Dominance Never Dies (Masters and Mercenaries #11)(125)

“Theo, please.” Her voice sounded cracked and tortured even to her own ears. “You have to help Case. Your brother is out there. Please.” She couldn’t stop the tears that were streaming down her face. “Please help him. Let me go to him. I love your brother so much.”

“Hutch, get this bird started,” Theo said, holding his head. “We have to get out of here.”

She hadn’t realized Hutch had gotten back on the plane. He was standing there, his eyes completely hollow.

Santos stepped in, firing out the door of the plane. “Get us moving, now.”

Theo turned back. “Sir, Robert isn’t here.”

“Robert’s been shot and Victor’s dead. Get this f*cking plane moving or we will be, too.” Santos fired out again.

She looked up at Theo. “Please. That’s your family out there. They’re trying so hard to get you back, to save you. Please don’t let them take us again. Your brother is lying out there. Your twin. His name is Case and I love him. You have a woman who loves you. You have Erin.”

“I don’t know who the f*ck you’re talking about,” Theo growled. “I don’t know anyone named Erin. Stop it. Stop talking. It hurts.”

It sounded like the world was coming to an end outside the airplane.

She couldn’t stop. Santos was pulling the stairs up. It was obvious he’d been hit, but he was still moving.

He closed the door and turned that gun on Hutch. “Get us out of here or I’ll kill you.” He turned toward Mia. “As for you…I’m going to shove your dead body out at our next stop and maybe then they’ll think about f*cking with me.”

He lifted the gun and Mia knew she was about to die. She took a deep breath and all she could think about was Case—the way he’d held her, the way he’d touched her, those messages on her phone, how he’d held them together even over the distance. She’d been loved. It was all that mattered. She could see him again. She could be with Case.

And then Santos stopped, his body shaking as he looked down at the bullet that pierced his chest. He stared at it dumbly before looking up at Theo. His mouth moved, but it made no sound, and he finally hit his knees and then the floor.

Theo stared for a moment as though he couldn’t believe he’d pulled the trigger on his own teammate. His face was pale as he turned to her.

“I’ll get you to Mother. She’ll know what to do. Hutch, we need to leave.”

His inner soul, that piece of himself that lay unchanged, couldn’t handle allowing her to die, but he reverted to his training very quickly.

Hutch groaned. “Or you can take a f*cking nap.”

Hutch brought the case he was carrying down on Theo’s head. Theo spun and then slid to the ground, unconscious.

Hutch stared down at him. “I’ve wanted to do that every f*cking day for months. He’s the most obnoxious Patty Hearst clone in the history of f*cking time. I want a goddamn milkshake and a f*cking raise.”

Her hands were shaking as she stood.

The door came open with a thud. “Mia!”

Case rushed in, his eyes wide as he looked for her.

She stood and found herself in his arms in a heartbeat. “I thought you were dead.”

He held her tight. “Body armor, princess. I don’t leave home without it. I get shot way too often to do anything else.”

Ian Taggart’s massive body came through next. “Who killed the douchebag?”

“Theo did,” Hutch said. “He wouldn’t let him kill Mia, but then he was an * and I knocked him out. My shit better be where I left it.”

Ian put a hand on his shoulder. “Everything was taken care of, brother. And I’ve got a pound of Milk Duds calling your name. Come on, man. Doc is looking at the wounded. I want her to take a look at you, too.”

“I love you,” Case said, wrapping his arms around her. “I thought I was going to die without you.”

All that mattered was she was alive and in his arms.





CHAPTER EIGHTEEN





Case didn’t mind the ache in his chest. It just proved he was alive and that no matter how good the body armor, a bullet to the chest still hurt like hell. All that mattered was the woman in his arms. He sat with Ian, Ten, Liam, Drew, and Kai around a small conference table that the hotel they were staying at had offered them. The hotel was being very accommodating, likely since they were taking up more than half the rooms. Since the women had gotten in, Riley and Bran Lawless had shown up, and they’d had to deal with a couple of Kent’s CIA pals who weren’t particularly happy with how he’d handled the situation.

The one person who was not in the country? Hope McDonald. She’d gone deep and Case was worried it would be a while before she surfaced again.

Mia cuddled against him as Kai continued his lecture.

“What Theo needs is a little time to allow the drug to get out of his system.” Kai looked like he hadn’t slept for days. “He’s calm right now, but I think we should wait until we’re about to head home before letting Erin get close to him.”

Ian frowned. “Do you know what that woman can do to you? You’re telling her that. Not me. Sean’s with her right now. I could have him tell her. He doesn’t need his balls anymore. Grace is pregnant for the last time, he tells me. Charlie wants a big family and I want way more boys out of that woman.”