Page 25 of Giving Up the Ring
“I don’t think that he did,” Rocco said automatically. Everybody looked toward him. “He already knew where we were going, somehow. He’s staying one step ahead of me.” Silence filled the space between them because they all understood exactly what that meant. This wasn’t random stalking. Gunner had been watching him long enough to know where Jonesy would take him, which meant that he was watching all of them—his friends included. The realization hit like a punch to the throat.
“How?” Luca asked grimly. Rocco’s jaw tightened painfully. There were only a few people who knew about the cabin. Jonesy, Tony, Luca, and him. That was it. Nobody spoke for several seconds, because nobody wanted to say the ugly thought out loud. They were all being watched and followed. Gunner was tracking every person who was in his life.
Luna stepped closer to him slowly. “Rocco,” she breathed. He barely heard her. His brain was already spinning backward through every weird moment over the past few months. He had a feeling that he was being watched outside the gym. He noticed a strange truck parked near his place twice last week, and then there were the random missed calls he ignored. Jesus Christ. Gunner had probably been there the whole time—watching him heal, and watching him fall for Luna. He was waiting for the right time to strike, and that made Rocco’s stomach turn violently.
“You okay?” Tony asked carefully. No, he wasn’t. Not even remotely, because the deeper he thought about this, the uglier it became.
“If he’s been following me that long—” Rocco’s voice roughened. “Then he knows everything.”
Luna’s fingers wrapped around his wrist instantly. “Hey.” That one word grounded him just enough to stop spiraling completely. He looked down at her. And God, seeing her standing in the middle of all this, made him feel sick. Luna didn’t belong in this kind of danger. She belonged in boxing gyms and offices, and teasing him until he forgot how to think—not safe houses. And not being stalked by men broken by war.
“This is my fault,” he muttered.
Luna’s expression hardened immediately. “No.”
“He wants to get to me,” Rocco said.
“And that still doesn’t make this your fault,” she insisted.
Rocco laughed bitterly. “Pretty sure bringing a mentally unstable former soldier into your life counts as a mistake.” The second the words left his mouth, he regretted them. Luna looked furious. She shoved against his chest hard enough that he took a step backward in surprise.
“Don’t do that,” she spat.
Rocco blinked. “Do what?”
“Decide what I can handle for me.” Her eyes flashed dangerously now. “And don’t you dare reduce yourself to some burden because another man lost his mind.”
The cabin went quiet. Tony slowly looked at Luca. “I like her.”
Luca nodded immediately. “She’s terrifying.” Jonesy looked downright proud, but Rocco just stared at Luna, because nobody had ever defended him like that before. Not from himself, and maybe that was the problem. Luna saw him too clearly. She saw every ugly thought before he even spoke it.
She stepped closer again, voice softer now. “You survived something horrible, Rocco.” Her hand slid against his jaw gently. “That doesn’t make you broken.” His throat tightened painfully. God, she had no idea what she was doing to him.
Tony suddenly straightened near the window. “Vehicle’s approaching.” Every head snapped toward him immediately. Luca moved fast, checking through the side window.
“It’s a black SUV,” Luca said. That was the same vehicle that he saw at the apartment. The vehicle rolled slowly down the dirt road toward the cabin before stopping about fifty yards away, leaving the engine idling. The dark windows were rolled up, but Rocco could feel him inside the car, watching them. No one got out of the SUV, and nobody moved. The tension inside the cabin thickened instantly.
Jonesy’s voice turned cold. “Positions, everyone.” Everything after that happened fast. Tony killed the lights. Luca moved toward the side of the cabin, and Rocco instinctively pulled Luna behind him while reaching for the gun at his back.
Her fingers grabbed his arm immediately. “Rocco.” He looked down at her. Fear flashed across her face for the first time since this started. She was afraid for him, and that somehow made the entire situation worse.
Rocco touched her cheek quickly, keeping his voice low. “Stay behind me.”
Her jaw clenched. “I hate when you tell me what to do.”
“Yeah,” he muttered. “I know.” Outside, the SUV door finally opened. Rocco watched as a man’s boots hit the dirt, and then, a familiar voice echoed through the trees.
“You always were easy to track, brother.” Rocco’s blood went ice cold because Gunner didn’t sound angry anymore. He sounded amused—like this was all just the beginning.
Rocco knew one thing immediately—Gunner wanted him outside, and he wanted him to come alone. His calm voice drifting through the trees wasn’t random; it was a tactical, deliberate move on Gunner’s part. It was the same way that he used to talk before missions went bad—cool, relaxed, and dangerous as hell.
Rocco kept his body between Luna and the windows while his mind worked through escape routes automatically. “How many guys are with him?” Luca asked quietly from behind him.
“One. I only saw him,” Tony answered.
“That means nothing,” Jonesy muttered. His trainer was exactly right. Gunner wasn’t sloppy—at least he had never been before. Rocco didn’t expect that from him now, either.
Outside, gravel crunched softly beneath Gunner’s boots. He was slowly pacing in a circle while waiting Rocco out. “You gonna keep hiding behind your new friends?” Gunner called out casually. “That ain’t like you, Roc.” Luna’s fingers curled tightly around the back of Rocco’s shirt. He could feel the fear she was trying to hide, and honestly, that scared him more than Gunnerdid. Because this was exactly what he never wanted—her caught in the middle of violence tied to his past.
