Page 62 of Edge of Danger

“Well, thank you, but you get what I mean.” She turned to him, plate in hand, and it was plain he leaned against the wall to prop himself up. “Come on. Let’s sit in the living room where you can be more comfortable.”

He joined her on the couch, kicking off his shoes with a sigh before taking the huge sandwich she’d fixed. “My favorite.” He grinned, taking in the sight of the turkey, Swiss cheese, coleslaw and Russian dressing on rye.

“Maci told me it’s what you always order when she goes for sandwiches. She figured she’d buy the ingredients in case you had a hankering.”

“She’s a godsend.” He closed his eyes after taking a bite and groaned. “Oh, yeah.”

“That good, huh?”

“Sometimes a simple thing like this really hits the spot.” He looked genuinely happy while devouring the sandwich in far fewer bites than Tessa could have managed.

She sat facing him, legs crossed in front of her. “So now that you’ve gorged, can you tell me what’s going on? Share a little something with me? I know bad guys are after you, but I’ll go nuts without updates on anything new.”

“I appreciate you caring.” He leaned over, leaving the plate and napkin on the coffee table, then sank back against the cushions with a sigh. “I don’t want to burden you.”

“It’s not a burden.”

He shot her a knowing look, stopping just short of rolling his eyes.

“Even if it is a burden, that’s fine. I have pretty strong shoulders.” She wiggled them around, hoping to get a smile from him.

And she did, though it was brief.

“I know you’re a strong person.” His hand found hers. “But you’ve already handled so much.”

“I can handle more. Please. Let me in. Tell me what’s happening.”

He let out a long breath, puffing out his cheeks. “Okay. It’s not going to be easy.”

She braced herself.

His hand tightened. “Robert’s back in town. He came to the office today. He wants Walker back.”

Her head snapped back. Her body went into panic mode: heart racing, blood roaring in her ears, her stomach in knots, muscles twitching. She had to move. She had to leave before Robert found her.

Before he took Walker away from her again.

“Hey, hey.” Brax moved closer until she was practically in his lap. “It’s going to be okay. Just because he’s back doesn’t mean he’ll get Walker. That’s not going to happen.”

“I...” She looked away from him because his face was so earnest, and she liked looking at it so much, but she was going to have to leave. How could she leave him?

“I know what you’re thinking right now.” With his free hand, he cupped the back of her head and drew her close, touching his forehead to hers. “I get it. I do. Just breathe. No way in hell am I or my brothers—my real brothers—going to let that happen. You can trust me on that, okay? We will never let him take Walker away.”

She breathed the way he’d asked her to, and after a few minutes, was calm enough to ask, “How? He has documents on his side. Even if they’re fake, it’ll take time to prove they are, and in the meantime, he could take the baby and go anywhere. What if he runs and is never found?”

“I’m telling you. We’re not going to let that happen. He won’t so much as put his hands on Walker.”

“No offense, but how can you be so certain?”

“I have a plan.”

Hope stirred in her still-racing heart.

He continued, “We’ll get it on record that Robert went through illegal channels to take the baby from you. That he falsified information. Once that’s done, you’ll get full custody back. The Patterson brothers are going to make sure of it.”

It was so easy to believe him because she wanted to believe. She wanted what he said to be true with every ounce of her being.

That didn’t mean she missed his choice of words.

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