Dominance Never Dies (Masters and Mercenaries Book 11)

by Lexi Blake

  Case stared at the spot where Mia had disappeared.

  In a few days she would be back. She was just playing him again. One more manipulation.

  But she would be back. She would.

  She had to.

  * * * *

  “Are you all right?” Drew sighed and sat down in the chair beside her. “That was a stupid question.”

  Was she all right? She was hollow. She was empty.

  Case had looked at her like she was a piece of trash. He’d broken that promise to her—that they would talk, that he would stay and fight it out. He’d told her there was no future. He hadn’t even listened to her. He didn’t care that she’d been desperate to save him.

  “It’s fine, Drew.” Her voice sounded like a bland monotone. It was all she could do to keep from crying. “I just want to get back to Austin.”

  And then she would pack and be gone again. She needed to work. She needed to make things right because Case had been correct about one thing. Hutch was in trouble because she’d chosen Case’s life over his. Hutch had been her partner. He’d been scared. He’d known something was wrong and she’d watched as he walked away and into the trap.

  She had to make that right.

  “We’ll be there in no time at all.” Ezra sat down beside Drew. “I’ve informed the pilot to get us in the air as soon as possible. And the good news is this pilot checks out. One hundred percent chance of him not trying to murder us.”

  “That’s excellent. Could I get a moment alone with my sister?” Drew asked in that polite but firm tone that meant the answer better be yes.

  Ezra immediately stood again. “Of course. I’ll go and sit with the pilot. Let me know if you need me at all.”

  He stepped away and she was left alone with her brother.

  “Mia, I know you loved that man.”

  She had, but she should have known. Tony had told her. When the chips were down Case would always choose his family, and she would never be a part of his family. He’d called her princess. Sometimes it felt like a term of affection, but then he was an expert at making her feel good. Even when he didn’t mean a word of it.

  But he’d meant it. He thought she was an entitled princess. Poor little rich girl. Who would love her?

  “It doesn’t matter.” She stared straight ahead. That’s what she had to think about. Moving forward. One foot in front of the other.

  Don’t think about how much she was going to miss him. Don’t think about how he’d looked at her, how he’d hated her.

  She’d made the right decision. She’d seen it in Theo’s eyes. He would have done it. He would have killed Case.

  Case simply didn’t care enough to stay and fight it out.

  He’s very likely hurting Hutch right now. Did you think about him at all? Did you think about what they would do to him? Or were you so fucking scared for yourself that you didn’t give a damn?

  He’d thought she’d been considering herself, not him. That’s where his brain had gone. He truly thought she was an overprivileged bitch who only thought of herself. He’d never cared about her. She’d been a means to an end and a convenient lay.

  “It does matter, Mia. You matter.” Drew leaned forward. “He’s an ass who can’t see how amazing you are. He was a mistake.”

  He hadn’t felt like it at the time. He’d felt like perfection, like she’d finally found the man who fit. “Yes. I’ve proven I have shitty taste in men.”

  Maybe she would be better off taking her foster moms’ path. Damn it. Why did she need a dick? Especially one attached to a much larger dick.

  God, she was going to miss him. It was an actual ache inside her body. She would feel every mile between them.

  “He wasn’t the one for you.” Drew scowled and sat back. “I’m sorry I brought them into our lives.”

  She had to clear that up. She couldn’t be the one who cost her brother the plan he’d been working on for years. “You can’t fire Ian Taggart.”

  “I already did.”

  “Then hire him back. I’ll call him myself. He’s the best in the business and he knows this case like the back of his hand. He’s been working on it for months. Riley’s going to New York soon, or have you changed your mind about taking down Steven Castalano?”

  “I’m going to take them all down.” His eyes seemed to go a shade darker, as though the mere act of talking about his revenge could change him from the brother she loved into a predator. “They killed our parents.”

  “You can’t prove that.”

  “Taggart’s working on the proof.” Drew sighed. “He was working on it.”

  Three people had benefited from their parents’ deaths. The same people who had paid an assassin to kill them and cover it all up so they could cash in on Benedict Lawless’s brilliance. “Ian was the one who found the assassin. You can’t fire him. Call him now and offer him the plane I came in on. It’s still here. It can take him and his crew back to Dallas. He’s too good. We need him despite the fact that his brother is a massive ass.”

  She wasn’t going to send Riley in without the best backup possible and that was Ian Taggart and his crew. No amount of pride was worth risking her brother’s life.

  “Ezra’s old boss can do the job,” Drew said stubbornly.

  “There was a reason we didn’t hire him. Drew, I’m willing to put up with Ezra when I go on assignment, which I will be doing the minute we get back home, but on one condition. Rehire Taggart. I assure you he’ll keep Case far away from us.”

  “He better. I’ll make the call if you’re sure.”

  She was sure she didn’t want to fuck anything else up. She heard her brother begin to speak but looked out the window. There was no Case rushing to catch up with the plane. He wasn’t going to show up this time. He’d gotten what he’d wanted out of her and then she’d become an inconvenience.

  Some Dom he’d turned out to be. One mistake and she was out.

  Had she been wrong? In the heat of the moment, all she’d wanted was to make sure Case was safe. She’d seen him shot. He couldn’t have taken another bullet.

  “So I take it I won’t be getting that finder’s fee after all?” Ezra had a self-deprecating smile on his face.

  She wished she was alone. She needed time to mourn him. How fast could she pack when she got back to Austin? She’d already texted a couple of past editors looking for a job that would take her anywhere but Texas. She would still be back in time for the StratCast job, but she couldn’t sit in her condo and think about Case. “The job my brother needs is delicate and Taggart’s been working on it for a very long time.”

