“Hello, Mum,” Jaxon said, giving his mother a kiss as she entered his city apartment.

“Hello, Jax. You look good.”

“Thank you. So do you.” He was glad his mother did look great, apart from the hint of apprehension in her eyes.

“Where’s Bryce?”

“He’s coming. Have a seat. I’m just making some salad to go with the spaghetti we’re having for dinner.”

Tonia smiled. “You cooked? That’s nice.”

He shrugged. He wasn’t a bad cook, and since this was a big reunion for the three of them, he thought he’d make some effort. He finished preparing the salad while Tonia volunteered to set the table.

The security buzzer rang, and Jaxon checked the video screen on the panel. Bryce was sitting in his car by the entrance to the building’s basement parking.

“Come on in, bro,” Jaxon said, pressing the button to open the gate. He turned to smile at his mother. “Are you excited?”

Tonia’s eyes watered as she nodded. “I wish things were different, but this is good enough.”

“No, Mum. It doesn’t have to be like this. Now that you believe us, we can try exposing Joseph for what he really is.”

Tonia smiled sadly. “Really, Jax? He’s a supreme court judge who knows the best lawyers in the state. They’d probably accuse me of covering up for my sons or something like that.”

Jaxon shook his head but didn’t respond. He’d wait for Bryce to back him up.

Soon, Bryce was knocking on the door.

Tonia rushed to open it. “Bryce,” she cried, staring at Bryce for a long second before throwing her arms around her younger son.

“Hey, Mum,” Bryce said, hugging Tonia hard. “Good to see you.”

“I missed you,” Tonia said, sobbing.

“Me too,” Bryce said tearfully.

Jaxon’s eyes welled up as well, the scene before him hitting him hard in the chest. When the two parted, Jaxon ushered them to the dining table. “Let’s eat while we talk. The food will get cold.”

“Wow, thanks, bro,” Bryce said, pulling out a chair for Tonia before sitting down himself.

Jaxon let his mother and brother do some catching up, content to simply listen to their conversation. When they’d finished eating and there was a lull, he reluctantly brought up the topic Tonia didn’t want to talk about. “So, Mum, tell us what’s stopping you from leaving Joseph.”

Tonia sighed. “You might find this hard to believe, but he’s really treating me well.”

Jaxon refrained from rolling his eyes. “Do you believe that?” he asked Bryce.

Bryce stared at Tonia for a long moment. “Well, yes.”

“Come on,” Jaxon said. “You know Mum’s just scared.”

“Scared for you two, but not for me,” Tonia declared.

“Look, Mum, you can trust us,” Jaxon said in a gentler tone. “We’ll find a way to get to him without any of us being so damned scared of what he can do as retaliation.”

“What way, exactly?” Bryce asked with sarcasm.

Jaxon let out a heavy breath. “I don’t know how exactly yet, but I know we’ll unmask Joseph one of these days.”

“What do you plan to do?” Tonia asked sharply.

“Do you know anyone else he could be manipulating or threatening?”

Tonia shook her head. “No. But please, let’s just be happy we’re back together. Sometimes, there are things we should leave alone for the good of everyone. You’re both doing well in your careers. Why rock the boat?”

“I agree with you, Mum,” Bryce said.

Jaxon glared at his brother. “We’re encouraging her to leave him, remember?”

“Yes. But if Mum’s telling the truth and she wants to stay, then I don’t think we should force her.”

“Joseph’s not creating any trouble for us right now, Jax,” Tonia said. “But if you confront him, do you really think he’ll take it lying down? He has a massive reputation to protect.”

“Which I can’t wait to tear into shreds,” Jaxon muttered.

Tonia placed a hand on his arm. “Please think about this very carefully. Please. He’s really good with me. That’s God’s honest truth. I think he was just really jealous of you boys back then. He didn’t know how to handle you when you both so obviously hated him.”

“Because he walked into our lives and started taking your money,” Jaxon said heatedly. “Bryce and I might have been the biggest pain in his ass, but what he did to us was so much worse than the aggravation we gave him.”

Tonia’s eyes misted. “Whatever he’s done, I think he’s sorry. Very sorry. But I’m also sure he’ll never actually apologise as long as you boys are out for revenge. He knows that admitting he’s done those things would put him in a very tricky spot. So what if you just forgive and forget?”

Jaxon and Bryce snorted together.

Tonia exhaled heavily. “For all our sakes, let it go. At least for now. Let’s just enjoy being together again. I, for one, would like to have dinner like this at least once a month, if not more often. He doesn’t have to know, and we won’t have to deal with unnecessary upheaval.”

Bryce lifted his glass of water. “I’ll drink to that.”

Jaxon reluctantly clinked glasses with his brother and mother, a thought bugging the hell out of him. “Bryce, when you called me in the middle of the night to see Mum, what made you so nervous? You were so adamant then we needed to help her leave Joseph.”

