After she gave her first time to me.
My comm unit vibrates against the nightstand.
Once.
Short.
The kind of signal that means movement.
I keep my body still as I reach for it, careful not to wake her.
I slip out of bed, silent. Bare feet on wood. I step into the hallway and pull the bedroom door nearly closed, leaving it cracked just enough that I can still hear her breathing.
Then I answer.
Havoc’s voice comes through low and steady. Quiet authority. The kind that makes men listen.
“They’re here,” he says. “Two vehicles. Coming up your track.”
My pulse settles instead of jumping.
“How far?”
“Three minutes. Maybe less.”
I glance toward the living room window, toward the slice of darkness outside. Trees. Shadows. Nothing visible yet.
My hand tightens around the comm. “You’ve got eyes?”
“Viper’s on the road. Blade’s got overwatch. Mercenary’s on the near side. Ghost is moving into position.”
Names that mean something.
A perimeter.
A closed fist.
My stomach still drops anyway, because Ruby is in my bed and danger is on my land.
“You knew they’d come,” I say.
A beat of silence.
Then Havoc answers, calm as steel. “We knew they’d follow whatever they thought had value. So we let the rumor reach the right ears and made sure it led them here.”
My jaw tightens. “My cabin.”
“Your cabin is a choke point,” he says. “One road in. Trees too thick to move fast. No clean line out once Viper closes the rear. They walked into the best ground we had.”
No apology.
No hesitation.
Because there doesn’t need to be.
This is Havoc. He doesn’t gamble with innocent people. He builds outcomes.
“She’s asleep,” I say, voice low.
