“Yes. Are you friends with her too?”
“Yes. So you’re a bodyguard to the stars, huh?”
Bryce’s lips curved up in what looked more like a grimace than a smile. “Hey, um… Holly obviously doesn’t know I’m related to you, and it will bring up lots of stuff if she finds out we’re brothers. Can you do me an enormous favour and keep our relationship to ourselves for now? I don’t want Holly—and my new employers, for that matter—questioning my character. And they think my surname’s Green.”
“Green? You changed your surname?”
“Yes. I knew you and Mum would try to find me, so I covered my tracks. Sorry, bro.”
“Right. Sure,” he said slowly. “But where on earth did you go? It was like you disappeared out of thin air.”
Bryce stared at his hands for a long moment before meeting his eyes. “I joined three Belgian tourists in their rented car on a road trip to Darwin the day after I left home. About two weeks from arriving there, a nice couple gave me a job playing security guard for their variety store.”
“I hired private investigators to look for you three years ago. I think they would have found out if you’d legally change your surname to Green. I take it you haven’t made it official?”
Bryce gulped. “No.”
“So how did you manage to get a job with Smith Security? I know for a fact they’re very thorough with background checks for prospective employees.”
Bryce’s chest heaved as he raked his hair with all ten fingers. He lapsed into silence again, the wheels in his mind clearly turning. Finally, he smiled in resignation. “I was introduced to someone who was able to give me a fake driver’s licence.”
Jaxon frowned. Whoever had the technology to fake an Australian driver’s license had to be a sophisticated criminal. The built-in holograms and special inks used on those cards made them almost impossible to duplicate and forge.
“Jax…” Bryce gazed at him imploringly. “Please let this be between you and me alone. Please. I had to change my name because that bastard stepfather of ours threatened to make me unemployable.”
Goosebumps formed on Jaxon’s arms. He knew it. That conniving Joseph Bridge had been involved in Bryce’s disappearance.
Since marrying their mother when Jaxon was fourteen, Joseph had immediately shown he wasn’t interested in playing happy family with his bride’s sons. Their mother had asked them to give Joseph a chance, stating he was a much better partner than their real father, who’d died before Bryce was born. According to their mother, their biological dad hadn’t been worth knowing. Well, neither was Joseph. Unfortunately, their mum was loyal to him.
“Jax, come on, bro. Please, don’t say anything.”
Jaxon smiled. Right now, all he wanted was to wrap his arms around his brother. But he had a job to do, and he needed to gain Bryce’s trust. “Sure, I’ll keep this a secret. But I’m still mad at you. You could have told me you were okay.”
“Well, I’m here now,” Bryce said with a grin. “So you own JC Tax Franchise, huh? I’ve read every single page of your website. You’ve done really, really well. So proud of you, big bro.”
“Thanks,” he said with a laugh. “There’s this fire in my belly to do well so I won’t have to rely on anyone for anything. What about you? How long have you been working as a bodyguard?”
“Five years. Anyway, look at you. You’ve built up some serious muscles since we last saw each other.”
“So have you! You know, I’ve always hoped I’d just bump into you somewhere. Now I have.”
Bryce chuckled. “You couldn’t have bumped into me in Sydney before today. I worked in the Whitsundays in the last five years.”
“Really? Wow. How was that?”
Bryce shrugged. “It was good. I liked the job, but I was missing Sydney. Hey, I’ve been eyeing this obstacle course since getting here. Are you any good at it?”
“Not bad. I’ve been training on it for a while now, but I still can’t beat Xavier’s time. I’m getting closer, though.”
Bryce positioned himself at the start of the course. “We were both lanky the last time we saw each other. Now let’s see who’s better at this. Time me.”
Jaxon laughed. He called up the timer on his watch and said go.
This unexpected reconciliation was going great. In just a matter of minutes, he’d felt that pull of brotherly love. Now that Bryce was in front of him—alive and well—he hoped complications wouldn’t get in the way of them continuing to rebuild their relationship.
