He doesn't finish the sentence, but he doesn't need to. We all know what happens if Vance is foolish enough to engage five McKenna brothers on their home territory.
"Nova stays in the panic room," I say, making it clear this point isn't up for debate. "Maximum security until this is resolved."
"I should be part of this," Nova interjects, surprising all of us. "He's after me. I could be used as bait."
"Absolutely not." The words come out harsher than I intended, my fear sharpening my tone. "That's not happening."
"It makes tactical sense," she argues, standing her ground in a room full of intimidating men. "Draw him out instead of playing hide and seek through miles of forest."
"She's not wrong," Elias says, earning himself a glare from me that would silence most men. "Strategically speaking, a controlled encounter would give us the advantage."
"It's too risky," I insist, fighting to keep my voice level. "We don't know his capabilities, his mental state, or how desperate he's become. I won't put Nova in his sights, not even as a decoy."
"It's my life," Nova says quietly but firmly. "My risk to take."
"No." Just one word, but it contains everything I can't say in front of my brothers. The terror of potentially losing her. The knowledge that I couldn't survive it if something happened to her because of a plan I approved. The depth of feeling that has everything to do with the way she's worked herself into my heart in less than a week.
She holds my gaze, challenge in her eyes, but something else too. Understanding. Acceptance. She's pushing because it's her nature to face threats head-on, but she'll yield to my expertise in this.
"Fine," she says finally. "Panic room it is. But I want regular updates. No keeping me in the dark while you're all out there risking your lives for me."
Relief washes through me, followed quickly by guilt at the realization that I was prepared to physically restrain her if necessary to keep her safe. That my protective instincts where she's concerned have crossed a line from professional to something far more primal.
"Hourly check-ins," I agree. "And you'll have direct communication with the main house at all times."
She nods, accepting this compromise. I turn back to my brothers, ignoring the knowing looks they exchange. They can think what they want. Right now, all that matters is keeping Nova safe and eliminating the threat Vance represents.
"We move in thirty minutes," I say, my mind shifting fully into operational mode. "Standard wilderness sweep protocol, maintain comm silence unless contact is made. Any questions?"
There are none. We've done this before, in various combinations, for different reasons. Military operations, search and rescue, hunting trips that became something more when we encountered threats in our territory.
"I'll get Nova settled in the panic room," I tell them. "Finish your preparations."
I guide Nova toward the master bedroom, where the entrance to the panic room is concealed behind a bookshelf. Her hand finds mine as we walk, fingers intertwining in a gesture that feels both strange and completely natural.
"Your brothers are intense," she says as we enter the bedroom. "But in a reassuring way."
"They're good men. The best I know." I press a hidden switch, and the bookshelf slides silently aside, revealing a steel door with a biometric lock. "This is it. Your home for the next several hours."
I press my thumb to the scanner, and the door unlocks with a soft click. Inside is a space approximately twelve by fifteen feet, equipped with everything needed for extended shelter. Bed, bathroom facilities, food and water stores, medical supplies, communication equipment, even a small entertainment center to combat boredom during long lockdowns.
"Wow," Nova says, stepping inside. "When you said panic room, I was picturing something a lot more spartan."
"I believe in being prepared." I follow her in, checking systems automatically. "Oxygen recyclers, independent power supply, secure communications, enough supplies for a month if necessary."
"You built a bunker inside your house."
"I built a safe place," I correct her. "Somewhere completely secure when everything else fails."
She turns to me, studying my face with that perceptive gaze that seems to see straight to my core. "You really have thought of everything."
"Not everything." I step closer, unable to help myself. "I never thought about who would be in here. Who I'd be protecting."
"And if you had?" Her voice drops lower, intimate in the confined space.
"I still wouldn't have imagined you."
My lover, hiding in my panic room while my brothers and I hunt down her stalker. A scenario so unlikely it would have seemed absurd a week ago.
