Chapter Twenty-Three

Fighter paced back and forth across Jaxon West’s office.

Syn and Felix had taken Gunner home to rest and Hayden and Wyatt had gone to check in with a few recruits still in the building. The only ones left in the office were him, Brick, and Jaxon.

“I fired him,” he said, turning to the two men.

“Gunner may not press charges, but I’m going to,” Jaxon said with a dead stare.

Fighter nodded. “He needs a wake-up call. I don’t know what he was thinking.”

“Did he know it was Gunner?” Brick asked.

Fighter briefly closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Yes. I told him that Gunner was on the plane with us. Tailing us. I thought you put him on me to keep tabs on me. Come to find out, Bishop hired you to find my supposed stalker.” Fighter held Brick’s gaze.

“So, Bishop came clean about hiring us?” Brick asked and finally settled into one of the large leather chairs in front of Jaxon’s glass desk. Jaxon took a seat behind the desk and Fighter walked over to sit in the vacant chair next to Brick.

“Yes. After Mark shot Gunner, I called Bishop to let him know what happened. Bishop then told me why Gunner was really there.”

“You told Mark that Gunner was on the plane, but did Mark know it was Gunner when he pulled the trigger?” Brick inquired.

“Yes.” Fighter didn’t pull his punches. “Mark said Gunner had no business following us to Arizona.”

Brick could imagine. Mark probably thought the trip was just him and Fighter alone…like a dream come true.

“I was in my hotel room going over the new jobs when Mark pounded on the door. He came in looking like a wild man and told me that he shot Gunner.”

Brick moved his eyes from him to Jaxon and then back to him. Fighter didn’t know what they were thinking, but he could tell by the coldness in Brick’s eyes that Mark was going to pay. Jaxon looked a bit calmer but still pissed.

“I told Mark he was fired,” Fighter continued doggedly. “That’s when I ran downstairs to find Gunner in the hotel bathroom, clutching his arm and almost passed out. I rushed him to urgent care and he asked me to notify you about the shooting. When we got back to the hotel, Syn was there and Mark was in the wind.”

“Okay,” Jaxon said with a nod. “I have an APB out on Mark.”

“You think he’s still in Arizona?” Brick asked Fighter.

“I don’t know. Maybe?”

“It won’t matter,” Jaxon said. “I know people who can handle Arizona.”

“All right. I think we need to collect the kids and stay somewhere else for the day,” Brick said, turning to Fighter.

“We’ll be fine at my place.” Fighter gave a weary smile. “It’s like a fortress now.”

“One of my biggest regrets.” Brick finally cracked a slight smile.

“Oh yeah?” Fighter lifted a brow, his smile relieved.

“Yep, now I can’t have you stay at my place.”

“Try a different tactic.” Fighter’s soft brown gaze moved from Brick’s eyes to his mouth and back. Brick swallowed and his breathing quickened.

Jaxon cleared his throat. “Okay. On that note, I’m going to find my husband and head out. I haven’t slept yet.”

Brick snagged Fighter’s hand and drew the man from Jaxon’s office. They reached the parking garage and he tucked the man into the passenger seat of his jeep.

“We need to stop by Carla’s and get the kids,” Fighter said. “They aren’t with Bishop during the day.”

“Okay.”

Fighter shifted on the expensive leather seat and admired the freaking dashboard. It looked like a black armored SUV, but Brick always called it a jeep. Fighter had never seen nor been inside anything like it before.

“What’s the make and model?”

“It’s custom-made.”

“Of course, it is,” Fighter did his best to suppress his smile.

“Wise ass,” Brick huffed with a laugh.

“I’m known for my brains.”

“And beauty,” Brick murmured, and Fighter felt the flush from his cheeks to his toes.

Fortunately, Brick changed the subject and they discussed how he was going to handle the gun expo event. They both loved bodyguard talk and their jobs, so it was no hardship to talk for the twenty-minute drive. Brick pulled up in front of the address that Fighter had given to him and they walked through the gate together.

Like a real couple. He cautioned himself to go slow with that way of thinking. They hadn’t been nice to each other for long and he wasn’t sure where Brick wanted to take what was building between them.

“Bick,” Emma cooed, and Brick scooped her up in his arms when she came out the screen door dressed in puffy winter clothes.

Carla smiled at Brick and handed Elijah to Fighter along with the diaper bag and lunch box.

“Will you need me tomorrow?”

“No.”

“Yes.” Fighter sent Brick a frown.

“Um, sorry,” Brick muttered and Carla laughed.

“Okay,” she told Fighter. “I’ll be home, just drop them off.”

Back in the jeep with the kids strapped in using Carla’s extra car seats, Brick stopped at a big box retailer and took them all inside to buy new car seats for each of them. The place was filled with sounds and color and Elijah squealed. Emma wanted out of the basket to touch everything. Brick plucked her up and handed her to Fighter.

“Tell me which ones are safe and will fit,” Brick ordered, stopping in front of the car seats.

“Brick.”

“Tell me.”

Fighter pointed to one that would fit Emma and another that would fit Elijah. Brick placed both boxes in the cart and took over steering the basket.

“Bear!” Emma shouted.

“This one, sweetie?” Brick lifted a bright yellow teddy bear and handed it to Emma. Then the man hunted through the stack and found one for Elijah in green before taking Emma from him. Brick juggled the little girl on his hip and she clutched her bear. Elijah was waving his bear in the air from the basket seat and Fighter started pushing again.

“Brick, this is too much.”

“They need to be safe. Unless you’re going to stop dating me and I won’t need those?”

“Dating?” Fighter almost stumbled and Brick placed his free hand at the small of his back.

Fighter felt like melting at the touch of the large warm palm and when Brick’s thumb brushed back and forth, he had to will his dick not to jump. The kids were with them for freaking sake! He darted a look around and found several people, men and women alike, staring at Brick. The man was such a tall, good-looking hunk. Oh lord, he was in trouble.

“Yes, dating. Any problems?” Brick whispered.

“Nope.” Fighter zipped his mouth with his fingers, causing Brick to chuckle.

Several people who were still staring smiled at them.