Brax looked up to find Jake Pirovic standing over him and put his fork down on his plate, knowing that things could get ugly fast.

"What do you want Pirovic?" Brax asked.

"Tell your brother to back off," Jake replied glaring down at Brax.

"Which brother would that be?"

"You know exactly what I'm talking about," Jake stated his fists balled at his sides as he continued, "Get your brother under control, or your family won't know what hit them and that includes your sweet little sister… you know she's a pretty little thing."

Brax jumped to his feet and shoved Jake back, as the two River Boys sitting with him grabbed him and held him back.

"Go anywhere near my sister and I'll come for you," Brax threatened causing Jake to laugh.

"Remember what I said Braxton… I'll be seeing you around," Jake added glancing over at Kiara who was watching them closely.

As Jake left, Brax pushed the River Boys off him and sat back down to finish his food. He didn't know what Heath was thinking messing with the Pirovic gang or even if he was thinking, but either way nobody threatened his family.

x-x-x

Kiara watched as the other guy left and turned her attention back to the group, who were all staring over at Brax. She had seen Brax angry plenty of times and it had been a while since she had been scared of him, but this time was different… this time there was something about his tone that didn't sit right.

"Kiara, how long are you staying?" Romeo asked drawing Ruby and Casey's attention away from Brax.

"Hopefully for good or at least for a while anyway," Kiara replied earning a smile from Casey.

"So how old are you?"

"I'm seventeen… in my last year at school."

"Are you planning on going back?" Ruby added.

"I'm hoping to go and either finish my final year or do it again… I missed a lot of school when I was in Mangrove," Kiara explained.

"You should get Brax to talk to Mrs Palmer… she's the Principal at Summer Bay High," Casey suggested earning a nod from Kiara.

"I'll talk to Brax about it later."

Kiara hung out for another hour, before heading home and sitting in the kitchen reading. Reading was a good way for her to escape, to experience the magic of other worlds and for a while it enabled her to forget her problems.

It was half six when Kiara headed over to Angelo's, taking a deep breath before walking in and smiling at Brax as she approached him.

"Hey you," Brax said returning the smile and pulling her into a hug, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Kiara replied although she was nervous about the night ahead.

"We'll start you off with something simple," Brax told her handing over a clip board and pen, "Stock check… all you have to do is find what's on the list and make sure that the stock we have matches the amount shown in the column beside it."

"Brax, I know what stock check is," Kiara stated causing Brax to roll his eyes.

"Alright smartass, come find me once you've finished."

"Will do… Brax?"

"Yeah?"

"Can we talk later… when you're not busy?" Kiara asked.

"Of course, now get to work," Brax ordered with a grin as he winked at her and left.

It took Kiara two hours to complete the stock check and once she had finished, she headed out to the bar where Brax was rushing around making drinks.

"Done," Kiara told him placing the clipboard on the counter and sitting on one of the tall stools, "What do you need me to do now?"

"Could you help me out behind here?" Brax inquired as he grabbed two beers and placed them on a tray.

"Sure," Kiara replied stepping behind the bar and looking around.

"The orders are all here," Brax explained motioning to a stack of notes from the waitresses order books, "If you focus on the soft drinks, I'll handle the alcohol and hopefully that'll make things easier… it's never been this busy before."

Looking at the first two orders, Kiara memorised them and got to work, setting a good pace with Brax. By the end of the night things had quietened down and Kiara was sat at the bar, waiting for the restaurant to close.

Glancing towards the door as she heard it close, Kiara froze and stared as Brady made his way towards her. Brady had been in the hospital at the same time as Kiara and he was the last person she wanted to see, but she knew that he wouldn't just leave.

"Kiara," Brady said with a smile.

"What are you doing here Brady?" Kiara asked, "I thought you were supposed to be in the hospital for another six months."

"I got released early and thought I'd look you up, this place is nice… do you work here?"

"My brother owns it, I'm helping him out… why did you come here?" Kiara inquired looking over at Brax who was dealing with a customer.

"I already told you, I got released early and I came to see you," Brady replied glaring at Kiara.

Brady had a short temper and he had lashed out a few times at Kiara for no reason, but that wasn't the reason she was scared of him. He had a nasty side… a side that Kiara had been exposed to and it was something that sent genuine fear through her.

"Kiara, who's this?" Brax stated as he made his way over to them causing Kiara to relax a little.

"This is Brady, he was in the hospital with me… Brady this is my brother Brax."

Kiara looked at Brax as he shook Brady's hand, noticing the neutral expression on his face and knowing that he didn't like Brady.

x-x-x

Looking over towards Kiara, Brax spotted the young guy she was talking to and instantly got a bad feeling, but it was the look in Kiara's eyes that made him go over there.

Author's Notes

Thanks for reading :) As the story moves on you'll get a better look at Kiara's time in the hospital and other past events... is Brady going to cause trouble? And what is Heath up too?