Jaxon Caine pressed on the accelerator of his SUV, ignoring the stop sign at the side of the narrow, quiet residential alleyway. The black sedan coming from the left of the intersection swerved to avoid him and ended up hitting a parked car.

Ah, he’d timed it perfectly. He’d only been hoping to slow the burly man down, but he’d managed to stop him altogether.

He glanced at an oncoming vehicle and knew it was an unmarked police car chasing after the sedan driver. He got out of his SUV, relieved that the burly guy appeared too dazed to make a quick escape. At least he wouldn’t have to tackle the bastard or do something equally obvious.

The burly man fumbled with the door and stumbled out, then attempted to run.

Jaxon hurried to grab his arms. “Hey, are you okay? I’m so sorry.”

“You fucking moron! Get off me!” The guy tried to ward him off.

But Jaxon tightened his grip. “Hey, really, I’m sorry. I saw you coming, but I think you accelerated? You wouldn’t have had to avoid me otherwise. Are you okay?”

The police car screeched to a halt in front of them, and Jaxon let his captive push him away.

“Police! Freeze or we’ll shoot!” shouted one of the detectives as he and his partner aimed their guns at the sedan driver.

Jaxon pretended to look shocked, raising his arms in surrender. He kept his astonished expression as the police cuffed and patted the other guy.

Finally, one of the detectives approached him while his partner took the perp to the car.

“Don’t worry. We haven’t come for you,” the officer said jokingly, flashing a badge.

Jaxon let out a laugh. “That’s a relief.”

“Can you tell us what happened?”

“Well, I did look and I did see him. I was sure I had plenty of time to cross, but I mustn’t have noticed him accelerating. I think we both surprised each other. Anyway, he swerved to avoid me and he hit the other car.”

“You stopped him from running away.”

“Well,” he said with a snicker, “I actually thought he was dizzy and disoriented. I was holding him up because he didn’t look all right.”

The cop chuckled. “We’re lucky you were at the right place at the right time.”

“What’s he done?”

“He’s wanted for multiple counts of aggravated sexual assault.”

Jaxon let his mouth drop. “Glad I was of some help, then.”

The detective nodded. “Mind if I get your details for our report?”

“Sure. You’re not gonna give me a ticket for some driving offence, are you?”

“Nah. Just don’t be in too much of a hurry next time.”

Jaxon grinned in relief and gave his details to the officer.

“Thank you, Mr. Caine. Have a good afternoon.” The cop headed back to the police car.

Jaxon watched them drive away before returning to his vehicle and making a phone call. “Aidan,” he greeted the Indie Rebels agent who manned the control centre.

“How did you go?” Aidan asked.

“He’s in police custody now. And there are no complications. We don’t need to cover any of my tracks.”

“Excellent work. I’ll let Florence know about this. She’ll be relieved he’s finally caught. And she’s mentioned she’d want to meet the agent working on this case one of these days.”

“Does she live here in Sydney?”

“Yes.”

“It’ll be easy for us to meet then.”

“I’m just waiting to see if the chiefs will give it the go-ahead. As you know, you’re still both initiates.”

“Okay. So when will I become a full agent?” Frankly, he couldn’t wait to pass the Indie Rebels’ initiation phase. Then he’d be privy to restricted information regarding this secretive group he’d joined when he’d needed their help. Most of all, he’d finally learn the identity of the other Indie Rebels, or IRs as they liked to call themselves.

“Patience, Jax,” Aidan said with a chuckle. “Even though this assignment is very important, it’s not considered big. I’d say completing a couple more will get you there. You’ve already proven you’re trustworthy. So it’s just a matter of the chiefs being satisfied that you’ve balanced the scale with the assignments you’ve been completing against what the IR team has done for you. You’re almost there.”

Jaxon started driving towards his office in Sydney’s central business district. “Can’t wait, you know.”

“Can’t wait to see what I look like?” Aidan teased.

He laughed. “Yeah, sure. But I have to say you’re not the one I most want to meet.”

“The chiefs?”

“Nope. Not even our billionaire founder, even though I’m dying to know who he or she is.”

“So who, then?”

“The women IRs,” he answered, hoping he didn’t sound as embarrassed as he felt.

