Chapter 16
ROCCO
Rocco had killed men before, and that was the first thought that entered his head when he looked at the photo on his phone.
Not panic, fear—just violence. Cold, immediate violence, because the picture changed everything.
Before, Gunner had been targeting him, but now, Luna was part of it, and the second Gunner threatened her, something inside Rocco snapped clean in half.
“Rocco.” Luna’s voice sounded distant, muted beneath the roaring in his ears.
Now I know where to aim. The message replayed over and over inside his skull while every survival instinct he had screamed the same thing—to neutralize the threat immediately. He didn’t even realize he was moving until Tony stepped directly into his path.
“No,” Tony growled.
Rocco’s jaw clenched violently. “Move,” he ordered.
Tony held his ground. “Absolutely fucking not.” Outside, the SUV engine faded deeper into the woods, getting farther away, and every second it disappeared made Rocco crazier, because Gunner was out there—alive and watching them.
Rocco shoved a hand through his hair roughly and turned away before he put his fist through something—or someone.
“You saw the message,” he snapped.
“Yeah,” Tony shot back. “And that’s exactly why you can’t go after him right now.”
Luca nodded grimly from the side window. “You’re too emotional right now.”
Rocco laughed harshly. “No shit.”
Jonesy stepped forward slowly, his older face hard in the dim cabin light. “What happens if you catch him tonight?”
Rocco looked at him instantly. The answer sat ugly and immediate in his chest. “I end this.” Nobody spoke, because they all believed him.
Luna moved toward him carefully after that silence stretched too long, and Christ, even now, she wasn’t backing away from him.
Most people would. Most people would see the violence sitting just under his skin right now and run, but not Luna.
She touched his arm gently. “You need to breathe,” she reminded. Rocco looked down at her and nearly lost his damn mind, because she still trusted him. Even now, after seeing exactly what he became when pushed too far, she still trusted him.
“He threatened you,” he said roughly.
“I know,” she whispered.
“You’re not taking this seriously enough,” he insisted.
That earned him a look. “Excuse me?” she snapped.
“I’m standing in a dark cabin in the woods while someone shoots at us.
I’m taking it very seriously.” Normally, her attitude would’ve almost made him smile, but not right now.
Right now, all he could think about was that photo—the angle that it was taken at and the distance.
He thought about how easily Gunner could’ve pulled the trigger instead.
Rocco stepped away from everyone abruptly and braced both hands against the kitchen counter, trying to force air into his lungs. Control it. Control it. Usually, telling himself that worked, but this time, every thought in his head circled back to the same thing—Luna was in danger because of him.
A memory slammed into him hard enough to make him dizzy, of Gunner laughing beside him overseas.
If I ever lose my shit, brother, you better put me down.
That’s what Gunner had told him after a few beers that night at one of the local bars.
Rocco squeezed his eyes shut because maybe this was always inside Gunner. Maybe war just gave it room to grow.
“You know where he’d go?” Luca’s question cut through the noise in Rocco’s head.
He looked up slowly. “What?”
“If he’s been hiding all these years,” Luca said carefully, “there’s gotta be somewhere he’s staying.” Rocco’s brain finally started shifting away from pure rage and back toward strategy, which was good because he needed to think, not react.
“He hated cities,” Rocco muttered slowly. “Always talked about disappearing somewhere remote after deployment.”
Tony crossed his arms. “You mean like cabins, or campsites?”
“Yeah,” Rocco said.
Jonesy nodded once. “That narrows things down a bit.”
Luna stepped closer again. “You really think he’s been planning this for years?”
Rocco looked toward her, and the truth hit him hard.
“No,” he said quietly. Everybody looked at him, and Rocco swallowed hard.
“I think seeing me move on with you broke whatever control he had left.” Silence filled the cabin again, because deep down they all knew he was probably right.
Gunner hadn’t reached out when Rocco was drinking himself numb.
He hadn’t shown up when he was barely surviving.
No, he waited until Rocco found peace. He found boxing and Luna.
He finally had something worth losing, and that’s when Gunner struck.
“Obsession escalates when threatened,” Luna said quietly, slipping unconsciously into therapist mode. “If Gunner sees your relationship as replacing him emotionally—”
“He’ll keep escalating,” Tony finished grimly. Rocco looked at the shattered window again and then down at the picture still glowing on his phone. Luna in his arms, where she was both protected and targeted. The thought made him sick.
“You should leave,” he said suddenly. The cabin immediately went tense.
Luna stared at him. “No.”
“Luna—” he started.
“No.” Her voice cut in instantly. “Stop trying to sacrifice yourself every five minutes.”
“I’m serious,” he demanded.
“So am I,” she said.
Rocco dragged a hand over his face roughly. “He’s fixated on you now.”
“And abandoning me somewhere won’t fix that,” she said. Damn it, she wasn’t wrong, and that was the worst part. Gunner already knew who she was and what she meant to him. There was no walking this back anymore.
Luna stepped directly in front of him now, forcing him to look at her.
“You do not get to decide alone what happens next.” Rocco stared down at the stubborn set of her jaw and the fear she refused to let control her.
He looked at the woman who walked straight into chaos and still chose him, and suddenly, the rage inside him shifted.
It wasn’t gone. Hell, it would never be gone, but it was focused now on protecting her.
He touched her face gently, his thumb brushing beneath her eye. “I swear to God,” he said quietly, “if he touches you—”
Luna grabbed his wrist immediately. “He won’t.” The certainty in her voice cracked something open inside his chest, because she believed in him completely. Even now.
