Dominance Never Dies (Masters and Mercenaries #11)(44)

He didn’t look her way. His face was toward the ocean. In the distance there was a whole line of cars and partygoers under colorful tents. She could hear music blasting and see girls in bikinis playing volleyball.

“We’re going to have a long talk about that.”

“I didn’t take this seriously enough, Case. I’m sorry. You have every right to be angry with me. If it weren’t for Tony’s instructions, I would go home.”

He turned, frowning. “Why would you go home?”

“Because I was using this as an excuse. Don’t get me wrong. I want to find Theo. But I’ve been fooling myself about why.”

“You wanted to find Theo so I would be grateful to you.”

Put like that she sounded so pathetic. “I guess I did it so you would talk to me. So in the end I’m exactly what you thought I was. I’m an entitled little princess who would do anything to get her way.”

His lips curved up, but there was a softness to them. “Or you’re a crazy bitch who wants a man so much she would move heaven and earth to get him.”

Stupid. God, she felt stupid. Maybe it was six hours of flying on no sleep or all the terror of the near kidnapping, but she felt dumb and vulnerable. “Yeah, crazy bitch will suffice.”

His hand slid over hers. “Mia, I’m sorry for being an ass for seven months. I think it was a lot of things and some of them had nothing to do with you. Mostly I’m at a loss without my brother. If Theo had been here, he would have kicked my ass and told me to go after what I wanted. He wasn’t and I was hurting and it was so easy to shove that hurt your way.” He took her hand in his and brought it to his lips. “I happen to adore crazy bitches. It’s the only type of woman men in my family are attracted to.”

“I want to believe you.” She wanted it so much it was an actual ache inside her body.

He kissed her palm. “Then believe me.”

The trouble was he’d so thoroughly dumped her the first time. He’d withdrawn affection and then when his cover had been blown, he’d refused to see her entirely. The only way she’d talked to him was to press the issue. “When did you find out that I was lying to you?”

He kissed her again and sighed, holding her hand to his chest. “It doesn’t matter now. I’ve seen the error of my ways. You know I never stopped thinking about you. I haven’t seen another woman. No dates. No hookups. I’ve spent months taking dungeon monitor duties at Sanctum because I couldn’t play with anyone but you.”

He said all the right things, but he’d been so cold for so long. It was hard to believe he’d turned around. “It was after that first night, wasn’t it? After you kissed me? You weren’t the same man after that. You were charming when you needed to be, but I still felt the chill.”

Not that it had made her turn away. She’d just kept trying. Kept saying yes when he’d asked her out even though she could feel the distance between them.

“Yes, and that was the same night I found out you had a fiancé.”

“I broke it off with him the next day.” She’d met Case Taggart and wondered what the hell she’d been thinking. “I’d been with Jeff for a while, but we weren’t even living together. He asked me in front of his friends and family and I didn’t have the heart to tell him no. And then I wondered hell, why not.”

“Because you were bored?”

How could she make him understand? “Because I hadn’t found anyone who moved me. Because I thought maybe having someone to see movies with and who my brothers didn’t hate wasn’t the end of the world. Because I thought it was time to start my life. And then I met you.”

“You should know your brother hates me.”

Why on earth would he think that? She was pretty sure Drew and the others were completely fascinated with the Taggarts. “Drew doesn’t hate you. Bran thinks you’re a manwhore and he doesn’t get the D/s stuff, but Drew and Riley like you.”

Case’s face went hard, a memory obviously tapping into his seemingly never-ending supply of masculine fury. “Your brother offered me money to walk away from you.”

Asshole. Manipulative jerk. She was having such a talk with her brother when she got home. It wasn’t the first time Drew decided to screw around with her love life. “Yeah, my brother thinks he understands psychology. Trust me. He didn’t mean what you thought he meant. You were being difficult. You were obviously stubborn and very proud. He thought you would sweep me off my feet just to spite him. Believe me—that’s Drew move 101. When you want someone to move, give them something to fight against. In this case it was Drew himself.”

Case’s lips were a flat line. “Or he thinks I’m not good enough for his sister. I’ve found wealthy men tend to like to keep their family lines clean.”

“Case, how much have you read about my family?” She had the sudden fear that he didn’t know how scandalous her family line was.

He let go of her hand, his lips turning down. “I read some of the reports about your brother. I know you lost your parents at a young age.”

“Do you know how I lost them?”

“I stayed away from the reports, Mia. I didn’t want to know you. Not any more than I did. I was kind of crazy about the woman I did know. I didn’t want to see just how false she was.”