Dominance Never Dies (Masters and Mercenaries #11)(37)

Mia smiled Case’s way. “Did I mention how awesome you were?”

“It’s not going to save your ass.”

“Who said I wanted my ass saved?” She turned back to the control panel. “Could you move him? And maybe get a mop or something. What’s with you and all the blood?”

“Please tell me you know how to fly this thing.” Michael had managed to get himself into one of the seats, his leg propped up as Hutch offered his hoodie to stop the bleeding.

“Of course she doesn’t,” Case replied. “I was hoping Hutch could figure it out.”

Mia rolled her eyes. “Wanna see my license? You do not go into my line of work without picking up a few things. We’re going to climb back to our cruising altitude, I’ll put this baby on autopilot, then I’ll dig that bullet out, Malone. I’m also pretty good at first aid.”

“I knew you could do it, boss,” Fain said in a big old kiss-ass voice. “I’ll see if I can find the first aid kit. I’ve helped out in the field before. I can be your nurse. Maybe Taggart can deal with the bodies.”

“And the cleanup,” Mia said. “There’s a mini steam cleaner somewhere. The faster you get that blood up, the better.”

She winked his way before turning back to the panel.

Fuck, she was going to kill him one of these days. He just knew it.





CHAPTER FOUR





“You want to tell me what’s really going on?” Fain sat down across from Case.

They would land in a few hours thanks to Mia’s expertise with a plane. She was utterly confident she could take care of things.

He was confident they were going to have a very long talk that would end with her bare ass over his lap. He was still a little shaken from how close he’d come to losing her. He hated that. He was always ice cold during an op, but Mia shook him up in every way possible. And maybe that wasn’t such a bad thing. “We’re going to Colombia. I thought you knew that.”

Fain frowned, his eyes steady on Case. “I thought I knew you, too.”

Case sat back, wishing he’d just stayed in the cockpit with Mia. He could be watching her. She was pretty freaking hot when she was flying a plane. He’d never been the kind of man who was attracted to needy women.

Maybe it was time to rethink his stance on the future. He was treating Mia like the women he’d dated back in Georgia. They’d all wanted out of their small town and Case’s double-wide existence wasn’t going to get them there. They’d been more than happy to have sex, but when it came time to get serious they looked for better options.

A woman like Mia would know what she wanted. If she was here with him, it likely had nothing to do with a rich girl indulging her fantasies and everything to do with a wild woman who happened to want a man who could handle her.

He might need to have another talk with Drew Lawless. But first he had to deal with Fain, who wasn’t as big an * as Case had suspected but could still be obnoxious.

“Why would you think you know me? We’ve never met.”

“I suppose I thought I knew you by reputation,” Fain allowed. “You’re a Taggart. That name alone means something in our community. You’re supposed to be a hardass when it comes to protecting your women. Are you trying to tell me Mia isn’t your woman?”

Michael groaned a little as he shifted in his chair. His leg was propped up. Mia had not only gotten the bullet out of his thigh, she’d sewn him up. She’d explained her adoptive mother was a doctor and Mia had gone on several charity tours with her that ended with Mia playing nurse and learning how to stitch up a wound as a teenager. “I’d like to know the answer to that question.”

“Since when do you care about my love life?”

Michael grinned. He’d had a whole bunch of tequila. “Since you actually have one. Also, if you don’t want her, I’ll take her. She’s hot and I think she might be able to handle my momma. My momma looks sweet on the outside, but she’s mean. Don’t let that upper-crust British accent fool you. She’s got the Southern momma thing down. Many a woman has run from her. And I get shot way more than I like to think about. So skill with a medical kit is a real plus when it comes to looking for a bride.”

Yeah, all his friends would be after his girl. Damn, but that felt good. This time there were no lies between them. This time the only thing between them was his distorted view of her. He’d thought about it the whole time he’d cleaned up. As he rolled up bodies in tarps and mopped up blood, he’d given careful consideration to why he’d pushed her away in the first place.

She was rich and he wasn’t. She’d had a fiancé who looked like he fit more into her world than Case did.

That lawyer boy likely couldn’t handle Mia. And her world seemed to be a much more f*cked up place than he’d imagined.

It was time to let go of his past. He wasn’t the poor kid from the other side of the tracks anymore. So what if she had more money than he did? Why the hell would that matter? If Drew Lawless wanted to think he was a gold digger, Case didn’t care. Now he couldn’t remember why he’d thought he cared in the first place. It was Theo. He’d been so lost without his brother. If Theo had been alive when he’d met Mia, he would have spanked her lying ass, slapped a collar around her throat, and dragged her off like a caveman without any thought to what her brothers would think of him.