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

“I never said that word. Not once. I’m not worried about the sex, Mia. I’m worried about the fact that you’ve suddenly decided you want a man who likes to hit women for sexual pleasure.”

She sighed. Something had happened in Bran’s past. She wasn’t sure what it was, but his time in foster care after their parents’ deaths had been the worst. Drew and Riley had gone into a group home together. Mia had been adopted by the best parents in the world. And Bran had gone through home after home after home. He’d been a sweet boy one day and the next he’d been alone, his privileged world destroyed, and when Drew had managed to put enough money together to get him out of the system, he’d been a different human being altogether.

“It’s not like that, Bran. It’s wholly consensual and I have all the power.” At least in the dungeon she did. The Dom might nominally be in control, but the sub made the real choices.

The choice to trust her partner, the choice to let go and enjoy the moment, the choice to throw off all those silly rules and be herself.

Of course outside the dungeon, Case was the one with the power. The power to tell her no. The power to rip her heart out of her chest.

She glanced down at her watch. If she didn’t get a move on, he would find her standing outside.

“I’ll back off,” Bran said quietly. “But you have to know I’ll kill him if he hurts you.”

She wasn’t sure Bran was thinking properly. Case Taggart had been a Navy SEAL before being recruiting into a CIA black ops program. He was fast and deadly and he wouldn’t hesitate to defend himself. Bran only had rage on his side. The good news was while Case might break her heart, the man would never, never hurt her in a physical way.

Not in any physical way that wouldn’t lead to an orgasm.

“I have to go, Bran. Please, if you’re going to tell on me, at least give me a day. This is important.” It might be the most important thing she’d ever done. She’d been a journalist for the last five years and she’d tried to do good in the world. But this felt like more.

Theo Taggart had been kidnapped by a woman who was torturing and using him. He’d already spent months away from his family. He didn’t even know that when he’d “died” his girlfriend had been pregnant with his child. Erin had given birth to their son today.

If she could find Theo Taggart and bring him back, that would be one less kid in the world without a dad.

Sometimes she missed her father so damn much. She could barely remember him and yet she felt the hole in her heart. TJ Taggart shouldn’t feel that hole.

Whether or not Case decided to take a chance on her, she couldn’t leave his brother out there alone in the world.

“You tell Case to call me. All right? I’ll keep my mouth shut, but god Mia, try not to blow anything up. Or bring down the whole country.”

That had only been once and it had been a small country with a terrible dictator. It was good it had come down. “I promise.”

“I love you, sis.” The line clicked and she was alone again.

She pocketed her phone and tried to concentrate on her mission. Case’s building was nice and had good security, but she’d discovered that a smiling girl with a hint of cleavage could get just about anything done. It was mere moments before a man in a suit came out and she sprinted up to catch the door.

“Thanks,” she said, giving him her biggest smile.

“You’re welcome.” He winked her way as he strode out toward the street.

Thank god not everyone was as security conscious as Case Taggart. The good news was she’d memorized the code for his alarm and she was actually quite good at picking locks. Hopefully he hadn’t changed the code, but she was counting on him being lazy about that. The lock picking skill was something she’d picked up from one of her many adventures. She hurried up to Case’s corner unit on the third floor. Luckily, at this time of the evening most of the young professionals who lived in the building were still at work. But just in case, she rang the doorbell and waited a few seconds. Nothing. One more ring and she was sure he wasn’t home.

She got out her handy pick and torque wrench and went to work.

She’d learned this particular skill from a cat burglar she’d met in Italy. It was all about moving the proper pieces into the right place and at the right time. She liked to practice. There was something soothing about unlocking a door someone wanted to keep her out of.

Was she being a complete idiot? Was she trying to force her way into Case’s life when he’d made it so plain he didn’t want her?

The locked popped with a little snick and she was in. No going back. There was too much on the line.

She would be respectful. She would text Case and explain where she was. The last thing she wanted to do was catch the man off guard. He would probably shoot her and not even feel bad about it. Definitely she was texting him. Mia walked through the door and got a glimpse of his dark apartment.

They’d been out several times, but he’d always gone over to her place. At first she’d thought it was because he was a guy and likely had a mess of an apartment he was ashamed of. She should have known Mr. Navy SEAL would have a pin perfect place. The only reason he’d insisted on going to her place had been so he could spy on her.

She was going to have to find a light before she let the door close.

How would he handle the fact that she was the one bringing him this lead? Would he be pissed that she was bugging him again? Or impressed with her abilities?