Master No (Masters and Mercenaries, #9)(4)

They were dead? Tag had killed them all? “I could kiss you, you know.”

“That’s what all the girls say,” Tag replied. He sighed. “This is probably going to hurt, buddy, but we should really leave before reinforcements get here.”

Tag leaned over and he was so f*cking right. It hurt like hell to have a six and a half foot monster of a man throw him over his shoulder. Ten damn near blacked out. He forced himself to stay conscious. “How did you find me?”

“Didn’t. Found her. I put a tracker on that bag you bought her. She was suspicious.”

“Do I want to know what she did to make you suspicious?”

“You do not, brother. But let’s talk about paying me back. How about an assignment that doesn’t involve the shit end of the planet?”

So she’d probably come on to Tag, likely offered herself to him at some point. While he’d been planning a future, she’d been trying to f*ck his friends. Still, the sight of her dead body sent him reeling. He had to force himself not to scream out. He hadn’t loved her, but she’d represented a future—something he would never have.

“I promise.” He forced the words out of his mouth as Tag walked through the house toward the door. “The next time something in Europe comes up, you’re my man.”

“Cool,” Tag said. “Tell you what, how about you send me to Paris at some point and we’ll call it even. I’ve heard good things about this club there.”

Tag and his clubs. Tag still had some expectation of finding a woman. Oh, he wouldn’t call her a wife. He would call her a sub, but it was all the same really. Tag thought there was a woman out there who could handle his darkness, who could bring him into the light.

Ten had finally let go of that daydream. It had never been for him and he would remember that fact from now on. All it got him was death and betrayal. Love was for the Jamies and Phoebes of the world.

As Tag carried him out into the light of day, he finally let go and unconsciousness claimed him.





CHAPTER ONE



Outside of Monrovia, Liberia

West Africa

Present Day



Faith McDonald turned her face up to the sun and breathed in long and deep. It felt like she hadn’t taken a deep breath in the last six months, hadn’t taken time to acknowledge something as small as the warmth of a lovely day because her world seemed so very filled with death.

“Hey, is that an actual smile I see on your face?” a familiar voice asked.

Faith opened her eyes and couldn’t help but smile at her new friend. In the last several months she’d become close to her bodyguard. Erin Argent had a mass of unruly red hair and a sweet smile that belied her incredibly sarcastic nature. Faith appreciated both. “Togar’s fever broke this morning.”

Togar was a young Bassa boy. His mother had died in the first wave, when it had all seemed like another day in West Africa. Ebola had reared its ugly head, but in the beginning, none of the doctors in Faith’s small charity hospital had truly understood what was coming for them. Togar had lost his mother, father, and three sisters in the months that followed before falling ill himself.

She hadn’t been able to deal with it. She’d kept that toddler healthy all these months and his death right at the end of the horrible tide would have potentially broken her, but this morning—this beautiful and glorious morning—she’d won one. Togar had woken weak but asking to eat.

It was the classic doctor mistake. Don’t get close. Don’t let them in. Fix the ones you can and let go of the rest. Triage.

She hadn’t been able to do it. There were times when what she did required more than mere logic and reason. There were times when it required a win to keep going. One life saved.

Erin joined her on the front porch of the small hut she lived in while she worked at the hospital. “I’m glad to hear that. I got fond of that kid. What happens to him now that we’re going home?”

Home. God, she wasn’t even sure where that was anymore. At least Togar had one. “I finally located his grandmother. She’s in Sierra Leone. She and her husband will be here by the end of the week. He’s going to be okay.”

“Because you’ll make sure of it. How much did you give the grandmother?” Erin asked, suspicion in her voice.

Faith sighed. “A couple hundred bucks, but she didn’t ask for it. She really was happy to find out her grandson was alive. I won’t miss it, but two hundred dollars can potentially change a life here.”

Erin sat back. “I get it. I really do. Hey, babe.”

Faith couldn’t help but smile at the newcomer. Theo. That man was hot. With close-cropped blond hair, broad shoulders, and a body that didn’t appear to contain a single ounce of fat, Theodore Taggart was simply divine. He was also taken by Erin. Like totally taken. She’d caught them kissing one night. Though she was ashamed to admit it, she’d hidden and watched. She’d watched as big, manly Theo had pressed Erin against the door of her hut and inhaled her like she was more necessary than his next breath. His hands had cupped her ass, hauling her close, and she’d heard him growling at her in a low, sexy, very dominant voice.

Yeah, she was getting hot thinking about it. If the bad news was Theo had a girl, the good news was he also apparently had a twin who looked an awful lot like him.