Page 34 of Disarming The Rancher

“I do know a thing or two about balancing books. And we have an accountant who takes a look at everything. I could have him review yours,” he offered.

“Yes, please. I don’t want Wade to think that I don’t trust him but…” She flashed eyes at Brax. “I don’t trust him.”

“Give me his information. I’ll have our person contact Wade directly. Might get a faster response that way.” Most people who weren’t qualified to do a job reacted poorly to a little outside pressure. Brax had a feeling Wade was probably dropping the ball and afraid to come clean about his mistakes at a minimum. It wouldn’t make sense for him to be the bomber because he’d be out of a job if anything happened to Raleigh.

She took a screenshot, asked for his phone number, and sent over the requested information.

Brax forwarded the shot to his accountant, Manny Ortega.

He watched as Raleigh bit back several yawns in between bites of food.

“It’s been a long, intense day. You must be tired,” Brax said. “Let’s get you upstairs and to bed.”

He heard the way that sounded and couldn’t help but laugh.

“Not exactly what I meant,” he clarified.

“You can’t take it back now,” she teased as a male voice cleared his throat.

They both turned to the hallway.

“Kenny, what are you still doing up?” she asked, trying to come off as breezy. The atmosphere in the room changed and her shock at the interruption came across loud and clear.

“Came down for a glass of water,” he said, looking none too thrilled to find Brax and Raleigh alone in the kitchen. His sour expression could be attributed to walking in during the tail end of their conversation.

“Glasses are in the cabinet,” Brax motioned next to the sink. “Help yourself.”

“I’d hate to interrupt whatever it is you got going on in here,” Kenny said. Brax had seen a similar expression in his teen years when the opposing high school lost the biggest football matchup of the season on their mistake.

“We had a late dinner.” At least Raleigh held her ground. “I’m not sure if the two of you have been properly introduced. Brax is one of my dearest friends from back when I lived in Lone Star Pass and we were just reliving old times.”

“Must not have been very great, seeing how you couldn’t wait to get out of here,” Kenny mumbled as he walked over to the cabinet.

Brax had half a mind to call the guy out on his immature behavior, but it wasn’t his place. He didn’t have any designs on Raleigh. She’d been clear on that point. And he didn’t figure she would appreciate him being rude to someone in her band.

“There’s a big difference between running from and running toward,” he said by way of explanation.

“She told me all about it when we dated.” Kenny’s tone set Brax’s blood to boiling.

But this wasn’t high school and Brax could be the bigger person here. Besides, Raleigh would never go for someone who didn’t respect her. She might have made a mistake with this guy once when she was much younger. She was far too savvy now.

In fact, he respected her even more for her mental toughness. She’d always known what she wanted and wasn’t one bit afraid to go for it. The trait was admirable.

Kenny, on the other hand, sent up red flags.

Would he tamper with the stage? What would he have to gain? Did he believe he could frighten Raleigh into a relationship? Be her shoulder to cry on while on tour? Weasel his way back into her life?

It might be a stretch but was worth considering. Brax figured the FBI would cover that ground if they hadn’t already. There was probably no way to get an update from them. Meeting the other band members and crew one-on-one became his next priority. He also needed to ask if she had meet-and-greets with fans before shows.

Would he be able to speak to the venue manager? Get a sense of what security protocols were in place. She’d been playing larger venues but that didn’t necessarily mean safer.

Finally, he wanted to meet Wade. Brax could tell a lot about a person by looking them in the eye.

Raleigh rinsed off the dishes as Brax fired off a few texts to see what he could get going on his end. The last name Firebrand was capable of moving mountains in Texas. Brax had never thrown the family weight around until now. He sent off a text to the family lawyer to get him riled up.

Time to shake the cage and see what fell out. In the meantime, he planned to stick as close to Raleigh as she would allow.

“You could make an attempt to be nice, Kenny. After all, this family is important to me,” Raleigh whispered. The exacerbation in her voice told him she was tired of going down this road with the man.