Fast Burn (Body Armor #4)(100)

Blustering, Scott stormed up to them. “You’re thanking him?”

Still calm personified, Brand glanced at Scott. “You’re next.”

Sahara’s heart had just started to settle into a normal rhythm, and now it leaped into overtime again. “No, Brand.”

Antagonistic, Scott said, “Fine by me.”

Facing her brother, Sahara growled, “I just got you back, you have a bullet wound on your arm and a knock on your head.”

Scott’s jaw flexed. “I can handle myself.”

“That’s what Ross said, and now he’s a mess out in the hallway!”

Trying to provoke Brand, he shrugged. “Ross probably held back for fear of losing his immunity deal. I won’t be hampered the same way.”

Brand grinned in anticipation.

She’d never realized how foolish her brother could be. She’d always idolized him, thought him the most brilliant man alive, but now she had to reevaluate.

If he thought he could go toe-to-toe with Brand, he was worse than foolish.

Hoping to placate him, she said, “Usually, I’m sure you’re more than capable, but not this time. This time,” she emphasized, “you’re up against a professional MMA fighter.”

His eyes narrowed—and he withdrew a gun. “Then maybe I should even the odds.”

“Scott!”

“I won’t let any man take advantage of you, hon.”

She gasped in outrage. “Who says he is?”

Growing more pugnacious, Scott rationalized his assumptions, saying, “He knows you’re wealthy and influential—”

Scoffing, Brand said, “I know, but it doesn’t matter to me.”

“It matters to every man.”

“You’re a fool. Sahara could be dead broke and it wouldn’t change how I feel.”

Scott lifted the gun higher. “I’m not convinced.”

“And I don’t give a shit what you think.” Still with Sahara in front of him, Brand kicked out—and the gun went flying. It landed on the polished surface of the table, skittered along the length of it and fell to the floor with a thud.

He’d moved so fast, it took Sahara a second to realize what had happened.

Cursing, Scott shook his hand, then clutched his fingers, his face a grimace of pain.

He cursed again when Sahara punched him in the stomach. “Ow, damn! What was that for?”

Incredulous that he would do such a thing, she hissed, “A gun, Scott? You would have shot him? Have you lost your mind?”

Scott studied her. “For you, there’s nothing I wouldn’t do.” Then curiously, he asked, “Would you mind so much?”

“Of course I would mind!” Her shrill voice embarrassed her so she struggled to regain some control. Tone lower now, bordering on demonic, she said, “I would never forgive you if you dared to shoot him.”

“He couldn’t,” Brand said with confidence.

She jerked around to face him. “That’s enough from you.”

Brand only smiled.

Scott scowled at Brand, then at Sahara. “You sound like a woman in love.”

Maybe if the past twenty-four hours hadn’t been so insanely chaotic, she would have thought before speaking, but never in her life had she been so frazzled, and she snapped, “Of course I love him.” She waved a hand at Brand. “You’ve met him. You see how incredible he is. How could I not love him?”

After an arrested moment of silence, Brand and Scott both laughed.

*

ALL IN ALL, Brand thought, he felt pretty good.

Now that they had a way to lock up the threats, Sahara was finally safe.

He’d made his point with Ross. The man had finally held up both hands, saying, “Enough! No woman is worth all this.”

“There’s where you’re wrong,” Brand had told him, then he’d hit him again. He’d left Ross nearly unconscious, swearing off all women—Sahara included.

Good thing, because Sahara was his.

She loved him.

She’d shouted as much at her brother.

Brand wanted to hear it again once they were alone. They had a lot to discuss, a future to plan, but he could be patient while she and her brother settled their own conflicts.

After Sahara glared Scott into silence, he cleared his throat. “Seriously, though. He’s not right for you, hon.”

Knowing how she felt about her brother’s opinion, Brand stiffened. Now that he knew Sahara loved him, he wouldn’t let Scott or anyone else get in his way.

He took a step toward her brother. “You don’t want to go there.”

Scott ignored him. “I’m right, though, aren’t I? He knew you were wealthy before he ever pursued you.”

“Actually,” she said, “I pursued him. And I don’t mind admitting that he wasn’t easy to catch.”

Brand felt compelled to say, “That’s not true. I just didn’t want to work for you.”

“Why work for her, when you have an easier path to get what you want?”

God, her brother was as misguided as a man could be. It was almost funny.

“You heard him,” Sahara said. “My bank account doesn’t matter to him.”

Gently, Scott said, “I wish I could believe that.”