Page 40 of Edge of Danger

He cocked an eyebrow, eyes twinkling. “What did I do?”

“Are you kidding? Or is this your way of getting me to list everything you’ve done for me so far?” She held up a hand, counting off on her fingers. “You gave me somewhere to live when I had literally nowhere to go. You believed me when you could’ve easily called the cops and turned your back on me. You called your brothers and got them on the case. And this won’t be the end of it. You’ll find ways to keep amazing me.”

It was gratifying, the way his charming smile slid into sheepishness. “Don’t worry about it. I know Robert, and I’m so very sorry he hurt you.”

There was no way to answer that, so she shrugged it off. “I’m starving. I can get something together for us.”

“Don’t bother with that.” He placed his hands on her shoulders and steered her to the table. “Take a seat. I’ll handle dinner.”

“You don’t have to do that.”

“You deserve to have somebody take care of you after everything you’ve been through. It’s the least I can do.” He bent, looking through the fridge. “Though I can’t guarantee it’ll be gourmet cuisine. We’re a little low on supplies. I didn’t plan on coming back until tomorrow.”

“I don’t need anything gourmet.” She rested her head on her palm, watching him. There was something to be said for a man who knew his way around the kitchen.

Especially when the man in question looked like Brax.

He eyed her while opening a jar of spaghetti sauce. “You had a little time to talk with Mom today. Did she scare you off?”

Tessa laughed softly, since the opposite was true. “I doubt she could scare anybody off.”

“Think again. But you’re not a teenager with an attitude, so it’s probably different for you.”

“I guess she had to be pretty tough to keep you guys in line.”

“We didn’t always make it easy on her.” He poured the sauce into a pan and covered it, setting it aside while a larger pot filled with water in the sink. “But somehow, she and Dad made it work. And let me tell you, I never imagined I’d look at my brothers as anything but strangers. Now? They’re more my brothers than Robert will ever be.”

She frowned at the sound of his name. It was sort of a habit. “How the two of you could share DNA is beyond me.”

“I think being half brothers helps—and the fact that we weren’t raised together. We didn’t even know about each other until I did one of those genetic test things a few years back.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yeah, one of those late-night impulse decisions. Ordering the test, spitting into a tube.” He lifted a shoulder like it didn’t matter, but Tessa noticed the way he averted his eyes. It had obviously mattered, finding his blood relatives.

“So you share a...”

“Father. He was an affair my mom had. Or rather, my father was already married to Robert’s mother.”

She winced. “I see.”

“He never acknowledged me. I was nine when my mother died. Without a father willing to claim me and no other family, I went into foster care.”

“I’m really sorry.”

Another shrug. He salted the pasta water before turning to the pantry. “I had a hard time. I thought I was a pretty tough kid by the time Mom and Dad took me in. The Pattersons, I mean. Two years on the streets and in some sketchy foster homes had hardened me, and life hadn’t exactly been easy before then.”

“But you came around.”

“I did. It wasn’t easy for anybody, of course, but I got there. I was one of the lucky ones.”

He turned to her with a sigh, concern etched on his handsome face. Even more handsome now that he knew about her past and hadn’t turned her away.

Before now, she couldn’t have imagined him being more attractive than he already was, since he’d been heart-stopping the second she’d laid eyes on him.

“To be honest, that’s one of the reasons we all want to help Walker. He told me you were dead. It never occurred to me to fact check that info. And if I refused to take custody or accused Robert of dropping him on me and lying about our arrangement, Walker would’ve gone into foster care. Nobody wanted that.”

She shivered at the thought. “Thank you again, then. For taking care of my son.”

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