But first, he had to be sure that Bryce wasn’t a threat to Holly. Much as he wanted his brother to be innocent, he couldn’t simply assume—or hope—that that was the case. Still, all the question marks against him could simply be from Joseph’s manipulative acts.
Bryce finished the course, and Jaxon opened his mouth to call out his time, but a clapping from behind startled him.
“That’s great, Bryce!” Holly said. “How did he do, Jax?”
Jaxon stared at Holly for a long second before answering, his heart pounding heavily with…whatever it was. “Three minutes and twenty-three seconds.”
“See? He’s strong, fast and capable,” Holly said with a meaningful look to Xavier.
Jaxon suppressed a sigh. Holly was obviously set on having Bryce as her bodyguard.
“Hope you guys didn’t mind me using this,” Bryce said. “I just met Jaxon here and I said I’d always wanted to work out on an obstacle course.”
Jaxon exchanged a quick glance with Xavier, silently confirming that he was going along with Bryce’s pretence that they’d just met.
“Of course it’s okay,” Xavier said with a smile at Bryce. “Mind if I speak with you?”
“Not at all.”
Jaxon watched as the two men went into Xavier’s office. He wished Xavier would chat with Bryce out here, but he guessed it would look too suspicious.
“So what do you think of my new bodyguard?” Holly asked.
“He seems like a nice guy.”
Ugh. He should be encouraging her to consider other candidates. But Holly had already caught him and Bryce enjoying each other’s company. Besides, he realised he wanted people to like his brother.
Damn. Would he have to ask to be excused from this assignment if he couldn’t be objective?
No. No other Indie Rebel was in a position to get the kind of information he could get out of Bryce.
“Could you tell Xavier that you like him?” Holly pleaded. “You know Xave—Mr. Overprotective.”
“He just wants to make sure you get the best security, not the first one suggested to you.”
“I know. But Bryce is experienced. And I like him already, so I’m not going to interview anyone else.”
His heart thumped harder, instantly bothered by Holly’s statement—not about her refusing to check out other candidates, but that she liked Bryce already. What did she mean by that?
“And he’s so easy to get along with,” Holly continued. “Even the two of you hit it off straight away, by the looks of it.”
He forced out a chuckle. “We just got to talking about workouts and who could have the faster time on Obstacle X.”
“Ah, you just gave me an idea! That topic would definitely endear Bryce to Xave. I think I’ll go in and raise it.” Holly bounded to Xavier’s office, then entered after tapping her knuckles on the door twice.
Jaxon frowned. Was it his imagination or was Holly taking a shine to Bryce?
Worse, for the first time since they’d met, she wasn’t flirting with him anymore.
Why should she, when you turned her down again less than an hour ago, you moron!
He exhaled heavily. Yes, he’d rejected her again, much as it had pained him.
But, hell, Bryce was wrong for her too. Would his brother be able to keep his hands off Holly if she turned on the charm?
He rubbed his face as his heart constricted. Now, not only did he have to discourage Holly from being interested in him, but he’d
have to make sure nothing developed between her and Bryce.
That was important for everyone’s safety.
And not just because he felt fucking jealous.
Ah, damn it. What a disaster this was turning out to be.
He walked to Obstacle X, turned on his timer, then went as fast as he could. But his hands slipped from the pull-up ladder.
He started again from the beginning and didn’t even complete the first segment.
Shaking his head, he tried again. He made it to the horizontal logs, but lost his grip and landed on the cushioned floor.
Good thing Holly wasn’t watching him right now—not when Bryce had completed the whole course right before her eyes.
Ugh!
Xavier’s office door opened.
Jaxon grabbed a towel and wiped his face. It looked like Holly had succeeded in getting Xavier’s grudging acceptance of Bryce.
“Hols,” Xavier said. “Now that you’ve let Bryce in on the threat, I think we should let Jax in on it too. You need all the protection you can get, and if we tell some people we trust, they can help keep an eye on you too.”
