Mine

So, that was it. While she might want to avoid the discomfort, truth was he needed her in the room. It might take her and Andy to keep Rick alive.

“No. I want you here.” Gabe held out a hand to her and felt a wave of relief surge through him when she grabbed on.

She stepped to his side and sighed when he wrapped an arm around her. “Is this about Brandon?” she asked.

“I don’t know.” But he had a sneaky suspicion Rick’s patience had worn out.

“This might be battleground day.” If the anxiety pounding his insides was any indication, yes.

“We should talk about—”

The sound of Andy typing in the code rang out in steady chirps. Then the door opened, and his brothers walked in with a burst of cool air. Gabe thought that might be an omen.

“Ms. Udall.” Rick nodded his hello.

“You can call me Natalie.”

“Okay then.” Andy rocked back on his heels before walking around Rick and taking a seat on the armrest of the couch. “Now that we have the pleasant part out of the way.”

“Your attorney has made his displeasure known. My clients are pulling back.” Rick held out a thick white envelope to Natalie.

She just stared at it. “Shouldn’t my attorney be the one handing me any necessary documents?”

“In here is a copy of my termination letter and the stated reason why the matter was settled.” She took it and Rick dropped his arm. “Bast should be calling soon, or however you communicate, but I thought you’d like to see the copies of the affidavits and other documents Bast sent to the people who hired me. I can’t believe your old bosses will sign them, but you, and by extension Bast, do have the leverage.”

Gabe wasn’t convinced. He’d played games with these types before. They said one thing and did another, just like they had with Natalie’s original agreement. They dug for loopholes and called things by new names. Did anything to get out from under the restrictions they’d already agreed to, and when that didn’t work they violated the terms with impunity.

For Natalie’s sake, Gabe needed to know if this just ushered in a new round. “Are your people ending this in fact or pretending to?”

Rick spared him a brief glance. “Bast doesn’t exactly play fair.”

“You can’t when someone is holding a gun to your head,” Andy said.

Natalie tapped the envelope against her open palm. “So, this means the bounty on my head has been lifted.”

“There never was one.” Rick looked at them all. Met their eyes. “My job was to check on you.”

“Come on.” No way did Gabe buy that. From the way Andy shook his head, it didn’t look like he did either.

“Follow and watch. That was the entirety of my orders.”

Except that he had the green light to extricate Natalie or take her down if he saw anything to suggest she was breaking the agreement. That’s how these things worked, no matter what Rick tried to sell. The way he lied about it without blinking worried Gabe. They all possessed the skill but didn’t turn it loose on family. Rick didn’t operate with that caveat. He treated everyone with the same level of detachment.

Gabe knew he should let it drop. They’d talk with Bast and sort it all out. Until then, the best way to handle Rick was quick, in and out. But the tension whipping around inside him called for a bigger response. He’d let so much slide. Heard every new piece of information from Rick and tamped as much of the outward hostility down inside as possible. All for Brandon’s sake.

But he wasn’t here now, so Gabe let the leash on his anger slip. “You get a good show following us?”

Natalie froze, and Andy made a strangled sound.

“It was either me or someone who would pull the trigger without warning if the mission directive changed.” Rick kept on justifying and explaining. Telling his side in a packaged way that sounded like truth but came off as one more piece of blowhard bullshit.

“You’re saying you would have disobeyed the direction from your client?” Andy shook his head. “No way.”

Rick continued to stand there with his arms stiff at his sides and his posture perfect. More robotic than human. “I would have warned Gabe.”

No fucking way. Gabe knew from experience the absolute last thing Rick would do was give a warning before screwing him over.

“Convenient.” Gabe didn’t even try to mumble. He nearly shouted the word.

“I’m talking about one thing.” Rick’s voice turned deadly cold. “You’re trying to make this about another.”

Tension choked the room. They kept glancing at one another, as if waiting for the explosion to come. Gabe decided to diffuse. It amounted to more denial, but he didn’t give a shit. “Fine, Natalie is probably safe. We’ll wait for word from Bast, who is my client, before she goes anywhere.”

“Is she leaving?” Rick asked.

The words sliced through Gabe even when someone else said them. He’d just stopped worrying every second about her cutting out on him. Now Rick raised the issue again.

“She?” The fury rumbled in Natalie’s voice.

Gabe didn’t like Rick’s dismissive tone either, but now wasn’t the time for this battle. “Not your concern, but if that’s all then—”

“You know it’s not.”

Andy got up and put a hand on Rick’s arm. “Let Gabe finish this job.”

Not moving, not ever breaking eye contact with Gabe, Rick leveled his final shot. “I’m going to the campus tomorrow and taking Brandon to di

The words knocked the wind right out of Gabe. Had a mix of fear and fury vibrating through him. He wanted to double over, come out punching—something. But he refused to give Rick the satisfaction of knowing this threat landed.

This wasn’t about his ego. This was about Brandon and putting him in a position sure to rip him apart. “You promised you wouldn’t go directly to him.”

Rick shook his head. “You are waiting too long to make a decision about the DNA test or even broach the possibility of a paternity issue with Brandon.”

“The test results won’t change if Brandon gets older.” Gabe hated to even reference them. Give them any credence, but that fact should resonate on some level. Or it would if Rick’s plans were really about Brandon and not about Rick’s ego.

Natalie started to say something but Rick talked right over her. “Under that scenario I lose more time with him.”

Rage swamped Gabe. Started at his feet and swept over him until the heat thundered in his veins. “And you don’t give a shit what I lose.”

“Look at this from my side.”

Every comment ignited more fury until Gabe could barely see. The room shrank until it was just the two of them locked in this fight. He took a warning step. Got right up in Rick’s face, ready to unload with more than words if necessary. “You mean the side where you slept with my girlfriend, lied about it, watched me struggle to raise Brandon—”

“I helped.” Rick’s yell bounced off the soaring ceilings.

A silence followed the shout. A tense quiet fell over the room. The walls seemed to be closing in and dark clouds gathered despite the su

Gabe didn’t care if they broke every stick of furniture. This was too important and the pounding inside of him screamed for him to take a shot, just one. To take out all his frustration and fear on the brother who didn’t care what happened to any of them.

“And now want to rush in, clear your conscience and claim my son as yours.” Gabe shook as he spit out the words. His jaw tightened until cracking and he had to ball his hands into fists to keep from reaching out and ending this with Rick once and for all.

Instead of taking the bait and launching the first punch, Rick stepped back. He shook his head as he stared at the floor. “You don’t know how long I debated telling you all of this.”

Gabe didn’t buy it for one second. “Stop acting like the victim.”

“Maybe . . .” Rick glanced at Natalie. “We should—”

“What?” Gabe was too far gone to listen to reasoning or anything else. Fire burned inside of him. He’d been putting it out and stomping on it from the day he learned about the affair. Now it raged.