I nod.
But there’s one more piece.
The one I haven’t said out loud yet.
“That’s fine. But I’m taking her with me. Alex will come as my backup. About time he learns the road,” I say, mentioning Diego’s nephew who also works on the ranch.
Sawyer goes still.
Completely still.
“That’s not happening,” he says flatly.
“It is,” I counter just as fast.
“Benji—”
“She’s safer with me than sitting here waiting for someone to make a move,” I cut in. “You said it yourself—if there’s danger attached to her, it’s attached to us.”
“That doesn’t mean you drag her into more of it,” he shoots back.
“I’m not dragging her anywhere,” I growl. “I’m keeping her close. Where I can protect her.”
“And what happens when you walk her right into Ace Gunner’s line of fire?” he demands.
I hold his gaze.
“Then I handle it.”
Something dark flickers in his eyes.
Because he knows me well enough to know I mean that.
“Lil Bit’s not gonna like that,” he mutters.
“She doesn’t get a vote on this one,” I say, even though I already know that’s a fight waiting to happen.
He huffs out a breath, scrubbing a hand over his jaw.
“Jesus Christ,” he mutters. “You really are going to confront every damn problem in your life all at once, aren’t you?”
I let out a humorless laugh.
“Figure if I’m gonna face one dragon,” I say, voice low, steady, “I might as well face them all.”
Sawyer studies me for a long second.
Then he nods.
“Alright,” he says finally. “Then we plan for it.”
Because that’s what we do.
We don’t run.
We don’t hide.
We handle our shit.
