Dominance Never Dies (Masters and Mercenaries Book 11) (10 page)

Getting her into bed would actually do them both good. For however long it lasted, she would be bound in some small way to him. She would be more inclined to turn to him for help and guidance. She might listen to him over that obvious lothario asshat she’d somehow managed to hire.

“Another drink, sir?” The flight attendant knelt beside his chair, her perky breasts on display. She’d hovered around him all night, seeming to show more interest in him than the others.

He’d made himself plain. He’d been polite. “No thank you.”

Despite the fact that he’d ordered beers for his crew, he hadn’t taken a sip of his. He needed all his faculties. He needed to talk to Mia, to do what he hadn’t done before. He needed to gather all the intel he could on how she’d gotten that picture of his brother.

“You going to find her?” Michael asked, looking up from his laptop. “Because I for one would like a briefing on what she’s doing and how we’re providing support.”

He was going to have to walk a fine line here. He’d promised Ian he wouldn’t bring anyone into the Theo investigation. He hadn’t been the one to bring Mia in. She’d found her own way in. Which was another very good question he should have asked her.

He lost IQ points the moment she walked in a room. Hell, he could think about her and drop some.

“I’ll do a briefing before we land,” he promised. He needed to make sure Mia understood how sensitive this information was. “Of course, we’ll have to wake up sleeping beauty.”

Hutch had his seat back and was already lightly snoring and muttering something about trolls. That boy spent way too much time online.

Michael stared at him over his laptop. “Be careful and watch what the hell you say to her. Think before bad shit comes out of your mouth.”

All the way to the airport his best friend had been preaching politeness. Case wasn’t sure if Michael was trying to play matchmaker or save his balls from another thrashing. “I’m going to keep it professional.”

Michael snorted. “There is nothing professional about this. We’re basically running some weird op under the radar, and you know damn well Ian is going to be pissed. What are you planning on doing if we’re gone for any length of time?”

“I already texted Ian. I told him Mia needed some backup on a story she was pursuing and that I didn’t feel like it would be smart to not have a team with me. He said it was fine and that I should wear a condom, a real condom, and maybe two condoms. I’m pretty sure he was holding the new baby at the time. Ian’s fine with it.” Ian would kick his ass if he knew the truth, but Case had to make that call.

If Ian thought he was following Mia across the globe so he could get some, that was all right with him.

Because now that he was here, he really wanted to get some. Not some. Her. Only freaking her. Maybe once he’d had her, he could think straight again. Maybe he could put her behind him and move on with his life. He’d been stuck since the moment he’d met her.

“They should serve dinner soon,” he said, glancing toward the back of the plane. Well, the hallway that led to the back of the plane. Maybe the middle. It was a big fucking private jet and it wasn’t the largest in the Lawless fleet.

And he should remember that. This was Mia’s world. Mia would marry some college-educated fuckwad who got along with her hyper-successful family. Whoever Mia married wouldn’t get called into Andrew Lawless’s office and asked how much cash it would take to get him to stay away.

Andrew Lawless was fucking lucky they needed him or Mia would have been down a brother that day.

She’d gotten up roughly twenty minutes into the flight, saying she needed to visit the ladies’ room. She’d stretched and he’d watched the way her breasts moved and managed to bite back a groan because his dick still hurt. Oh, it worked and he would deal with the pain if he got the chance, but damn. Why wasn’t she back? He couldn’t let her avoid him.

He needed to talk to her before it got too late. “We’ll do the debrief during dinner. I’ll be back.”

He eased out of the chair and turned toward the hall Mia had disappeared down.

“Taggart.” Fain sat up, his hand gesturing for Case to move in closer.

Why had Mia insisted on bringing this ass along? He looked like a whiny-ass dude who would break into song about his feelings or maybe sit down and write poetry. He did not look like a Marine. “What do you need?”

“I don’t like the flight attendant.”

He didn’t particularly like her either, but he wasn’t sure what to do about it. “I think you can handle it for a few hours. Did she hit on you? Just send her over to Hutch. He’s been horny lately.”

Fain sat up, his voice going low. “I’m not talking about her being my type, asshole. Watch her. Something’s wrong.”