Bryce glanced at Tonia. “She sounded scared. She kept telling me not to come. But then I realised it was probably because Joseph could arrive home at any minute.”

“That’s exactly what it was,” Tonia said with a laugh. “I so wanted to see you, but I was worried it was bad timing.”

Jaxon kept quiet for the rest of the dinner, his mind turning here, there and everywhere.

Could it be possible that Joseph had acted against him and Bryce alone? He had to admit it was strange that the Indie Rebels, with its phenomenal resource for information gathering, couldn’t find anything else against Joseph. Apparently, except for Jaxon’s and Bryce’s accusations—which weren’t discoverable anywhere—Joseph had an outstanding record. Jaxon could see how the guy had made it to the Supreme Court.

Good thing the Indie Rebels trusted him enough to believe his claims and continue to investigate. If it were the police, they’d never believe him, hence, the reason he still couldn’t take any action against Joseph. How infuriating!

Three hours later, Tonia announced she was going home. “When are we going to do this again?” she asked as she gave her two sons a tight hug.

“A month?” Bryce said.

“How about much sooner than that?” Jaxon asked. “Just so we don’t have to wait too long for you to feed us.”

“Ooh, that would be great,” Tonia said, grinning. “I’d love to taste your cooking, Bryce. And I’d love to see your apartment.”

Bryce smirked. “Fine. Let me check my schedule with my client, and I’ll let you know when.”

“It’s a shame you can’t tell me who your client is. I’m intrigued,” Tonia said, walking to the door.

“NDA,” Bryce said.

Tonia rolled her eyes. “I know. Well, I hope to see you both again in a few days. Maybe next week, if that’s possible. There’s still so much for us to catch up on.”

“Sure,” Bryce said.

“Bye, darlings,” Tonia said, blowing them a kiss as she walked out the door.

After they were alone, Jaxon turned to Bryce. “How was that?”

Bryce smiled. “Great. I’m glad to see that Mum’s okay. I hope she wasn’t lying about Joseph treating her well.”

“I know. But I can’t believe you’re happy to let Joseph get away with it.”

“It’s more that I don’t want my life ruined. We’ve got to pick our battles, Jax. This is not something that will end well for us.”

Jaxon sighed. “I see where you’re coming from. But I just don’t want to live the rest of my life with Joseph’s threat hanging over my head.”

“But it’s not going to hurt you if it remains like this. You’ve lived with it for ten years and look at you. Look at what you’ve achieved. He hasn’t done anything to mess up your life since, has he?”

Jaxon rubbed his face. No. He and Joseph hadn’t met or said a word to each other for a long time. But if the media found out about him and Holly, they might discover he and Bryce had met with their mother. That could result in untold problems for everyone. So he had to neutralise Joseph’s ridiculous threat or it would affect his relationship with Holly.

“Sorry to hear that the paps are starting to camp outside your Avalon place,” Bryce said.

Jaxon refrained from giving his brother a scrutinising stare. “Yeah, I don’t know who tipped them.”

“Holly said she’s staying at her brother’s tonight. Do you know her plans from tomorrow onwards? She said she’s discussing it with Xavier.”

“No. I don’t think she’s made a decision yet.”

Bryce let out a loud breath. “I hope she doesn’t cut my hours.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, Holly said to me when I first started that Xavier’s pretty keen to play her bodyguard. She said he’s on the overprotective side. I got that vibe too. Anyway, if she’s staying at his place indefinitely, he might want to drive her to and from the studio. Or maybe Eve will. So she might just call on me every now and again.”

“Right,” Jaxon murmured.

“Hey, maybe you can talk to her family—tell them it’s still a good idea for Holly to have a professional bodyguard.”

Jaxon put on a thoughtful face. “I won’t mind doing that, but don’t forget they have no idea we’re related. They might wonder why I’m putting in a good word for you when we’re not supposed to know each other well.”

“I’m not saying talk me up. I mean tell them she needs a professional bodyguard. She’s staying at Xavier’s, and he’s a strong and capable guy, but he’s totally inexperienced as a security personnel.”

“Yeah, okay.” Jaxon was glad Bryce had no idea the kind of training he and Xavier had been undergoing for the Indie Rebels. It was these kinds of secrets that kept them one step ahead of criminals.

The more he spent time with Bryce, the more he didn’t want to think that his brother wanted to hurt Holly in any way. Unfortunately, Bryce exhibited more suspicious behaviour than even Joseph had.

Bryce picked up his wallet and keys from the coffee table and patted him on the back. “Thanks, bro. Anyway, I better head off too.”

“Okay. Any other plans for tonight?”

“Nah. Heading home to chill out.”

“Cool. See ya.”

“See ya.”

Jaxon closed the door behind Bryce and went to his bedroom to change to all-black attire. Then he called Aidan.

