Chapter 4
4
JESSE
J esse had spent too many damn years training himself to never let his guard down. But right now? His body didn’t give a damn about protocol.
After eating, the exhaustion just seemed to sink into his bones, dragging him down before he could stop it. Jesse made an entire security sweep of both the interior and exterior of the house, checking all the gates, doors, and windows. He barely sat down and registered the feel of Keely’s buttery-soft leather couch beneath him before his muscles gave up the fight, the long day catching up to him all at once. He stretched out, his gun on the floor beside him.
The last thing he remembered was Keely’s voice, soft and teasing, somewhere in the background.
“I’m going to laugh so hard if you snore.”
He’d tried to muster a comeback, but his eyes were already shutting, his body already slipping into the dark.
KEELY
Keely stood at the edge of the couch, staring down at Jesse’s completely passed-out form.
He looked different like this—his usual iron control stripped away by exhaustion. The sharp lines of his face had softened, his broad chest rising and falling in slow, steady breaths.
She should have gone to bed immediately. She should have just left him there. But instead, she hesitated, eyes lingering longer than they should. Jesse was always tense, always ready for a fight. But now? He was just a man. A very dangerous, ridiculously attractive man, but a man nonetheless.
With a quiet sigh, she grabbed the throw blanket draped over the back of the couch and carefully laid it over him, her fingers grazing the solid strength of his shoulder. Jesse stirred slightly, but he didn’t wake. She let out a slow breath.
Keely had spent years pushing him, flirting with him just to see him grit his teeth and hold the line. But this? This was the first time she had ever seen him completely unguarded.
A small, ridiculous part of her wanted to press her lips to his forehead, to smooth a hand over his chest like some lovesick idiot. Instead, she shook her head, turning away quickly before she did something she couldn’t take back.
“Goodnight, cowboy,” she murmured, stepping away.
Jesse didn’t stir.
NICO
Outside, Nico Alvarez watched.
The French doors leading in from the patio were his way in.
Keely Malone had been stupidly predictable, assuming the white stucco walls that surrounded her home would keep someone out and keep them from peering through her windows. He’d thought this would be a quick break, enter and grab. He’d been doing those since he was a child. And if she heard him or got in the way? That was easy too, just a quick slit across her throat—although given what he’d learned about her, he might stay awhile and indulge himself.
But looking through the window, he spotted a big problem sprawled on the couch. Jesse Bryant.
The name alone was enough to piss him off. Silver Spur Security had interfered with his business before, but this? This was personal. Because she had his suitcase, and he wanted it back, needed it back.
Nico didn’t hesitate. He moved like a shadow, his boots silent as he slipped toward the patio doors, a thin blade glinting in his hand.
Keely didn’t even know what she was sitting on, but he sure as hell did. And if he couldn’t get away clean, then neither she nor Jesse Bryant would be alive to remember it.
JESSE
Jesse’s brain yanked him from sleep at the first sound, as if someone had flipped an internal switch inside him.
A creak. Soft. Barely there. But wrong.
His eyes snapped open instantly, instincts firing before his mind had even fully caught up. His pulse was already steady, his muscles awake and ready. And then… the scream. Keely.
Jesse launched off the couch like a missile, grabbing his gun as the blanket fell away as he moved, his mind already calculating threats before he even had eyes on her.
She’d rolled off her bed and pushed past the intruder and was now standing outside her bedroom door, her wild hair a mess around her face, hands gripping the door frame of her bedroom, her chest heaving. She stared at the shadowy figure in the middle of the bedroom.
Intruder. Jesse’s gun was already in his hand, safety flicked off in one smooth motion. “Move, Keely!”
She bolted sideways just as the man lunged. Jesse fired, the bullet slicing through the air, barely missing the bastard’s shoulder as he pivoted. Damn it. He’d hesitated—just for a split second—because of Keely’s too-close proximity. The lowlife didn’t hesitate.
He rushed Jesse in a burst of speed and adrenaline, and suddenly, they were colliding—the force sending them both crashing into the wall.
Jesse barely absorbed the impact before he spun, using the intruder’s own momentum against him, throwing a hard elbow into the guy’s ribs. The man grunted, but he didn’t go down, which told Jesse exactly what he needed to know. Professional—not just some random thief.
Was this planned? Had they known customs would wave Keely through? Hers was a high-end suitcase, and it seemed odd that two of the same brand and color had been on that flight. The scumbag hadn’t been here just to retrieve the diamonds, he’d been here to eradicate a problem.
Jesse saw red. He surged forward, gripping the guy’s shirt and slamming him backward, driving punch after punch into his ribs, his stomach. Anything he could reach. The man gritted his teeth, absorbing the blows before twisting violently, slamming Jesse into the counter. Jesse’s skull rang for half a second, but he gritted through the pain, catching the assailant’s wrist before he could reach for a knife strapped to his belt.
Oh, hell no. Jesse let out a feral sound, catching the guy’s wrist and twisting until the knife clattered to the floor. Before he could deliver the knockout punch, the man suddenly lurched back, slipping away so fast Jesse nearly lost his grip.
A pro, through and through.
The guy snatched the knife off the ground, moving like a blur, pivoting hard and diving toward the patio door. Running. Jesse lunged after him, but it was too late. The French doors leading out to the patio burst open, glass shattering, wood splintering as the guy vanished into the dark.
Jesse cursed viciously, heart pounding, body still coiled for a fight.
But he was gone. Jesse snorted, scanning the room before turning on his heel—Keely.
She was standing in the corner, breathing hard, her hands clenched into fists. And her eyes? She kept her eyes locked on him; they were wide with adrenaline, brimming knowing that her world had just changed.
“You okay?” His voice came out rough, thick with the rage still clawing at his throat.
Keely nodded too fast. “Yeah. Fine.”
She wasn’t fine. Not even close. But Jesse couldn’t focus on that now.
His fingers were already moving, unlocking his phone, hitting the all-hands-on-deck button without hesitation. A signal that would light up every Silver Spur operative’s phone, pulling them in immediately.
This wasn’t a routine call. This was a red alert . A warning that they had an actual threat—to someone who was either on the team or a family member—and that the threat had already made it past the normal security protocols.
Reed’s plans, whatever the hell they were, would have to wait.
Because right now, there was only one priority.
Immediate. Fucking. Backup. Now.
Jesse’s gut told him what he already knew. The intruder would be back. And next time? He wouldn’t be alone.