Jaxon pretended to check out some men’s jeans inside a store in the shopping mall, watching the popular juice bar up ahead. Bryce was waiting for his order, standing among twenty or so people also hanging around for their beverages.

Jaxon was getting impatient with Bryce not doing or saying anything that would give them a clue as to the plans or whereabouts of the kidnappers. Luckily, he’d been able to leave tiny listening devices in Bryce’s apartment. The IR team in the control centre had heard that Bryce was meeting a guy at a church a block from this mall at three in the afternoon—fifteen minutes from now.

“Found something you like?” the shop assistant said with a wide smile.

He hid a sigh. This woman wouldn’t leave him alone. “No. Just browsing, really,” he said for the fourth time.

“I can show you other styles. You might like the straight cut.”

“I’m okay. Thank you.”

“I’m happy to look for your size.” She eyed his tush.

Ugh, seriously.

He’d better leave and browse in another shop, or he might be forced to buy something.

“Thanks,” he murmured, walking to the exit. But the next song coming out of the shop’s speakers made him stop in his tracks. He’d recognise that voice anywhere, but the song was new. He hadn’t heard it before.

Was it the song Holly had sung last week on TV? He’d deliberately missed the show, choosing to sit in his car outside Bryce’s apartment instead of letting the IR team tell him if his brother had left the building. He simply wasn’t ready to see her.

Thankfully, the paparazzi had stopped following him. They’d probably decided to focus on Holly, which wasn’t bad in itself. The more eyes on Holly, the less likely the chances of her getting kidnapped.

He glanced at Bryce and was suddenly grateful for the busyness of the juice bar. Judging by the number of people waiting, it should take a few more minutes before Bryce got his drink. That should be time enough for Jaxon to listen to the full song.

He touched the material of a shirt hanging on the racks, his ear tuned in to the lyrics.

His heart constricted, and his eyes stung. Holly seemed to be describing what was going on inside of him. And he could feel her emotions as if they were his.

Could this song be about the two of them? Was her heart breaking and twisting and bleeding just as much as his was?

He shook his head. This song couldn’t have been about them. They’d broken up just two weeks ago. Songs took much longer than that to write and produce.

Which meant Holly might have written it regarding some other ex.

Argh!

He really should go. It didn’t do him good listening to Holly. It would only prolong his recovery—if he could ever recover from this. The way he was feeling, he was sure he’d missed out on his one and only love.

He wished he could go running back to her, but he couldn’t. He and his family had scandalous secrets that could be close to being uncovered. He couldn’t risk involving Holly in all this. She already dealt with so much other crap.

“Are you okay?” the saleslady asked. “You look like you wanna cry.”

He faced her. “This shirt reminds me of the one I lost at Bondi beach two years ago. It was my favourite piece of clothing ever.”

“Oh. You wanna replace it?”

He shook his head. “It was irreplaceable. Thank you for being attentive. Bye-bye.” He walked off.

“Bye. Visit us again soon!”

Jaxon glanced at the juice bar. Bryce was gone! Shit.

He looked around and heaved a sigh of relief when he spotted Bryce walking up ahead. He followed unobtrusively.

Soon, Bryce was exiting the mall and turned to the direction of the church.

Jaxon’s heart started beating faster. He hoped this was the time something happened. He was ready to follow whenever Bryce went. He’d even parked his car near the church.

Bryce entered the church grounds and walked towards a temporary structure at the side. The demountable building had an “Office” sign outside, with unused construction materials behind it. It appeared the church was doing some work, although the place was quiet, now that the workers had finished their shift.

Jaxon positioned himself outside a window at the rear of the small building, next to a wall. No one should have a reason to look out here unless they wanted to hide themselves.

“So what time are you picking her up?” a man’s voice said, who sounded very similar to the bearded guy from the suburbs—Alfie Farmer.

“Five o’clock,” said Bryce. “You can’t come. You’ll raise suspicions.”

“So fucking what? She’ll be kidnapped tonight. Who cares if she gets suspicious of me?”

All hairs on Jaxon’s body stood. Who were they talking about?

“Do you think she’d even get in the car with me if she sees a stranger like you?” Bryce said.

“But I won’t be in the car, idiot. I’ll be watching you from some corner, making sure you fucking do the job you were supposed to have done ages ago. You’re lucky you were given a second chance.”