Outside, thunder rolled low across the woods suddenly, the storm finally breaking overhead. Rain slammed hard against the cabin roof seconds later, and somewhere deep in the woods, a single gunshot echoed back in answer. Gunner
The storm hit hard. Rain slammed against the cabin roof in violent sheets while thunder rolled through the woods like distant artillery.
Somehow, that made everything worse, because it reminded Rocco too much of deployment.
Too many nights spent soaked to the bone with a rifle in his hands, waiting for enemies he couldn’t see.
Only this time, the enemy wore the face of his dead best friend.
Another crack of thunder shook the windows, and Luna flinched beside him.
Rocco’s hand found the small of her back instantly.
Tony sat near the front window, cleaning his weapon with unsettling calm while Luca paced near the fireplace like a caged animal.
Jonesy remained seated at the kitchen table, watching all of them with sharp, knowing eyes.
Nobody had relaxed after the gunshot in the woods, not even a little.
“You think he’s circling back?” Luca asked finally.
“Probably,” Rocco answered quietly.
Tony glanced up. “You sound really calm about that.”
Rocco laughed once under his breath because he knew that it didn’t sound sane. “I just know how Gunner thinks.” The room went silent after that, because they all understood what he meant.
Luna moved closer beside him until her shoulder brushed his arm.
He found that tiny contact to be grounding.
Rocco looked down at her briefly. She looked exhausted already, and they hadn’t even survived one night yet.
Guilt twisted violently in his chest again.
She should be home right now—safe. Sleeping peacefully in her own bed instead of being trapped in a cabin with armed men and ghosts from his past.
“You’re thinking too loud again,” Luna murmured quietly.
His mouth twitched despite everything. “How the hell do you always know?”
“Because you get this look.” She touched between his brows lightly.
“Like you’re carrying the entire world by yourself.
” If only she knew. Rocco covered her hand with his gently before pulling it away from his face and pressing a kiss against her knuckles.
The intimacy of the gesture surprised both of them a little, because it felt normal—dangerously normal.
Like they weren’t in the middle of a nightmare.
Luca made a gagging sound from across the room. “Jesus Christ.”
Tony grinned immediately. “They’re adorable.”
“Shut up,” Rocco muttered. Luna actually laughed softly beside him, and hearing that sound in the middle of all this chaos nearly wrecked him. Because even now, she still found ways to pull him back toward something human.
Thunder cracked again overhead, and the cabin lights flickered. Everybody froze. Rocco immediately moved Luna behind him. The lights flickered harder this time before plunging the cabin into darkness again.
“Generator’s gone,” Jonesy muttered.
“Convenient,” Tony said darkly. Rain hammered the roof harder outside, as the wind tore violently through the trees now, branches scraping against the cabin walls. Rocco’s skin prickled instantly. Something was wrong.
“Quiet,” he ordered softly. The cabin fell silent immediately. Even Luna stopped moving behind him. Rocco listened carefully over the storm, and then he heard it—a soft creak, and it wasn’t outside. His blood went ice cold.
“Upstairs,” Luca whispered. Another creak sounded overhead—slow and deliberate, like someone shifting their weight carefully across old floorboards. Luna grabbed the back of Rocco’s shirt instantly. Nobody should be upstairs. It would have been impossible for anyone to get up there.
Jonesy rose from his chair slowly. “There’s no second entrance.” Rocco’s pulse kicked violently, and his stomach dropped.
“Storm cellar,” he muttered.
Tony swore immediately. “You’ve gotta be kidding me.”
Jonesy’s expression darkened. “Forgot about that old entrance.” Another floorboard creaked above them, moving closer now. Rocco drew his gun silently while every protective instinct inside him went feral because Gunner wasn’t outside anymore. He was inside the cabin, hunting them.
A low laugh echoed faintly from upstairs but was distorted by the storm. That laugh was unmistakable, though.
“Missed you, boys,” Gunner called softly.
Luna’s breathing hitched behind him, and Rocco’s entire body tightened, because hearing Gunner’s voice inside the cabin changed everything.
This wasn’t intimidation anymore. This was an escalation, and judging by the shaky exhale Tony let out near the window, they all knew it.
Another slow creak crossed overhead, followed by silence. It was the kind of silence soldiers learned to fear. Rocco looked toward the staircase at the end of the hall. It was dark and narrow—the perfect kill zone. Gunner would know that too.
“He wants us to come up there,” Luca muttered.
“Yeah,” Rocco said quietly.
Luna touched his arm immediately. “Don’t.” He looked back at her, and fear flashed across her face again. It was real fear this time, not just for herself, but for him, and that almost made him weak, because no one had looked at him like they were terrified to lose him before. Not in a long time.
Rocco stepped closer to her automatically, lowering his voice. “I need you to stay with Jonesy.”
“No,” she said.
“Luna—” he started.
“No.” Her voice shook slightly. “Every time you walk away from me lately, someone starts shooting.”
Tony snorted softly despite the tension. “Fair point.” Rocco would’ve laughed if his chest didn’t hurt so damn bad. Upstairs, something heavy dragged slowly across the floor, and then Gunner spoke again. Only now, his voice sounded almost cheerful.
“You finally found somebody worth bleeding for, brother.” Rocco’s vision flashed red instantly because that wasn’t a threat anymore. It was a promise, and one that Rocco knew Gunner would be able to keep.