Adored (Masters and Mercenaries #8.5)(61)

“I don’t know where Frances is. She called me and said she was going to get you out of the facility. She’s being detained by my man on the inside. I’ll have to get rid of her now, too, and all because you’re such a selfish shit, Harvey. All of these people have to die because you won’t save your family.”

Her family was in there. Her heart raced. She moved to the reception area and pulled out her phone, dialing 911. As quietly as she could, she explained the situation. She could still hear Mitch talking in the background.

“So you think the police are going to believe that Harvey came in here and killed all of us because he was upset that a company I represent stole his solar storage idea?” Mitch sounded so calm, so patient.

The operator told her to get out of the building as quickly as she could. The police were on their way.

She hung up, but she couldn’t leave. Where the hell was her bodyguard?

“It will work. I have several people who are more than willing to state that Harvey is insane,” Patrick promised. “He’s pissed off a whole lot of people in his time.”

“What did you do? Did you get in with that bookie again?” Harvey asked.

“Are you even considering all the problems that are going to come up?” Mitch completely ignored the family argument. “First of all, you’re not wearing gloves. How are the police going to believe Harvey did this when his prints aren’t on the gun?”

The baseball bat. It was sitting right there. She picked it up and took a deep breath because she was so going to get spanked for what she was about to do.

The cops wouldn’t come in quietly. She hadn’t thought about that. Maybe all those sirens would scare Patrick Dixon into letting everyone go, or maybe they would make him desperate and he would start shooting. She couldn’t take that chance.

She took the bat in hand and moved back into the hall. There he was. Patrick was standing with his back to the door. He hadn’t closed it all the way. There was plenty of room for her to move into the office and clock the son of a bitch.

“I’ll figure out a way to make it work.” Patrick screamed suddenly. “You stay back!”

“Flynn, get behind me now,” Mitch said, his voice a low growl.

“I’m not hiding behind you,” Flynn insisted.

“Me, big brother. You, little brother. Remember that in the future and don’t argue with me. You wanted me for a brother. Well, we follow the rules of the pack in this family. Get the f*ck behind me now,” Mitch ordered. “Anything happens to me and you…”

“Take care of Laurel,” Flynn promised.

Oh, he was so not going to like the fact that she was breaking the rules of the pack. She would bet his rules included not putting herself and their baby in danger, but she couldn’t let him die. She couldn’t live in a world where there was no Mitchell Bradford to growl at her and get irritated when she changed things, and make love to her like she was the last woman on earth.

He couldn’t die when he was finally learning what family meant.

She would show him what it meant.

She swung the bat back as she strode through the door and let that sucker go. There was a horrible crack as the bat met Patrick Dixon’s skull, and she felt the reverberation all the way up her arms and through her chest.

He dropped to the ground, blood welling from his skull.

The whole world seemed to stop.

“Laurel?” Mitch was standing behind his desk, his eyes wide.

“What the hell?” Remy strode in, his gun in hand as sirens started to blare. He kicked the gun away from Patrick Dixon’s still body. “I got a call from Liam that Austin Hunt had been spotted trying to follow Patrick Dixon into the building. I caught him downstairs with an arsenal strapped to his body. He’s tied up and out of the way.”

“Yeah, well, tell Li he was right,” Mitch said as he strode around the desk. “There’s always a twist. Meet Harvey Dixon. He’s my newest client and not responsible for anything but being brilliant. Make sure Patrick doesn’t get back up. Sharon, take next week off. Be with your grandchildren. And I’ll get you a new bat.”

Sharon shook her head. “Oh, no. I think this one is lucky now. Well, after I get the blood off it. And I’m so glad you mentioned it. I was hoping to take a couple of weeks off. My daughter recently bought a new RV. Grand Canyon here I come.”

Mitch frowned at her. “Shouldn’t you be more freaked out?”

The older woman kicked Patrick’s body. “Mad is more like it. And I’ve worked for lawyers for a very long time, Mr. Bradford. You people tend to piss off the world. This isn’t my first rodeo. I think I’ll make a pot of coffee for the nice police officers on their way up.”

Mitch took Laurel’s hand and led her out. He didn’t even look at her. He simply dragged her away from the scene of the crime.

He didn’t stop until he got to her old office. He pulled her inside and locked the door.

She held her breath and prayed he wasn’t too angry.





Mitch could feel his heart beating in his chest as he looked at her. When he’d realized she was coming through the door with that bat in her hand, he’d wanted to die. Anything could have gone wrong. The gun could have gone off. She could have not hit Patrick hard enough.