Adored: A Masters and Mercenaries Novella (1001 Dark Nights) (17 page)

“How is the guard on Laurel doing?” He wanted to forbid her to work at all, but he was smart enough to know that wouldn’t fly. However, he’d also known the moment she moved into his house that she would become a target. He’d set her up with an air horn and a bottle of pepper spray, and a bodyguard for the hours he wasn’t with her.

She didn’t know about the bodyguard. He pretty much hoped she never found out about the bodyguard.

“I’ve put Remy Guidry on her. He’s one of the five professional bodyguards Tag recently hired. Adam and Jake used to do all our close cover, but that’s not possible anymore. With the corporate accounts we’ve recently signed, we’ve got a lot of bodyguard work.”

“Is he any good?” He didn’t like the idea of the new guy watching over his sub.

“He’s former Navy SEAL. He’s patient and very thorough. Talks like a douchebag though.”

“He talks like he’s from New Orleans, which he is,” Kai shot back. “Remy’s solid, Mitch. He’ll take care of Laurel. He will not take care of you when Laurel finds out you put a six-foot, five-inch Cajun bodyguard on her ass twenty-four seven.”

“Hey, if nothing goes wrong then she never has to know.” He’d already gone over this line of thinking about a hundred times. “And if it does go wrong, she’ll be happy to be alive.”

“Keep thinking that, buddy.” Kai handed him back the signed paperwork. “Can I get a copy of the file you’ve got on Hunt? I can take a look at it. I’m sure Eve already has, but fresh eyes are always good. Harvey Dixon, too, if you have it.”

“Absolutely. There are also some interviews with business magazines and a couple of stories about the family. Anything you find could be helpful,” Li explained. “Could I have a moment alone with Mitch?”

Kai’s eyes narrowed. “Sure. Is this a client thing?”

Li nodded. “We do have confidentiality clauses. He might not have a problem talking about this in front of you, but I have to give him a chance to keep it private.”

“Kai’s cool. He knows pretty much everything. I don’t think I have anything to hide.” Mitch couldn’t imagine what Liam was about to say.

“All right then. While I was looking into the Dixons and trying to see if they had any ties to you we didn’t know about, Adam found out that someone is definitely looking for you and it ain’t Harvey Dixon.”

Maybe it would have been better to ship Kai out. “Are you talking about a man named Flynn Adler?”

Kai sat up. Mitch could guess why. He’d heard the name Adler in connection with Mitch but never Flynn. “Isn’t your father’s name Adler? John Adler?”

“Flynn is my half brother. I have two. Flynn is Dad’s son by his second wife. He’s a couple of years younger than me. Chase is in high school, I think.”

“You think?” Kai asked. “You have two brothers and you never mentioned them?”

Yep, this was why he’d never brought them up in conversation. “They’re my half brothers and I’ve never spoken to them. They’re my father’s legitimate children. Liam, I don’t have anything to do with my father. He gave me money to start my firm. I didn’t want to take it. Margot insisted on taking the money and my father’s contacts. The minute I could, I paid the man back so I didn’t feel pressure to talk to him. He doesn’t want anything to do with me. He never has. Guilt made him loan me that money.”

“From what I can tell, it wasn’t a loan. Did you know there’s a trust in your name? It was started with the exact amount of money he loaned you,” Liam explained.

He wasn’t even going to ask how O’Donnell had found out about that. There was a reason McKay-Taggart was considered one of the best firms in the world. As for the trust, he wouldn’t touch it. “It doesn’t matter. I don’t need his money. Like I said, it’s guilt money. I think he feels it more as he gets older. Now he’s sending Flynn after me. I don’t read his e-mails and I don’t take his calls. As far as I’m concerned, the Adler family doesn’t exist.”

Li nodded. “All right then. I had to ask. He’s been calling you since before the Dixon problems?”

“Yes. The two events are mutually exclusive. Flynn will give up after a while. It’s not a problem, but do get back to me about Dixon.”

Liam stood. “That’s all I have then. I’ll keep in touch. Kai, can you bring the car around?”

Kai stared at Mitch for a moment and then sighed. “I don’t guess you want to talk about the fact that you have a whole family you’ve never mentioned?”

“I don’t. That’s the whole point. I don’t have a family.” Beyond Laurel and the baby. They were going to be his family. He had to make sure he made things right for them.

