Page 3 of Her Grumpy Protector

Mack’s voice comes in, hard but approving. “You’re taking a mission while two of our brothers are in a van somewhere, and Dad's still missing.”

“I’m taking a mission because two of our brothers are in a van somewhere, and to find Dad,” I reply. “Chasing shadows in the woods didn’t save them. Strategy will. We've come together as a family for this—let's use what we do best.”

Crewe watches me for a beat, then nods slowly. “It’s sound. Risky. But sound. Plays to your strengths in cyber-intel.”

Colt spits into the dirt. “I hate it. Feels like splitting the team.”

“So do I,” I admit. Because I want to be the guy kicking doors with Colt, pulling Nash and Sin out with Jace's combat skills, putting my hands on the men responsible and making sure they never threaten our family again. But I’m not that guy. I’m the one who finds the door before it exists. The one who follows the wire behind the wall. The one who sees how the pieces move and then moves them harder. And right now, the board is tilted against us. That ambush was too clean, too targeted.

That changes today.

I look at the fog, the trees, the broken ground where our brothers were taken. “Nash would tell us to move,” I say quietly. “Sin would tell us to stay sharp. Dad would want us to finish what he started.”

Jace’s jaw tightens, but he claps my shoulder. “So what do we do?”

I straighten, the decision locking into place like a bolt sliding home. “We split. Crewe and Colt keep pressure on the mountain lead, make noise with some controlled ops, make them think we’re still chasing the same trail blindly. Jace stays with them for muscle—your combat skills will keep them safe. Mack coordinates from the outside, keeps Elena and Dean Maddox in the loop, feeds us real-time intel.”

Crewe nods. “And you?”

“I go into Halo City,” I say. “I take the mission with Halo Protective Group under cover. I get close to the truth. I bring our brothers home—and find Dad.”

Colt’s eyes burn. “If you get killed, I’m going to haunt you.”

“That implies you believe in ghosts,” I reply, a faint smirk to lighten the moment.

He grunts. “I believe in beating your ass if you screw this up.”

Jace smirks. “Protective as always.”

I ignore them and start packing. My hands move fast. Laptop with custom encryption. Burner phones pre-loaded with spoofed IDs. Signal boosters for dead zones. Lock bypass kit from my security toolkit. Micro cams for planting. A compact pistol thatfeels small compared to the heavy artillery my brothers favor, but it’ll do for covert work.

Crewe steps closer, voice low so only I hear. “Banks. Halo City will chew you up if you go in thinking it’s a game. Those firms there—they're like the ones we work for, but twisted.”

“I don’t lose,” I tell him.

Crewe holds my gaze. “That’s the problem. You think losing only looks like death.”

I pause. He’s not wrong. Halo City doesn’t just kill people. It compromises them. It buys them with fat contracts. It turns them into assets without them realizing it, just like the traps Dad fell into. And then there’s the woman in that file—Anniston Wells. Too brave. Too stubborn. Too likely to get herself killed because she refuses to shut up about the corruption. A loose end no one saw coming. The thought tightens something in my chest, sharp and unfamiliar, like a glitch in my system.

“Don’t worry,” I say, voice controlled. “I’m going in with one goal: Get our family back.”

Crewe nods once. “Bring them back.”

“That’s the plan.”

But as I sling my bag over my shoulder and head toward the trail, I feel the truth settle heavier than the pack. Nash and Sin were taken to stop us. Rowan’s story proved the enemy isn’t just a man. It’s a machine, oiled by the same private security world we know too well. Machines run on leverage. And if Halo City has a target like Anniston, she’s not just a loose end.

She’s bait.

Which means when I walk into Halo City, I’m not just hunting answers.

I’m stepping into a trap.

And I’m doing it anyway.

TWO

ANNISTON