The other Rangers are watching, but no one says a word. They know better. This is a battle neither of us is willing to lose.

I cross my arms, defiant. “I’ve been taking care of myself for a long time, Rush. I don’t need a guard dog.”

His jaw clenches, and in a blink, he’s moved. One second he’s across the table, the next he’s towering over me, his body so close I can feel the heat radiating off him.

His voice is a low growl. “You do now.”

The air crackles with something volatile, something dangerous. I don’t back down. I can’t.

I hold my ground, lifting my gaze to meet his. “I’m not some helpless female you can just order around.”

Rush’s breath comes slow and measured, his expression unreadable, but his eyes—they burn. “No, you’re not. But you’re mine to protect now, whether or not you like it.”

My pulse jumps. His words wrap around me, sinking deep, igniting something that I don’t know how to name. My body betrays me, reacting to the sheer power of him, the overwhelming dominance in his presence.

I tell myself it’s frustration. That the heat licking up my spine is nothing more than adrenaline. That the tightening in my lower belly is not anticipation. I lie to myself, because the alternative is too dangerous to consider.

I drag in a breath, forcing myself to stay steady. “This is personal for me, Rush.”

His gaze flickers, a crack in the stone. “And that’s exactly why you’re not going in alone.”

My fingers twitch at my sides. “If I don’t act now, Hollister will bury every trace of this before I can get close.”

Rush’s eyes hold mine, sharp and unwavering. “Then we act. But you don’t run off alone.”

---