Page 2 of Edge of Danger

Whatever he’d imagined during those long nights ignoring the hunger, trying to keep himself warm and alive, it hadn’t beenthis.

A security company with his three brothers—none of whom had the same color skin as him, but who all had each other’s backs and everyone knew they could count on the others no matter what.

They’d built a business where they could take the skills they’d learned from their pasts in the military, on the San Antonio Police Force, and even from being tossed around by the foster care system when they were younger, and use those skills to help protect others. San Antonio Security was on its way to becoming one of the most trusted firms in the San Antonio area. Although they did quite a bit of investigation, they specialized in protection—both bodyguarding and developing holistic systems to keep people safe.

Their office was rarely a quiet place, but that suited Brax just fine. Unlike his brothers, he thrived on the buzz of being around people.

On the whole, if all of them were in the office at once, that meant things were good. They were working, they were together, they were safe for the time being. Brax could smile to himself in relief when this was the situation.

Normally, anyway.

“If you would just leave my things alone, we wouldn’t keep having this argument!”

Brax stepped into the hallway of their office, planning to get a drink from the fridge in the break room down the hall, but paused as he passed his brother Chance’s office. Chance was running his hands over his head, lacing his fingers at the back of his neck. Brax had seen that move before. It was what his brother did whenever he needed to keep his hands still for fear of hurting something.

Or somebody.

In this case, it was somebody, though Brax knew Chance would never lay hands on a woman. None of them would—at least not in anger.

Maci Ford, their petite office manager, stood on the opposite side of Chance’s desk, arms folded. “I told you. I wrote down everything you scrawled on that board before washing it off. I even took photos of it to keep the information for you.”

“But why would you do that?” Chance’s arms looked as if they’d jerk out of their sockets as he gestured emphatically toward the sparklingly clean whiteboard, which yesterday had been covered in a rainbow of words, arrows and circles—admittedly nearly impossible for anyone else to decipher.

“Because what happens if somebody walks in here and sees what you’ve written down? If they could read that chicken scratch of yours, that is. You never know what could happen. What if there was a break-in?”

Chance snorted. “Unlikely.”

“Which isn’t the same as impossible. Do you want somebody seeing the plans you’re working on for this client’s new security system? It’s completely possible, and it’s my job to make sure this office is run smoothly.”

“By sending out invoices and tracking payment,” Chance snapped. “Not by interfering with my work.”

“Good morning.” Brax smiled from the doorway, deciding to step in before the two killed each other. “If you keep going back and forth like this, you’ll give me a sore neck. It’s like watching a tennis match.”

Maci jumped a little like he’d surprised her. She’d been too busy glaring at his brother to notice they had an audience.

“Sorry. I’ll be going back to my desk.” That didn’t mean she couldn’t throw one last exasperated look at Chance, who rolled his eyes at her and jammed his fists into his pockets.

Those two needed to get a room already.

Brax waited until they were more or less alone to jerk his head in her direction. “You’d better play nice. You know Luke says the office can’t survive without her.”

Chance rolled his eyes again. “Luke can’t survive without her because of the filing he refuses to do on his own.” Then, he smiled a little. “And we all know Luke loves everything right now.”

“I guess that’ll happen when a man gets engaged.” It still felt strange, imagining any of them getting married. A bunch of confirmed bachelors—at least, that was what they’d been before the love of Luke’s life had walked in one day a few months ago needing help to stay alive.

Claire had been more than worth the effort they’d put into protecting her, and not only because Luke loved her. She was a wonderful woman, brave and smart. And good for Luke.

Luke was in his office working on a case. Even when he was busy, there was a smile on his face. Brax wanted to joke about it but had decided to let the matter rest. It wasn’t like Brax didn’t have more than enough work to do himself. The exponential growth of San Antonio Security over the past year was a double-edged sword.

Weston passed his office around lunchtime and knocked on the open door. “How’s that witness statement on the cartel case coming along?”

“Still need to finish writing it,” Brax admitted, gesturing to what was in front of him. “I figured since the cartel trial isn’t until later in the month, I should concentrate on wrapping up my current case and putting it to bed.”

His latest case had involved a well-off woman who’d suspected her husband was guilty of cheating—among other things. She’d been right, of course, and right to believe she’d needed somebody watching her back at all times. Her husband had hired men to take her out so he could collect on her life insurance to cover his extensive, secret debts.

Brax had wrapped up the case, but not before his client had made a pass at him. More than one pass, in fact. He’d left her disappointed. The Patterson men were better than that. Professional.

And not stupid enough to get involved with married women trying to get back at their criminal husbands.

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