Dominance Never Dies (Masters and Mercenaries #11)(76)

“Fine.” He hated the way the entire experience was making him feel. He knew Mia had been in tighter spots, but she hadn’t been his then. Now that she belonged to him, wasn’t it his job to ensure her safety?

Or was it his job to care about her and let Mia be Mia?

“Hi, I was wondering if there was a place I could make a call from. My cell can’t find a signal here.”

He didn’t need security cameras to see the smile on her face. He could hear it, but he knew it wouldn’t be as bright as the ones she’d given to him over the last few days. Those smiles had lit up his whole f*cking world. But even a half smile from his Mia would distract a man for however long she wanted him distracted. “Very good. Just a few minutes more and we’ll have you out of there.”

A few more minutes and she would be walking out of that place and he would be able to breathe again. She would get on a plane and he could concentrate. Or would he simply sit around and wonder what kind of trouble she was getting into back home? He wasn’t stupid enough to believe she would honestly sit at her condo in Austin and wait for him. She was pissed off and a pissed off Mia could cause trouble.

He had to find a way to make her see reason.

A deep voice came over the feed. “We’re kind of in a dead zone, if you know what I mean. Sorry about that, but if you walk outside, you should be able to get a signal.”

Michael looked back. “He sounds Western. Colorado or Wyoming. What’s an American doing working security here?”

Fain’s head came up. “Holy shit. Is she talking to one of Theo’s fellow bank robbers?”

“Tell her what we think, Case,” Michael urged. “She can ask him about Theo. Subtly.”

Or he would completely lose control of the situation because she would sense a great story and run with it like the thoroughbred reporter she was. Maybe she wouldn’t notice. Maybe she wouldn’t pick up on the possibilities and she would simply do the job he’d asked her to and walk away.

“You’re American?” Mia asked.

Michael fist pumped. “That’s a smart girl.”

Fain nodded. “See, I would totally let her watch my back.”

They were determined to make him the bad guy. He was saved from responding by the guard’s reply. “Yes. I’m American. Born and raised in New York.”

“You sound like you’re from Colorado or Wyoming.” Nothing got past Mia.

“Keep it up, spy chick,” Michael said. “That’s going to be her superhero name from here on out.”

Luckily she couldn’t hear Michael in her ear. “Aren’t you supposed to be watching the street?”

Michael turned back to his job, but not before Case saw a shit-eating grin on his face.

The guard’s conversation with Mia continued to play out in Case’s ear. “Not at all. I’m from upstate New York. Lived there all my life until I left for the military. You’re a lovely woman. Are you here alone?”

Oh, that was so not f*cking happening. “Tell him you have a husband waiting for you and then excuse yourself to find him. Hutch should have gotten to the offices by now. You can rejoin the party until I tell you Hutch is ready to come back out.”

“Almost got it,” Fain said, his hands moving over the keys.

“I came with my brother.” It was obvious Mia wasn’t listening to him anymore. She simply continued on in her sultry voice. “I seem to have lost him, but that’s okay. I found the only other American here.”

“What are you doing, Mia?” He’d given her a direct f*cking order.

“Hey, I’ve got someone walking up to the hotel who looks mighty familiar,” Michael said. “I think we’re in trouble.”

Case knew they were in trouble because the guard kept talking. “There are two more. My brothers. We all work here.”

His brothers? All Americans? Case could feel the adrenaline begin to pump through his veins. Mia had told him everything Tony Santos had told her. According to the intel Mia had provided him, there were at least three soldiers in Hope McDonald’s clutches. Whoever Mia was currently talking to could be one of those men, could be one of Theo’s new “brothers.”

Could be insanely dangerous to be close to.

“Are they all as big as you?” Mia asked in her flirty tone.

“They’re tiny compared to me,” came the reply. “I’m afraid I got all the muscle in our family.”

He didn’t care how big the motherf*cker was, he needed to stay away from Case’s girl. “Mia, you walk away right now. You think this is making me jealous? It’s not. It’s making me pissed off that you can’t follow orders. This is exactly why I’m shipping you home as fast as I can.”

“I’m serious, Case,” Michael said. “I think…maybe I’m seeing things. How are the cams coming?”

“How did three New York boys end up in Cartagena?” Mia asked.

In front of him the screen flickered and he could see the walkway outside the building.

“Got one up,” Fain said. “I’m working on the others. I think I got the only one that’s not connected to the inside.”

“I don’t…I need to do my job,” the guard was saying in Case’s ear. Case agreed with him utterly. For just a second he almost relaxed. Then the guard continued, his voice going low. “You’re very pretty. I would like to spend some time with you, but I can’t sneak you back to our room. They watch us. She watches us.”