Tessa felt the air change.Like the world held its breath.Brick wasn’t bracing for a fight.He was the fight.And the Serpents realized it a second too late.
The knife stopped spinning.
The first Serpent lifted his hands.“All right.All right.”He stepped back from the door.“She can talk to the guardian.Alone.”
“Brick can come,” Tessa said, finding her voice.“He’s my escort.”
The Serpent laughed, harsh and mocking.“You want him?Sure.But if he starts something—”
Brick took a single step forward.Every Serpent in the yard moved back.
Suddenly Tessa understood what he really was.Brick wasn’t just a bodyguard, not just some scary biker who didn’t talk much.He was a shield.A silent, unbreakable fortress and she was standing directly in its protection.Knowing that gave Tessa a measure of relief.
Inside the trailer, Tessa met Dillon’s guardian.He was a skinny man in his forties with nicotine-stained fingers, and he worked for the Serpents.He signed off on the paperwork with barely a grunt.The guy clearly didn’t care whether Dillon lived or died.
Tessa’s chest tightened with frustration.“You know he’s missing school, right?That he hasn’t been home the past two nights?”Tessa asked.
The man shrugged.“Kid runs off.Not my problem.”
Brick’s stance shifted.Tessa felt it behind her, the way his anger rose like a silent tide.
“Sign the rest,” Brick said darkly.
The man didn’t argue.
Ten minutes later they stepped back outside.The Serpents were still watching, but none came close.Tessa let out a breath she didn’t realize she’d been holding.
Brick guided her to the truck with a hand on her lower back.It was the lightest touch, barely there, but heat shot straight up her spine.
“You okay?”he asked.
She blinked.Tessa had a feeling Brick never asked questions unnecessarily.
“Yes,” she said softly.“Thanks to you.”
Brick’s jaw ticked, as if the gratitude unsettled him.
They got into the truck.He started the engine but didn’t pull out immediately.His grip on the steering wheel was hard enough to pale his knuckles.
Tessa studied him.He looked like a man wrestling with something he didn’t have the words for.
“Brick,” she said quietly.“Back there ...you stepped in before anything even happened.”
He kept his eyes forward.“They were disrespectful.”
“They were threatening,” she corrected.
A beat of silence.Brick shifted, just slightly, turning his head enough for her to see the edge of his expression.Hard and controlled, but beneath it there was concern.
“You shouldn’t be around men like them,” he said.
“I deal with men like them all the time.”
“Not with me,” Brick growled, the lowest hint of emotion finally cracking through.“Not when I’m responsible for you.”
Her heart tripped.Responsible for her?Or protecting her because he wanted to?
She swallowed, cheeks warming.“Brick, I appreciate you.Really.You didn’t have to step in the way you did.”