“What threat?” Jaxon feigned curiosity—and hid his annoyance that Holly had looked at Bryce for approval. So she was trusting someone she’d just met over him?
“What Xavier said makes sense,” Bryce interjected. “But I suggest we limit who knows to a handful of trusted family and friends only.”
“Okay,” Holly said. “I’m happy for Jax to know.”
Bryce nodded and proceeded to tell Jaxon about Anna’s kidnapping and the threat against female Australian celebrities.
Jaxon listened attentively for the sake of keeping up appearances. His chest felt heavy, though. He seemed to be losing Holly.
She was never yours, you idiot.
He repressed a sigh. That was true.
He cared about her a hell of a lot. He wanted the best for her.
Which wasn’t him.
Or Bryce, for that matter—thank God.
Chapter 4
Holly stared out the window, the incessant downpour further dampening her spirits. The news headlines were once again focused on Anna Sanders’s disappearance. Even though the media had no knowledge yet of the threat against all Australian female celebrities, kidnapping theories still abound.
It had been two weeks since Anna had been taken, and Bill and Anna’s parents were still negotiating with her captors regarding their impossible-to-meet ransom demand: fifty million dollars. So much for saying they wanted female celebrities to repent their sins. All they wanted was the freaking money.
On the positive side, Anna appeared unharmed, the captors having sent a video of her to Bill.
However, they’d threatened to kidnap someone else if they couldn’t get what they wanted from Anna’s loved ones. And with Holly being one of the wealthier celebrities, the police were concerned she’d be the next target. That was why they were happy to give all this information to her family. They wanted her to take extra care.
She’d be in trouble too if she were kidnapped. She didn’t have fifty million dollars in cash lying around. It would take ages to liquidate her and her family’s assets to come up with that kind of money.
Holly’s parents had been freaking out about the whole thing. They had suggested that Holly stay somewhere secret until this ended.
Holly had to admit that there was merit to hiding somewhere else. Kidnappers aside, the most die-hard of her OZs had been doing silly things. Even with all this rain, two of her female fans were camped outside her house in their respective cars. They’d decided to patrol her street to “protect” her from meeting the same fate as Anna.
She feared for both their safety and their over-enthusiasm. They didn’t know their boundaries, and she had no idea how to help them see they shouldn’t be doing this for her. Didn’t they have families to look after?
She smiled sadly. More than likely, they were lonely and alone, and this kind of thing made them think they had something to live for.
But it wasn’t right. So she was seriously considering her mother’s suggestion to stay somewhere else so those ladies would go home.
She didn’t like all the places suggested to her, though. Both her and her parents’ country retreats were too far from the city. She still needed to go to the studio to do some work on her new album, and she didn’t want to be too isolated.
A hideaway within the greater Sydney area would be ideal. But she agreed with Xavier that going to hotels or renting from unknown people was a security risk. Better to stay at properties belonging to friends she completely trusted. Unfortunately, it was hard to find the perfect place that offered privacy, seclusion and location.
Her front gate started opening, and she hastily went to grab her bag. Xavier and Eve were here to pick her up for Jaxon’s housewarming party. They’d insisted on it instead of Bryce having to drive her.
She hurried out and climbed at the back of the car. “Hey, guys,” she said cheerfully, kissing them both before putting on her seatbelt.
“How are you?” Eve asked.
“Good. We better wave to my OZs. That’s the least I could do when they’re still camping out there in this weather.”
“You shouldn’t encourage them, Hols,” Xavier said. “The more you pay attention, the more they’d want to do things for you that aren’t safe.”
“I know,” she said with a heavy breath. She did smile at the ladies as they wound down their windows to try and peer into the vehicle she was in.
“One’s going to follow us,” Xavier said, glancing at the rearview mirror. “What? She thinks we’ve kidnapped you?”