“All right. I’ll pull up in front of the building.” Kai walked out.

Li followed him. “I’m going to watch for him and then I’ll come back up to get the big guy to the car. Don’t let him fall over or anything.”

And he was left with a very still Ian Taggart.

“What the hell would you do, Tag? What would you do if your dad was still alive and wanted to talk to you?” Big Tag’s father had walked out on him and his brother, Sean. He’d married again and had two children Tag hadn’t met until the year before, and naturally Tag had welcomed them with open arms and sarcasm. Now they worked together, though Mitch was fairly certain Taggart was closer to Theo than Case.

Should he talk to Flynn? He didn’t want to. He didn’t want to get dragged into their lives. He’d wanted it so desperately at one point and now he wanted to forget the Adlers existed.

What would Laurel say? Why did it truly matter what Laurel would say? It didn’t affect her in any way. She wasn’t involved and he meant to keep it that way. She never needed to know they existed as far as he was concerned. So why was he wondering what she would think?

“How did you know you wanted to get married?” He kind of liked sleeping Tag. It was like he had a buddy, but one who didn’t talk. “How did you know you were in love?”

He didn’t like the word. It was imprecise, but Laurel was very soft hearted. She would want to hear it. She would want to say it to him and hear it back. He was coming to the point that he would have to use it.

“Charlie told me.” Big Tag stretched and pulled off his sunglasses.

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to wake you up.”

Tag put a hand over his mouth to cover a yawn. “Hey, I woke up to a whiny manheart question and not the sound of two warrior princesses trying to out wail each other. I’m counting it as a win.”

“Okay. I feel better about my life.”

“Yeah, you can for the next seven and a half months or so and then you’re up shit creek, buddy. You going to marry Laurel?”

“I already asked her.” He hadn’t really asked her though. He’d told her he would and in an almost grudging fashion. Not the most romantic of proposals. But what could she expect? If she’d wanted romance, she should have found someone else. “I suppose you knew it was the right time to marry Charlotte because she told you to.”

“Bingo. If I’d had my way we would have simply signed a contract and I would have kept her as my submissive. I would have put a collar around her throat and shown her off at clubs and been very happy.”

“That doesn’t sound so bad.” It actually sounded kind of perfect. He’d tried marriage. Maybe he and Laurel could try a long-term contract. Once a year they would review and renew it.

“You didn’t let me finish. I would have been very happy until she decided she wanted more.”

“Why does there have to be more? I’ve tried this twice, Tag, and it doesn’t work for me. Still, I’m willing to give it a try for the kid’s sake.”

“Does she know that’s why you’re willing to try?”

He shrugged. “I might have mentioned it. I try to be honest with her.”

Tag frowned, his mouth turning down. “That’s where you’re going wrong. Totally wrong. Honesty is horrible. No wonder she won’t marry you. Hey, but that’s a good thing because you don’t want to get married.”

“You didn’t want to get married either.”

A mysterious smile crooked up the sides of Tag’s face. “Didn’t I? I don’t remember. I’ll have to ask Charlie. Well, the good news is Laurel’s got a whole family around her and once the inevitable happens, she and the kid will be fine.”

This whole conversation was making him antsy. She didn’t need her brother or her sisters to take care of her. She had him. “She’ll be fine because I’ll make sure she’s fine. One way or another.”

Tag gave him a thumbs-up. “Sounds like you know what you’re doing then. No need to worry that you don’t have legal ties to her or the kid. I’m sure it will all work out on its own. That’s the great thing about relationships. They happen on their own with no work or compromise at all. I’m going to go and eat whatever Sean made. He said it was…” Tag yawned again, looking a whole lot like a sleepy lion. “I don’t remember. Meat. It better be meat. I want to put meat in my face before I go back to the office. I’ve got a meeting with some bigwig computer dude to nap through this afternoon. You’ll be fine. Hey, you’re totally used to breakups and stuff.”

What the fuck was that supposed to mean?

Before he could ask, Liam was rushing into the room. “Mitchell, we need to get over to Laurel’s. It seems there’s been a break-in at her apartment. I got a call from Derek. Lisa was going over to check on the place and found the door open. She called the police and Derek is on his way.”

Thank god Laurel was at work. He rushed out, ready to hurt someone.

