From Sanctum with Love (Masters and Mercenaries #10)(113)

“They went missing. Patsy’s body was found three years ago with the same MO as the other women. Emily was raped and only saved because a couple of joggers came along. Jared, did you have a relationship with these women?”

Jared had taken a step back, his face going white. “He wouldn’t. He’s my best friend. He’s the only person in the world I’ve been able to count on.”

But sometimes those people went bad. And now that man was at Kori’s. Oh, he might be after Sarah, but he wouldn’t hesitate to kill Kori. Kai stood. There was no time to waste.

“Sarah,” Jared said. His phone was already in his hand.

Kai’s was too. He dialed Kori’s number as he moved toward the front door. Nothing. He went straight to voice mail. At least he was fairly certain someone had gone with her. Erin wouldn’t have let her leave alone.

That was when he got the text from Big Tag. Your sub needs a spanking. Get to her place because she and Sarah snuck out of here and I’ve got a meeting. Tell Sarah she’s up shit creek and I will find a Dom with a paddle for her.

“Shit.” She was there alone. She was there with a killer.

“I’m calling the cops,” Jared said, following him.

Kai started running. They would need the cops because there was no way he allowed anyone to touch his sub.

He’d played the spy this week. But it was time to be a warrior again.





Kori stepped inside her place with a heavy heart. How long would she stay here? How long before this house was nothing more than a memory and the people she’d come to care for were distant and faint in her head?

What was she going to do? Go and pack and run right this second because she was such a damn child that she was going to let another man run her out of her own f*cking life?

She might have spent too much time with Erin. And Charlotte Taggart and Chelsea Weston, who had shown up for breakfast this morning. Phoebe Murdoch had been there, laughing and joking about how tired Big Tag looked. They were all waiting on Drew Lawless, who was flying in and was planning on meeting them.

“I think we’re going to get in trouble for this,” Sarah said with a sigh. “Like real, not erotic trouble.”

“You didn’t have to come with me.”

“Yeah, I did. If you’re going to defy the Doms and do something stupid, then I am obligated to be stupid with you.” She set her purse on the bar. She was still wearing her clothes from last night, which she tried and failed to smooth out. “I think I’m going to argue that we’ve had enough punishment. We had to do the walk of shame public transportation style. I had a guy offer me a hundred bucks for a hummer. Ewww. I would charge way more than that.”

“Yes, you should.” Coffee. She would be putting on some coffee at work right now. Kai wouldn’t drink it. She would put a kettle on for his tea because apparently proper tea didn’t come from K-cups, the pretentious bastard.

He would have to make his own tea. It was okay. He was a big boy.

“There was another reason I had to come,” Sarah admitted.

Kori could guess. “You have to be at work in a couple of hours.”

“I got Lila Daley to swap shifts with me. No. I had to come to make sure you’re still here at the end of the night. I heard what you said to Erin.”

“You were listening in?”

“It’s a hobby,” she admitted. “Also, no one tells me shit. I know you don’t tell me shit because I gossip like a schoolgirl, but you have to know I wouldn’t gossip about this. Kori, there’s no way Kai meant what he said.”

She’d heard this argument. She was still considering it, but she didn’t particularly want to talk about it at the moment. “It doesn’t matter. I’ve been thinking about finding a new job for a while.”

“What are you going to do now? Sling some burgers?” Sarah frowned her way. “Oh, maybe you can get a job as a maid.”

“My mother was a maid. I’m not sure where you’re going with this.”

“There’s nothing wrong with hard work, but this isn’t your job. It’s not what you were born to do. I’ve seen your movies.”

She felt her cheeks go pink. “I told you not to watch those.”

“Yeah, well, as we’ve learned this morning, I don’t always follow orders,” Sarah pointed out. “I’ve watched all of your movies because you’re my best friend and that means I’m your biggest fan. You’re so good. You’re funny and real and I love your characters and I want to know why you’re wasting it all? Why would you throw away your career and god, I need to understand why you would throw away Kai. I need to know those things because I’m pretty sure you’re also ready to throw away me.”

“It’s not like that.” But wasn’t it? Hadn’t she had friends in California that she’d distanced from? They’d done nothing wrong, but she’d stopped calling, stopped sending e-mails.

She’d simply stopped. Was she doing that again?

“I think it is. Serena gave you that script last week. Have you even picked it up? You told her you would help, but you shoved it to the side.”

Guilt sat in her gut over that. She knew she should be further along. “I read it. I made a few notes.”