  “The job where he takes down Castalano, Stratton, and Cain?”

  Ezra knew a lot for a man who’d only been hired a few days before. “He’s already told you?”

  “Unlike Case Taggart, I do my research when I…well, when I find a woman I like.”

  She felt herself flush. “Ezra…”

  He held his hands up. “I’m not going to try anything. I realized very quickly you didn’t have the same feelings for me, but I still like you as a person, Mia. I wanted to know what was going on with your family. It wasn’t hard to figure out that after your parents died you and your brothers got screwed and hard. They took your father’s shares in the company and split them among themselves. There should have been millions left to take care of you.”

  So he’d figured out how they’d stolen her father’s money. “It was all tied up in stock and there was a binding partnership agreement between the four of them and it included a morality clause. They used that clause against us, gobbled up his stock, and then sold his intellectual property for millions. We didn’t have anyone willing to fight for us so we all went into the system.”

  “And now you’re going to get your revenge. You think your parents were murdered and Taggart is trying to prove it.”

  “It’s not my revenge,” she said with a sigh. “But Drew needs it and Ian Taggart is his best bet. Sorry about the finder’s fee.�
�

  He sank into the chair across from her. “And I’m sorry Case Taggart is such an ass. You know, he’ll probably come around. I don’t think he’s got a good hold on his temper.”

  She wasn’t so sure. He’d told her in the beginning he wouldn’t be able to trust her again. He’d told her to stay away. She’d only fooled herself. When the chips were down, he’d shown his true colors.

  He thought she’d had sex with him in order to get her way. How could he love a woman he thought so little of?

  “It’s over. It doesn’t matter now. We’re stuck together for a while. At least until Drew figures out the kidnapping thing was a one-off.” It had only been a week or so since someone had attempted to kidnap her. Drew needed time to forget. “I’m going to travel for a while. I’ve been wanting to do a story about the women’s movement in India.”

  “Curry. Sounds awesome.” Ezra buckled his seatbelt. “I suspect you’ll also be trying to get in contact with Santos again.”

  “Of course.” Just because Case was a jerk didn’t mean she would stop trying to help Erin and TJ. “He won’t talk to the Taggarts. Only to me. When I get the information, I’ll send it on to them and then I’ll be out of it.”

  “Sure you will. I’ll believe that one when I see it.” He yawned and stretched out.

  She was going to stay out of Case Taggart’s life from now on. Maybe in a few years she would even be able to forget him.

  She was sure going to try.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  “You know you’re a dumbass, right?”

  It was a question he’d heard about five hundred times in the last week. He’d heard it from Ian, from Michael, from Charlotte. From pretty much anyone who found out he’d broken it off with Mia. Now he was getting it from Erin.

  “So I’ve been told.” He took a long drink of his beer and wished he was back at his place.

  He stared at the woman his brother loved. Erin stepped into her small kitchen and moved straight to the fridge. Her hair was up. She was dressed casually in a T-shirt and jeans and looking calmer than he could ever remember seeing her.

  Motherhood looked good on Erin. She smiled more in the last week than he’d seen her smile in a year. When she was holding TJ, she seemed centered, at ease.

  He didn’t feel at ease, hadn’t since the last night he’d spent with Mia when she’d cuddled up in his arms and slept, her head on his chest.

  “You want to tell me what really happened?” Erin pulled out a pitcher of what looked like lemonade.

  “Don’t you have a party to throw or something?” He wanted to be alone. He wanted to be sitting in his apartment, staring at the computer and waiting for some new information to come through. Instead, Ian had ordered him to come over to Erin’s where Ian was currently flipping burgers on her grill and Charlotte was cooing over TJ. It was just Taggarts tonight. Sean and Grace had brought along Carys, who was playing with the twins.

  And Case was still thinking about the Taggart who wasn’t here.

  And Mia. God, he was thinking about Mia.

  It had only been a week and he missed her. He hated himself for missing her, hated how easily she manipulated him. She’d caused him to lose Theo and Hutch and he couldn’t get her out of his head. Even standing here with Erin—who’d lost more than anyone—he could still hear Mia’s words.

  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 fucking 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 m
ean 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.”

  “What if I could?”

  The room went completely silent and Erin didn’t move, every muscle stuck as though the moment had frozen.

  “What is that supposed to mean?”

  “Tell her.” Ian stood in the doorway. “It’s time.”

  Erin looked over at him, her mouth a thin line. “Tell me what?” Tears formed in her eyes. “It’s time for what?”

  How did he do this? He wanted to be gentle with her. “You see, we’ve been investigating for a while now. We started down in the Caymans.”

  Tears ran down her eyes, but she stared at him, her fists clenched. “Just fucking tell me, Case. Tell me or I’m going to beat the holy shit out of you.”

  “Theo’s alive, Erin.” He got to the point. Erin paled and he worried she might pass out. “I saw him a few days ago.”

  A fine trembling seemed to have taken over her, but she took a long breath. “She saved him. Faith begged her to that night. Oh my god, she got to him in time. She pulled the bullet out and fixed his heart.”

  Despite the fact that she was obviously trying to stay calm, her words came out shaky. Had he just made another mistake? Ian looked grim, but made no move to save him.

  “We believe Dr. McDonald stabilized Theo there on the island and then took him to Havana where she performed the surgery that saved his life.”

  “Fuck.” She put her hand over her mouth. “She saved him. I’m still going to kill her, but she saved him. He’s alive. Theo’s alive.”