“Holly has the most overprotective family I’ve ever seen,” Bryce said. “Try kidnapping someone when her whole family plays her bodyguard.”

Jaxon steadied himself against the wall. He wanted to barge in there and take Bryce by the scruff of his neck and demand why.

“You had plenty of alone time with her. You stuffed up every opportunity,” Alfie said derisively.

“I don’t think so. It wasn’t safe to take her in any of those times without the risk of being noticed or followed. This is Holly Stirling we’re talking about. Everyone’s eyes are on her wherever she goes.”

“And you let her stay with Jaxon at Avalon. You couldn’t get the fucking bastard to leave Holly alone in the house.”

“Told you her family’s very security conscious. They specifically asked him to keep an eye on Holly. They trust him because he’s Xavier’s friend. It is not easy to kidnap her, so don’t expect tonight to be a walk in the park.”

“What? You already making excuses?”

“No, I’m just saying,” Bryce said coldly.

“So what time are we leaving? You don’t want keep the lady waiting when she’d just re-hired you.”

Jaxon’s mouth dropped? What?

“I told you, not for another two hours. We’ve got plenty of time.”

“So why does she wanna go to Sutton Forest? There’s fucking nothing to do at Sutton Forest.”

“She’s having a girls’ thing with some friends in the hotel there.”

Alfie snorted. “Expensive place. Can’t wait for our cut, ya know. Maybe I’ll take me to some five-star hotel too.”

“Right. Anyway, I think I’ll have coffee around here first before we go pick her up.”

“Okay. You buy.”

The door banged.

Jaxon stayed in place until he heard the men’s footsteps become faint, then he followed as he called Xavier.

“Hey,” Xavier greeted.

“Xave, they’re planning on kidnapping Holly tonight.”

“What?”

“Do you know that Holly has re-hired Bryce and that he’s supposed to drive her to Sutton Forest tonight for a girls’ thing?”

“No! She said she’s staying all day and night at Mum and Dad’s. Let me call her.”

“I want to listen in, please.”

“Okay. This is Holly not wanting to take up my time. Stupid.”

Jaxon heard the ringing of a phone…and Holly’s voicemail message.

“Damn it,” Xavier muttered. “I’ll call Mum. Holly should still be there.”

“Hello, darling,” a woman answered.

“Hi, Mum,” Xavier said. “Can I talk to Holly? She’s not answering her phone.”

“Uh…”

Jaxon frowned at Adele’s hesitation.

“What, Mum?” Xavier prodded.

“She’s not here.”

Jaxon’s heart dropped to his stomach. Holly was supposed to be safe and sound at her parents’ today!

“Where is she?” Xavier asked in a low tone.

Adele sighed heavily. “She’ll be shooting an endorsement commercial for Heavenly Music Spa Retreats so she’s on her way there.”

“Where’s that?”

“Byron Bay.”

Jaxon frowned. Byron Bay?

“You mean Sutton Forest?” Xavier asked.

“No. Byron Bay. What makes you think it’s Sutton Forest?”

“I thought she said something a while ago about that. How can you let her go, Mum? You and Dad are supposed to be her bodyguards this week.”

“She won’t be by herself at Byron Bay. Christine’s going with her. And she asked for the services of Bryce Green for these two days. She trusts him.”

“So Holly and Christine drove to the airport together?”

“Your dad drove them. Then they’re going to meet Bryce at the airport.”

“Whose idea was this?” Xavier asked with frustration.

“Holly begged us not to tell you because she wants to give you a break, and you wouldn’t take it. So, for this particular trip only, we agreed that she could go with a professional bodyguard.”

“What time is her flight?”

“She might be in the air by now. The private plane booked by Heavenly Music was due to leave ten minutes ago.”

Huh? Jaxon frowned. Why was Bryce still here?

“Okay. Thanks, Mum,” Xavier said.

“Don’t get mad at your sister, darling. You know how stressful this has been for her. She doesn’t want to be a burden to us, and she just wants some semblance of normality. Going about her business without us constantly cocooning her is good for her. The important thing is she’s got a professional security detail looking after her.”

“Yeah. Talk to you later.”

“Bye, darling.”

“Jax,” Xavier said after Adele hung up.

“I’m here.”

“That doesn’t make sense, does it?”

