Adored (Masters and Mercenaries #8.5)(42)

“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?”