“Dare I ask why?” Aidan said dryly.

“Are you dating someone?”

Aidan chuckled. “Sort of.”

“Is she—or he—an IR?”

“No, she’s not.”

“Does she know you’re an IR?”

“’Course not.”

“See, that’s my problem. We can’t tell our partners about this.”

“Funnily enough,” Aidan said with a snicker, “she read in the papers about one of the cases we closed a couple of weeks ago, and she asked me if I’ve heard of our team. I said, oh, that vigilante gang? The police hate them, don’t they?”

Jaxon chuckled. “What did she say about that?”

“Well, she said the police had to stop being so arrogant and admit the Indie Rebels are helping them. Then she started Googling because she wanted to see what the IRs look like. She was sure the ones mentioned in the news were hot. She was so disappointed she couldn’t find a single picture that showed our agents’ faces.” Aidan chortled.

“So have you ever dated an IR?”

“No. Unlike you, I’m not looking for a serious relationship, so I actually avoid dating one of us. It’ll be messier if I happen to break an IR’s heart.”

Jaxon snorted. “It’s not that I’m looking for anything serious…”

“You just said you can’t wait to meet women IRs. I assume you want to be completely open to her for the sake of a good relationship. Ergo, you’d want it to progress to something serious.”

“It’s more like I don’t want to have to worry about hiding this role, even if I’m just casually dating. I went out with this girl five months ago, and she wouldn’t stop bugging me about why I couldn’t see her on certain nights. She thought I was cheating on her, but I was actually working on my IR assignment. I had similar problems with the girl I dated before her. So I think it’s just not worth the hassle dating non-IRs.”

“I guess it’s harder for someone like you who also has an actual brick and mortar office that you need to manage. Me, I can tell my dates I’m an IT consultant working with international clients, so they don’t question why I work funny hours. Anyway, you can ask the chiefs to give you simpler assignments that would work better with your schedule. But it would extend your initiation phase.”

“Nah. I enjoy the heavy stuff. There’s nothing like ridding Australia of big-shot criminals. Makes me feel more useful.” In fact, Jaxon had hired a manager to take over some more of his work for his tax agency franchisor business. Luckily, his company was established enough that he could take himself out of the day-to-day tasks.

“Speaking of useful…” Aidan suddenly sounded serious. “I just got a new report… Let me check this out, and I’ll give you a ring back. Looks like this will involve Xavier too, so I’ll speak to you guys at the same time.”

“I’ll go to his gym, then. I cancelled my session because I thought this would take up my whole afternoon. I’ll tell him I can turn up, after all.”

“Good. Give me an hour to find out everything about this, then I’ll call you guys.”

“Okay.”

Jaxon pressed the hang-up button on the steering wheel, then left a message on Xavier’s voicemail. Twenty minutes later, he arrived in his city office. He changed into his exercise gear then took the elevator down to Xavier’s A to X Fitness gym on the ground floor of the high-rise commercial building.

Xavier was still wrapping up a one-on-one session with another client, so Jaxon did some stretching and warm up exercises while he waited.

“Hey!” Xavier said to him when the other man left. “So you made it after all. I take it you got the guy already?”

He nodded to his fellow IR initiate. “Aidan does want to talk to us about something new. He’ll be calling in about half an hour.”

“Cool. We have time to check your progress on Obstacle X, then. You said you improved your time by eleven seconds when I wasn’t around to witness it.”

“Yup. I daresay I’ll come really, really close to beating you this time.”

“You’re on, bro,” Xavier said with a laugh. “Shall I go first while you continue to warm up?”

“Sure.” Jaxon called up the timer on his watch and signalled for Xavier to start. He watched his friend go through the long and extremely challenging obstacle course while he stretched his muscles.

“Two minutes, forty-two seconds,” he said as Xavier finished.

Xavier made a face. “Not my fastest time, so I expect you to come a lot closer to that.”

“We’ll see.” Jaxon waited until Xavier said go, then powered ahead.

He completed the first four segments easily. His fitness, strength, endurance and speed had certainly improved considerably since hiring Xavier as a personal trainer a year and a half ago.

They’d grown very close since then. People had even mistaken them for brothers twice before since they were both well-built with dark hair and dark-brown eyes. They were even the same age—thirty-three—and they both enjoyed pushing each other to greater heights with their workouts.

