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I took Jacob’s hand and started leading him toward the house.
Could I truly protect him and my brothers?
Rhys and I are grown. We can all take care of each other.Rogue’s words echoed in my head, but would he really be staying long term, or was this just a break for him because he was bored with the rodeo?
What if he does? You’ve got more chosen family that will be coming home soon. They’ll need a place once they’re no longer in the marines. And there’s Jacob.
No, he doesn’t need to be part of that world.
If he’s yours, then he’s in your world.
I can’t do that to him.
Then let him go.
I wanted to rip apart that inner voice for even suggesting such a thing. The idea of Jacob in another man’s arms filled me with fury and fear. When I’d seen Rhys’s hand on Jacob’s thigh, my vision had gone red. I knew I was being ridiculous. Rhys would never try to take a man I’d claimed. He was positioning Jacob’s foot in the stirrups like he would any riding student’s. Like he used to do for countless men, women, girls, and boys when he taught riding lessons before joining the marines, but something about him touching Jacob, about the thought of anyone but me touching Jacob, made me crazy.
I was losing my mind, which was exactly why I’d tried to stay away from Jacob, but the pull was too strong. I’d fought all manner of skilled and dangerous enemies, but I didn’t know how to fight what I felt for Jacob. Now that I knew about his past, I wanted him even more. I wanted to be the anchor he’d never had.
Had X felt like that when he’d met his man? Was that what love felt like—this all-consuming force you couldn’t escape, not even when you were a trained operative who’d survived years in hell? Why would anyone wish for that?
Because once you stop fighting, you get to feel like you did last night when you slid inside him, when you held him, when you got to be the one he surrendered to.
But what if he really could find someone better, what if he only thought he liked me because…
“Grant?” Jacob’s voice brought me out of my thoughts. “Whatever you’re thinking… I can tell it’s bad. Please don’t push me away.”
I hugged him tightly. “Never. I… I couldn’t.”
“Good. Now let me in.” He gestured toward the front door, which was only a few yards away. I knew he didn’t just mean to let him into the house, but that was a start.
When we stepped inside, the twins and TJ were sitting at the counter. TJ was watching Rhys with a look that let me know there was more to his attraction than my brother’s good looks. I bet even TJ’s family rarely saw that soft look on his face.
I knew the tension between them was going to blow up in my face, but I’d worry about that later. Right now, I had to figure out how to keep the FBI from coming down on us. I was going to need X’s help. I hated that I already needed help from him when I’d only been at the ranch for a month.
“Tell me what we know,” I said once I’d encouraged Jacob to have a seat. I knew I wouldn’t be able to sit still, so I leaned against the wall, pretending I wasn’t going to pace the whole time.
“The dead guy is an FBI agent named Brandon Monroe,” Rhys said. “He’s been cited for use of excessive force, and he just got off a suspension after being investigated for his role in bringing down a gunrunner. His mark was tortured viciously and left for animals to finish off.”
“Fuck. Even I wouldn’t do that.”
Rhys looked at TJ and snorted.
“I have rules.”
“Ones you would break if your family ordered you to.”
I glared at my brother. “Rhys, this isn’t the time.”
He started to protest, but Rogue cut him off. “Are we sure the FBI won’t be glad we got rid of this guy?”
“We can hope,” I said. “How did we get all this intel so fast?”
TJ smiled. “X has contacts everywhere.”
“You know how to get through to X directly?” I asked.
He nodded. “I pay attention. People dismiss me as no more than a gun, but I remember things. I remember everything.” He looked at my brother and something passed between them. I so did not have time for that.
