Sitting in the old truck he’d borrowed, the same one he’d used when pretending to be a lowly deck boy to get close to Lana, Anandur waited for Brundar’s Escalade to leave the underground garage and hit the street.

It was an underhanded, dishonest, and all around crappy thing to do, but Anandur was sick and tired of his brother’s secrecy. Today, he was going to check out the mystery woman who had his brother wrapped around her little finger.

The guy was so inexperienced with women that a smart one could’ve taken advantage of him. Having plenty of sex, even the kinky kind, didn’t make Brundar an expert on female manipulation or immune to the magic some women wielded.

On the contrary. All those silly contracts and agreements they insisted on in those places defined the rules of the game and left little to chance.

Real life didn’t work like that.

And if all Brundar was familiar with were hookers who did what they were asked to, and or kink partners who did what was written in their contract, he was in for a very rude awakening.

Out in the real world, where emotion ruled supreme, Brundar was like a helpless little lamb. It took acumen and experience to decipher women’s intentions. They were so much more careful and subtle in their scheming than men. Anandur wasn’t going to let some shrewd manipulator take advantage of his brother.

He didn’t have to wait long.

The good thing about Brundar’s rigidity was that he tended to follow an exact timetable, and his routine made it easy to anticipate his moves. That was how Anandur had discovered his brother was a regular visitor to a nightclub, which had seemed odd until Anandur had learned about the basement level, which housed a secret kink club.

Naturally, Anandur kept pretending like he didn’t know. It wasn’t a big deal. Brundar was entitled to his privacy, and his sex life was none of Anandur’s business. He just wanted to make sure his brother was safe.

One slip was enough for a lifetime. It had cost Brundar his soul, and laid a burden of guilt on Anandur that he was still carrying around every day of his goddamn life. Even though Brundar was more than capable of taking care of himself, Anandur couldn’t let go of the constant worry.

Thank fuck Brundar’s car was a monster. It made following him from a good distance easy. Not that it would be a big deal if Brundar caught him spying on him. Anandur could always claim it was a lark.

Heading in the direction of the club, Brundar stopped a couple of blocks away from it and parked his car next to an apartment building. A few moments later he came down with a girl who was wearing the nightclub’s T-shirt.

Was he picking up a waitress? Or was this the mystery woman?

She was a looker, that was for sure, but a bit too skinny and delicate for Anandur’s taste. He liked his women sturdier, but then his size demanded it. Brundar, on the other hand, wasn’t as big or as bulky, which made the girl perfect for him.

Just like her body, her face was small and delicate. Her honey-colored hair was pulled in a ponytail, but he could tell it was long. It wasn’t straight either. The ends curled up.

He’d parked a considerable distance away, so other details like her eye color and the exact shape of her lips remained a mystery.

Not a problem. Once Brundar left for his rotation tonight, Anandur would go in and have a talk with the little missy.

Heck, he didn’t even have to follow them to the club. He would come later after Brundar left.

At nine o'clock, Anandur parked in the guest parking lot of the club and headed for the entry. He nodded at the bouncer, who nodded back, a professional courtesy from one guardian to another. Different positions, and yet similar. They were both keeping the good guys safe.

The receptionist was cute, and Anandur flirted with her because he always did. When she took his money, she gave him a coupon for one free drink, and he felt bad about leading her on.

“Enjoy,” she said.

“I will.”

She looked disappointed that he didn’t take his flirting further than that. It was too bad. If he weren’t on a mission, and this wasn’t his brother’s playground, he would’ve asked when she was getting off and arranged for a hookup.

It was mid-week, so the club wasn’t packed, or maybe it was still too early. Whatever the reason for the sparse clientele, it made it easier locating the two waitresses and figuring which area Brundar’s girl was in charge of.

He took a seat and waited.

A few minutes later she arrived. The tag attached to her T-shirt identified her as Calypso. An unusual name, but he liked it.

“What can I get for you?” she asked with a pleasant smile of a professional waitress.

He took a good look at the girl as she placed a napkin on his table. Beautiful, in a fragile small-boned way. Except, he had a feeling she was nothing but. There was strength in those small bones that had nothing to do with their physical composition.

Nice. Brundar had good taste.

“Chivas, please.”