But their tightest bond came from being Indie Rebels.

When Xavier had asked for the Indie Rebels’ help, Jaxon had been the one tasked to explain to his buddy that to get the assistance of the IR team, Xavier had to become one of its agents. He’d been proud to tell Xavier exactly how much he owed the Indie Rebels. The team had saved his business from an underworld character who’d vandalised and trashed his and his top franchisees’ offices, jeopardising their livelihood. Now, he wouldn’t even consider becoming an inactive IR when he got to the point where he’d fully repaid the team in kind.

The Indie Rebels’ work was too important. While they were unsanctioned and unwanted by law enforcement agencies, he believed they were needed, nonetheless. Too many criminals avoided police detection or capture. Often, it was due to police resources being too stretched. But sometimes, it was from sheer incompetence by the cops or total dishonesty by individuals.

He grunted and held on tighter to the horizontal log he was dangling from, almost losing his grip. But he quickly got back on track and made it all the way to the end of the course without further problems.

He raised his arms in triumph. That felt faster than the last time.

“Two minutes, fifty-three seconds,” Xavier said. “Not bad at all.”

His jubilation lessened. “That’s five seconds slower than my best time.”

Xavier patted the pole he was standing next to. “I’m still the king of my own Obstacle X.”

“It won’t be forever, bro,” he said with a laugh.

“Oh, we missed the show,” a female voice said.

Jaxon glanced at the newcomer and grinned. Holly Stirling, Xavier’s sister, stood by the room’s entrance together with Eve Marrin, Xavier’s fiancée and a fellow IR initiate.

He still couldn’t get over the fact that the famous Holly Stirling could be so unrecognisable with a long blonde wig covering her dark, wavy hair and a pair of black-rimmed eyeglasses fitted over her eyes. But Jaxon was sure that fans of the superstar singer could easily spot her if they bothered to take a good look.

“Can you guys do it again?” asked Eve cheekily.

“How about you girls have a go?” Xavier asked, kissing Eve on the lips and Holly on the cheek. “You two look dressed up for it.”

“Yes, I’ll have a go,” Holly said, starting to stretch. “But I can’t even get past the third segment. Maybe you should coach me, Jax.”

“Am I not the trainer around here?” Xavier asked dryly. “He doesn’t even work for me.”

Holly wrinkled her nose. “I think he’ll be more patient than you. Anyway, aren’t you supposed to have a phone meeting with that wedding planner Eve wanted to hire?”

“Oh, is that now?”

Jaxon hid his amusement at Xavier’s consternation.

“Sorry. I thought you guys weren’t having a session today,” Eve said apologetically.

“I finished early with my previous appointment, so I have time, after all,” Jaxon answered. “But you can drag your fiancé to the meeting. I don’t mind.”

“Aw, thanks. We shouldn’t take long. I just want to make sure he’ll be happy with this wedding planner too.”

“You know I trust your judgement, babe,” Xavier said. “But if you want me in the meeting…”

Eve sent her man a sweet smile. “I do.”

Xavier took Eve’s hand and headed to the office. “We won’t be long.”

Jaxon stifled a sigh. Xavier was lucky to be engaged to a fellow Indie Rebel. His buddy didn’t have to contend with the complications of hiding something from his significant other.

Not that Jaxon was on the market right now for a serious relationship, but he did want to settle down with someone special one day.

Unfortunately, with IRs being on the hit list of several powerful crime syndicates, he had to strictly abide by the team’s most important rule—that they could only reveal their Indie Rebel identity to another Indie Rebel. The safety of all IR agents depended on that incontestable directive.

“So, Jax,” Holly said. “I’m so looking forward to your housewarming.”

He smiled. “Me too. It’s going to be a small party, but it should be fun.”

“Xavier said you’ve asked him to design an obstacle course for the backyard. Have you decided to move to Avalon, then?”

“Nah. My city pad is too convenient. No way I’d want to deal with horrendous peak hour traffic every single day if I lived in Avalon. I’ve actually decided to list it on Airbnb instead of going for a long-term rental. That way, I could choose to go there for a break whenever I want.”