* * * *

“Laurel Daley?”

Laurel looked up from her computer. “Yes?”

She had to stop and do a double take because for a moment, she thought she was looking at Mitchell. It took a few blinks to realize this man was younger, a bit less broad than her Master. He was also far better dressed, a thing she intended to address eventually with Mitch. She had to go slow with her Dom, introduce things gradually. She was going to sneak in a couple of pairs of navy-colored slacks. He wouldn’t even realize he was wearing them and when he did, she would point out that he’d been wearing them for weeks and the world hadn’t ended.

But none of that mattered because she was looking at someone who absolutely had to be related to her Master.

The gorgeous man in front of her was dressed casually in an open-throated black shirt and khakis. His hair was stylishly long, brushing the tops of his muscled shoulders. “My name is Flynn Adler. I’m so happy to meet you, Laurel. I’ve read an awful lot about you.”

That forced her attention away from the fact that he looked like Mitch. She immediately went on full alert and thought about how she should handle this. She didn’t know this man, but he knew her.

“I’m afraid you’re going to have to explain what that means.” She put as much chill as she could into her voice. She was well aware of the situation with Harvey Dixon. If he was now sending someone to intimidate her, she wasn’t about to give him what he wanted.

But how the hell had Dixon found someone who looked so much like Mitchell? That couldn’t be a coincidence.

The man in front of her frowned. “The private investigator told me you’re living with Mitch.”

Now she was nervous. Luckily, it wasn’t quite lunchtime. The office was still full of people. It gave her some measure of comfort. “Private investigator?”

“I’m sorry. I’m…well, I never expected that Mitch wouldn’t tell you about us. He’s never mentioned me or Chase?”

She didn’t recognize either name. “Who’s Chase? For that matter, who are you?”

“I’m Flynn Adler.” He placed careful emphasis on his last name, as though it should mean something to her. When she said nothing, he continued. “Of the California Adlers. I’m Mitchell’s brother.”

Her stomach dropped. Brother? He had a brother and he’d never once mentioned him? Mitchell knew all about her family. She told him everything. She thought he’d always been quiet because all he had was his mother, and they weren’t close. Now she found out he had a brother? Only one? “And Chase?”

“He’s the youngest. Mitch is first. He’s eight years older than me. Chase is significantly younger. He’s a junior in high school. Mitch really never told you about us?”

She shook her head. What else hadn’t he told her? How did he hide a whole family? And why? Did she mean so little to him that he didn’t bother to mention his brothers? “Did he mention you to me?”

Flynn huffed. “Uhm, no. He doesn’t talk to me, Laurel. I found out about you through the private investigator. I’m so sorry to invade your privacy this way. I had no other choice. I thought it would be better to talk to you. You’re obviously important to my brother.”

“I don’t know about that. Our relationship is fairly casual.” It hadn’t felt that way. It felt serious, but she had to question the fact that he’d hidden this part of his life from her. Was he never going to tell her their baby had two uncles?

“I thought you were living with him.”

“We’re not engaged or anything. Not really looking to do it.” Mitch had made himself plain. He would marry her, but he didn’t want to. He would do it for the sake of the baby. “I’m not sure how much I can help you. I can give you Mitch’s office address.”

He held a hand up. “No. I have it. I’ve tried to contact him about a hundred times over the last twenty years. I’ve called and e-mailed and sent letters. I’m worried that if I show up at his office unannounced, he’ll call the cops. If I show up announced, he’ll probably lock the doors and leave me outside. So I thought I would come and talk to you.”

“Why won’t he talk to you?”

“I have to think it’s more about our father than me. I’ve only met Mitch once. I was a kid. He didn’t say more than two or three sentences to me. He was really only interested in talking to Dad about the money to start his firm. Once he had that and Dad had introduced him to some important clients, he dropped us. Well, Dad. He never was interested in me. I sent him a note when Chase was born. Nothing. Not even a card.”

Mitch had told her Margot, his first wife, had been the one to go to his father. He hadn’t wanted to. Now it seemed like there was more to the story. If her baby had more family, she wanted to know about it.

Sometimes Mitch could be very stubborn. He could let really good things pass him by because he was afraid of the change they would bring to his life. She’d spent weeks thinking about him, weeks trying to dig under the surface and find the real man she knew was buried underneath his pride.