Dominance Never Dies (Masters and Mercenaries Book 11)

by Lexi Blake

  “Hutch, get this bird started,” Theo said, holding his head. “We have to get out of here.”

  She hadn’t realized Hutch had gotten back on the plane. He was standing there, his eyes completely hollow.

  Santos stepped in, firing out the door of the plane. “Get us moving, now.”

  Theo turned back. “Sir, Robert isn’t here.”

  “Robert’s been shot and Victor’s dead. Get this fucking plane moving or we will be, too.” Santos fired out again.

  She looked up at Theo. “Please. That’s your family out there. They’re trying so hard to get you back, to save you. Please don’t let them take us again. Your brother is lying out there. Your twin. His name is Case and I love him. You have a woman who loves you. You have Erin.”

  “I don’t know who the fuck you’re talking about,” Theo growled. “I don’t know anyone named Erin. Stop it. Stop talking. It hurts.”

  It sounded like the world was coming to an end outside the airplane.

  She couldn’t stop. Santos was pulling the stairs up. It was obvious he’d been hit, but he was still moving.

  He closed the door and turned that gun on Hutch. “Get us out of here or I’ll kill you.” He turned toward Mia. “As for you…I’m going to shove your dead body out at our next stop and maybe then they’ll think about fucking with me.”

  He lifted the gun and Mia knew she was about to die. She took a deep breath and all she could think about was Case—the way he’d held her, the way he’d touched her, those messages on her phone, how he’d held them together even over the distance. She’d been loved. It was all that mattered. She could see him again. She could be with Case.

  And then Santos stopped, his body shaking as he looked down at the bullet that pierced his chest. He stared at it dumbly before looking up at Theo. His mouth moved, but it made no sound, and he finally hit his knees and then the floor.

  Theo stared for a moment as though he couldn’t believe he’d pulled the trigger on his own teammate. His face was pale as he turned to her.

  “I’ll get you to Mother. She’ll know what to do. Hutch, we need to leave.”

  His inner soul, that piece of himself that lay unchanged, couldn’t handle allowing her to die, but he reverted to his training very quickly.

  Hutch groaned. “Or you can take a fucking nap.”

  Hutch brought the case he was carrying down on Theo’s head. Theo spun and then slid to the ground, unconscious.

  Hutch stared down at him. “I’ve wanted to do that every fucking day for months. He’s the most obnoxious Patty Hearst clone in the history of fucking time. I want a goddamn milkshake and a fucking raise.”

  Her hands were shaking as she stood.

  The door came open with a thud. “Mia!”

  Case rushed in, his eyes wide as he looked for her.

  She stood and found herself in his arms in a heartbeat. “I thought you were dead.”

  He held her tight. “Body armor, princess. I don’t leave home without it. I get shot way too often to do anything else.”

  Ian Taggart’s massive body came through next. “Who killed the douchebag?”

  “Theo did,” Hutch said. “He wouldn’t let him kill Mia, but then he was an asshole and I knocked him out. My shit better be where I left it.”

  Ian put a hand on his shoulder. “Everything was taken care of, brother. And I’ve got a pound of Milk Duds calling your name. Come on, man. Doc is looking at the wounded. I want her to take a look at you, too.”

  “I love you,” Case said, wrapping his arms around her. “I thought I was going to die without you.”

  All that mattered was she was alive and in his arms.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  Case didn’t mind the ache in his chest. It just proved he was alive and that no matter how good the body armor, a bullet to the chest still hurt like hell. All that mattered was the woman in his arms. He sat with Ian, Ten, Liam, Drew, and Kai around a small conference table that the hotel they were staying at had offered them. The hotel was being very accommodating, likely since they were taking up more than half the rooms. Since the women had gotten in, Riley and Bran Lawless had shown up, and they’d had to deal with a couple of Kent’s CIA pals who weren’t particularly happy with how he’d handled the situation.

  The one person who was not in the country? Hope McDonald. She’d gone deep and Case was worried it would be a while before she surfaced again.

