“I will.” She didn’t regret the comment. She meant it, and when she saw Gabe smile out of the corner of her eye, just for a second, there and then gone again, she relaxed. Rick might think he controlled the situation but he was dead wrong.

With a heavy exhale, Rick tucked his gun behind him. “I came to check on the two of you.”

For some reason that annoyed her. Everything this guy said had her wanting to punch something. “We’re fine. Now, leave.”

Rick’s eyebrow lifted. “I see why you like her.”

No, he didn’t get to engage in light banter. Didn’t get to joke with Gabe. Not on this topic or any other. Not while she was around. “You want to date me, too? Or maybe hitting on Gabe’s woman once was enough.”

Gabe nodded. “Yeah, she knows.”

Rage pulsed off Rick. His mouth fell into a flat line and tension almost had him puffing up. “What the fuck, Gabe? You won’t tell Brandon but you tell her. You sure work fast. Screw a woman for a few weeks and she comes running to your side.”

Gabe took a warning step in Rick’s direction. “Her name is Natalie, and she is under my protection. One more wrong word and I will give in to the clawing inside me and wipe you off the earth.”

The man just got more and more attractive. She decided to thank him for that later. After she let Rick know how little she thought of him. “But, really, keep being a condescending ass.”

“It’s too cold to stand out here without the proper weather gear.” Rick kept falling back on that argument.

The guy wasn’t wrong. Not about this. The cold seeped through her sweater and into her bones. Much more time out here and her teeth would start chattering. Her words would slur. With a lower than normal body temperature she’d always been susceptible to cold, and today she could not afford that weakness. “We can go back inside.”

“I’m going to follow.”

Maybe it would be faster to shoot him. She was starting to wonder. “You are such—”

“Enough.” Gabe finally lowered his gun. He nodded toward the ground in front of Rick. “Take a giant step, about three feet and slightly to your left.”

Rick scoffed. “That’s a bit dramatic.”

“Teacher or not, you missed a trap.” Gabe swept an arm out to the side. “If you don’t believe me, step wherever you want.”

Score one for the middle brother. “You shouldn’t have told him.”

Gabe kept talking. “We go inside and you have ten minutes to tell me why you’ve been sending men after us and what the CIA hopes to accomplish with this bullshit.”

Before he finished Rick started shaking his head. “You know I can’t—”

“That’s the only deal to make here, Rick.” Gabe shrugged. “My terms or you crawl home.”

Rick looked from Gabe to her and back again. “Fine.”

Part of her thought Gabe had let his brother off too easy. The other part understood the garbled it’s-confidential talk. She’d been trained in CIA-speak for years. Punishment for divulging details came swiftly and hard.

Since Rick worked outside of the CIA, had his own company, the rules might be less strict, but he had to sign an oath. Had to make promises. Had to have a special clearance and pass through a bunch of crap before he could look at one file. His livelihood and those of the people who worked for him depended on him never showing his hand. On him being willing to take a bullet if that’s what it took.

She tried to drum up some sympathy for the position Gabe put him in now. Tried and failed.

She glanced at the cabin, and when she looked back again Rick had crossed the danger line. They all took off for cover. No one talked. The only sounds came from the sway of the trees and crunch of the ice on top of the snow. The thumps of their footsteps echoed around them. Their strides outpaced hers so she hurried to keep up. No way was she getting left behind by these two. By the time she got the door open she’d likely have a bloodbath on her hands.

After making the trek and pounding their boots on the porch to knock off as much of the snow as possible, they walked inside. Gabe slammed the door behind them and turned on his brother. “Talk.”

Rick’s gaze went to the coffeepot sitting on the burner then to Gabe’s hand. “Maybe you can lower your weapon.”

She didn’t even notice Gabe still covered Rick. Seemed like a smart idea to her. “If he does, I’m still keeping mine right where it is.”

Rick unzipped his coat as his stare stopped on her. “I’ve been hired by a group within the CIA that’s concerned about your loyalty.”

“That’s bullshit,” Gabe said. “She hasn’t shown one sign of disloyalty or breaching her extraction agreement.”

“I happen to agree. It’s why I took the job, so I could control the reports back to the concerned party and keep you both safe from some trigger-happy assassin sent out here in my place.”

She didn’t buy it. Rick was setting himself up as some sort of avenging angel. Him, the guy who had his hands all up in his brother’s business. He was supposed to be the one to save them all? No way. “So, you’re my savior now?”

He exhaled as if to say he was bored with her questions. “I’m trying to help.”

Gabe walked around the room until he stood near the kitchen. This time he lowered the gun, but it remained in his hand. “That’s new.”

All traces of lightness left Rick’s face. “Do you want to have it out right now?”

“There’s nothing to fight about. You fucked the woman I was seeing. Didn’t care what she meant to me. Then when you hit some sort of midlife crisis brought on post-injury—”

“Watch it.”

“—you decided to have a kid by taking mine.”

Of all the things that could tick Rick off he picked a shot at his age. She would never understand men. But focusing on his comments proved easier than thinking about Gabe’s. What she meant to me . . . The words had the gears in her mind spinning. For whatever reason she hated hearing about this other woman, the one who held two MacIntosh men enthralled.

“You telling me you wouldn’t try to find out if a kid you thought was yours actually was?” Rick asked, in a low, soft voice that carried a note of threat with it.

“Not if he was my nephew and was doing well and loved.” Gabe’s shoulders fell. “Goddamn it, Rick. Why would you put him through this?”

“You mean you. Why would I put you through this?”

Gabe threw up his hands. “Okay, fine. Why do this to me?”

“That’s the point, little brother. This isn’t about you.”

Gabe moved like lightning. He flew across the room. Gun gone, he grabbed Rick by the throat and pinned him against the back of the door. “Your time here is up.”

If she hadn’t been standing there she wouldn’t have believed the change. So primal and unexpected, yet not a surprise the longer she thought it through. The man who held her while she unburdened about her father vanished. Turned into a giant ball of fury. Looked ready and quite able to kill at any moment.

Rick didn’t panic, but he did try to break Gabe’s hold. Clawed at the hand tightening on his neck. “Let go.”

“No.”

Rick dropped a hand to his side. Moved it around to his back.

That’s all she needed to see. She whipped her gun up and aimed it.

“I wouldn’t do that.” She moved to stand next to Gabe. “See, he’s related to you. I’m not.”

“I don’t get it.” Rick tried to shake his head but Gabe held him steady. “You sat in an office all day. What’s with the sudden need to rush to Gabe’s defense?”

“Please test my skills. I’m begging you.” Not that she would do anything in front of Gabe unless he was threatened, but Rick didn’t need to know that.

After swearing under his breath, Rick dropped his hands to his side. Lifted his chin. “I’m actually trying to get the CIA totally off your backs.”

Gabe hesitated a second before letting his vise grip go. “Since when?”

“I was threatened to make it happen or else.”