Holly shook her head. “Maybe I should stay somewhere else for a while.”
“Yes,” both Xavier and Eve said.
Xavier drove faster, constantly checking his mirrors. He weaved in and out of traffic, then turned abruptly onto a street. Speeding a bit, he made a couple more turns before easing his way onto the road they were supposed to be on. “We’ve lost her,” he announced.
“Wow. I can see now why Eve said you’re much better than an actual bodyguard,” Holly teased.
“Stay with us for a while,” Eve implored. “Then Xave can be your security guy too. It’ll make us feel better.”
“Then have my OZs and the paps camp outside your place? You’re a reporter, Eve. You’re supposed to report goings-on, not be in the news. I’m sure I’ll find somewhere else suitable.”
“It can’t be at your parents’,” Eve said with a sigh. “Reporters have been ringing their doorbell, wanting to get a story.”
“I have an idea,” Xavier said.
“Uh-huh?”
“Jax’s place at Avalon will be perfect. It’s totally private. The house is surrounded by trees and it can’t be seen from the road.”
Holly’s heart skipped a beat. Instantly, the thought of staying at Jaxon’s place appealed to her.
But Jaxon didn’t want her.
“I don’t think he’d want me there,” she said nonchalantly.
“Why not?” Xavier asked. “He plans for it to be an Airbnb, so you’d just rent it from him.”
“Would Holly be safe there on her own?” Eve asked.
“As long as no one knows she’s there. But we’ll get security personnel to check up the place often—maybe even station someone close by. They’d have to be inconspicuous, though, or people would be curious and nose around to find out who’s staying there.”
“How big is the house?” Holly asked.
“It’s two stories. The upstairs has three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a big open-plan living, dining and kitchen, and a wrap-around balcony. Then there’s a self-contained two-bedroom apartment downstairs, next to a three-car garage.”
“Oh, good. Maybe Bryce can stay with me, then. He can stay downstairs.”
Xavier glanced back at her with a frown. “You hardly know the man.”
“And where will the security personnel you’re thinking of hir
ing station himself? Outside? As if no one would notice a strange car with a strange man sitting out there all day and night. That’s hardly inconspicuous. Besides, Bryce won’t exactly be staying with me. He’ll be downstairs.”
Xavier scratched his head. “Well, I still don’t agree, but we can discuss it more later. At this point, though, Jax’s place is your best bet. Unless you go outside of Sydney, where you’ll have more choices.”
“No. I can’t. I need to be close to the studio.”
“You can take a longer break from work.”
“I’ve already made commitments, and I don’t want to break them.”
They all sighed as they lapsed into silence.
Xavier played the radio and Holly allowed herself to hum along with the music. When one of Anna’s songs came up, her eyes misted. She sang along more loudly, and Eve and Xavier joined her.
More upbeat, they continued to sing with the music—with Eve picking songs they all knew—until they got to their destination.
“Here we are,” Xavier announced, turning through an open gate and cruising down a driveway flanked by trees and native plants.
The place wasn’t manicured, in the sense that the greenery didn’t look planned. It simply felt like they were going through natural bushland.
“Wow.” Holly breathed, feeling calmer by the surroundings.
Several vehicles were already parked at the front of a pretty weatherboard-clad house and Xavier found a spot for his car. Fortunately, the rain had eased up a little, and their big umbrellas were enough to keep them dry.
“Hey, guys!” Jaxon called out, waving from the porch on the second floor.
“Nice place, Jax,” Eve said as they climbed the outdoor stairs.
“Thanks,” Jaxon said, kissing Eve hello. “But unfortunately, the weather’s crap. I was hoping we could all walk to the beach later.”
“How far is the beach from here?” Holly asked, closing her wet umbrella and putting it in a tall bin by the door.
“Only a few minutes,” Jaxon said as he gave her a peck on the cheek. “Once you get out of the gate at the back, it’s the beach already.”
Jaxon_The Assignment Page 4
