“I’ve earned a seat in this thing,” I added.
“You have no idea what you’re asking me to allow.”
“Then don’t think of it like that. I’m just a rancher with his rifle on his own land, same as any other day. Cassidy will have hers, too. And Mitch was SAS. Do you think he’s flying in there unarmed?”
“Goddammit.” Her lips drew to a thin line. “Then we’ll talk about this when we’re all together.” She walked past me out of the barn.
I let out a breath. That woman. She gets sexier by the minute.
I grabbed my hat and rifle off the bench and chased after her.
As we crossed the grass, Cassidy and Xavier stepped onto the back verandah. Cassidy gave Xavier a kiss, and he said something to her that made her smile. My sister had done more smiling since she’d met Xavier than she’d done in her whole life. Part of that was shedding the fucking family secret that’d been crushing her since she was a kid. But this was different. Xavier had done something I hadn’t thought was possible. He’d made Cass believe she deserved to be happy.
“Hey, you two look fresh.” Cassidy grinned from ear to ear as she walked toward us.
“Bloody hell,” I mumbled and rolled my eyes at Sapphire. “This is gonna be horrible.”
Sapphire pressed her lips together, fighting a grin.
Hooves thundered behind us. Mitch was galloping down from the old lodge on Zeus. He took off his hat and waved it overhead. “Don’t go without me!” he yelled as he thundered past, heading for the stables.
A few minutes later, Mitch jogged up to us, carrying a rifle and a stuffed backpack that hung heavily off his shoulder. “Morning. Great day for catching bastards,” he said, adjusting the strap on his pack.
Sapphire was not going to be happy. The way Mitch was carrying that pack, there was more than one weapon in there.
“You sleep in, Old Man?” Cassidy wriggled her brows.
“Hey, cut the ‘old man’ crap.”
I watched Sapphire study Mitch. He was about to get an earful. This was going to be interesting.
“Where did you serve, Mitch?” Sapphire’s tone left no room for bullshit.
Mitch frowned. “SAS. Twelve years. Sergeant First Class.”
“So why aren’t you still serving?”
“Punched my CO.” He shrugged. “I’m on permanent leave. Long story.”
Sapphire’s eyes narrowed. She was thinking, calculating. Then she raised her hands, making us all stop. “Listen to me. All of you. In Queensland, a civilian can’t lawfully fire on another person except in extreme self-defense. That’s not a guideline, that’s the law. Bob is mine. I’m the senior officer here, and I’ll be the one who engages him.”
“And if he shoots at us?” Mitch asked.
“If Bob fires on you, you can defend yourselves, but that’s it. No bloody macho Rambo shit. Am I clear?”
“Clear,” Mitch said.
“Rambo? Jeez, Fire,” I joked.
“Kayden. I’m serious.”
“Okay, I get it. You shoot him first, and we’ll be happy.”
Sapphire rolled her eyes, then fixed them on Cassidy. “I assume you also have a weapon.”
Cassidy opened her plaid shirt enough that I saw the grip of the Glock 19 tucked into her waistband. She closed the shirt back over it.
“Are we clear?” Sapphire repeated.
