Dominance Never Dies (Masters and Mercenaries Book 11)

by Lexi Blake

  Why was Austin so far from Dallas?

  She opened her door and strode down the hall. Luckily Ezra was standing right there. He stayed in the guesthouse when they were in Austin, but now he was standing in the living room talking to Riley.

  “I need to go to Dallas. Right now. Tonight,” she announced.

  A brilliant smile crossed her brother’s face. “Good because the plane’s waiting on you and I might have had the housekeeper pack for you. It’s waiting at the airport and the car is outside.”

  Ezra looked between herself and Riley, obviously trying to figure out what was going on. “I don’t think this is a good idea. Why are we turning around and going back to Dallas? We just got home.”

  “It’s worse than that, but I think you can sit this one out. I’m not just heading to Dallas. I’m going with Case to Africa. He’s found Theo and we’re going to bring him home.”

  “I’ll be ready to go in five minutes.” Ezra turned and started out toward the back door.

  She wondered if she could run. She didn’t need Ezra in Sierra Leone. She would be surrounded by ex-military men. And she would be good. When the time came to actually hunt Theo down, she would stay in the hotel with Erin and Avery and whoever was protecting them.

  If Erin could do it, she definitely could. Erin couldn’t risk her life because TJ needed a parent. It would be hard for her. Mia would support her.

  Having Ezra around might complicate things.

  Riley stepped in front of her, his eyes narrowing as though he knew exactly what she was thinking. “No. You take him with you. Case gets to decide whether he follows you into something insanely dangerous, but you’re going to take a bodyguard with you until Case says it’s all right. This is his operation. And don’t think I’m saying that because anyone thinks you’re incompetent. I want you to consider how hard it was for Case to give you all those leads on stories. Some of them were dangerous, but he knew you would want to go.”

  “He sent me the leads.” She’d known Ian had something to do with the Knight book, but why would he have talked his friend into allowing her to interview him when it had been obvious he hadn’t wanted to in the beginning? It had only been his wife who had been able to convince him that telling the story would be good for him, that their baby son would one day want to read about what his father had done for their country.

  Case had been the one to send her those stories. Not flowers or candy. Those were easy. He’d given her adventures and he’d done it knowing he wouldn’t be there to protect her, to gain anything from it. It had been a purely selfless act of love.

  “All right. I’ll wait. But you should know that I’m not going to be a good girl when I get to Dallas.”

  She intended to show that man just how bad she could be. After all, the man did give a really good spanking.

  She just prayed she wasn’t too late.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  Case shut the door to his truck and looked down at his bag from Top. Once upon a time it would have contained Sean’s unbelievably delicious Angus burger with weird cheese and hand-cut fries. Tonight he had a chef salad with grilled salmon because his cholesterol was up and it would worry Mia.

  Well, it would worry Mia if she gave a shit about him. Erin gave a shit about him and that was why he was suddenly eating like an actual adult. Erin had found the envelope with his test results. In her defense it had been sitting on the bar for two weeks. She’d opened it and then all the Taggart women had been on his ass. They’d shown up with medical studies and recipes he wasn’t sure how they expected him to cook since he didn’t cook. Charlotte had brought a juicer to work and Case had discovered that vegetables and fruits actually tasted worse when pulverized into liquid.

  And yet if Mia had been there yelling at him for his dietary choices, it all would have been okay. It was actually kind of nice to have someone give a crap about him.

  Living with Erin and TJ for six months had proven a couple of things to him. One—he and his brother had completely different tastes in women. Case loved Erin like a sister, but if he found her talking to her gun one more time, he was going to go insane. Then there was the fact that she enforced her very strict policies on where he left his sneakers by tying them together and launching them into the highest branches of the elm in the backyard. Though effective—he put his sneakers in his room now—it was obnoxious.

  The second thing it proved to him was that he was ready for a family. He loved sitting down at night to have dinner and getting up in the morning and seeing his nephew’s smiling face.

  He wanted that with Mia.