  Mia cuddled against him as Kai continued his lecture.

  “What Theo needs is a little time to allow the drug to get out of his system.” Kai looked like he hadn’t slept for days. “He’s calm right now, but I think we should wait until we’re about to head home before letting Erin get close to him.”

  Ian frowned. “Do you know what that woman can do to you? You’re telling her that. Not me. Sean’s with her right now. I could have him tell her. He doesn’t need his balls anymore. Grace is pregnant for the last time, he tells me. Charlie wants a big family and I want way more boys out of that woman.”

  Sean was with the women, talking to home and visiting with their families. It would be another few days before they could go home, so Sean and Erin and Charlotte were using the Internet to talk to their kids. Even when their babies couldn’t talk back. He’d been surprised Ian had made this meeting, but then Kai had said it was important.

  Theo was in trouble.

  Kai rolled his eyes. “I think I can explain it to her. He’s in a precarious state right now. When he came to he tried to get away. I had to sedate him again. I need a few days with him. I think it’s going to help that Robert will survive. Stephanie was able to stop the bleeding. I’ve got them in the same room. Being near him seems to calm Theo.”

  The idea that some person he didn’t even know could calm his brother down rankled. He’d been to visit Theo, but his brother hadn’t known him, hadn’t remembered a thing. He’d stared at Case for a while and then seemed to be in some sort of pain and Kai had asked him to leave.

  He’d gotten his brother’s body back, but he wasn’t so sure about his soul. It seemed so very far away.

  Mia’s hands ran over his shoulders, soothing him.

  “Don’t you think you should sit in your own seat?” Drew hadn’t gone home yet. His future brother-in-law seemed damn determined to stick around until his sister was ready to go home, too.

  Didn’t he have like revenge or something to plan? The ruthless bastard seemed to have forgotten that he had his own life.

  Case tightened his arms around her. He wasn’t letting her out of his sight or his lap. He needed her. “She’s fine where she is.”

  Mia chuckled and cuddled against him. “I’m afraid it’s going to be a while before I’m willing to disconnect. I thought I watched him die. I need to keep hands on him.”

  He was all about keeping his hands on her. It had been two days since he’d seen her being hauled away by his brother in the middle of a firefight. Two days since he’d been sure he was going to have to kill Theo to save his wife. It felt like a lifetime. He’d had to watch as Theo was shackled to a bed because they were worried he would run away.

  He wished they’d done the same for Hutch.

  “Do we have any intel on where Hutch went?”

  Ten ran his hands over the keys of his computer. “I tracked him into Europe and then he disappeared. I’ve got some feelers out, but the Agency is pretty damn pissed at us right now. Damon is going to keep his ears open, too. I think we can bet that Kent is going to go quiet for a while. So I’ll have to try to find Hutch myself.”

  Ian groaned. “Do what you have to do. I know he’s hurting but he needs his fucking family right now. If I have to drag his ass home, I’ll do it.”

  “Me, too.” Case wasn’t about to leave Hutch out there on his own.

  Mia sat up. “So Ezra’s in trouble? I mean Kent. The Agency isn’t going to burn him, are they?”

  “If they do, he can come and work for me,” Drew offered. “He did a damn fine j
ob trying to save you. He’s got a place at 4L.”

  “Or he can remain with the CIA.” The last thing Case wanted was Kent hanging around his girl. He was grateful to the guy and all, but he wanted Mia to himself. He had to head to New York in a few weeks to help her brothers take down their enemies, but he couldn’t share her with anyone else.

  She wanted a big white wedding.

  He intended to get her drunk in Vegas and make sure she was his forever.

  “He’s pretty good at talking his way out of things,” Ten said. “And I’m going to back him up.”

  Ian sighed and sat back in his chair. “They’re planning on blaming me. I’m willing to take that particular flack. If the Agency no longer wants to work with us, I’ll cry into my beer. By the way, I’m going to go find a beer. We’re all going to need one since it seems like Theo is playing out his own personal version of Memento.”

