Shiloh raises her brows. “That’s not going to be possible. Cohen has me on guard duty for her, at least while we get the new living situation figured out.”

That fucking asshole. I don’t know if my brother did it on purpose to needle me or if Cohen honestly has no idea how I feel about Shiloh. With him, it’s difficult to tell, but I explicitly told him to keep Shiloh away from Monroe when we were discussing our plans. Apparently he decided to ignore that request.

Sabine Valley isn’t safe for anyone. Not my brothers. Sure as hell not Shiloh. I can’t change that, but I already made the mistake of putting Shiloh right in the middle of Monroe’s crosshairs. I’ll be damned before I put her within Monroe’s grasp, too. “I’ll talk to him.”

“No, Broderick. You can’t do that.” She shakes her head. “You know our deal. No special treatment just because we’re friends.”

“It’s not special treatment. Monroe is dangerous.”

She shrugs. “So is every other Bride chosen tonight. So is being in Sabine Valley. So is every other city we’ve stayed in since I joined up with you. I appreciate you wanting to look out for me, but I’m here and I’ll do my part.” Shiloh smiles, though it doesn’t quite reach her eyes. “Monroe’s just one woman. It’ll be fine.”

That’s the problem, though. I’m not sure it will be fine at all. It took Monroe all of two minutes to figure out that Shiloh is a glaring weak spot for me. She’s too ruthless to do anything but exploit it. Shiloh’s capable as hell, but can she really hold her own against Monroe?

I want to think so.

I’m afraid I’m wrong, though.

I don’t know what the fuck I would do if something happened to Shiloh. I can’t think about it. Just like I can’t think about how us being back in this cursed city means there will be far too many people gunning for us. Now that Abel’s orchestrated us retaking the Raider faction, they know right where to find us, too.

The Bridal peace will hold. It has to.

I try for a smile, but it doesn’t quite work out. “Just…be careful.” The words feel awkward on my tongue. Everything about this feels awkward and strange. Things changed with me and Shiloh when Abel announced it was time to return to Sabine Valley. She put distance between us that I don’t know how to navigate. Or maybe I was the one who unintentionally put distance between us because my head is so messy with the thought of coming back to the place where so many fucked up things happened to the people I care most about.

“It’ll be fine, Broderick.”