Case looked toward the front of the plane where the attendant was looking down at a tablet. “What’s wrong with her?”

“I don’t know, but I don’t like it. I didn’t like the pilot either.”

So he was one of those insanely paranoid assholes who’d seen way too much action during his service and now thought everything was a bomb waiting to explode. Still, he could use the guy’s paranoia. Maybe if Case gave him a job to do, he would stop trying to get close to Mia. “Then I think that should be your job. Watch the stewardess and make sure she doesn’t spit in our coffee or anything.”

“I’m not eating anything she puts in front of me.”

Like the jerk or not, if he’d been Force Recon, he had to consider that Fain knew something. He wasn’t going to let his distaste for Fain’s boss blind him. “You honestly think something’s wrong?”

Fain’s jaw went tight. “I do. I feel it in my bones. She’s not used to wearing heels. You can see it in how tight her eyes get when she’s forced to walk. She kicks them off the minute she can. From what I can see there’s nothing wrong with her feet, so I have to conclude she’s not used to wearing heels. Also her makeup’s off.”

He had noticed that. “Her eyeliner’s screwed up.”

“When was the last time you met a professional flight attendant to a billionaire who didn’t look absolutely perfect?”

He’d ridden the 4L jet before, though it had been one of the larger ones. The attendant had been flawless. Flight attendants on regular people planes—both men and women—took extreme care with their appearance. Whether or not they happened to be beautiful, they always looked professional. And they would know damn well not to wear heels on a six-hour flight if they couldn’t handle them.

But what the hell did that prove?

She looked up from her tablet and smiled his way. It didn’t reach her eyes. He hadn’t studied her closely before. Now he could see how chilly she was despite the smile and saying all the right things.

“I’m going to go and talk to Mia,” Case explained, keeping his voice down. “I’ll keep eyes on her. You slap Hutch awake and see if he can get an Internet connection. There has to be a satellite connection on this sucker. He’s got facial recognition on his phone. Maybe it can pull something up. And talk to Michael. He’s a former SEAL. He knows what he’s doing.”

Fain nodded. “Will do. I don’t particularly like the fact that we’re with the sister of a billionaire going into a country where it would be easy to hold her for ransom. Lots of jungle in Colombia to get lost in.”

And cartels who made money on the side in just such a fashion. Kidnapping had decreased in Colombia and the country was considered safe, especially in the tourist towns. Thousands of Americans flocked to its beaches and cultural centers every year. But thousands of Americans weren’t Mia Lawless Danvers. She was a ripe target. The truth was he would be concerned with her anywhere she went.

Case stood up, sending Michael a look as Fain moved to join him.

Likely there was no trouble. Mia had booked the flight at the last minute. It was entirely possible their slightly unkempt flight attendant simply hadn’t been prepared, but he couldn’t leave that to chance.

He eased down the hall. To his left was the private dining room that Fain absolutely wouldn’t be sharing with Mia tonight. No fucking way. He might be willing to work with the dude, but he could only be pushed so far. To his right looked like a private office. That might be where Hutch ended up. He might cry a little at the thought of sitting at Drew Lawless’s desk.

This place probably made Air Force One look clunky.

Maybe he should have taken a couple of million off that jerk. It wasn’t like he would miss it. Not at all. Mia’s brother could write a check for ten million and never notice it was gone.

How much, Mr. Taggart? Don’t get me wrong. I like your brother. I like you, but you’re obviously wrong for my sister. How much to get you to leave her be?

I haven’t touched her.

But you will. I can see the chemistry between you quite clearly. Do you honestly believe she belongs in your world? Take the money. If anyone asks it’s a bonus for doing your job and doing it well. But we’ll know what it’s really about. Name your price.

Humiliation burned in his gut. He could still remember how he’d felt when he’d gotten up from the chair and calmly explained to Lawless that there wasn’t enough money in the world to buy him off. He could hear Lawless calling out and trying to stop him.

He’d sent the man his happy middle finger and walked out.

Drew had sent him several e-mails and tried to call, but Case was done. He deleted the e-mails without reading them and consigned the calls to voice mail hell.