“Good idea.” Holly stretched her legs. “So, while Xave’s busy, would you watch me and give me tips on this obstacle thing?”

“Obstacle thing? Don’t let Xavier hear you say that about his beloved Obstacle X.”

“Then don’t tell! I’m envious of Eve getting past the pull-up ladder. By the time I get there, my arm muscles are already so tired that I have a hard time just hanging on. Say…” Holly sent him a coy smile. “Maybe you can hold me up when I’m about to slip.”

“That’s cheating,” he said with a chuckle.

Despite his promise never to encourage Holly’s flirting, he couldn’t stop his wide grin. Holly was fun to be with. And to be honest, he was flattered by her clear interest in him, which had been obvious from the moment they’d met six months ago.

Who wouldn’t be flattered? Not only was this woman one of the most talented people in the world, she was also hot.

And amazing.

And breathtaking.

But Holly was a superstar. No doubt he’d be dragged into the limelight if he went out with her, and the last thing he wanted was for the media to poke around his life. There were certain things about him and his family he didn’t want anyone to discover.

By the same token, it would be disastrous for Holly if she ended up with a boyfriend with such an “interesting” background. He couldn’t stomach the thought of subjecting her to the kind of scrutiny she was bound to get if his family secrets were dug up.

“So what say you?” Holly asked, positioning herself at the start of the course.

He scratched his head. “How about I watch you, like you suggested?”

“Great!” Holly said with a grin as she gingerly stepped on the first segment.

Jaxon allowed his eyes to feast on Holly. God, she really was hot, and he better close his mouth in case she noticed him drooling. Good thing he could pretend he was merely following her progress.

What if… just what if… she was only after some fun? That was entirely possible. According to some reports, Holly was a bit of a playgirl, enjoying dalliances with some of the most successful and eligible men in the world.

Not that he thought any less of her. Holly was a kind-hearted, sweet, generous and considerate person, and not wanting to settle down was a choice she was entitled to make.

So… what if they hooked-up?

He shook his head. No, he should get that thought right out of his mind. It had the potential to ruin friendships, including his with Xavier if things went pear-shaped.

Besides, and most critical of all, Holly wasn’t an Indie Rebel. Dating her would never work, whatever the circumstance.

Holly let out a little cry, appearing to lose her balance on the rope walk. He rushed to her, even though the heavily cushioned floor would have kept her from getting hurt.

But she recovered, pumping her fists in the air she successfully completed the segment.

Jaxon applauded her success. “Now, conquer that pull-up ladder!”

Holly took a deep breath, shaking her arms and legs briefly, before making a leap to grab the horizontal bar. Then she did an air-jump and brought the bar past the first barrier. She also got past the next barrier, and the next, albeit starting to struggle. She was breathing hard as she dangled.

“Good work, keep going.” He clapped harder.

“I think I’m going to slip.”

“Hold tight. You can do this.”

Holly tried a couple of times to move forward, but she wasn’t pushing up high enough to get the bar past the obstruction. Then she let out a little squeal and dropped to the floor.

To Jaxon’s horror, Holly’s blonde wig slipped off, snagged by the bracelet she wore on her right wrist.

Holly gasped, diving flat to the cushioned ground to hide her face.

He went to her aid, looking around. Fortunately, they were the only ones in the Obstacle X room, as it was still booked for his personal one-on-one training with Xavier.

But a glass window on one side exposed them to the others working out on the main gym floor. If any of those people glanced their way, Jaxon was sure they’d instantly recognise the famous Holly Stirling.

He positioned himself between Holly and the window and dropped to his knees.

“It’s caught in this charm,” Holly said in frustration as she tried to detangle her hair piece from her bracelet.

“Let me do it.”

Holly lay on her back and held up her wrist to him.

He hunched over so Holly wouldn’t have to hold the wig up too obviously, and started to loosen the offending strands from around the diamond-encrusted sun-shaped charm.

“Thanks,” Holly said, smiling at him. “If people find out my disguise, I won’t be able to come in here without being followed.”

“Without being mobbed, you mean,” he said, frowning in concentration at his task. He didn’t want to ruin her bracelet by yanking against the sun charm too hard.

“Look at those two,” Holly said with a sigh, nodding in the direction of Xavier’s office. “They’re so oblivious to what’s going on here.”

