Ranger’s Secret Baby (RIVER RANGER’S #3)

Chapter 1 Saint

Saint

Iwas wiping down the bar when the door opened.

I didn’t look up right away.

The Last Stand Tavern was quiet this early—just the low hum of the refrigerator behind the counter, the smell of fresh coffee drifting from the kitchen, and the familiar creak of old wood settling into the morning.

It was the kind of quiet I liked.

Predictable.

Safe.

Then I felt it.

That strange, unmistakable awareness that someone important had just walked into my life again.

The air shifted.

My instincts sharpened.

I looked up…

and everything in me went still.

Laney.

The woman I’d spent one unforgettable night with a year ago stood just inside the door.

She looked thinner. Paler.

And she was holding a baby.

Our eyes locked.

For a second, neither of us moved.

The room seemed to tilt around us, the quiet stretching tight like a wire.

Then she took a step forward.

That’s when I saw her hands were shaking.

“Laney…” I set the rag down slowly, my pulse suddenly pounding in my ears. “I’ve tried to find you.”

She didn’t answer.

She crossed the room in quick, uneven steps, like she was holding herself together by sheer will.

When she stopped in front of me, I could see the fear in her eyes.

Raw.

Real.

“Saint,” she said, her voice breaking. “This is Emmy.”

She shifted the baby slightly.

The little girl looked up at me.

Gray eyes.

My eyes.

The world dropped out from under my feet.

Sound vanished.

Thought vanished.

All I could see was the tiny human in her arms—the impossibly small fingers curled against the blanket, the soft curve of her cheek, the delicate rise and fall of her chest.

And those eyes watching me.

Like she already knew me.

“She’s your daughter.”

The words hit me like a punch to the ribs.

My lungs forgot how to work.

For a moment I couldn’t speak.

Couldn’t move.

I’d faced gunfire, explosions, men trying to kill me…

Nothing had ever shaken me like this.

“I need you to keep her safe,” Laney whispered.

I blinked hard.

“What?”

“Take her. Please.” Her voice cracked as she held the baby toward me. “I don’t have time. He’s close.”

“Laney—what are you talking about?”

But she was already pressing the baby into my arms.

The weight of her hit my chest like gravity snapping into place.

Warm.

Real.

Mine.

My hands came up automatically, cradling the tiny body against me as instinct took over.

Emmy made a small sound, shifting against my shirt.

Something fierce and protective ignited in my chest.

“Trigger!” I called hoarsely. “Cover the bar.”

He looked up from the end of the counter—

and froze when he saw what I was holding.

“I’ll explain later,” I said, already guiding Laney toward the back hallway. “Come on.”

I held Emmy carefully in the crook of my arm and turned back toward Laney.

“Now,” I said quietly. “You’re going to tell me what’s going on.”

“There isn’t time.” Her eyes darted toward the windows. Toward the door. “I have to disappear again.”

“Like hell you do.”

“Saint—please—”

“Who is ‘he’?”

She swallowed hard.

“My father’s family.”

I stared at her.

“What?”

“My father was Italian. He had a wife. A son.” Her voice trembled. “They hated my mother. They hated me. When my mother got sick, my father brought us to Italy. His family never accepted us.”

Her hands clenched into fists.

“After my mom died… he died two weeks later. My parents were never married. He already had a wife.”

“I’m sorry,” I said quietly.

“She told me to leave,” Laney continued. “His wife. She said if I didn’t disappear, she would make me disappear.” Her voice dropped. “Then she said her son would finish it.”

“Her son,” I repeated slowly. “Your stepbrother.”

“He’s not my brother,” she snapped.

The anger in her voice made Emmy stir slightly in my arms.

Laney immediately softened.

“His name is Marco Rossi,” she whispered. “And he’s been looking for me.”

“How do you know?”

“I’ve seen his people. More than once.” She shook her head. “They started showing up right after… after the night we were together.”

My stomach tightened.

“You think he wants to kill you,” I said carefully. “And take the baby.”

“Yes.”

I looked down at Emmy.

She blinked up at me, completely calm.

Completely trusting.

Something dark and absolute settled in my chest.

“No one is taking her from you,” I said flatly. “Or from me.”

Laney’s breath hitched.

“You don’t understand how much power they have.”

“Then I need to talk to him.”

Her eyes widened.

“No! You can’t—”

“Laney.” My voice hardened. “Until I know exactly what’s happening, you’re staying here. Both of you.”

She shook her head.

“You don’t know what you’re inviting into your town.”

“I do,” I said quietly.

“And they’re not walking out with my daughter.”

The word felt right.

Mine.

Laney sagged slightly, like the fight had drained out of her all at once.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” I asked more softly. “About her.”

She looked away.

“Because you left before I even woke up.”

“I had a job, in Alaska. You were still sleeping. I left my information.”

“I know.”

Silence stretched between us.

Heavy.

Complicated.

“Laney,” I said quietly, “you’re not alone anymore.”

Before she could answer, Wolf walked in.

“Who do we have here?”

“Wolf, this is Laney Rossi,” I said.

I looked down at the tiny girl in my arms.

“And this,” I added quietly, “is my daughter. Emmy.”

Laney lifted her chin.

“Someone is hunting me,” she said. “I need Saint to keep my baby safe.”

Wolf’s expression hardened instantly.

“Then you’re in the right place,” he said.

I looked at Laney.

“You’re not running anymore.”

And somewhere out there, someone who thought he was the hunter was already too late.