Page 70 of Edge of Danger

“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 asshedidn’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?”

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