Dominance Never Dies (Masters and Mercenaries #11)(82)

She looked back at the place where Theo had vanished. There was no hint of the door he’d disappeared behind.

Sweet. Kind. Funny. Loyal. Words she’d heard used to describe Theo Taggart. Brave. Honorable. Warm.

There’d been such coldness is his eyes when he’d told her he would kill anyone who followed him—but particularly Case.

“Princess, are you hurt?” Case got to one knee. “There’s blood all over here. What the hell happened?”

“No time for explanations.” Ian Taggart stepped into the room, his massive body blocking out the light from the hall. “We have to move and fast. The police are on their way. I don’t know that we get out of this now.”

“Go,” Case said. “Take Mia and run. I’ve got to find Theo. Which way did he go? You can tell me how you got away from him later. Just point me in the right direction.”

In the direction of Theo’s next bullet? Case had to be running on pure adrenaline, but he’d been shot and that was going to affect him. She couldn’t do it. She couldn’t let him open that door and start the fight that would end in one of them dying.

She shook her head. They would have to find another way. “He said they were leaving. I don’t know which way he went. He tossed me in here and left. They took Hutch with him.”

Ian cursed. Outside she could hear the sound of sirens wailing. Ian held his phone up. “Alex, we’ve got incoming. Tell Li and Malone to get out of here and try to find Lawless. I had Fain haul him out. He’s our best shot at not spending the next five years being a professional butt monkey in a Colombian prison. We’re too deep in. We can’t get out. The rest of you get the f*ck out and find us a lawyer. We’ve got Mia but we lost Hutch.”

Her brother was here? Nothing made sense. The cops were coming?

All she could think about was Theo behind that door, his gun raised and ready to kill them all. Theo, with his blank, soulless stare. Theo, who had recognized his mate’s scent, who had reveled in it. Theo, who couldn’t quite break the drug’s hold.

Case gripped her hand. “It’s going to be all right. I’m going to take care of you. Don’t be afraid. Just do whatever the cops ask you to.”

The world turned chaotic, with bright lights flashing and screams in Spanish. Case dropped his gun and put his hands in the air.

Ian Taggart did the same, dropping to his knees and lacing his hands behind his head, obeying the orders of the men with the guns. Mia started to do the same, but suddenly there was an officer wrapping a blanket around her and calling out for an ambulance.

Case groaned, probably because there was a bullet lodged in his upper right chest.

“You in pain, brother?” Big Tag asked with his trademark sarcasm as he was placed in handcuffs. “You better be happy they’ll take you to a hospital because I swear if I end up with a boyfriend named Juan, I’m going to kill you myself.”

Case didn’t say a word, merely fell over in a dead faint.

“Yeah, that’s typical,” Big Tag complained. “Leave me holding the bag. Hello, boys. I’m going to need to make my phone call earlier rather than later. Don’t guess anyone’s up for a bribe, huh? Got a twenty right in that old back pocket.”

Big Tag was still talking as they hauled him away.

Mia waited for the ambulance and wondered if Theo was watching them the whole time.





CHAPTER TWELVE





His whole chest felt like a Mack truck had hit it, but Case walked into the suite behind Ian and Alex dedicated to not letting anyone know he was in pain. The last thing he needed was to be a drag on the team. After the night they’d all had, there was no way he was putting more burden on his brothers.

Alex had shown up an hour earlier with Ian in tow, a change of clothes for Case, and some harsh words on how f*cked up the previous night had been. Case had a sense that it could have been much worse. Still might be since his big brother had ended up spending the night in jail and he was definitely pissed about it.

“Charlie, baby, it was awful. I’m talking bugs on the floor and water torture and a big dude looking for his prison wife,” Ian was saying into his cell. “I fought him off because I belong to you. Also because I’m not into smelly dudes who want to do things to my butt, but mostly it was about you, baby. I miss you so much and I’m going to take out all my aggression on my brother as soon as I possibly can. Yeah, he got shot and he’s kind of being a * about it.”

Maybe there was another reason he wasn’t going to let the pain show.

Case shot Ian the finger, but then he no longer gave a damn because Mia walked into the room. Her face lit up and she walked over to him as Ian continued to complain about his stay in prison as if he’d been there for years instead of a couple of hours.

“Are you all right?” Mia asked, her hands coming out as if to touch him, but then she pulled back.

He wasn’t having that. He pulled her close, taking care with his left side, where Theo had lodged his bullet. “I’m fine now, thanks to your brother and what I’m sure was an enormous amount of money.”

He hadn’t expected to be released from the hospital. He’d expected to be transported to a secure location after the docs had dug the bullet out. When he’d woken up, they’d explained that the damage was mostly superficial and he was free to go, given him a prescription for pain and antibiotics and sent him on his way.