Dominance Never Dies (Masters and Mercenaries Book 11) (29 page)

His lips curved up, a perfectly arrogant look. “They’re tiny compared to me. I’m afraid I got all the muscle in our family.”

“Mia, you walk away right now,” Case growled. “You think this is making me jealous? It’s not. It’s making me pissed off that you can’t follow orders. This is exactly why I’m shipping you home as fast as I can.”

“How did three New York boys end up in Cartagena?” She ignored Case. This man very likely knew Theo. If she was right, he worked with Theo. Tony had talked about Hope McDonald gathering a small group of men she was turning into her own personal army. This was bigger than just Theo. This could have ramifications that went beyond one family.

Tony had told her more than one group wanted to get their hands on McDonald’s research. What would hostile governments do with it? Hell, what would her own government do with it?

The ex-soldier’s jaw hardened and she noticed the way his left hand twitched ever so slightly. “I don’t…I need to do my job. You’re very pretty. I would like to spend some time with you, but I can’t sneak you back to our room. They watch us. She watches us.”

He grimaced and put a hand to his earpiece, as though something was happening to it.

His words had been stilted, as though he was fighting some kind of instinct.

“Robert, I think we should go,” a deep voice said. “We’ve been called back into base. Apparently there’s a problem coming our way.”

She turned and there was another dark-suited bodyguard standing behind her. He was dark-haired and beautifully built. Mia had to hand it to Hope McDonald. The woman liked a handsome man. Mia was surrounded by big, gorgeous men all of the sudden and she realized it was likely time to retreat. Two was one too many to deal with on her own.

“Mia, if you don’t show up outside in thirty seconds I’m going to come in, and you won’t like how I’ll come in,” Case promised.

Definitely time to move. “Thanks for the advice. I’ll pick up a signal outside. Hope you have a nice night.”

She turned, her hair swinging as she tried to put some distance between her and the big guys. She stopped right in her tracks because Case was already here.

“Hello,” he said. “I think we should talk, don’t you?”

“I’m not kidding, Mia,” the same voice said in her ear. “You better get your sweet ass out here.”

She wasn’t staring at Case. She’d found Theo and he had a gun on her.

CHAPTER TEN

Case watched as Michael opened the door to the hotel room he’d rented earlier this afternoon when he’d decided on his course of action. He nodded Michael’s way, not bothering to take the earbud out of his ear.

“Everything all right?” Case asked as Michael walked in. He could hear the sounds of the party through the link he shared with Mia and Hutch. Mia’s voice came over loud and clear in his right ear as she introduced herself to the director and asked for a tour. “Is Fain on his way back?”

Michael put a bottle of water in front of him and sank into his seat. “He’s parking on the street. He has to find a space. He doesn’t feel comfortable leaving them behind without a quick getaway. He’ll be up in a few minutes.”

Fain was being a bit of a drama queen about the whole thing. It was obvious that the ex-soldier was planning on riding his new job as far as he could. Case intended to explain to him again that it would be a very short-lived position.

Mia was being stubborn but he would make her see reason once everything was over.

“Good for him,” Case muttered and turned back to his computer, though he didn’t have visual on them. That rankled. He felt blind. He
was
blind.

“I see security cameras,” a low voice said in his ear. Hutch. “They’re American made. I’ve got protocols on my system for how to break into the feed.”

Case prayed the kid knew what he was doing. “Okay. When Fain gets up here, I’ll put him on the computer with your instructions. Let’s hope he’s got some skill.”

“He’s the only one who has shown any skill at all tonight,” Michael muttered as he picked up his own headset. Michael would be able to listen in.

Case turned off the microphone. Mia was asking the director questions about the charity. She was safe enough for now. “I assume you have something you want to say to me.”

“What makes you think that?”

“I know when you’re pissed. I’ve worked with you for most of my adult life.”

Michael’s emerald eyes pinned him. “Do you have any idea what you’re doing? Because I think you think you do, but you don’t.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“It means you are seriously fucking with that girl and I didn’t think you were that kind of guy.”

Another reason for Mia to go home. He never had to have relationship talks with his best friend in the field before Mia had come along. “What kind of guy? The kind of guy who wants to see his girl safe? Because that’s the guy I am right now.”

“Are you? Because she’s safe here. She’s got a bodyguard and she’s actually quite calm under pressure. She knows how to shoot, too. I would take her in as backup, but you’re pushing her out even though she could bring you the very intel that leads us to your brother. I have to wonder why you would do that.”

He did not want to have a relationship talk now. Maybe never. He didn’t do relationships, but he found himself in one with Mia and it would have to wait. “How about you do your job and I’ll worry about Mia.”

Michael shook his head and turned back to the monitor in front of him. “You’re not going to have to worry about Mia at all after this.”

When had Michael gotten so fucking chatty? It had been way easier when they’d been dumb grunts getting their asses shot at in Afghanistan. No time to think about girls when extracting a high-value target under cover of night. No chatting like teens when blowing up a munitions factory.

Life had been simple. Michael watched his back. Case watched his. They’d bonded because it had been the first time for them both to be away from their twins. JT Malone had stayed behind to run the family oil business and Theo had been miles away in Iraq with his own team.

Michael had become his best friend, the one he could count on.

“I can’t think when she’s around. She’s a distraction.”

Michael turned. “Do you even hear yourself? Do you understand what she’s thinking when you say that?”

“She should be thinking hey, I’m distracting the dude who needs to find his brother. Maybe I should go and wait for him to come home?” He was pretty sure that wasn’t the answer.

Michael groaned. “You have no idea how to deal with women.”