“Well, it’s the window behind me that I’m worried about.” Jaxon glanced back. Two ladies on treadmills were already looking their way, brows furrowed. He ignored them, hoping they wouldn’t think help was needed.

Holly detangled the last of the strands, and the wig was free. She shifted to sit on her legs. “Now I have to put this back on without attracting attention.”

“Just make sure you stay low. Some people are already watching.” He moved closer to her, ensuring his torso shielded her face from prying eyes.

Holly started giggling.

“What?”

“You’re sitting up straight and I’m hunched down here facing your front. If someone’s looking, they’ll be wondering what we’re doing.”

His lips twitched. “Maybe you shouldn’t be crouching too low.”

“But they’ll see my face. Now, don’t move.” Holly ducked down farther to don the wig, her head getting closer to his lap.

He inhaled sharply, heat rushing to his groin.

Damn. This position was too hot, even if what Holly was doing was entirely innocent.

He glanced at Xavier. His friend wouldn’t be happy to see him and Holly in a certain pose on his gym floor that could be mistaken for something else. But neither Xavier nor Eve was looking their way, with the couple lost in their own world as they spoke with their wedding planner.

Jaxon checked the women on the treadmills. They were now whispering to each other and frowning at him.

Shit.

“You better hurry in case someone reports us for public indecency.” He was grateful, though, that the snoopy ladies provided a distraction for his dick. It was threatening to get embarrassingly hard.

Holly’s shoulders shook with laughter as she adjusted her wig.

“I’m glad you find this funny,” he said dryly, looking back at the women outside to help himself cool right down. “Your brother will kill me if someone complains to him about us.”

“I’ll stick up for you. I’ll tell him you’re my knight in shining armour.” Holly sat up, smoothing the blonde locks with her hands. “Is this good?”

He carefully pulled out a couple of strands that had gotten caught under the netting and stroked her hair in place.

“Thanks,” Holly breathed, her lovely brown eyes suddenly wide, her lips parted, and her face tilting up.

His breath hitched and his heart drummed fast. God, she really was beautiful—blonde or brunette. And he knew exactly what she was trying to say without words.

But…he shouldn’t accept the invitation for a kiss he was dying to have.

With much reluctance, he got to his feet and offered his hand. Guilt hit him at the flash of embarrassment on Holly’s face.

Holly was quick to put on a smile, though, and she turned around so she wasn’t facing the window. “Those girls are still looking at us,” she murmured.

“Short as my gym shorts are, I hope they now see that they’re still firmly in place.”

Holly sighed. “I hope Xave and Eve won’t mind if I barge in there while they’re still on a phone call. I just don’t want people coming around here to talk to us—or tell us off.”

“Well, you’re one of the bridesmaids…”

“True.” Holly knocked softly on the window of Xavier’s office and gestured for permission to go in.

Eve nodded with a grin.

Jaxon went to his gym bag to grab his towel. He was sitting on a bench, drinking from his water bottle, when his phone rang. “Aidan.”

“Hey. Is Xavier with you?”

“He’s just on the phone with a wedding planner. Eve said they won’t be long.”

“Good. I need to talk to you first.”

“Okay.”

“One of our IR agents who’s also a police detective said that Anna Sanders was reported missing by her boyfriend last night.”

Jaxon frowned. “Anna Sanders, the singer?”

“Yes. She’s a good friend of the Stirlings, I believe. Apparently, the boyfriend got home and she just wasn’t there.”

Jaxon inhaled deeply. Anna’s loved ones would be beside themselves. He knew how that felt. “Any chance she just left her boyfriend?”

“Not likely, especially when the police also got an anonymous note the day before Anna disappeared. It said that top Australian female celebrities will start disappearing one by one unless they woke up to their sins. They didn’t know what it meant until they got the call from Anna’s boyfriend.”

“Any idea who sent it?”

“The cops have no clue, and we’re just about to start our investigations.”

“Holly could be a target. And she doesn’t have a bodyguard at the moment. I think she’s still to interview the new one Smith Security wants to assign to her.”

“Yes. I’m texting you his picture right now, and…we think he’s your brother.”

Jaxon’s heartbeat spiked. “You found Bryce?”