For some reason, his choice of drink made her narrow her pretty green eyes at him as if she was trying to figure out where she’d seen him before. He was about to crack a joke when she waved a finger at him.

“I know who you are.”

“And who might that be?” He leaned his elbows on the table and cast her a flirtatious glance from under his long lashes. Not that he had any intentions of hooking up with Brundar’s woman, but he wanted to see what she would do.

Calypso bent a little and lowered her voice. “You’re Brundar’s brother. Right?”

That took him by surprise. “How did you know?”

She smirked. “He described you as really big with lots of crinkly red hair all over your face and body. I doubt many guys fit that description.”

“Busted. I’m Anandur.”

He offered his hand, and she shook it, pointing to her name tag. “Calypso.”

“Nice to meet you, Calypso. May I ask why are you whispering?”

She leaned closer. “He uses the name Brad around here. Besides, I don’t want anyone to notice us talking. He would get mad if he knew you came spying on him.”

“I’m not spying on him. I just happened to stop by for a drink.”

She shook her head. “Right. And I’m Sleeping Beauty.”

Anandur couldn’t help himself. “A beauty you are, just not a sleeping one.”

She waved her finger at him again. “Flirting with your brother’s girlfriend is against the bro code.”

Anandur grinned. He liked the girl, but he wasn’t done poking at her. “Are you his girlfriend?”

That must’ve hit a nerve because she grimaced. “Sort of. We are exclusive, but he told me not to get my hopes up because he is married to his job.”

The girl had just done a clever role reversal, milking him for information.

Anandur nodded. “He is, and so am I. Did he tell you what we do?” He was curious how much his tight-lipped brother had revealed to the girl.

“He said you both work as bodyguards for your cousin who is an important businessman. But I know it’s more than that. Your brother has contacts everywhere.” Her eyes holding his with an unwavering gaze, she waited for him to spill some more information.

Gutsy girl. Clever too.

What Anandur wanted to know, however, was who Brundar had mentioned to her and why.

“We’ve been in this business for many years, so naturally we got to know a lot of people. Anyone specific you’re referring to?”

Calypso narrowed her eyes again. “I don’t know if it’s okay for me to talk about it. I know you’re his brother, and you work together, but I’m not going to drop names without asking him if it’s okay first.”

Gutsy, smart, and loyal. Anandur approved.

He clasped her delicate hand. “I prefer he didn’t know I came here. Brundar is a secretive bastard. I just wanted to make sure he was okay.”

She shook her head. “You guys and your appalling choice of words. You’re not bastards. You’re love children.”

Anandur laughed. “Did you tell him that?”

“You bet I did.”

She was just too cute. “Good for you. Our mother is sending her thanks.”

Pulling her hand out of his grasp, she glanced around. “Let me get you your drink and see what those guys want.” She tilted her head toward the next table over. “I’ve been standing here for too long. We’ll talk some more when I come back.

“I’ll be here.”

When she returned with his Chivas, it was just the way he liked it. Straight, no ice. Brundar had taught her well.

“Can you take a break so we can talk outside?”

“I can, but it’s not a good idea. Donnie, the bouncer outside, is keeping an eye on me for Brundar. He would tell him I talked with a big red-haired guy and you’d get busted.”

“We are talking now.”

“Not the same. Lots of guys like to talk.” She winked. “And we are not supposed to be rude to customers unless they get handsy.”

He nodded. “I wish we could talk some more.”

“Me too. I wanted to invite you to dinner, but Brundar said no. He is a tough nut to crack.”

Anandur pulled out a pen and wrote his phone number on a napkin. “For emergencies.” He handed it to her. “Or if you just need someone to talk to. I know my brother is not easy to be with. He has his issues, but he is a good man.”

“What issues?” Calypso took the napkin and stuffed it in the back pocket of her black jeans.

“Oh, you know.” Anandur waved a dismissive hand, regretting his slip of the tongue. Brundar’s secret was safe with him. No one knew what had happened all those years ago, not even their mother. He’d sworn to take it to his grave. “He is brooding and rigid and has no sense of humor. It takes a special girl to stick around a charmer like him.”

Calypso put a hand on her hip. “He is also honorable, loyal, and brave.”

Anandur liked her even better for defending Brundar. She was a keeper. For a little while, at least. What a shame the girl was a human.

“That he is.”