“Theo was the smooth one,” Case admitted. “I pretty much did what he told me to when it came to women. He could find the one woman in the room who didn’t want to have anything to do with him and a couple of drinks, some conversation later, and he’d be going home with her. I sometimes think he fell for Erin because she was a challenge.”

“He loved Erin. That was why he never gave up on her,” Michael replied. “He would never have shoved her away. He valued her in the field.”

“Erin spent years in the Army. Erin could take Theo out.”

“Yeah, well, Mia might not be able to take you out, but she has value. She’s smart. She’s totally cool under pressure and she follows orders.”

“She does not,” he shot back. “I ordered her to stay in the safe room on the plane. That lasted two minutes.”

“She wasn’t going to let them shoot us. I’m sure you gave her a bunch of BS about how they wouldn’t have, but you weren’t there. They were going to take one of us out. They had to. After they lost touch with the copilot, there were too many of us to deal with. It would have been me or Hutch dead and the other used to draw you out if Mia hadn’t bought us some time.”

Put like that, it was a reasonable way that day could have gone. “I don’t want her to get hurt. I can’t stand the thought.”

“Finally. Why didn’t you say that?”

“I did say that.” Mostly. “What did you think I meant by she’s a distraction?”

“I knew what you meant because I’ve spent the majority of my adult life speaking Case Taggart’s language. It’s mostly grunts and rude hand gestures and the occasional belch that really means it’s been a good night.”

“I’m not that bad.” He knew how to communicate, although he was good with rude hand gestures.

“Look, you think you’re being forthcoming, but that’s not what she hears. I grew up with a couple of girls around the house at all times. Cousins or daughters of family friends. They were like sisters to me, especially Dana.”

Michael didn’t like to talk a lot about Dana. She’d disappeared years before. If he was bringing her up, it had to be important. “All right. What should I have said?”

“It’s important to realize that women don’t always hear what we think we’re saying. When you called her a distraction, she thought you were talking about sex with her. Fucking her, having to deal with her was a distraction you didn’t want and the sex wasn’t good enough to make you want to keep her.”

His stomach dropped. He could hear Mia talking in one ear, her voice bright as she charmed the director. Had she thought that was what he meant? “I didn’t say anything like that.”

There was the sound of the door clicking open and Fain strode in.

“Ezra, you were there for the dissolution of Case’s relationship with Mia,” Michael began.

Whoa. “There was no dissolution.”

Fain took a seat in front of Hutch’s computer. “You mean when he told her he was done fucking her and she should go home?”

He felt his skin flush. “That is not what I said.”

Fain started typing on the keyboard. “That’s totally what you said. You were pretty cold about it. Can we cut out the touchy-feely shit and deal with the security cameras? I thought Hutch was supposed to leave me instructions.”

Should he keep Mia close? He dismissed what Fain had said. And what Michael said, too. Mia was smart. She didn’t need some fucking translator. He’d been in her bed for days. He couldn’t keep his hands off her. She could plainly see that. He’d talked about her moving to Dallas. That wasn’t the talk of a man who wanted to get rid of a woman. He just wanted to keep her safe.

She was being a brat, trying to get her way.

Yes, because staying in a shitastic motel room he wouldn’t allow her to leave without a guard had been so much fun for her so far. She’d been stuck in that room for days. He wouldn’t let her out without Fain or Hutch. Her only excitement had been talking to her contact—which she’d done as he’d asked her to. With a guard.

And every night she welcomed him enthusiastically.

What had it taken for a woman as independent as Mia to sit on her butt while he did all the work? She was used to being in the thick of things, but she hadn’t once complained.

He was doing the right thing. He had to choose his brother this time. Nothing could keep him from saving Theo, not even Mia.

“This is awesome. You should try the little cake thingees. They’re good.” Hutch sounded slightly enthusiastic for the first time that night.

“Hutch, how about a little less eating and a little more hacking?” He didn’t even try to keep the irritation out of his voice. “You’ve done your obligatory socializing. I think it’s time to get the job done.”

“Naturally he found the dessert buffet.” Michael grinned. “You can count on Hutch. If there’s a secret buried in pie, he’s going to find it.”

“He’s not serious enough,” Fain complained. “I know you swear he’s trained, but I wouldn’t take that kid in as backup.”

Fain didn’t know Hutch. “He’s good. I’ve worked with him for a couple of years. You know he figured out you were up for CIA recruitment. You want to tell me why they turned you down?”

Fain snorted slightly. “I turned them down. I didn’t like the way Tennessee Smith worked. I know everyone thought he was the shit, but he didn’t strike me as a great team leader. I also don’t particularly think a team like that can work. It’s better to use military units.”

“We worked quite well before Ten was disavowed.” Michael stood and moved toward the window with his binoculars. They’d turned off the lights in the room so they could properly see the party across the street.

“And then you all scattered, from what I understand.” Fain frowned at the screen. “Consistency is important in intelligence work. I’m sure the entire team defecting left a major mess for whatever idiot took the job after Smith.”

“I agree. It’s time to move,” Mia said over the line. “I think we’ve got a decent understanding of all the good work the charity is doing in the community and how they’re managing it. There are a lot of doors they’re opening.”

“Yes, they are,” Hutch replied, his voice getting tense again.

It was good to get back to the op and not focus on his love life or how Fain thought his former team had fucked up. “Are the guards going to be a problem?”

“There was only one on the door,” Fain said. “There’s a valet, but he doesn’t look big enough to be a guard. Of course I don’t know what they’ve got on the inside, but it looked pretty casual to me. I suspect they don’t want to scare the donors away.”

The sound of guitar music thrummed in the background, but he could hear Mia loud and clear. He’d noted that almost everything she’d said was innocuous. If overheard, it would likely mean nothing to the people listening to her.