  Kai held up a hand. “His short-term memory is already better. Long term is going to take a while. But my PTSD protocols call for a few days when he doesn’t have to think about what happened. He needs to distance himself. We’ll let him rest and then take him and Robert back to Dallas. This is a long-term project.”

  “But he’s alive,” Mia whispered.

  She was his light. She always pointed out the important things. Theo was alive. They had won the fight for his body. Now they started the battle for his soul.

  It was one he was sure they would win because Theo had a lot of love around him.

  Case kissed his almost wife. “And we’ll bring him back.”

  There were tears in her eyes, but she was obviously resolute. “Yes, we will.”

  She would be there. He wasn’t alone.

  “We will bring Theo back,” Ian reiterated. “All the way home.”

  Case held on to Mia and realized he would never be alone again.

  * * * *

  A week later, Tomas sat in the hotel bar, a beer in front of him. Theo. He forced himself to remember. His name was Theo. “I like this?”

  He understood that he’d been conditioned to respond in certain ways. Apparently he had a whole other life outside of Mother.

  The man who was said to be his twin brother had told him that calling “that woman” Mother was super creepy and more than a little perverted.

  Theo wasn’t sure that Case Taggart was really his twin. After all, he was way more attractive.

  But he definitely liked Mia. She was sweet. He wasn’t attracted to her on any level. She felt like a sister. Which was good because according to the reports he’d been given, she was about to be his sister-in-law.

  He’d always said he had a type. When asked to describe his type, he’s always said he would know her when he saw her.

  Of course his version of “always” apparently was about a year.

  His life was kind of confusing.

  “Yes,” his twin said, slapping the bar with his hand. “You like beer. And bourbon, but we’re going to start with beer. From what I can tell it’s been over a year since you had alcohol so we’re starting light.”

  Robert had already hoisted his glass and taken a drink. “I do like it.”

  He felt better with Robert around. He knew somewhere deep inside that he’d killed Victor. He’d been taught that Victor was his brother, but he’d always known there was a darkness in that asshole that went way beyond brotherhood. No amount of drugs and torture could make him think that Victor was a reasonable human being.

  He’d read the reports of his torture, too. Apparently under hypnosis he talked a lot. He had a whole life that had been taken from him. Kai had told him that. He was learning to trust the dude with the ponytail. He was pretty cool.

  Kai had told him he didn’t need to follow Mother’s orders anymore. He didn’t have to follow anyone’s order according to Kai.

  He both liked that idea and was totally terrified by it.

  New experiences. He needed them. The last few days had been illuminating. He was remembering more and that felt good. According to Kai, his memory should get better every day. Maybe in a few days he would remember his own fucking name and Tomas…Theo…was calling it a damn win.

  He stared down at the amber liquid and made his decision. Decision. It was kind of cool to make a few of those himself. He couldn’t recall a time when he’d made his own decisions.

  Shouldn’t he make his own decisions about food and whether or not he wanted a beer?

  It was stupid, but it stressed him out.

  Still, he was going in. It was time. He was a freaking man and he wanted to see if he liked beer.

  Why was one beer such a damn hassle? Robert seemed perfectly happy. He was following Case and the other Taggarts around like an overgrown puppy.

  Drink the damn beer.

  He took the tankard in hand. It was cool, the glass nice under his skin. He brought it to his lips and took a sip.

  Not bad. He could get used to it.

  Case was staring at him like he was a toddler taking his first steps.

  Theo nodded. “It’s good.”

  Case hopped off his barstool. “I told you.”

  He would have said something, but he caught sight of someone he hadn’t seen before. His twin was a massive man and he tended to take up all the space. Now he saw what Case’s big body had covered up.

  A woman sat at the end of the bar, a glass in front of her. Fiery red hair curled around her shoulders and she was wearing a white tank top and jeans.

  Oh, that was his type. Fuck, yeah.