  If only he hadn’t followed his brother’s advice and left that condom off he might have gotten Mia pregnant and then she wouldn’t have been able to avoid him.

  Of course she likely would have hated him more than she already did.

  He strode into his building. It didn’t matter. He was going to Sierra Leone in the morning. He was going to get his brother back and then he would come home and go to New York with Riley and the rest of the Lawless clan. He would help them with the StratCast op, and there was zero chance of Mia not being there. He would win her back.

  He had to.

  He started for the elevator when his cell rang. He pulled his phone out and immediately answered. “Hey, Michael. What’s going on?”

  His best friend’s voice was smooth over the line. “Absolutely nothing. I thought you would want to know that Erin and the baby are great. She’s packing. Everything is cool. I’ll escort her to the airport the day after tomorrow and I’ll make sure she and Avery are safe. Are you all right?”

  “It’s just an apartment.” But he felt his muscles tighten. One of the joys of living at Erin’s for the last six months had been not walking by Hutch’s place every day and wondering what kind of torture he was going through. Someone from the team went by every week to make sure the place was fine, and the company had taken over paying his rent. Hutch didn’t have a family outside of his team, so they’d ensured he would have a home to come back to.

  “It’s an apartment that’s going to have its resident back in a couple of days. We’re going to get in, set up, and be ready when McDonald makes an appearance,” Michael assured him.

  “And if she doesn’t?” It was the scenario that went through his head a million times since the moment they’d gotten confirmation of a meeting between Stephanie and Hope McDonald.

  “She’ll send her team. You know damn well Theo is the lead member of her team.” Michael sounded way more sure than Case felt.

  “And if not killing Mia made her demote Theo?”

  “One, you don’t know that she knows Mia’s still alive. They immediately ran. She very likely didn’t actually see what happened. Two, even if she did, I think she would keep Theo in his place. She’s obsessed with Theo. She wants him to be the face of her organization.”

  Yes, he’d heard all the reports and profiles from both Eve and Kai. Still, he worried. This was their shot. If Theo didn’t show, he had no idea what they would do. Everything depended on this one chance.

  So why couldn’t he concentrate? Why did his brain constantly go to Mia?

  “Let’s pray that’s true,” Case replied. “I’m going to head up. It’ll be weird to sleep the entire night. TJ tends to wake up around three. No idea why. Most of the time he doesn’t even want to eat. Just rock him for a little while and then he’ll sleep the rest of the night.”

  “Uhm, I’m here to make sure no one gets murdered,” Michael said, uncertainty plain in his voice. “I’m not doing the baby thing. I don’t think I’d be good at it.”

  Lightweight. “You will if you don’t want to deal with a cranky Erin. Did I mention she shoots people when she’s cranky?” He laughed at the thought of Michael trying to deal with TJ and his militant mama. “I’ll see you when you get to Freetown. Take care of them.”

  “Will do. Before you go, I wanted to let you know that Fain’s in town. I saw him slinking out of my building about an
hour ago. He had a ball cap pulled down low, but I recognized him.”

  “We still have no idea who he’s seeing?” It was a mystery and Case didn’t like mysteries.

  “No, but then I haven’t asked to see the security camera tapes.”

  He missed Hutch. His team was seriously down a man and he felt it. “Adam’s busy getting ready to leave. Do we have anyone else who could hack into those feeds?”

  “I’ll see what I can do,” Michael replied. “But there are over three hundred tenants in this building. I watched to see what floor he got off on, but there were two other people in the elevator with him. I didn’t recognize either one. He’s getting off on five, ten, or eighteen. I’ll see if I can track his movements. It felt wrong to me. He was trying to keep his head down.”

  “All right. I’ve avoided this because I’m trying to not be a crazed, possessive caveman, but I’m going to talk to Ten about him. He tried to recruit Fain. He must have had a reason. I don’t know that I buy that Fain turned Ten down.”

  “Not everyone wants to work black ops, brother. Some people want to do their time and then come home.”