“No. Bryce said Sutton Forest. And he’s still here having coffee.”

Xavier exhaled harshly. “I don’t know what’s going on. But if Holly’s plane has already left, I’m gonna call for the IR private jet we were told we can use at any time. I’m going to Byron Bay. I’ll take Eve with me for backup.”

“Okay,” Jaxon said, frustrated he couldn’t be the one to go. “I’ll keep on shadowing Bryce.”

“Copy. I’ll update Aidan.”

“Copy.”

Jaxon stared at his brother from where he was standing. Was Bryce lying to his companion? If so, why?

Parts of the conversation he’d heard earlier flashed in his mind. Alfie had said Bryce had stuffed up his previous kidnapping efforts. But as far as Jaxon could tell, Bryce had never even attempted to physically take Holly, apart from trying to get Jaxon to leave the house so Holly could be alone.

He frowned. Could it be at all possible that Bryce was trying to prevent Holly from being kidnapped?

His breath hitched when Alfie suddenly jumped up from his seat after ending a phone call, then dragged Bryce out of the coffee shop.

Jaxon followed them, his heart galloping.

Alfie was angry. Had their bosses—whoever they were—found out that Bryce had been lying?

Alfie pushed Bryce into the demountable building on the church grounds, and Jaxon hid himself in the same spot as earlier.

“You’ve really done it this time,” Alfie said.

“I swear I don’t know what happened. I was told she was going to Sutton Forest!”

“Sure, sure. We’ve been wondering why you’ve been so inept. Now we’re having a clear picture why. You’re working against us.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. Why would I wanna do that?”

“Maybe you’ve fallen for the bitch.”

Bryce laughed. “She’s pretty, but she’s not my type. Too high maintenance.”

“So call her, Bryce. Call her and let me hear her say that she’s waiting for you to take her to Sutton Forest.”

Silence.

But Jaxon heard footsteps rushing towards their direction.

“You are so dead,” Alfie said. “You better start praying because you are so dead.”

Someone burst into the building.

“Hey, Dom,” Alfie said. “He can’t explain why he lied.”

“You better tell me what’s going on Bryce,” the guy named Dom said.

“I want out,” Bryce said.

The two men laughed out loud.

“You’ve been asking that for years,” Dom said. “Do you really think she’ll say yes this time, especially with this trick you pulled?”

“Everyone will have a better time if I’m not around,” Bryce said dryly, “since I’m so inept at everything.”

“You’re right,” Dom said. “It’ll be better if you’re not around. Get rid of him.”

Jaxon eyes widened. No. Fuck, he didn’t have any weapons with him.

“Right now?” Alfie asked.

“No, next year. Yes, dummy. Right now.”

“Then you won’t know where I kept all my evidence against you,” Bryce said with smugness.

“What do you mean? What evidence?” Alfie demanded.

“If I tell you, you’ll kill me. So I won’t.”

“You’re bluffing.”

“Am I?” Bryce goaded.

“What evidence?” Dom echoed, then there was a bam.

Bryce let out a groan.

Damn it, they were hitting Bryce.

Jaxon raked his hair. He had to come to his brother’s aid.

His mind raced, and he made his decision.

He came out of his hiding place and walked to the door, calling out. “Bryce? Bryce, are you in there?”

There were a few seconds of silence before the door opened. Then Jaxon was face-to-face with the man named Dom.

“Hey,” Jaxon said in a surprised tone. “I thought I saw my brother walk in here. I’m Jaxon.”

“What in the fuck are you doing here?”

Jaxon pretended to be taken aback. “Hey! What’s going on?”

Dom narrowed his eyes. Then he pointed a gun at him. “Get in.”

Shit. Jaxon raised his arms and stepped inside.

He found Alfie aiming a gun at Bryce, whose lip was bleeding. “Bryce!”

“What in the hell are you doing here, Jax?” Bryce asked.

Dom chuckled. “Well, well. Isn’t this a great reunion? What have you told your brother, Bryce?”

Jaxon glared at Dom. So these bastards had known all along that he was Bryce’s brother? How?

“I haven’t told him a single thing,” Bryce said with a snarl. “Let him go. He knows nothing.”

Dom smirked. “Too late now.”

“You fucking let him go!”

“How touching…all this brotherly love.”