“Jax,” Aidan said.

“Bryce is about to leave my building. I just need you to see where he’s heading until I can catch up to him.”

“Copy. Hacking CCTVs around your area now.”

“Thanks.”

Jaxon hung up and exited his apartment. He took the elevator down to the basement car park and headed for one of only a few lock-up garages. He got into the IR-owned black SUV hiding in there, then drove out.

Aidan rang him. “He’s at Sussex Street, and it looks like he’s heading for the Anzac Bridge.”

“Copy.” He pressed on the accelerator.

“Anything he or your mum said that can help with the investigations?”

“No. Although Bryce has now changed his mind about convincing Mum to leave Joseph. He said there’s no need to rock the boat when Mum has said Joseph treats her well.”

“An IR has been following your mother. She hasn’t been doing anything suspicious. Apparently, she also looks relaxed and happy around Joseph.”

Jaxon inhaled sharply. “Right. That’s good to know.”

“Bryce has gone on the Anzac Bridge. He’s sitting in the left lane, so could be going straight up the City-West Link.”

“Okay. I’m almost there.” Jaxon switched lanes, overtaking a few cars.

“I see you. He’s about fifteen cars ahead of you.”

Passing a few more cars, Jaxon spotted his brother’s vehicle. “Got him. I can handle it from here.”

“Good. Chat later.” Then Aidan hung up.

Jaxon smirked. The man had to be busy with other cases. Did Aidan ever go out on the field?

He concentrated on following Bryce without being detected. Clearly, Bryce wasn’t going home “to chill out”. He’d never seen him go this way before.

Forty minutes later, Bryce cruised into a sleepy, residential suburb, then stopped in front of a bungalow.

Jaxon slowed to a stop, parking his vehicle a good distance away, then hurriedly went on foot towards the house Bryce had gone into.

Good thing the area was so leafy that the trees filtered a lot of the light coming from the street lamps. With his all-black attire, he should be inconspicuous.

He stayed low and hid behind Bryce’s car parked in the driveway of the house. Seeing no signs of movement inside, he scampered to the rear of the property. He spotted Bryce through a window, arguing with a much older, stocky, bearded man.

Jaxon moved closer to hear what they were saying, crouching low.

“You’re a fucking incompetent fool!” the bearded man said.

“It’s not that easy!” Bryce answered.

“You’re gonna have to explain,” Bearded Man said menacingly. “This is taking too long.”

“I know, I know.”

“Well, let’s go. We can’t make them wait, or I’ll be in fucking trouble too.”

Jaxon heard the back door open and scrambled to hide behind a water tank. He saw the two men get into Bryce’s car and leave.

He called Aidan as he hurried back in his car.

“Jax.”

“Are you tracking me?”

“I know where you are.”

“Can you get visual? Bryce left in his car with a heavy-set, bearded man, probably in his fifties. The man was berating Bryce for being an incompetent fool. No idea what it’s about, but we have to assume it’s Holly.”

“Hang on.”

Jaxon got in his vehicle and headed in the direction Bryce car’s had gone.

“There are no CCTV’s around that area I can hack,” Aidan said with a harsh sigh. “Let me see if I can pick them up on the main road.”

“Damn,” Jaxon muttered. He drove for a few minutes, but there was no sign of Bryce’s car. “Aidan?” he prompted after a long moment.

“Sorry. Can’t see them. There’s just not enough cameras around there. What’s the address of the house?”

Jaxon gave it to Aidan.

“I’ll check it out. But you know what I’m thinking? If Bryce is supposed to kidnap Holly, he would already have tried it, especially if he had a deadline.”

Jaxon took a deep breath. That made him feel slightly better. “But even if this isn’t about kidnapping Holly, I think it’s time we push Bryce out of his bodyguard position. Whatever hope I had that he’s not involved with something shady is gone, and I don’t want to risk Holly’s safety anymore.”

“Agree. I’ll run some checks on the address you gave me, and we’ll assess if there’s enough for the police to act. If not, we’ll keep this to ourselves for now. We don’t want to risk our operations being messed up.”

“Okay.”

“And be careful what you tell Holly about Bryce. Smith Security would want to investigate him, and they’d want you to explain how you knew. We don’t want them to ask any questions that would lead to them to speculate that the Indie Rebels are involved. They could guess you’re an IR, and we want to avoid that at all cost.

“I know. I’ll talk to Xavier. We’ll come up with something to convince Holly she doesn’t need Bryce anymore.”

“Copy. I’ll raise this with the think tank and determine our next steps.”

“Thanks. Bye.”

Jaxon hung up, shaking his head. Two people who meant a lot to him were involved in a dangerous unknown. It was paramount he keep Holly safe.

He also needed to find out what on earth had Bryce gotten himself into—because he’d do anything to save his brother from sinking deeper into the mire.