Chapter Twenty

“Whomever the person was that Fighter met has money,” Felix said.

Brick rocked back in his office chair and drummed his fingers on the glass surface of his desk that was located in Cobalt’s bullpen.

“What’d I miss?” Syn asked from the doorway. His brother entered and quickly took the vacant seat next to Felix.

“I just told Brick that whomever it was that Fighter met yesterday has money.”

“True.” Syn nodded. “They bought out the restaurant completely. I couldn’t even get in using our name.”

“Why would they?” Felix snorted and then froze when they both smirked at him. “Wait…You said you were rich, but just how rich are we talking?”

“Very.” Syn rolled his eyes.

Felix squinted at Brick.

“What he said.” Brick jerked his chin at Syn.

“Okay, so giving your name to the restaurant manager didn’t surpass whomever was in there,” Felix said.

“Yeah. But the manager looked surprised. Like he recognized my name, but still wouldn’t budge. I couldn’t even get a glimpse of the customer or Fighter at all. And that’s fucking interesting,” Syn said.

“Interesting?” Felix gave a small laugh. “I’d say we’re fucked finding out who it was.”

“Keep digging,” Brick said, and checked his phone. It stayed stubbornly silent. He’d thought he’d receive a text from Fighter after last night, but so far, nothing. After the movie, Fighter had kicked, in a nice way, both him and Mark out. While Mark got into his newer SUV and drove away, Brick had called Gunner to take over watching Fighter’s place.

“Hey, mom wants us home for dinner Sunday,” Syn said, jogging back to the room.

“Not this Sunday, we have the stalker case. Which reminds me.” Brick punched in Bishop’s number.

“Hello?”

“Bishop, it’s Brick. I have you on speaker and Felix and Syn are here.”

“Okay…”

“I don’t think the people who broke into the facility are Fighter’s stalker.”

“Me neither.”

“Which makes me think a few things. One, he doesn’t have a stalker and is being harassed by someone. Or two, his stalker is powerful and those were his men.”

“I’ve been in touch with the detective on the case. He said the men that were caught aren’t talking,” Bishop said.

“That probably means whomever they report to has a fuck ton of money,” Syn said.

“Probably.”

“Does Fighter owe anyone money?” Brick asked.

Silence greeted them over the phone when Bishop stayed quiet. Syn’s eyebrows lifted and his brother held his gaze. Felix shifted in his chair and shook his head.

“Bishop, we can’t help if we don’t have all the facts,” Brick said.

“I can’t tell you that information.”

“Because you don’t know it or you refuse to?” Syn snapped.

“I can’t. You need to ask Fighter. If he knew I was talking to you about his personal business, he’d be so hurt.”

“What if it’s for his own safety?” Brick growled, squeezing his hands.

“I’m sorry.” Bishop ended the call.

“That motherfucker.” Syn dropped back in his chair with a scowl on his pretty face.

“Don’t blame Bishop,” Brick said. “I’ll go talk to Fighter.”

Spinning around in his chair, he sent a text to Fighter.

Brick: “You free?”

Fighter: “Nope” A smiley face accompanied the word.

Brick: “LOL.”

Fighter: “Why?”

Brick: “I want another date.”

Fighter: Tongue poking emoji.

Brick: “Bah.” Sad face emoji

Fighter: “Just kidding, big guy.” Heart emoji. “I’m out of town.”

Brick frowned. Who was watching the kids? What took Fighter out of town? Where the hell was he? How the fuck did he get away from Gunner, who was supposed to be tailing Fighter?

Brick: “Where’d you go?”

Fighter: “I’m on the way to a job in Arizona.”

Brick fired off a text to Gunner.

Brick: “Where are you?”

Gunner: “On my way to Arizona….”

Brick: “Did you tell Felix?”

Gunner: “No.”

Brick: “Why not?”

Gunner: “I didn’t have time. I’m on the plane, I was going to call when we landed.”

Brick turned to Felix, who gazed at him wide-eyed.

“Do you know where Gunner is?”

“Tailing Fighter,” Felix said.

“Essentially, yes. But he’s on a plane to Arizona without backup.”

Shock and then hurt filled Felix’s eyes and face before he turned quickly away. Syn reached over and placed a hand on Felix’s forearm.

“You okay?” Syn said.

Felix nodded.

“Want me to go instead?”

Rather than answer, Felix nodded at Syn, who stood up and tossed Brick a quick worried glance. “I’ll contact you once I catch up with Gunner. I’m taking the chopper.”

“Thanks, Syn.”

Felix was silent and Brick didn’t try to get the guy to talk. He had his own thoughts, and first and foremost was why had Fighter left town without letting him know? His phone buzzed with a text.

Fighter: “Brick?”

Brick: “I’m here.”

Fighter: “I’m sorry.” Sad emoji.

Brick: “It’s okay.”

Fighter: “No it’s not. If I could, I’d call you, but I’m in the air.”

Brick: “Don’t worry. Call me when you can.” He added a smiley emoji even though he didn’t feel like smiling.

Fighter: “K.”

Fighter dropped back on the bed, pulling his cell phone from his pocket. He’d spent the last several hours meeting and negotiating a deal that would keep his company in business for the next two months.

He’d fucked up not contacting Brick. However, not texting or calling Brick had been intentional on his part. He hadn’t told Brick that he was looking for jobs out of state because he didn’t want Brick jumping in to try and fix everything. The man was a true hero and Fighter knew Brick would do whatever it took to fix his problems for him. But he needed to do this on his own.

How could he ever date Brick with a good conscience? He hadn’t even known how wealthy Brick was when they’d had the altercation at the fundraiser event. It had only been a few days later that he’d found out that the Denver, Colorado Brick family was worth billions. Brick was adored as the oldest son who had stepped in and taken over everything when his father was killed in a car accident. The two brothers, Synclair and Tyler Brick, had taken the company from great to outstanding in only a few years. That was when Brick had gone into the bodyguard business while Syn dabbled in it.

Smiling, he pulled up Brick’s number and waited while the phone rang.

And rang.

And rang.

Crap.

Was Brick mad at him? Fighter wished like hell that he could be with Brick face to face right now. They’d shared a spark that almost blew his mind only to have Mark interrupt them. Fighter was sure Mark had done it deliberately.

Ring.

Ring.

Surely, Brick wasn’t out on a date, was he? That would fucking suck.

Ending the call before the voicemail picked up, he draped his arm over his eyes.

“Where are you, Brick?”