From Sanctum with Love (Masters and Mercenaries #10)(105)

“Yes, and he was pissed about it. Why can’t people get thrown in jail during business hours?” Ian nodded Kori’s way. “Hello, Kori. Is there a reason you’re running around in the middle of the night without your Master?”

“My Master turned out to be a total douchebag who can bite my ass.” She was still thinking about Erin’s words. She knew what she’d heard, but did she honestly know what Kai had meant? Was she filtering his words through all the crap from her past? “Maybe. I’m not sure yet.”

Ian frowned. “You should talk to him. Kai’s usually very careful. If he’s f*cked up, there’s probably a reason for it. He’s probably thinking with his dick. I don’t do that. My dick is perfectly submissive to my brain.”

Erin snorted a little. “Yeah, we all know who’s in charge there. Come on and I’ll introduce you to the woman who might get us to Hope McDonald.”

Ian’s expression went completely blank. “I’m listening.”

“Hello.” Mia walked in, her phone in hand. “My brother would like to talk to you. He thinks you’re looking for the same people that he is. Sorry for the whole lying about my name thing and thinking you were part of The Collective.”

Ian snorted. “Fuck a duck. Charlie’s never going to let me live this down. She said you were too bright to be a part of The Collective. I hate it when she’s right. Okay. Let’s talk.”

He took the phone and started to wander back toward the office.

“I guess now we’re out of the loop,” Mia said with a frown.

“No.” Erin walked back toward her kitchen. “We’re in a different loop. You see, I’ve found the only thing more powerful than the brotherhood is the sisterhood. Who wants some tea? I would offer you tequila, but I’m not drinking for a while.”

While Erin boiled water for tea and Mia complained about Case, Kori sat and thought and wondered if she shouldn’t call Kai.

Tomorrow. She would face him tomorrow.





CHAPTER FIFTEEN





How the f*ck late was it? Kai glanced up at the clock, surprised to discover it was only four in the morning. Had it only been a few hours since that horrible moment when he’d realized what Kori had heard?

Had it only been two hours since he’d watched his brother being arrested for murder? It seemed as though he’d been here forever, waiting in this cold, stark room. Seeing Kori’s blank face over and over again. He’d tried to call, but she wasn’t answering. He’d texted. No reply. Now it was going straight to voice mail.

He sat in the police station on a bench right outside the men’s bathroom, his whole body completely numb. What the hell was he supposed to do now?

“All right, here’s what’s happening.” Case sank down on the bench beside him. “I’ve made a deal with several devils, including one crazy bitch ADA who I have to spank for the next six weeks.”

Kai felt his eyes widen. “Maia? You made a deal with Maia?”

Maia Brighton was Derek Brighton’s ex-wife and one of Dallas’s most ambitious assistant district attorneys. At some point in the next few years, she would very likely be the district attorney. She was also a raging sex addict who knew where all the skeletons were hidden. Ian had allowed her into Sanctum because her contacts often got them out of hot water. But there was always a price with Maia.

Case nodded. “Yes. No sex, but I have to go hard core with her at least twice a week for the next six weeks.”

There were several flaws in that scenario. “I don’t think your new girlfriend is going to like that.”

“Mia was nothing but an op and that op is over,” Case said, his jaw stubborn. “I don’t have to see her again since apparently now Ian’s working with her brother.”

“What?”

“Erin stuck her nose in and it turns out Lawless isn’t Collective. He thought we were, and Mia’s been trying to pin her friend’s murder on your brother for years. Ian’s going to handle the whole thing from here on out, and Mia’s on her way back to Austin in the morning. I won’t be seeing her again.”

He’d watched Case with the pretty blonde for the last few days. There was no way this was only an op for him. “You like her. You have feelings for that woman. Don’t let her go.”

Case’s head shook slightly as he sat back. “There’s nothing to let go. All my feelings for her have to do with the fact that I haven’t gotten laid in months. She’s not my type. Hell, I don’t think I have a type. I’m not cut out for the relationship thing. Besides, I’ve got to concentrate on Erin and the baby. I don’t need that blonde f*cking up my life. So the deal I made with Maia, who made a deal with the DA. It included getting a judge up at this time of night to set bail for Jared. Harrison got the judge to agree that the press will swarm once they hear about Jared’s arrest and it’s better for everyone if we get him out of jail and into a private residence where the city doesn’t have to worry about liability. I swear I don’t get the lawyer crap. Once Mitch and Harrison started talking about liability and something called optics, the DA caved like a wilting flower.”

Because Jared would likely not do well in prison. Even overnight. There would be a circus by morning because there was no way this news didn’t get out. The press would be at the door. Hollywood executives would be calling in all their favors. Fans would show up outside the damn jail in order to get a glimpse of their hero.