  But that wasn’t Fain. He was too good, too observant. “Yeah, those people don’t tend to get into the security business. Not at the level we’re at. Get back to me if you can. I’ll deal with Fain when we come home. Be safe.”

  “You, too.”

  Case hung up the phone with a sigh. He didn’t even have beer in his fridge. The only reason he was staying at his place was the fact that the flight was super early in the morning and he didn’t want to disturb the baby and Erin. It was easier to hand over security guard duties to Michael now rather than at five in the morning.

  But the thought of spending the evening alone seemed sad. He hadn’t spent the night in his place since Mia had broken in offering him information and so much more. She’d offered him her sweetness, her affection. Sometimes he was sure she’d offered him her love. Why the hell else would she have put up with his shit if she didn’t love him even a little?

  When he got back, he was going to start over with her. Maybe he would even introduce himself and see if she followed. A true fresh start. He would take it slow, no matter how much his dick wanted to speed things up. His dick wasn’t in charge anymore.

  He sent a quick text to Ten asking him to send anything he had on Ezra Fain. He never actually called Ten. Not since Ten had started working small jobs. He only took jobs that kept him close to his wife and only intelligence gathering. From what Case understood, he’d negotiated a few deals the State Department asked him to and he’d rescued a diplomat’s son after he got himself in trouble. Ian had sent him on a few fact-gathering ops for some of the companies McKay-Taggart worked for. Still, for the most part Ten preferred to initiate contact.

  And he would see Ten in about thirty hours or so.

  Eat, sleep, work. It was what he did now. Eat, sleep, work, cuddle TJ, and think about Mia. That was his life.

  It was going to change once this op was over. He shoved his phone back into his pocket. The urge to call Mia again was riding him hard, but he’d left her a voice mail already and it hadn’t had the effect he’d hoped for. She hadn’t finally called him back and promised to never leave him again. Nope. Radio silence.

  The elevator doors opened and he strode down the hall. He passed Hutch’s place and only stopped when he realized the door to his apartment was slightly open. He could see the door handle wasn’t where it should be, it was the tiniest bit swung inward.

  He dropped the salad and reached for his SIG, adrenaline starting to flow. Backup. He would need backup. Before he could reach for his phone again, the door came open and he could hear a feminine laugh.

  “I’ll totally stand watch. I’ll text when Case is on his way up and then Kori can make herself scarce, but he would murder the both of us if we left you alone like that.” Sarah was standing in the doorway, looking back inside. She was one of the club regulars, a submissive who worked as a trauma nurse. She was Kai’s wife’s best friend and for a while, Case had been in her circle due to her friendship with Mia.

  So why was she standing in his doorway and what was Kori watching over?

  Sarah turned and then stopped in the middle of the hall, gasping before she visibly calmed. “Oh, that’s what they all talk about. Damn.” She pushed the door open again. “Okay, I totally get it. He’s ridiculously hot when he’s about to kill someone. Yeah, I think it was me he was going to kill. He’s totally here. Yeah, you might want to rethink a few things, sweetie. He looks pissed.”

  “Who the hell are you talking to?” He holstered his SIG. Murdering Sarah and Kori would definitely get him in trouble with Kai, and he would have to explain to Mia what had happened.

  Although she would likely attend their funerals and then he would have an excuse to see her…

  “Mia, of course,” Sarah said as though that should be completely obvious. “Who else would break into your place?”

  “What?” He’d been eating too many salads. His brain was fried. Or maybe it was the kale Charlotte thought she could sneak into his smoothie thing. Maybe that one sip he’d had before his brother had taken pity on him and helped him quietly toss it out had damaged his hearing.

  Mia was here?

  Kori stepped out, holding her and Sarah’s purses. A big smile crossed her face. “Awesome. I was worried you were going to stop someplace along the way. Kai said you were on your way home. And before you flip out, Boomer’s patrolling the halls. When Mia called, he was hanging out with us and he decided to come along so the CIA-looking dude could do whatever he needs to do when he’s in town.”

  Case was so confused. “CIA dude? Are you talking about Fain? He’s a bodyguard.”

