HER WORDS ECHOED IN MY head on repeat as her expression haunted me.

So, I’m a job now?

This whole fucking mess was my doing, but somewhere along the way shit went FUBAR and now it was exactly as I told her. Personal. I didn’t know when it’d first happened—the kiss on the side of the highway, hell, the look in her eyes when I pulled up in front of that rehab, but this woman had gotten under my skin. Then I’d fucked her.

Fucking hell, that cunt.

My dick got hard just thinking about sinking inside her, which only made me an even bigger asshole as I stood here with her blood on my hands.

But goddamn this woman was in my head. Vulnerable and not ashamed to show it. Bold as fuck when it counted. Summer Amherst was a hell of a lot more than all the zeroes she probably had in her trust fund, and I wasn’t finished with her. But that didn’t change the fact that I had a job to do.

Protect her.

Get her off this mountain in one piece, no matter what the fuck happened to me.

I’d never given a shit about dying, we all went some time. But now that I knew what the woman inside my cabin tasted like, I wanted more. I wanted it bad enough that I gave a shit about getting back to her, and that was a dangerous slope for someone in my line of work. Giving a shit made you hesitate. Hesitation got you killed.

I wasn’t going to fuck with Luna or his company’s reputation by losing a client, and I sure as hell wasn’t going to let those two fucks walk off this mountain. But more than anything, I was going to protect what I had upstairs.

No one fucked with me or my property.

Dropping under the crawl space, I pulled out the cell I’d synced with the cameras and glanced at the screen.

Those fucks didn’t know what was coming.

I shot off a text to Ronan. ETA?

He replied almost immediately. 30 mins. Luna says you have a breach. Two guns inside the cabin.

She’d fucking called Luna already.

I typed a quick reply to Ronan. Window closing, not waiting 30 mins.

Ronan replied. Copy. Harm MIA. Candle should’ve been there by now. OMW.

Moving under the house, I glanced once more at the security feeds and positioned myself.

Double checking the screen on the cell, I aimed my rifle at the foundation above me.

“You fuck with me, motherfuckers, I fuck back.”

I pulled the trigger.

Three rounds pierced the foundation and wood floor I’d laid myself. Asshole number one dropped, the weight of his body hitting the living room floor with a muted thud. Three seconds later, rounds started raining down into the crawl space.

I was already on the move.

Rolling out from under the cabin, I landed on my back in the snow and aimed up at the front windows.

The second fuck in my living room caught my movement and trained his scope on me. His laser dot hit my chest and I smirked.

“Go ahead, you amateur fuck,” I muttered, sighting my rifle. “Pull the trigger.”

His shot pierced my glass slider the same time I rolled.

Going to one knee as the bullet whizzed past my head and hit a tree, I held up my middle finger. Then I single-handedly aimed and fired.

My shot hit him in the middle of his forehead, his head snapped back and he dropped.

Cursing the fucking mess the bodies would make in my cabin, I stood and pulled my cell out. The call went through just as an unnatural, but unmistakable wind whipped past my head.

Motherfucker.

I dropped and rolled back under the cabin as another shot plunked into a nearby tree.

Both hands on my rifle, my cell forgotten, I scanned with my scope.

“Approaching on foot.” Ronan’s voice came from my phone now buried somewhere in the snow. “Your access road is blocked by four vehicles parked halfway up. All empty.”

Scanning the treeline, I blindly reached for the cell.

A shot landed a foot from my hand, making a hole in the snow.

Goddamn it.

“Shade?” Ronan asked.

I scanned again as another shot hit the deck above me.

“Yeah,” I called out to Ronan. Where the hell was the asshole plucking off shots? “Hold on.” I fired blindly then quickly reached for my cell. Bringing the damn thing to my ear, I made another sweep, looking through the scope. “I took out two in the cabin, but I’m still taking fire.”

“Almost there. Half a klick. Several tracks in the snow, but it’s coming down so fast, I can’t tell how many we’re dealing with.”

Another shot pinged off the deck, but this one was closer to me.

I inched back a foot into the crawl space. “Hopefully two of those vehicles are Candle and Harm.” I sighted left. “Those fuckers better show soon if they want in on the action.”

“Luna’s running plates.” Ronan dropped his voice. “Position? Going radio silent.”

Two more shots rang out in rapid succession. One hit a foot above my head, the other sailed past me to my right.

I glanced over my shoulder then looked back at the snow-covered trees, following the line of fire through my scope as I answered Ronan. “I’m under the cabin taking fire like a fucking sitting duck.” I scanned right again. “I’ve got two shooters, or one asshole moving faster than a goddamn deer. I can’t see shit through the snow.” Where the hell were the shots coming from?

“Copy that. Two minutes.” Ronan hung up and my cell immediately rang again.

“I don’t have time for this, Conlon.” Movement in the treeline two klicks south caught my attention and I swept left.

“Shade,” Summer screeched in a panic. “I can see them on the screens! They’re moving in on you! Hurry, get out of there!”

Motherfucker. “Did Luna give you this number?” I was going to fucking shoot him next time I saw him.

“I had to call him because you didn’t leave me the number.” Her voice pitched higher. “Oh my God, there’re coming up on you! To the right, to the right.”

I swept far right and spotted movement. “Listen to me, princess.” I sighted. “Hang up the phone and look away from the screens. Remember what I told you. One-three-two.” Distance, wind, altitude, snowfall—I calculated. “Now, woman.” Not bothering to hang up, I dropped the phone and exhaled.

“Shade!” Summer cried out.

The fucker sighted me the same time I sighted him.

I pulled the trigger.