The cold muzzle of a weapon pressed into the side of Adriana’s head.

I’m going to die!

“Please.” She instantly regretted that she’d uttered a word.

“Adriana?” Brent growled the whisper. “What are you doing out here?”

At the sound of his familiar, welcome voice, she nearly slumped, but he caught her.

“Answer me,” he whispered.

“I heard the warning go off. I couldn’t let you face the danger alone.”

Something foreign flitted over his features, though it was too dark to see his gaze.

“I didn’t recognize you geared up like a soldier,” he said, and touched her bulletproof vest. In the moonlight, she barely made out a half grin, then it disappeared, his voice laced with weighty emotion. “I...could have killed you.”

“I’m grateful you didn’t.”

“Adriana, I told you to stay in the house, where you would be safer than out here. Why can’t you follow my instructions?”

She hated to hear the accusation, the disappointment in his tone. “I couldn’t let you face my brother or his henchmen alone. Besides, I’m here now.”

And she wasn’t leaving his side.

* * *

Texas Ranger Holidays: A Season of Danger

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Christmas Double Cross by Jodie Bailey

Texas Christmas Defender by Elizabeth Goddard