It had been six weeks since Lawless made his play. Case didn’t get why he’d done it. Seven months had passed and he’d worked off and on with 4L trying to get a better layout of the mysterious group known as The Collective. He’d pretty much left Mia completely alone. Oh, he’d seen her in a couple of meetings and they’d had a single, fairly heated argument over what had happened between them.

So why had Lawless made that play?

He stopped in front of the last door and the question slipped out of his head. Mia was standing in the middle of what looked to be a bedroom. There was a mirror on the wall and she held a dress up, looking at herself in the glass as though considering every angle.

So damn pretty. Why did she have to be so pretty?

“It’s a nice dress. Are we getting fancy for dinner? I have to warn you I only brought a couple of pairs of jeans and some T-shirts. I’ll have to suit up somewhere if I need anything but casual.”

He watched as she flushed. She shook her head and then opened a drawer, putting the dress back in.

Now that he got a better look at it, the material was filmy, with swaths of lace decorating it. Was that lingerie?

“Sorry. I came here to see if something I’d left behind was still here. It was.” She shut the drawer and turned back to him. “I promise everything’s casual. I mean to keep a low profile. The real problem is I didn’t book enough hotel rooms. I’ll have to see if we can find a couple more when we get there.”

“I’m staying with you.” He needed to make that clear right here and now. “You might shove me on a couch, but I was never going to have a separate room.”

Too much could happen if he left her there alone. And way too little could happen if he wasn’t there. Now that he’d made the decision to go with her, it seemed fairly inevitable that chemistry and close proximity would work their magic.

And her brother could bite his ass.

She shook her head. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“Then don’t think about it at all.” He stepped into the small but elegantly appointed bedroom, the rest of the world seeming to fade away. “Let me take care of that part. You know I won’t let anything bad happen to you.”

She was silent for a moment, those big blue eyes staring straight through him. “I know you won’t hurt me physically.”

“I don’t want to hurt you at all, Mia. Look, I got angry because you lied to me. I lied to you. In the end we were both doing it for the greater good. Let’s get past that.”

She leaned against the dresser. “I already have. I know why you did it. I actually should thank you. You didn’t take advantage of me. It would have been easy for you to. When I really think about it, you were a gentleman.”

He didn’t want to be a gentleman around her. He wanted more than the polite iciness they’d settled into. “I did kiss you.”

“I kissed you back,” she replied a little wistfully. “I know you won’t believe me, but I meant that kiss. I didn’t walk into Sanctum expecting to find a lover.”

“I would hope not. You were engaged.” It still bothered him. It still made him feel dirty.

“Yes.” Her arms crossed over her chest as though she needed protection. “Is that what the real problem is? You can’t trust me again because I kissed a man while I was engaged to someone else?”

He’d thought through the scenario about a thousand times since he’d opened that folder Ian had given him and learned the truth about her. How far would she have taken it? He’d been so lost that evening. Spending time with her had made him feel good. By the time he’d brought her up to the rooftop, he’d practically forgotten his troubles. And that was when the guilt had set in. That was when he’d known damn well he wasn’t going to sleep with her because his brother was dead and he shouldn’t be thinking about a woman. Then she’d brought him such peace. Sitting with her, talking about Theo with her had felt so right. For the first time since Theo’s death, he’d thought he might be able to deal with it. Then everything had changed.

“Tell me something, Mia. If I’d pushed, would you have slept with me that night?”

She shook her head. “No. I wouldn’t have. Later, maybe, but not that night. I started to trust you specifically because you didn’t push me. You seemed to want more from me than sex and then you didn’t want me physically at all.”

“I wasn’t going to sleep with you when I knew you were lying to me and I was lying to you.” It was the moment he’d known he would always be a soldier and never an operative. He could make hard decisions, but he couldn’t give away that piece of himself.

Her skin flushed the prettiest pink. “Yeah, well, I probably would have. It’s a good thing you saved us from that. And I never said it to you, but I’m glad it wasn’t Jared. I know that would have hurt Kai. I actually came to like Jared. I was happy to be wrong.”