Page 58 of An Unexpected Home

“I have no other choice. I need to be here.”

He pushed off the rail and slapped his brother on the back. “I hope you know what you’re doing. Now if you don’t mind, I’m gonna go get my girl and take her home.”

“You’re a smug bastard,” Logan said, following him inside.

“You will be too one day.”

He found Carly, Leah and Melanie, sitting on the couch talking, looking happier than he would have expected.

“Hey Bran,” Carly said as the first to spot him. “What’s the word?”

Leah turned her head and caught his gaze as he took a seat next to her, giving her a quick kiss. “Missed you,” he whispered.

“Gross, can you two please not do that in front of me?” Carly made a gagging sound.

Ignoring her, he said, “It doesn’t look like anything was stolen but I won’t be totally sure until you go in and double-check. But otherwise, we’ve got nothing.”

“Nothing?” Mel said.

He shook his head.

“So what does that mean?” Leah asked.

“It means that I will work round the clock to find out who did this and to not let it happen again.”

“But until then, what are we supposed to do?” Carly asked.

“You’re going to start by letting my friend install a security system at the house,” Logan chimed in.

It wasn’t the way that Brandon would have gone about it, but Logan always was more bull-in-a-china shop than he was.

“That’s really not a bad idea,” Leah said, making Brandon stare at her.

“What?” she said. “I had one my whole life and while an extravagance, they do help you to feel safe.”

“I’m not really sure we could afford it,” Mel said. “All of our money is tied up in the studio right now.”

“My guy will do it for cost,” Logan said. “And I can cover that cost.”

Brandon expected arguments, especially from Carly because she hated taking money. But all three sat silent.

“I would feel a lot safer with some kind of security,” Carly said. “If you’re sure you don’t mind, Logan?”

“Not at all.”

Their acceptance told Brandon that they were more scared than they let on. But to him that was good. Scared meant aware. And being aware gave him a better chance at catching this guy.

“You ready to get out of here?” he asked Leah.

“Sure.” She stood. “You guys gonna be okay?”

“With big, bad Logan here to protect us?” Carly said. “Absolutely.”

“I hate you,” Logan said as Leah hugged each of her friends.

“Call if you need anything,” Brandon told Logan. “I’m just a couple of houses away.”

Back at his house, Brandon programmed his alarm, which he wasn’t always vigilant about using but planned to be, and finally relaxed.

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