  “I’m going to make sure the car is on its way,” Case said. “You ready to head home?”

  He was going back to Dallas. Why could he remember Dallas and not that he’d lived there? He could get a picture in his head of a house with a fire pit and comfy chairs, but he couldn’t say he’d lived there.

  He was all kinds of fucked up.

  He gave his twin a smile that didn’t reach anywhere close to his soul. “Sure.”

  Case took a deep breath. “Don’t run away. I’ll be back.”

  “Where does he think we’ll go?” Robert asked as Case walked out.

  Theo understood the issues. “I think he worries we’ll run out because we want to get back to Moth…Hope McDonald.”

  Robert shivered. “I don’t want to go back to Mother. She was mean. Best thing I ever did was get shot all to hell by your brothers. They’re nice. And I totally like beer. And Xbox. War is way more fun in a video game.”

  He heard his brother, but his eyes were on the girl. He had no idea why he was different. Victor and Robert had been sex crazed. They’d been utterly desperate to have a woman, but Theo hadn’t felt the pull.

  Until now.

  “Holy shit,” Robert whispered. “She’s nice. I think I’m going to go talk to her. We have an hour or so.”

  Rage welled. He wasn’t sure where it came from but he had to tamp it down because he suddenly wanted to rip Robert’s throat out. “No. I think that one is mine.”

  Robert’s eyes went wide. “Seriously?”

  Such a pretty girl…

  The words swept over him and he shivered for a moment, a memory shimmering like a ghost he couldn’t catch.

  He shook it off. The dude with the ponytail had told him that for now he shouldn’t try to remember. For now he should try to find the present. There would be time enough to find his past.

  That girl at the end of the bar looked like a damn fine present.

  “Yes. I’m calling dibs.” He grabbed his beer and tried to find his swagger. He moved down to the seat next to hers.

  Red hair, pretty skin. She looked a little lonely. Maybe he could fix that. He gave her what he hoped was his brightest smile. “Hi, my name is…Theo.”

  She turned to him and he saw a sheen of tears in her eyes.

  Such a pretty girl…don’t cry. You never cry.

  He shoved the thought away because he could feel the migraine coming on. He didn’t want that. He wanted to sit and talk to the prett
y girl—the only girl to catch his eye that he could ever remember.

  She thrust her hand out. “Hi, my name is Erin.”

  A pain flashed in his head. He forced it back. It wasn’t going to control him. He took her hand in his.

  Erin was a nice name.

  Theo, Erin, and the rest of the McKay-Taggart crew will return in Submission Is Not Enough.

  And Case and Mia will be joining the Lawless brothers in New York City in Ruthless, coming out August 4, 2016.

  AUTHOR’S NOTE

  I’m often asked by generous readers how they can help get the word out about a book they enjoyed. There are so many ways to help an author you like. Leave a review. If your e-reader allows you to lend a book to a friend, please share it. Go to Goodreads and connect with others. Recommend the books you love because stories are meant to be shared. Thank you so much for reading this book and for supporting all the authors you love!

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  SUBMISSION IS NOT ENOUGH

  Masters and Mercenaries, Book 12

  By Lexi Blake

  Coming October 18, 2016

  Pre-order link coming soon!

  A fallen hero reborn

  Theo Taggart lost everything the night he died. His family, his beautiful Erin, and worst of all, he lost himself. A twisted doctor brought him back from the brink of death, but reprogrammed his identity to serve her will. Rescued by his brothers, he must fight to reclaim the man he was and the life, and love, that were stolen from him.

  A love worth fighting for

  Erin Argent thought she'd lost Theo forever. When he walked back into her life, it was nothing short of a miracle. Months of torture and conditioning at the hands of Dr. Hope McDonald have done damage to Theo that may never be mended. He has no memory of her or the life they shared. Breaking through to him, and helping him rediscover all he lost, will be the toughest mission she's ever faced. Luckily for Theo, Erin loves a good fight.