“How the hell did you get involved with these assholes, Bryce?” Jaxon asked.

“Oh, you haven’t told him?” Dom said with a laugh. “Go on. Tell him.”

Bryce threw Dom a deadly glare.

“Don’t,” Alfie said, frowning at Dom. “He’s not supposed to.”

“Who cares? I have full authority to get rid of people who are a threat to us, and Bryce has failed us so many times now.”

“Still, that’s not reason enough to off him. You’ll just get yourself in trouble.”

Dom patted his cohort on the shoulder “Alfie, Alfie. Don’t you know you’re also in the bad books?”

Fear flashed on Alfie’s face. “What have I done?”

“You’re supposed to be Bryce’s partner, and since he failed to get his job done, then you’ve failed too.”

“It wasn’t a joint assignment!” Alfie protested.

“You were his partner. But if we get rid of him, you can tell it’s because he was betraying us to this brother of his—who can join him in the afterlife. Then you’ll be a hero.”

“Well…that could work,” Alfie said reluctantly.

“Go ahead,” Bryce piped in. “You’ll regret it very, very much.”

“What do you mean?” Dom asked in a low voice.

“I’ve never been able to stand you, Dom, so I’ve been putting together this nice collection of evidence against you. Remember when you had that fancy dinner in Mexico with the biggest drug lord in the world? I have a photo of the two of you together. And that politician you killed last year? I have this clear video showing you dragging him out of his car. And…well, let’s just say there’s a lot more in my little evidence box.”

“You son of a bitch.” Dom aimed his weapon at Bryce’s head.

“Kill me, and I’ll enjoy watching you go down screaming like a hyena from my perch in heaven or hell—or maybe purgatory.”

Jaxon raised a brow. Bryce was handling this very well. He was impressed with his brother.

Dom stared at Bryce for a long moment. “Okay, I’ll bite. Where is the evidence?”

Bryce snorted. “I’m not stupid, you know.”

Dom inspected the gun in his hand. “See, Bryce, I’m the one who’s holding the aces here, not you.” Then Dom aimed the weapon at Jaxon’s head. “Tell me where the evidence is or I’ll shoot your dearly beloved brother. You know I’ll do it.”

Jaxon inhaled deeply. He had to stay alive to help Bryce get them out of this mess—and save Holly. “Tell him where it is, Bryce. I don’t wanna die yet. I wanna watch this bastard go down squealing like a pig while I’m having a beer with you and Mum.”

“I like that picture,” Bryce quipped.

Dom glared at them both. “You two are just annoying the hell out of me. My trigger finger is getting twitchy. I think I’ll relieve it.”

“Hey,” Alfie interjected. “Why don’t we take them to the headquarters? Maybe Boss Lady can make him talk. And she’d want to know about this evidence too.”

Dom smirked. “Yeah. I think she’ll have fun with them. Wait here while I check.” Then Dom walked out of the room.

Jaxon’s breath hitched, assessing the situation. Could he take on Alfie without Dom coming back in and shooting at them?

No. Too risky. Besides, he’d like to be taken to their headquarters, wherever that was.

“Do you have evidence against me?” Alfie asked Bryce.

“No. I’ve nothing against you.”

Alfie looked relieved. “So is it all about Dom?”

Bryce didn’t answer, smiling mysteriously.

“What about Rod? You hate the fucker too, don’t you?”

Bryce continued to smile.

“I hope you have something against Rod,” Alfie said bitterly. “The idiot slept with my girlfriend. Ex-girlfriend.”

“Yeah. Heard about that.”

Dom came back in. “We’re going to the headquarters with these two.”

Jaxon’s heart thumped hard. Perfect.

Except that his phone started vibrating in his pocket, making a soft but distinctive sound that was obvious enough in the small space.

“What’s that?” Alfie said.

“It’s someone’s phone,” Dom said, straining his ear. Then he reached for Jaxon’s pocket.

Jaxon was tempted to unarm Dom, but with Alfie pointing his weapon at him, he decided it wasn’t a good idea.

“It’s your friend, Xavier Stirling,” Dom said with a smirk before chucking Jaxon’s phone in the bin. “And you know what, Bryce? I can’t trust you anymore. Drop your phone in here too.”

Glaring, Bryce did as he was told.

Jaxon gritted his teeth. Now how on earth would the IR track him?