Edge of Danger (San Antonio Security #2)

Chapter Twenty-Five

Tessa had no idea what had happened.

One minute she was hurrying to her car, glad everything had gone okay and Hawkins had let her go so easily. Imagining being reunited with her son, living with him. No fear. Nobody to keep them apart anymore. She could be his mother openly.

Then, while she’d been waiting in the car for Brax or one of the others to come for her like they’d promised, the door had opened. She’d screamed as Prince Riviera had reached in and pulled her out by her hair.

Not that she’d ever had the displeasure of meeting him before then—she’d recognized Riviera from the news. Tall, thin, with a mouth that was curled up in a permanent sneer. Like he knew something the rest of the world didn’t.

She would’ve screamed again to signal Brax, but Prince had a gun, which was the only thing that could have silenced her. He’d pressed it to her temple with a laugh, and one glimpse of his dark, empty eyes had chilled her to the bone.

“I don’t know what the hell’s going on here,” he’d whispered, holding her close, “but you and I are going inside to have a little talk with Patterson.”

He’d then shoved her back into the car, sitting her sideways so her feet were on the ground, his gun still at her head while the friend he’d brought with him went over to the warehouse to listen in. He’d come back, reporting what had gone down.

Prince had laughed softly, shaking his head. “Maybe we were coming at this Brax the wrong way. I didn’t think he had it in him to do something like that.”

Then, holding her arm in a painful grip that had hurt as much as the patch of scalp he’d pulled her hair from, he had dragged her to the warehouse. “Come on,” he’d snorted. “Let’s go in and have a talk with your boyfriend.”

Just when she’d convinced herself a future with Brax was possible, probable—maybe even certain—the gun at her head had turned her insides to water.

All she could do as Prince had pulled her into the warehouse was thank the heavens that Walker wasn’t there. That he was safe.

She couldn’t say the same for herself.

I T WAS B RAX ’ S worst nightmare come true.

Not because he’d had any fear for himself. It didn’t matter what happened to him, not now. But Tessa...he couldn’t live if anything happened to her. And right then, with her mouth gagged and a gun to her head? A gun held by none other than Prince Riviera?

A beyond-worst nightmare come true.

“What’s this all about?” Hawkins demanded. “What do you think you’re doing?”

“Shut up,” Riviera spat. “I’m talking to my friend over here, Mr. Patterson. He’s a tough man to get a hold of, you know? I’ve been looking for him ever since my friends paid him a visit a few days ago.”

“Yeah, thanks for that.” Brax’s gaze moved to Tessa, whose eyes were wide enough to bulge. “Did you hurt her?”

“Nothing she won’t recover from given enough time,” Riviera sneered. “Don’t worry about it. You wouldn’t want to waste your final moments worrying, would you?”

“Just...just lower the gun, okay? You want to talk? You want to work something out?” Brax took one tentative step toward them. Then another. “Fine. We can talk this out. But I can’t concentrate if she has a gun shoved in her face. That’s just how it is.”

“Like I care what you want or don’t want.” Riviera’s laughter was cold, empty, just like his eyes and his smile. He reminded Brax of a shark.

A shark that smelled blood. He could probably sense Brax’s barely concealed panic.

Except a shark didn’t toy with its prey. It didn’t take any pleasure from watching people squirm.

“Lower the gun, and we can work this out. She hasn’t done anything. She’s no threat to you.” Another tentative step. Another.

Riviera pulled Tessa closer to him. Bile rose in Brax’s throat at the thought of that monster touching her. Hurting her. There was pain in her eyes, no doubt from the way Riviera’s fingers dug into her arm.

“Okay. Fine. Talk to me.” He lowered the gun, letting his arm hang at his side. “What do you have to say?”

“I’ll back out of testifying,” Brax offered. “No worries. You can have your little cartel to yourself and continue doing whatever it is you do without having to concern yourself with me.”

Riviera looked him up and down. “Really? Just like that? This was all I had to do, huh?” He laughed softly, looking at Tessa. “Your boyfriend isn’t so hard to get along with as long as a guy knows where his soft spots are. And he’s obviously got a huge soft spot for you, cutie.”

Brax bit his tongue.

If only he could hear Weston or Chance in his ear, but he’d already taken the earpiece out. Putting it back in now would give away the entire plan. Hawkins and Robert were behind him, both of them silent. Probably frozen in shock.

