Dominance Never Dies (Masters and Mercenaries #11)(10)

She knew. They were working on trying to find a woman named Hope McDonald. Once Ian Taggart had figured out that her brother wasn’t working for the shadowy group known as The Collective, he’d enlisted Drew as an ally. Unfortunately, she was fairly certain they were looking in the wrong place and she had contacts that might pan out. One of them had sent her a photograph a few hours before.

The trouble was this guy was a paranoid weirdo freak who would bug out if commando dudes showed up at his place. Tony was the sweetest man, who also likely had several mental health issues he should deal with, paranoia being the chief among them. If she showed up with an army of ex-military men, he would likely shoot himself then and there.

If those ex-military men allowed her to go at all. They seemed to be taking a very hard line on protecting the women and children on this op. For all she knew, Erin Argent had no idea the Taggarts believed her lover was alive.

If she’d gone to Drew with her intel, he would have passed it on to Ian Taggart and Taggart would have left her out. Tony would run and her best shot at finding Theo would be gone.

Her best shot at proving to Case that she was more than a rich brat would be gone.

Maybe it made her a stupid girl, but she couldn’t handle not knowing. She had to know if it could work with him because her brain wouldn’t think about anything but the way it felt when his hands were on her.

She hadn’t even slept with the man and she was running off to Colombia to try to save his brother from the clutches of an evil corporation, and she was probably going to get shot, but it might be worth it.

She really was a crazy bitch.

“I’ve got a bodyguard and it’s going to be okay.” Unless her bodyguard took exception to her breaking and entering and kicked her out on her ass. In that case, she had two guns, a pocket Taser, and some nasty pepper spray. And she knew damn well how to use them. “I’ll call when I get back. It shouldn’t be more than a few days.”

“What’s his name? The bodyguard’s? I’ve talked to a couple of them. I liked the Cajun guy. He seems solid. I want his number.”

Why? Why did her brothers have to be overgrown guard dogs? Sure their childhood had been marred with murder and tragedy, but damn it, she needed them to not give a shit for a few days. “I’ll have to get back to you on that.”

Once she was in the air, she would be safe.

“Mia, I need a number or I’ll have to tell Drew,” Bran insisted. “Riley’s in New York checking out something but I’m sure he’ll be interested, too.”

She cursed in her head and kicked at the bike stand in front of the building. And f*ck all that hurt. “Fine. It’s Case.”

There was a long pause on the line. “Case, as in the guy you want to sleep with but he’s a manwhore douchebag and you’re too smart to sleep with him Case? That Case?”

Hypocrite. “If women used that line of thinking on you, Bran, you would never get laid, and yet I happen to know that you do. How many strippers have you gone through? Is there one left in the Austin area who hasn’t seen your penis?”

He chuckled over the line. “Probably. I have to hope so or I’ll need to move.” His voice went deep again. “And that simply proves that I know what I’m talking about when I talk about manwhores. He might be a good guy, Mia, but he’s not going to love you. He won’t let himself love you. He’ll use you and walk away, and while he might feel like shit if he’s got a conscience, he won’t change his mind.”

“You met him once, Bran.” They’d met in Austin a few months before. Ian Taggart had come down with his wife, Sean and Case, and a man named Liam O’Donnell, who seemed to be doing much of the legwork on the operation. She’d sat by utterly fascinated with the group she’d met while tracking a killer a few months back. The man who had killed her college roommate and had nearly taken out Kori and Sarah was now dead, and the friends she’d made at Sanctum had forgiven her, but Case Taggart had barely spoken two words the whole time he’d been there.

I’ve got more important things to do than play house with a spoiled rotten princess. You don’t want me. You’re just bored. Go back to your wealthy lovers, Mia.

She wasn’t sure what the hell he’d meant by that. She’d broken up with her fiancé a little while after she’d met that caveman. She’d realized Jeff was nothing more than easy to get along with. They’d fallen into dating and she liked him, but she hadn’t known what chemistry was until she’d met Case.

And she hadn’t known what she wanted sexually until she’d taken the class at Sanctum.

“I only needed to meet him once,” Bran insisted. “I also happen to know that he has some deviant sexual proclivities. I have to tell you that I don’t approve.”

She felt her eyes narrow. “You want to explain what you mean by that?”

Something in her voice must have gotten to Bran because he backpedalled like a pro. “I was just saying that I don’t think he’s the man for you and you should think about that.”

“No, you just told me you don’t approve of the man because he belongs to a sex club. I belong to the same sex club. You want to talk about my sexual proclivities? Let’s get into yours if we’re going to throw everything on the table. You want to slut shame me, brother, I can toss that shit right back in your face.” She didn’t take the shame crap from anyone.