Dominance Never Dies (Masters and Mercenaries #11)(45)

Mia felt herself flush. He didn’t know. He didn’t know how bad it was. How bad it would get. Somehow she’d counted on him knowing everything. There was zero chance that Ian Taggart hadn’t unearthed all the Lawless family secrets, all the dirty truths under their money and shiny surfaces.

His family was made up of heroes. Every single one of his brothers had served in the military and gone on to the elite teams. The older brothers had both been Green Berets. Case and Theo had been SEALs.

She’d been shoved into foster care because according to the world, her father had murdered her mother and then killed himself. According to the reports, her father had tried to kill all of them.

She’d been too young to remember the night her parents had died, but she remembered how it felt when someone at her junior high had heard the story from a parent. She could see how the teachers had pitied her and still hear her classmates saying she was trash and that she would be as bad as her father some day.

She’d thought he’d known and didn’t care.

“Hey, what’s that look for?” Case asked.

She was saved from having to answer him by Hutch knocking on the door and holding up their keys. She hopped out of the SUV as fast as she could.

Case was on her ass in a second. She had the key from Hutch in her hand, but before she could grab her bag, Case lifted it up and stepped in front of her.

“Let’s talk about protocol.” It was obvious he was back in his commander mode. “You don’t walk outside without an escort.”

She frowned up at him. Did he have to be so freaking big? “I’ve told you that Tony won’t meet with me if I’m not alone.”

“I’m not talking about Tony. We could be here for a few days waiting for him to make contact. You’re not allowed outside the motel room without an escort. Hell, you’re not allowed inside the motel room alone. If I need to be somewhere, Fain or Hutch will take a turn babysitting you.”

Babysitting her. Yeah, that was what every man wanted in his woman. But she’d gotten them all into this so she wasn’t about to make things harder. “All right. Could I have Ezra please take me to my room? I think I’d like to take a nap. I’ve already sent a text to the phone number I was supposed to. Now we have to wait for the meet time. Hopefully it will be sometime tomorrow.”

And then they would have their answer and Case would have a choice to make.

It was obvious he’d changed his mind about sleeping with her. Had he changed his mind about them? Or was he simply going to screw her six ways from Sunday and get her out of his system. Maybe he would f*ck her senseless and then leave her the minute he had what he wanted. He would stride off into the distance and find his pretty, perfect submissive. He would find a girl who wouldn’t ever make him angry or place herself in danger. Case’s perfect woman wouldn’t have a crazy, scandalous background. She wouldn’t come with a whole group of brothers bent on vengeance.

Could she truly risk going to bed with him? Could she open herself up when he wasn’t promising her anything past a quick lay? He’d said he changed his mind, but that could mean anything.

She’d already seen how easily Case could deny her.

Case looked back at Hutch and Ezra. “Can you two handle Michael? I want to get Mia secured and rested. We’ll meet up tonight for dinner at 18:00.”

Hutch nodded. “We can get him on his feet and into the room. I’ll have a report on the kidnappers by dinner. I’ve already found names through facial recognition but I want to make a complete report on who these bastards are.”

Case nodded. “Good, but get some sleep, too. Fain, you okay with the arrangements? I’m putting you on the other side of Mia’s room so no one can take it. At least I’ll know who our neighbors are. And you should be able to hear us if we shout.”

“I’ll keep watch for a few hours and then I’ll get some sleep,” Ezra said. “I’ll help Hutch get Malone to their room and I’ll keep my cell on. I’ve got decent reception here. If you need anything, holler.”

Case’s hand found hers. “Will do.”

He started to lead her toward the left. Toward their room.

She was here. She was about to be alone with the man of her dreams and she was scared. Not by him. But by the power he had to utterly destroy her.

She stopped in the middle of the walkway. “I don’t know about this.”

He simply picked her up, his big arm going under her legs. “You should have thought about that before you took us to Colombia and allowed kidnappers access to your sweet self, baby. This is going to end one way and one way only.”

She went still in his arms. “And if I say no?”

He didn’t look down at her. He simply strode toward the door. “You don’t get to say no about this. If you say no about this, we’ll be on a plane to Austin and I won’t let you out of my sight until I’ve had a very long talk with your brothers. Don’t think I can’t write a report that will ensure your brothers never allow you out of the house on your own again.”

He didn’t understand. “I wasn’t talking about the security protocols. I’ll follow those. I’m not an idiot. I was talking about the rest of it.”

His jaw went hard and he managed to get their door open without ever setting her down. He kicked the door closed behind them. She found herself on her feet, staring up at him.