Chapter Five

Brick’s fist connected with Jaxon’s jaw, knocking the guy backward.

One of the waiting room’s chairs toppled with a crash and Jaxon went down. Bishop leaped out of the way and Gunner caught Brick around the waist. When Bishop moved in on Brick, Gunner sent his foot into the man’s stomach. Bishop stumbled back with a pissed-off grunt.

“Don’t even think about it,” Gunner growled, almost lifting Brick and spinning him around. Gunner was the only man who had that kind of strength because Brick was not a small man by any means. The pain lanced into Brick’s side and his head spun.

Just fucking great.

Bishop suddenly became a smart man because he stood down in the face of Gunner’s angry order.

Jaxon rolled to his feet and rubbed at his jaw.

“What’s going on?” A receptionist followed by a nurse came from behind a desk.

“Nothing, sorry. I tripped,” Jaxon muttered, lifting the chair upright before returning to rub at his aching jaw.

Jaxon met and held Brick’s eyes, feeling the scorch of heat coming from the gray depths. Veins bulged in Brick’s neck and his ham-sized fists were clenched.

“You prick!” Bishop snarled at Brick. “This is your fucking fault! Don’t be blaming him for your feud!” Bishop jerked his head toward Jaxon and walked out of the building.

Jaxon wiped at his mouth and probed at his lip. “I didn’t press charges.”

Brick narrowed his eyes at Jaxon, who stared back.

Well, shit.“Why didn’t you say so!” Brick snapped.

“You didn’t give me a chance.”

“’I didn’t do it,’ would have sufficed.”

Brick studied Jaxon_—there wasn’t one ounce of guilt in the man’s eyes.

“Maybe the DA pressed charges?” Jaxon said.

“Fuck.” Brick ran a hand down his face and headed for the exit.

“Where are you going?”

“To the precinct.”

“Shit,” Jaxon muttered and gave Gunner a quick up nod. “Get Felix down here and check on the woman.”

“Won’t Suwan Guardians do that?”

Jaxon shook his head at Gunner. “Seems like they don’t have any men on hand by what Bishop said. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have gotten hurt and be here.”

Gunner was already pulling his phone out and Jaxon had to run to catch up with Brick.

“Brick.” Jaxon caught up with Brick and Syn at the Cobalt SUV and placed a hand on Brick’s shoulder.

Instead of striking out, Brick drew a deep breath.

“What?”

“Just call, you don’t need to drive down there in this weather and in your condition.” Brick nodded and pulled out his phone.

Syn exchanged a long look with Jaxon before he shrugged his shoulders, wondering what the hell was going on with Brick.

“You can’t say I didn’t try.”

Jaxon sighed at Brick’s darkly muttered words. It was true. The assistant district attorney hadn’t listened to a word Brick had said over the phone.

“He’s newly appointed. DA Roger Banks is out on maternity leave with his wife,” Jaxon placated.

“I don’t care what he is. His job is short-lived.”

“Why are you so protective of Fighter?” Syn asked as they entered the courthouse.

Brick stopped so abruptly, his brother smacked into his back.

“I’m not. Quit being stupid.”

“It sounds like you are.” Syn shrugged with a taunting smile.

Brick leveled his arctic cold gray eyes on Syn. “The only thing I care about is charging someone with attempted murder for a fucking fistfight. That’s all.”

“Mmhmm.”

“Fuck you, smart ass,” Brick snapped and pulled the door open to the conference room where his ordered meeting was to take place.

Syn’s laughter followed him through the door.

“You keep that up and he’ll throttle you,” Jaxon murmured.

“Nah. I’ve been out of the country for three years. Higher education, ya know? He’s happy I’m home,” Syn said with a grin.

Jaxon snorted at Syn and followed Brick into the large meeting room. Glancing around, he noticed that every head in the place looked over and then hurriedly glanced away from Tyler Brick III. Only a few brave souls would greet Brick with a quick lift of a hand. Most did not want to be on the Brick family’s shit list, a person rarely if ever got unlisted.

Not only was Brick a fucking force, a one-man combative machine, the guy was a billionaire several times over. Jaxon only knew that information because his boss had told him—thank you very fucking much, Logan Cobalt—before leaving on vacation with his hot-as-hell husband. Brick’s brother, Synclair Brick, had filled him in on the history of the family’s wealth. A good deal of it came passed down through generations, but the majority of it had been created by Brick’s own exceptional business sense. It helped that Brick was highly respected in the local and state political realm.

“Brick, it’s nice to see you.” Judge Miller smiled and shook Brick’s hand.

“You too.”

“What can we do for you?”

“There’s been a mistake. Someone trumped up charges against Arthit Suwan,” Brick said using Fighter’s legal name.

“That’s bullshit.” The assistant DA lunged to his feet. His slicked back hair was so plastered to his head that it didn’t even move. The suit he wore was a bit too tight around the middle and the vest beneath gapped.

“Sit down, Mr. Green.” Judge Miller’s words were filled with authority and the DA sat.

“You don’t have any right to tell me what to do.”

“Shall I call the mayor?” Miller asked, and Green’s jaw clenched.

“Tell me what happened?” Miller turned back to Brick.

“It was a slight misunderstanding,” Brick said. “And somehow, Suwan is being charged with attempted murder.”

A furrow etched between Miller’s brow. “Did he try to kill anyone?”

“No. He punched me.” Brick rubbed at his jaw. “That’s it. There shouldn’t be any charges beyond disturbing the peace. And you can even drop that.”

“That’s not what I heard,” Green cut in. “Mr. Brick was in the hospital for days due to his injuries.”

Brick held Miller’s gaze, ignoring Green. “That was for something else.”

The judge sighed and then leveled his attention on the assistant DA. “Since Brick was the one in the fight and he claims it’s not attempted murder, don’t you think it’s unwise to bring up any charges beyond disturbing the peace?”

Every pair of eyes turned on the assistant.

Satisfaction almost wasn’t enough when Green quickly agreed to drop all charges against Fighter.

Brick wanted to throat-punch the guy.