Page 68 of Savage Rancher
I frown. "What?"
"Public." Luke meets my gaze, dead serious. "Right now, Iron Ridge knows Emma's spending time with you. They know you're back. But they don't know the scope. They don't know she'syours."
I cross my arms, widening my stance. "Sheismine."
"Yeah, but does Cole Turner know that?" Luke raises his brow. "Does the whole fucking town know that touching her means answering to all three of us?"
Mason makes a low sound of agreement. "Luke's right. Ambiguity creates opportunity. Cole sees Emma as isolated and vulnerable. He doesn't see her as protected by a three-man unit with Delta Force training and zero hesitation about eliminating threats."
"We make it public," Luke continues, "and we remove speculation. We establish Emma as locked down. Protected. Off-limits. It sends a message to Cole that he's not just dealing with a woman alone. He's dealing with us. That might be enough for him to back down."
I don't like it. The idea of parading Emma around, making our relationship public knowledge, putting her in the spotlight—it goes against every instinct I have to keep her close, controlled,private.
But tactically, Luke's right. Sometimes the threat of punishment is enough to deter.
"Where?" I ask.
"Where else? The Rusty Spur." Luke grins, and there's something dark in it. "Tonight. We walk in with Emma. We make it clear she's with you. We sit at the bar, have a drink, let the whole town see. Then we leave. Simple. Clean. Public declaration."
"It's a sound strategy,” Mason says, soothing the horse. “Establishes her position, removes ambiguity, and forces Cole to reassess his approach. If he's smart, he'll back off."
"And if he's not?" I ask.
"Then we eliminate him, knowing we gave him every chance to walk away." Mason's voice is cold, final.
"No one can say we didn't make our position clear," Luke adds.
I look between them—Luke with his tactical grin, Mason with his calm certainty. My brothers. My unit. The men who've had my back through firefights and black ops and eighteen years of Emma living in my head.
They're right.
I hate that they're right, but they are.
Luke claps me on the shoulder. "Looks like you're taking your girl out on the town, brother."
I nod. "Let's make it count."
Luke's grin widens. "Oh, we will."
66
EMMA
J
Meet us at the Rusty Spur tonight for a drink?
That sounds less like an invitation and more like an order.
J
You coming?
Depends.
You planning to behave?
J