“Well, technically we didn’t find him. Xavier asked me to run a check on this person Smith Security hired to be Holly’s new bodyguard. I’m just as surprised that it’s him.”

Jaxon quickly checked Aidan’s message, and his heart pounded harder as goosebumps formed all over his body. No wonder Aidan had identified Bryce immediately. Bryce only looked slightly older than the twenty-year-old guy in the ten-year-old photo that the Indie Rebels had managed to dig up when they had checked out Jaxon’s family history.

“I can’t believe this,” he murmured, joy seeping in from this unexpected development. “So where has he been all this time?”

“For the last five years, until two weeks ago, he worked for a company responsible for providing security to a group of privately owned islands on the Whitsundays. His job included keeping uninvited people away and playing bodyguard to the VIP guests when they travelled outside of the islands. He came back to Sydney two weeks ago, presumably because he was hired by Smith Security. Do you know that he changed his surname?”

“No. To what?”

“He’s now called Bryce Green, although he didn’t lodge it officially.”

“When did he start using it?”

“Not sure, but he’s been Bryce Green for at least five years. He must be using a fake ID to get away with it.”

Jaxon rubbed his face. What the hell had Bryce been up to? “And now he’s here to work with Holly?”

“Yes. If our sources are accurate, he only quit his previous job when Smith Security confirmed that he’d be working with Holly Stirling. Frankly, with this kidnapping threat, the timing’s too coincidental. We have to treat him as a suspicious individual at this point, especially with that change of name.”

Jaxon inhaled deeply. The insinuation about his brother bothered him. “It’s entirely possible that Bryce could also have been set-up and blackmailed by that bastard stepfather of ours. If that’s the case, him changing his name is not surprising.”

“That’s true. But what would you do as an Indie Rebel, when several women’s safety is at risk?”

Jaxon shut his eyes. “I’d continue to investigate.”

“So this is your new assignment. Specifically, we need to figure out if Bryce is part of whoever’s behind Anna’s kidnapping and the threats to other female celebrities. Needless to say, this also gives you a chance to work on your stepfather’s case—see if you can get something out of Bryce that can be pinned on Joseph Bridge.”

“Yes,” Jaxon said with determination. He’d been waiting for this opportunity for a long time. He was sick and tired of Joseph dangling the threat of an attempted murder charge over his head—a crime Jaxon had not committed but could not disprove. Joseph held manipulated evidence against him.

“You’ll need to meet your brother again as soon as possible,” Aidan said in a quiet voice. “Are you up for this assignment?”

“Yes.” He couldn’t wait to start.

Aidan paused. “Blood is thicker than water, but we need you to be an Indie Rebel first and Bryce’s brother second.”

“I understand. You can count on me.”

“Good. Your meeting with Bryce will have to look like an accident since we can’t afford to let anyone know the Indie Rebels are working on this, including Holly. So let’s work something out with Xavier. You guys call me back as soon as he’s free.”

Jaxon frowned, an uneasy feeling settling in his stomach. “Are you saying we’re making Holly bait?”

“Not exactly. You, Xavier and Eve can work together to make sure she’s safe. But if she decides to employ Bryce as her bodyguard, we can’t stop her. We don’t want to raise anyone’s suspicions, especially Bryce’s, until we’ve rounded up the kidnappers. Remember that Anna Sanders is already missing. Her loved ones want to get her back alive. So it’s up to you to figure out if Bryce has any ulterior motives for being Holly’s bodyguard. The sooner, the better.”

“Okay. Regarding Holly, aren’t we looking at bringing her into the IR fold so she can be bound by our secrecy rules?”

“We can work on this case without Holly needing to know about us, so it’s not necessary for her to become an IR.”

“Of course.” Jaxon already knew that, so why had he asked?

You want Holly to be an IR.

He shook his head at himself. Instead of hoping for a future with Holly, he should be concentrating on Bryce. What would he do if he found out that Bryce was indeed a member of some criminal syndicate?

He took a deep, steadying breath. In his heart of hearts, he believed that Bryce wouldn’t have gotten involved with underworld characters unless he’d been forced to. So if his brother had been sucked into the world of criminals, he’d find a way to get him out.

But until then, he hoped and prayed that his brother wasn’t here to hurt Holly.