“Would it make you feel better if I told you I want money to keep quiet?” Brax asked with a shrug. Anything to stall. The best he could hope for right now was for one of his brothers to hear what was happening and call in backup.

But what if they weren’t listening anymore? What if they were waiting for Hawkins, unaware of what was going on here?

Riviera smirked. “Now you’re speaking my language, Brax. Money. That’s what lies at the heart of everything, doesn’t it? My man outside overheard you talking about money in here. Your, uh, what is it? Brother? Your brother can’t give the people he owes what he owes them if he’s dead.”

“That’s right,” Brax said, thankful that for once Robert knew enough to keep his mouth shut.

“That’s an astute observation on your part. That’s the kind of thinking an intelligent man does. You can’t get your money from someone if he’s dead.”

Riviera looked at Tessa, a nasty smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. “Then again, why would a smart man bother giving somebody money when he could just kill him and get it over with?”

Brax’s insides went cold when Riviera raised the gun again and pointed it at Tessa. “But I’ll take care of you first, cutie, since I’ve learned an important lesson. Never leave a witness alive.”

There was no time to think about it, no time to try to get Riviera to listen to reason. There was no reasoning with a monster—something without feelings, without morals—anyway. He was going to kill Tessa. This was not a man who made idle threats. He wouldn’t think twice about killing an innocent woman in cold blood.

There was no backup and nobody to help him. He’d be taking a bullet.

But if there was one thing Brax knew with complete certainty, it was that life without Tessa wasn’t worth living. He had no desire to even try it. Even the idea of going off the grid and being without her was unthinkable. He doubted now, in this moment of clarity, that he would ever have managed it.

Which was why he threw himself at Prince Riviera, gun and all. If he got shot, he got shot.

As long as she didn’t.

A shot rang out. Brax hit the floor with Riviera under him, bouncing the crime boss’s head off the concrete, knocking him unconscious.

He waited for the pain from the bullet to set in, but there was no pain. Why wasn’t there pain? There’d been a shot. Everything had happened too fast.

He looked up at Tessa, who was still standing. No blood. Just a lot of fear.

“Brax! Report!” Weston’s frantic voice coming from outside.

“All clear!” he managed. He stumbled to his feet and rushed to Tessa.

She fell against him as he worked the gag from her mouth. He took her face into his hands and looked her over. “Are you okay?”

“I’m okay. I’m okay.” But she jumped when Weston rushed into the warehouse with his gun drawn.

“He had a friend with him,” Weston reported. “He had a bead on you from outside the building. I took care of him.” Seconds later, red and blue flashing lights flooded through the windows and the open door.

So that was where the shot had come from. It had been his brother saving his life.

Brax could only wrap his arms around Tessa, wanting to pull her inside of him and keep her there forever.

“You’re safe now,” he whispered into her ear as she trembled. “You’re safe. It’s all okay.”

“You could’ve gotten yourself killed!” She glared up at him. “Don’t you know that? What would’ve happened if you had ended up dead?”

“I didn’t care about staying alive as long as you had a chance to get away.”

Her eyes welled up with fresh tears. “Don’t say that. Don’t say you were willing to die for me.”

“What if it’s the truth?” He tucked her hair behind her ear, letting his fingers linger against her smooth jaw, her throat, her cheek. “I knew when you were standing there with that gun to your head that I wasn’t interested in living if it meant being without you. Because I love you.”

“Yeah?” In spite of the tears now pouring down her cheeks, she smiled.

“Oh, yeah,” he whispered. “I love you, Tessa Mahoney. And I would face a hundred armed gunmen for your sake. You and Walker are my entire world. You’re all I want. All I’ll ever need.”

He caught her lips in the sweetest, most tender kiss. As precious as she’d been to him before then, having almost lost her only made every moment she was in his arms more meaningful.

“I love you so much,” she beamed before falling against him, her wet cheek on his chest. He held her, stroking her hair, watching as Robert, Hawkins and Prince Riviera were led away in zip ties.

“You managed to get Riviera’s confession too.” Weston grinned, striding over to them. “Talking all about how he planned to kill a witness. You don’t need to testify now, brother. I’d call that a solid day’s work.”

Brax could only laugh. “Yeah. A solid day’s work.”