Fast Burn (Body Armor #4)(71)

“Thank you. I think I will.” She checked a nail. “So, what did the bitch say about me?”

Brand gave a short laugh of surprise. “Bitch, huh?” He really did enjoy her attitude.

“I know her better than you.”

“I get that. So tell me, what happened with the men she hired from Body Armor? They told Scott what she’d done?”

Sahara nodded. “She’d been after Scott for a while so she was always on her best behavior around him. He never saw her more devious, cutthroat side. Mostly he considered her a spoiled princess type, but not really dangerous. She’d told Scott that yes, she’d flirted with the men after having too much to drink, but that she hadn’t meant any harm. It came down to her perception against theirs, and Scott decided they’d only misunderstood. He didn’t want to condemn her after one incident, you know? Men,” she said in disgust. “They never seem to realize how lethal women can be.”

Suddenly, Brand knew that Sahara had taken matters into her own hands. “What did you do?”

With a careless shrug, she explained, “She was doing her best to get the guards into trouble, and that really infuriated me, especially when Scott didn’t one hundred percent side with them.”

“You went against your brother?”

“I protected my brother...by warning her off.” As if she thought he might criticize her for it, she rushed on, saying, “Scott had done the same for me plenty of times. He was always checking up on anyone I dated, so I just returned the favor. He seemed blinded to her true nature, but I sure wasn’t. So I...had her followed.”

“Wow,” Brand said. Sahara’s relationship with her brother was nothing short of incredible. To him, it sounded like they were close, but also adversarial.

And for sure, Scott overstepped—often.

Memories had her scowling. “I ended up with some juicy recordings of her in some very bizarre acts.”

“Bizarre how?”

She huffed out a breath. “I’d love to give you every gory detail, but part of my deal with her was that I wouldn’t expose her if she’d stay away from Scott. Let’s just say the rumors are true and leave it at that.”

He imagined Chelsea Tuttle causing harm and it turned his stomach. “One question, okay?”

“All right.”

“Did she always have willing partners?”

Loathing hung heavy in her tone when Sahara replied, “Unfortunately, no, and that’s where I drew the line. I reported her to the DA.”

“Douglas Grant?”

“Yes. Because he knew her better than I did, and because I’d agreed not to expose her, I took Grant’s word that he’d handle it.”

“Since he told me she’s like a niece to him, I gather he did nothing?”

“No, he didn’t—the lying bastard.”

Brand knew her well enough to guess. “You took matters into your own hands?”

“In a way. I told Chelsea that if I ever heard of her enacting her sick games on anyone else, or if she ever sought out my brother again, I’d happily destroy her. Publicly, financially and with some physical harm thrown in.”

Yup, that sounded like the Sahara he knew and lo—Brand pulled up short on that thought. It was too soon, too many things were up in the air, and...the idea of caring that much unsettled him.

But he couldn’t keep from touching her.

Reaching across the seat, he rested his hand over Sahara’s thigh. “You’re a hell of a great sister, Sahara.”

“I wonder if Scott would agree.” She covered his hand with her own. “So spill. What did the evil one say about me?”

“Well, it makes more sense now, but basically she said you were a nuisance at Body Armor.”

“Of all the nerve.”

She sounded only mildly insulted, so Brand guessed she’d been expecting something worse. “I shut her down.”

“Did you?”

“Accused her of being jealous.” He grinned. “She didn’t take it well.”

“I notice it didn’t get her off you.”

“No, I’m not sure anything short of a crowbar would have accomplished that. The lady was grabby.”

“Lady is hardly an apt description. Just be glad you didn’t go off alone with her. God only knows what would have happened to you.”

Since he knew he could hold his own against a woman, no matter how devious or twisted she might be, Brand laughed.

They chatted for another twenty minutes while driving, until Sahara got out her phone.

“Who are you calling?”

“Just trying to reply to that text again.”

He waited while she thumbed in a message. “And?”

“Still not received.” She dropped the phone back into her purse. “It is so frustrating.”

Brand wondered when she would mention her suspicion. He knew who she thought had sent that text.

After everything that had happened, damned if he wasn’t starting to think it possible, too.

Instead of saying what she had on her mind, she went back to her nemesis. “I still say you looked awfully cozy with Chelsea.”

“I was shaking her off and you know it. You’re the one who let your kidnapper crawl into your space.”