Dominance Never Dies (Masters and Mercenaries #11)(69)

“What new job?” Case hadn’t missed the smirk on Fain’s face.

That smirk brightened again. “Didn’t I mention that I talked to Drew Lawless earlier today? He called me a few hours ago and we ironed out all the details. I’ve been hired as Mia’s full-time bodyguard.”

Mia’s eyes rolled. “Awesome. No one asked me if I wanted a full-time guard. It’s good to know.”

“You are not staying with her.” Case was going to be the one making those decisions when it came to Mia. He was going to make that clear to her brother as soon as possible. “When we get back tonight and I call Ian, I’ll have him assign her a guard.”

“I’ve been ordered to take her back to Austin myself,” Fain said, his phone in his hand.

“You can escort her home and then my brother will send another guard.” He would rather have her in Dallas, but he had no idea how long he would be stuck here. She would be more comfortable waiting for him at her own place. When he was done, they would sit down and have a long talk about her moving in with him.

“Drew Lawless hired me,” Fain insisted. “I’m not giving up my job. He’s already got someone moving me out of my condo. He wants me to stay close to her.”

“He can move you right back in because you’re not going to be her bodyguard.” He needed someone he trusted to watch over her.

“If Drew Lawless comes to Dallas, can I meet him? Ian always takes Adam with him when he goes down to Austin. I haven’t met him yet,” Hutch said, seeming to not care that the air was thick with irritation on all sides.

“Could Case and I have the room, please?” Mia asked, her voice tight. “We need to be at the party in twenty minutes, but I would like to have a brief word with our leader.”

Well, at least she was going to yell at him in private.

“I’ll drive,” Fain said. “I’ll drop Malone and Taggart off at the surveillance spot and then play chauffeur for our operatives. Come on, guys, let’s check and make sure we’ve got all the equipment we’ll need.”

“Yes, the equipment I bought,” Mia said with a smile that came nowhere near her eyes. “And the hotel room I’m paying for.”

She wasn’t happy with him. That was easy to see. “Sounds good, Fain. We’ll be there in a minute.”

They stepped out and the door closed, leaving him alone with Mia.

“I’m not leaving.”

At least she wasn’t screaming. “Yes, you are. After tonight you will have done your job and there’s no place for you in the field.”

“And if Tony finds out new information?”

“I didn’t need his information.” He’d been happy to discover the address Santos had given her had been the same one he and Hutch had found only hours before. There was nothing her contact could give him that he couldn’t discover for himself.

“And if he finds out who Theo hires to take them out of Colombia?”

“You can talk to him on the phone or he can deal with me. After tonight, I’m calling in everyone I can. I’ll let Tennessee Smith deal with Santos. You’re out of this, Mia.”

“Wow.” She flushed, her arms going protectively over her chest. “That didn’t take long.”

“What didn’t take long?” He got that bad feeling in his gut. The one that told him he was about to get punched from a direction he hadn’t expected, but there was zero chance of him figuring it out and being able to deflect.

“For you to get tired of me. A couple of f*cks and you’re sending me away.” She turned and grabbed her purse, her every movement a testament to how pissed off she was. “Well, don’t expect me to follow your instructions. I’ll pack as quickly as I can and then you can drop Ezra and me off after we’re done with tonight’s job. I’ll do this particular job because if I don’t, it will fail, but I won’t let you ship me off because you’re done with me sexually.”

That stopped him in his tracks. “What? I’m not done with you. Not even f*cking close. How can you think that?”

She shook her head, her blonde hair moving around her shoulders. “Because I’m no longer a sixteen-year-old girl. I learned a long time ago to judge men by their actions and not their words. You were honest with me when I broke in. You didn’t want to have anything to do with me. You let me go. How long did it take you to figure out I was your best bet at getting this op off the ground?”

“Mia, I told you what happened.”

“You told me what I wanted to hear. You told me what I needed to hear in order to let you on that plane with me.” She turned, obviously not willing to look at him anymore. She busied herself with adjusting her earrings. “I just wish you’d told me you’d changed your mind. I would have done all of this without the sexual games.”

“First off, there were no games on my end of this.” He could feel his blood pressure starting to rise. Why was she pulling this crap right before an op?

“Tony told me it would be this way. He told me you would choose your family. I’m nothing but a body in bed for you. I guess I’m a little more. You got some cash out of me and a nice ride where you needed to go.”

Was she f*cking kidding? “A nice ride? My best friend got shot and I almost watched you die. It was not a nice ride, Mia. And might I add that you’re the one who showed up at my place. You’re the one who set a trap for me, as you called it. All you had to do was call and give me the information, but you didn’t do this out of the kindness of your heart, did you? You wanted something out of me. You wanted me in your bed. Well, you got me. Don’t be surprised that I won’t dance to your every single tune.”