Fast Burn

“Touch her,” Brand warned, “and you’re a dead man.” The call ended before he could say more.

Blood pumping fast, Brand clutched the phone and looked at each of his friends. He hoped like hell someone knew what to do.

“I’ll rip him apart,” Justice growled quietly.

Brand knew that when Catalina, one of Leese’s clients—a woman he ended up marrying—had been in serious danger, Justice had been Sahara’s personal bodyguard, protecting her against the threats that had spilled over to them all. Since then, Justice still felt overly protective toward her, even though he, too, would soon be marrying.

“He thought I was you,” Brand said to Leese, trying to make sense of it.

Proving why he was top dog at the agency, Leese said, “Sahara either put in the call or gave them the number, and she sure as hell knows the difference between us. She said something about the men knowing all her bodyguards, that they’d recognize you—me.”

Miles said, “It was a tip. She wants a face they won’t recognize to show up.”

“I assume so,” Leese agreed. “That way, when I go to deliver money, the other, unknown person will have a chance of getting to her.”

Brand ran a hand into his hair, then tugged in frustration. “She’s never let up on trying to hire me to Body Armor. Hell of a way to lock me in, though.”

Justice looked murderous. “You don’t want to do it, fine. I’ll go incognito.”

Miles scoffed. “Like anyone would mistake a behemoth like you?”

True enough, Brand thought. Justice was enormous. “It was just an observation, Justice. No way in hell am I passing the buck.” Even if Sahara hadn’t singled him out, he’d insist on it.

After all, she’d called him.

“If she’s hurt,” he said, tortured by the thought but unable to obliterate it, “if one of those bastards even touches her—”

Leese interrupted his growing threat. “You’re not trained, Brand. My best guess is that Sahara wanted me to find someone else who can fill in, but she didn’t specifically mean you.”

Digging in, Brand repeated, “I’m doing it.” Leese and the others didn’t know that he and Sahara had something personal going on, despite his efforts to the contrary. And he wouldn’t tell them. They were Sahara’s employees and if she wanted them to know, she’d do the telling.

But that didn’t mean he’d let them cut him out. The way he saw it, Sahara had reached out to him, and by God, he’d be there 100 percent.

“You don’t know how to shoot—”

“I’ve been shooting since I was fifteen.”

That gave them all pause. “You have?” Miles asked.

“Are we really going to discuss my past right now?”

“No.” Leese turned away with purpose. “We can ride together.”

“To where?” Brand asked, even as he followed into the downpour.

Speaking loud over the storm, Leese explained, “In one breath Sahara put me in charge until she’s back, and then she mentioned Enoch.”

Soaked through to the skin, Miles and Brand climbed into the back seat of an agency SUV. Leese got behind the wheel and Justice rode shotgun. As they buckled up, Brand asked, “Enoch?”

“Respect him a lot,” Miles said. “But he’s an assistant, not a bodyguard.”

“He’s a hell of a lot more than an assistant to Sahara.” Leese glanced at each mirror, then pulled onto the rain-washed road. “Remember when Catalina was taken?”

Justice said, “I’ll never forget it.”

“None of us will,” Brand said, though he’d been involved only peripherally.

“We found her because Sahara had planted a GPS device on her.” He paused as he switched lanes, then continued with “I think she has one on herself, too.”

Brand gripped the seat behind Leese. “She said so?”

“She reminded me of the ‘protocol’ for Catalina. At first, I didn’t understand, but it’s starting to come together. I assume Enoch knows how to track her.”

Justice already had out his phone. “I’ll call him now.”

Miles withdrew his phone as well. “I’ll notify the others why we booked. They’re going to wonder, especially since our cars are still there.”

Brand hated feeling ineffectual, but while the others all seemed to know what to do, he hadn’t a fucking clue. He kept picturing Sahara, her attempt to look blasé at what she saw as his rejection.

Fuck, it had been a rejection.

Of the job...and of her personally.

But not for the reasons she thought. He wanted her, too much in fact. More than she wanted him, obviously, since she would always put the agency first.

“I got hold of Armie,” Miles said as he put the phone away. “He’s letting the others know. They’ll head over to her place to ensure her car is safely off the road.”

Armie, like Brand, was a fighter but not a bodyguard, but as a close personal friend to each of them, he’d do what he could. “They know where she lives?” Brand asked.

“They followed us there when Catalina was threatened.”

He’d missed a lot, Brand realized. Maybe too much. It pissed him off.

“Enoch is meeting us at Body Armor. Poor dude is frantic.” Justice pocketed his phone again. “He and Sahara are close.”

“She’s special to everyone who knows her,” Miles said.

Brand almost groaned. Special? Hell yeah, she was, in too many ways to count. From the time his friends had signed on at Body Armor, Sahara had been after him to join up, too. For too long now they’d engaged in a game of enticement and resistance—Sahara enticing and him resisting.

If it was just the job, no problem.

If it was only the strong physical chemistry, he could probably fight that, too, despite the fact that Sahara personified sexy in a classy but still touchable way.

It was more than that, though. Sahara was the whole package, a gorgeous woman with an enormous heart and a real head for business. She knew what she wanted and she went after it without reserve.

She’d wanted him...but he’d turned her down. And now men had her—

Miles nudged him.