Dominance Never Dies (Masters and Mercenaries #11)(57)

“Why would you want to work for someone you don’t like?” Case asked, trying to stay cool. “Besides, I doubt there will be a spot.”

Fain shook his head. “I never said I didn’t like the man. Actually, I have no real idea if I like Big Tag or not, but I admire the hell out of him. With the singular exception of his emotional decisions, he’s brilliant. When he’s running an op that doesn’t involve his family, there’s no one I would rather follow into battle. McKay-Taggart is going places. And I think there will be an opening and fairly soon because I’ve heard Miles and Dean are going to make a move.”

Case didn’t buy it. There was no way Adam and Jake left. They’d been with the firm since the beginning. “They’re not leaving the company.”

“That’s not what I’ve heard, man. I’ve heard Miles is perfecting a piece of software that’s going to revolutionize how we search for missing persons. Why would he stay and work close cover when he can change the world? You honestly think Big Tag would hold them back? He didn’t hold his brother back. Sean left a long time ago.”

Fain had no idea what he was talking about. He didn’t know the team. They stuck together. They were a family. “We’ll see.”

He didn’t need to argue with Fain. He had way too much to think about as it was. Like whether or not he was capable of making proper decisions around Mia.

He could concentrate on that because he didn’t need to think about the company getting torn apart. That wasn’t going to happen. Fain was simply wrong about that.

But Sean had left. Sean had followed his bliss and that had brought him great satisfaction. Would Ian stand in the way if Adam and Jake wanted to grow their own business?

“Stay here and watch her door,” Case ordered. He pulled the baseball cap he’d brought out of his pocket and settled it on his head. Between the cap that would disguise the color of his hair and the aviators he covered his eyes with, he would be fairly nondescript as he walked the streets of Cartagena.

“I can help,” a deep voice said.

Case looked up and Michael was leaning against the door of the room he shared with Hutch. His skin was a little pale, but otherwise he was upright and his eyes were steady. Still, he’d taken a bullet not four days before. “You need to rest.”

“No, he needs to watch me so you have backup,” Fain said with a sardonic tone. “You won’t take Hutch with you if Malone is out. This is what I was talking about. You’re making decisions based on the fact that you like a girl, decisions that could get you killed. He’s your partner, right? You have partners from what I understand. He’s got your back.”

Case walked toward Michael’s room, unwilling to have this discussion in front of someone who wasn’t family. He already didn’t like how much Fain knew about the inner workings of his company.

Michael stepped back in and shut the door, a grimace on his face as he moved. “He’s right, you know. You’re making this decision based on your dick.”

His dick didn’t make decisions for him at all. Never once in his life. His heart was another matter altogether. “I’ll be fine.”

Michael’s face darkened. “What would you say to me if I wanted to head out into a foreign city where my brother had last been seen and where there’s likely someone who wants to take a member of our team. You would be an awfully good bargaining chip when it came to Mia. She would give herself up to save you. Hell, she gave herself up to save me and she’s not in love with me.”

In love. The idea made him nervous. It was one thing to want her. It was another to give his soul to her the way Ian had with Charlotte and Sean with Grace. He’d seen his mother do that and she’d been left with nothing when his father had walked out. She’d been a shell, empty and hollowed out.

Did he even want to feel that way about a woman? He couldn’t forget how shitty it had felt the first time she’d lied to him, how everything had fallen apart and he’d been more alone than he could have imagined.

He needed to think about the mission. The op. That was what mattered. Sometimes when in the thick of things, it was important to draw back and get through each step separately.

He needed to take a look at the bank that had been hit, needed to see where his brother had stood. If there was any way to quietly talk to some people at the bank, he would do it. Discreetly.

Theo was the important thing here. Still, he couldn’t leave Mia alone and leaving her with Fain was like leaving her alone. He didn’t know the man yet. He couldn’t trust Fain. Not with her.

But Michael had a point. If this was about Michael’s brother, JT, Case would never allow him to go in alone. He wouldn’t ever let his partner walk into a situation without backup. Not if he could do something about it. “Watch Fain, please. I’ll take Hutch with me.”

Michael rolled his eyes. “You’ll have to wake him up, but I made sure his SIG is in working order. He’s been busy tending crops or something on his online game and hasn’t cleaned it in months. One of these days, that boy is going to grow up.”

Hutch was the perpetual manchild, but his heart was in the right place.

Hutch had been there that night. Hutch had watched Theo die. Case crossed into the bedroom where Hutch was laid out on one of the two double beds, his head covered with a pillow as though he was trying to keep out the sunlight.