Dominance Never Dies (Masters and Mercenaries #11)(90)

It’s hers, Case. That’s the mistake you’re making. You think you’re being the white knight, saving the girl from pain, but you’re taking something from her. This is a part of their story. Whether you get Theo back or not, this is hers because he was hers. The pain is hers too. You’re taking her ability to pray for him, to know what he’s going through.

On the plane trip home, the one that had taken place in the same plane he’d ridden out on, he’d talked to Ian about telling Erin, about bringing the entire team in now that they’d lain eyes on Theo.

Ian had told him it was his call. He’d stayed away from the office for a few days, not wanting to hear the lies Ian would have to spread about what happened in Colombia, to explain Hutch’s disappearance.

“I like her.” Erin set the pitcher down.

“Everyone likes her. You’re not the first to tell me how stupid I am.” Not even close. Everyone seemed to have an opinion.

“It won’t take her long to find someone else. Don’t worry about it. I heard Kori saying she and Sarah are going to try to fix her up. Apparently they had a nice long talk before Mia took off for places unknown.”

“She’s working.” He’d already tried to call and been told that she’d left Austin.

“She’s hiding,” Erin corrected. “Ian told me you were over-the-top mean to her.”

Ian was a big old gossip. “I was the exactly right amount of mean to her.”

Except he’d started to wonder about that. He’d been so angry in that moment. Time had given him a little more perspective. He’d started to question what had really happened.

“Ian told me you two had a big blowout over the op in Colombia. He wouldn’t tell me what it was about though.”

Because that would have given up the secret they’d been keeping. The one Mia thought he shouldn’t keep.

Could she have honestly thought Theo would kill him? Had she been terrified for him in the moment? What if all that sweet affection hadn’t been manipulation? What if it had been love?

She’d walked out, not saying a word to him, not defending herself or fighting the good fight. It had been like a light had been snuffed out inside her.

At first he’d called to yell some more at her. The last time he’d called, it had gone straight to voice mail and he’d hung up.

She would come back. She would see he’d had the right to be angry.

“You’re going to let her go?” Erin stared at him.

He shrugged. “We had a fight. I think we both need some time to think.”

“Can I give you some advice?”

“Do I actually have a choice?” He never seemed to have a choice when it came to getting advice from his family.

A smile crossed Erin’s face. “See you can be smart. But mostly you’re a dumbass. Whatever happened, you were wrong.”

Yep, he’d heard a whole lot of that, too. “You know I’m getting sick of hearing that. In fact, I was perfectly right. She made a choice that wasn’t hers to make.”

“You blame her for what happened to Hutch. Yeah, I don’t exactly understand that either.” Erin’s jaw tightened. “I know you and Big Tag and a couple of the guys have been working on something secret, but I need to know if this op you were on had anything to do with Hope McDonald. I’ve stayed away from this because I needed to concentrate on TJ, but I need to know now. I need to understand what happened to Hutch. He’s my friend.”

Shit. He should have expected this. Erin wasn’t a fool. She was smart and had been in the business longer than him. The moment was here and he wasn’t sure what to do. She would think they were looking for revenge. “We got a line on where she might be hiding out. We came very close to finding her. It was Mia’s choice that allowed her to get away. That’s what we fought about.”

“You went to Colombia to track down Hope McDonald?”

It was the first time she’d asked him a direct question and he wondered how hard it had been for her to stay silent. Months had gone by, months where they’d all been arrogant, thinking they were so clever. Months where she’d allowed them to be. “Yes.”

“Damn it.” She flushed, her skin going pink. “How f*cking dare you, Case. Did you not learn a damn thing from Theo? He died. He’s dead. Gone. You can’t bring him back and now Hutch is probably dead, too. Do you honestly think this is what Theo would have wanted? Why do you think I’ve left it alone? I want to kill her, too, but I have to think about what Theo would want. He damn straight wouldn’t want Hutch dead.”

Shit. He held his hands up. “Hutch isn’t dead. I’m sure he isn’t dead.”

“Just because you don’t find a body doesn’t mean he’s not dead.” Erin took a deep breath. “You can’t do this. I want revenge, too, but I’m not willing to lose another teammate over it. How could Ian have signed off on you going over there without a senior team member?”

If he didn’t stop her, Erin would walk out into the backyard and throw down with Ian over something that hadn’t been his fault. “He didn’t know. I went without telling him what I was really doing.”

“You bastard,” Erin whispered. “Are you trying to get yourself killed? What did you think this would buy you? Any of us? You can’t bring Theo back to life.”