From Sanctum with Love (Masters and Mercenaries #10)(67)

“I think her attraction to Case is real,” Kai explained. “I also think she wants someone to talk to. She stayed the night at Kori’s last night and she had her phone, so she’s actively hiding it at the club.”

“I think she might feel safer if she wasn’t at Sanctum. If she was at a nightclub with friends around her. I was thinking she might even forget to be so vigilant if the man she had a crush on asked her to dance.”

Now Case’s request made sense. “You want me to tag her phone when she goes out with Jared on Tuesday. That’s what that was about. They’ll all be at Sanctum for the next few nights.”

Tag nodded. “Hey, if Case does his job and gets the girl in bed, you might not have to do this, but I want you to be ready. I also worry that it’s going to look odd if you go out with your brother alone when you’ve so publicly claimed a sub.”

He had to bring Kori with him and he couldn’t tell her what he was going to do or why he was doing it. Shit. He hated the spy stuff. His life was about being open and honest and still…he owed Ian. He owed everyone on this team and he definitely owed it to Theo and Erin and to that baby who might never meet its father. If Mia was working for The Collective, they needed to know. If she was innocent, they could focus on other leads.

It would also give him a chance to observe his brother’s friends in their natural habitat.

“I’ll do it. Someone’s going to have to show me how. I’ve never tagged anyone’s phone before.”

“Thank you, Kai,” Ian said somberly. “Case and Rush will be at your office sometime Tuesday to talk about the op. Like I said before, it may not be necessary at all. Be careful though. I wouldn’t let Kori find out. Women can get downright mean when they think they’ve been betrayed.”

He wasn’t betraying her. It wasn’t like that at all. Still, discretion being the better part of valor, he would try to keep it on the down low.

The good news was Big Tag had very likely scared his brother off. Maybe now Jared would keep his research to the club. Kai stepped out of Ian’s office and moved down the hall. He had a few days before he would have to play the spy. He would keep an eye on Mia and watch his brother’s entourage.

He would spend all the time he could with Kori.

“Holy shit, did you see that?” Jared was standing in the lobby, his eyes wide and a smile on his face like his baseball team had won the World Series. His voice went low, a damn fine approximation of Big Tag. Jared’s face hardened, his jawline squaring off as he held an invisible man up in the air. “I swear to god if you don’t stop following me I will split you open, pull out your insides, and let my baby girls play in them.” He dropped the act and went right back to sunny. “He’s so awesome. I’m going to work night and day to get into that character. I think I love him.”

Maybe his brother didn’t scare so easily. “Is Squirrel still peeing himself somewhere?”

Jared waved that concern off. “We managed to catch Lena. He’s going to tag along with her today. I’ll send everyone home. Now I understand that Pierce Craig needs his solitude. He needs peace and quiet because the world is so chaotic for him. He’s a deep man.”

He wasn’t sure how deep Ian was. Kai had seen Big Tag blow up shit for fun in his backyard, but he didn’t mention that to Jared. He might find himself hauling Jared out so he could sit in Tag’s yard and soak up his vibes or some shit. “I’ve got to get to the office. I have patients to meet.”

He knew he was running away, but he couldn’t seem to stop himself. He needed to sit his brother down and have a long talk, but his gut was rolling after the talk with Tag. He needed something else more than closure with his brother and he found himself anxious to get it.

“I’ll hang out here for a while,” Jared replied. “That Alex guy said I could follow him on a couple of client meetings. He’s bringing his wife with us. She seems nice. It’s going to be good to get to see what the job is really like.”

Eve would be profiling Jared the entire time. Somehow, the idea rankled. He actually thought about telling Jared not to go.

His brother wasn’t a killer and that’s what Eve would discover. “Have fun.”

“Kai,” Jared called out when Kai got to the lobby doors. “Thanks for not kicking me out.”

Kai nodded and walked to the elevator, but he couldn’t get the nasty feeling out of his gut that he was missing something. Something big. Something he would have to deal with before this was all over.





Kori relished the quiet. No appointments until after noon. No one in the building at all from what she could tell. All she could hear was the hum of the fan overhead and the rushing water of Kai’s office fountain. She took a deep breath and was grateful for the peace. It gave her time to think about what had happened.

Kai had happened. He’d kissed her and spanked her and adored her body. She could still feel the ache deep in her bones like a reminder of how well he’d loved her.

Was she thinking that word already? She knew she shouldn’t, but the pesky word wouldn’t leave her alone.

She said it all the time. She loved her friends, loved certain books and TV shows, loved the club. But this was a different love. This was a forever and drown in it and lose herself love.

It scared the holy crap out of her, but she also had to be reasonable. She didn’t have to “lose” herself. She simply had to find the Kori who loved Kai. No one stayed the same. To cling to that idea was childish. She wasn’t the same person she would be ten years from now. Time and experience would shape her. Loving Kai would change her, but that didn’t mean it had to be for the worse.