  Kori shrugged. “You all look alike to me. He reminds me of Master T. Anyway, Mia wasn’t left unprotected. Not even for a second. Now, I’m going to pick up Boomer and head back. Hey, someone left a Top bag out here. Free dinner. Nice.”

  He didn’t give a damn about dinner anymore. Mia was here and she’d broken into his place again, the little brat.

  She was here. Why was she here? Was she going to give him the restraining order herself?

  Case walked past the now giggling women, but he didn’t have time to give them a nice Dom stare and a lecture on not making fun of him. Everyone made fun of him. He was used to it.

  None of it mattered because Mia was here.

  He stepped into his apartment and shut the door. He didn’t need prying eyes because he was about to get down on his knees and beg a woman to forgive him.

  “Mia?”

  She wasn’t in the living room.

  “Yeah, uhm, I’m back here and maybe you should stay out there for a minute because Kori was right and I should rethink this whole thing.”

  She was in his bedroom. She kind of had to be. There wasn’t much to his place. His never-used kitchen was open to the living area. Beyond that there was only the big bedroom and his bathroom.

  She didn’t want him to come in. What had she been doing? A little revenge?

  “All right. I can stay out here if you would rather. Mia, whatever you’re doing in there, it’s okay. If you’re trying to get back at me, I understand. I just want to talk to you.”

  “Revenge? I’m not in here trashing your bedroom.”

  “I’m glad. God, I’ve missed you. Baby, let me come in and talk to you. I promise I’m going to be a gentleman.”

  “Really? Because I’ve done a whole lot to make sure you don’t view me as a lady. You know how sometimes I get a crazy idea in my head? I like to make big gestures. Well, this one required a couple of friends. And if you’re not mad then maybe you should come in.”

  “I’m not mad. I want to talk to you. I want us to sit down and have a nice long discussion about what happened between us.”

  Her voice came out on a shaky laugh. “Then you’re going to have to come in here and untie me. I’m afraid for a girl who loves to spend all her time in suspensi
on, Kori’s pretty good at tying a sister sub up, if you know what I mean.”

  He rushed into the bedroom and then stopped at the sight that greeted him.

  Mia was naked, her body laid out on his bed. Laid out wasn’t exactly right. She was trussed up like the sweetest gift he’d ever been given. Rope wrapped around her torso, holding her tight. Her hands were bound as well, tied behind her. Mia lay on her side, her legs free and a perfectly atrocious pair of underwear covering her pussy and her ass. He would always think any underwear was bad, but this one was cotton and reached up to her waist. There was no lace or silk. Just a bunch of martini glasses and the words “It’s always happy hour somewhere.”

  “What the hell is that?”

  She bit her bottom lip, her face going a nice shade of pink. “I was trying to surprise you. I think I probably should have called. I’m so sorry. If you could get Kori back, I’ll get dressed again.”

  Oh, that was so not happening. She was here. She was half naked and tied up on his bed, and that meant she was forgiving him. At one point in time he might have wondered if this was a little revenge on her part, but now he understood his insecurities were his problem and not Mia’s. Mia wouldn’t do that to him. Mia would come here for one reason and one reason only.

  Mia wanted to try again.

  But she had some insecurities of her own and they did have something to do with him. He’d let her go. He’d let her walk away because he’d been so angry with her. He’d let his anger overwhelm his love. That was his mistake, and it had hurt her so very badly.

  He stared down at her, enjoying seeing her again. “How can you be even more beautiful than I remember?”

  “I thought you were upset to see me.”

  “I was surprised to see you. I was upset to see that you’ve chosen to wear…” He couldn’t even call those panties. They were horrific.

  A little smile began to curl up her mouth. “This is about the undies? You’re mad I’m covering my pussy. Well, Case, I wasn’t sure if Boomer was going to walk in, and I thought I should leave a little mystery between us. As for these particular undies, I didn’t have time to do a bunch of laundry. I kind of got home, found out I had a crazy-hot stalker leaving me messages, and then I flew here so I wouldn’t miss you.”