by Lexi Blake
There was the arrogant bastard. She started to follow him. “It’s not going to work that way. I have to take you there. Tony is difficult to say the…oh. My god.”
He was naked. He’d tossed off that towel and his backside was the single most beautiful thing she’d ever seen. It was sculpted and muscular and just freaking perfect but his back… What the hell had happened to his back? He had a deep scar that ran across the skin of his back from just under his left shoulder blade down to just above those gorgeous cheeks.
It wasn’t the only scar. There was a circular one on his thigh and some others.
So much pain.
“You know it’s usually considered polite to knock before entering a gentleman’s bedroom,” he said, his voice deep. He didn’t hurry up though. Nope. He simply reached for his boxers and slowly put them on like a reverse-strip-tease, you-can’t-touch-this show.
“Like you’re a gentleman,” she said with a huff.
He stepped into his jeans and turned, those big hands of his working the fly. “Did you get an eyeful? I suppose I should be happy you didn’t faint at the sight of all those ugly scars. I suppose those college boys you mess around with don’t have ugly scars.”
She rolled her eyes and started to mouth off to him and then stopped. Surely the man knew how freaking gorgeous he was. He had to know, right? “The scars aren’t ugly, Case. I think you need them. You would be too pretty without them. And I’m very sorry for staring at your backside. It’s obvious you put in the glute work.”
He frowned as though he’d expected something totally different out of her. “You were staring at my ass?”
Maybe this hadn’t been the right way to go. She felt her skin flush. “It’s a nice backside. I’m a woman. I looked. And what college boys? You have a distorted view of my dating life. I’m not exactly hitting the frat parties. You do know I’m twenty-six, right?”
“How do I know anything about you? You lied about everything.”
And they were right back to the core of their issues. She’d told one teeny, tiny lie while in search of a greater truth. It wasn’t even like she’d gotten away with it. No, the hacker gods of McKay-Taggart had found her out very quickly and used her because they’d suspected Drew was working for some super-secret evil organization. “I would suspect by now you’ve gone through my every record, Case. And it wasn’t like I was lying without a purpose. You know why I did it.”
Because she’d lost her best friend and no one would believe her. No one would talk to her about the investigation. They’d called it a random murder, but she’d known it was far from random.
He shook his head and moved to his closet, grabbing one of what seemed to be an endless supply of black T-shirts that molded perfectly to his chest.
She’d seen the man in leathers, a vest covering his torso. The line the vest left uncovered hadn’t told the tale. All she’d seen was perfect skin, but without the shirt or vest, his chest was another network of scars.
She wanted to touch them, to trace them under her fingertips and then kiss each one.
Of course, his girlfriend would probably object.
Stop it. Get down to business. Stop thinking with your girl parts because they obviously have terrible taste in men since they seem to only want stubborn, assholey cowboys who have about as much forgiveness in their hearts as a dried up well.
“I know that you should have been honest,” he said as he pulled on his boots. He sat on the edge of his bed, working to get the beat-up boots on his feet.
“Yes, just like you.”
His blue eyes narrowed, staring her down. “I was trying to make sure you weren’t working for the people who murdered my brother.”
“And I was trying to do the same damn thing for my friend. When I started this, I thought Jared murdered my friend and Kai and your family were covering for him.” It was what she truly couldn’t understand. They’d both done the same thing for roughly the same reasons, but he wouldn’t even look at her much less get back to that moment when he’d kissed her.
God, that had felt so real. It killed her that he’d been playing a game.
“Supposition, and ridiculous supposition at that. We’ll have to agree to disagree, Mia. Could you forward me all the material you have?”
He hadn’t changed at all in the months they’d been apart. He still wasn’t willing to listen to her or give her a chance to change his mind. “This is all the material I have.”
He held a hand out. “All right. I thank you for this. I need to get to Ian’s.”
She held the folder out for him. It wasn’t like she didn’t have a copy. “Did you hear a word I said?”
Going to his eldest brother was the last thing she thought they should do. Ian Taggart would take over and he wouldn’t care that the situation was delicate.
“Heard and understood. You’re not going to Colombia. Go back to Austin. If you really want me to, I’ll update you when I can.” He started back to the living room.
She followed hard on his heels. “You’re not leaving me behind. I meant what I said, Case. Tony won’t talk to you.”
“I’m pretty damn good at making people talk, darlin’.”
The way he said darlin’ made her heart pound, but now she realized he used that deep tone of voice on every female. She wasn’t special.
And it didn’t matter. She was doing this for a little boy who might never know his father. “Not Tony. He’s ex-CIA and if he even gets a hint that someone’s after him, he’ll run and you won’t find him.”
His eyes narrowed. “Or you’re lying to me again in a desperate attempt to get what you want. What is it this time, Mia? Is it another story? Or is this a play for attention? Is big brother ignoring you?”
She stopped, finally getting it through her thick skull that he didn’t want her.
She’d brought him the best lead she could find. From what she could tell, this was the best lead anyone had found on his brother and it didn’t matter. She stared at him for a moment. She was insanely crazy about this man and he couldn’t give her the time of day.
Did she want to be this girl? The one who begged and pleaded and took the scraps?
Without another word, she moved to the door. He didn’t want to have anything to do with her, then she would have to move on. No matter how much it hurt.
She walked toward his door. She could be at the private airfield in twenty minutes and Cartagena roughly six hours later. Seven, depending on when they could take off. She would get to Tony long before the Taggarts could do their damage and she would send them all the information she uncovered.
Then she would move on.
If Case Taggart couldn’t see that she was the right woman for him, she wasn’t about to waste more time on the man.
God, why did her heart ache? Why was it so hard to keep her feet moving?
In her head she did a mental checklist. She had everything she needed. When she got to Colombia, she would hire a car and go to the hotel. She’d already sent the message to Tony. He would send her a time and meet place.
Hopefully she could get it all done before the Taggarts put boots on the ground in South America.
“Hey, where do you think you’re going?” Case was the one following her now.
She stopped in the middle of his living room, turning on him. The sight of his living space alone should have proven to her they wouldn’t work. It was too neat, Spartan. There was nothing of the man himself in this place. No photos, no little mementos. There was utilitarian furniture, a massive TV, and an Xbox. Mia’s apartment was messy and filled with sentimental crap. He would hate it.
Like he hated her.
“Does it matter?” She was suddenly so tired. She’d dreamed of seeing him again and while she hadn’t expected him to welcome her with open arms, she also hadn’t thought he would show her outright hostility.
“It does if you’re planning on chasing this lead yourself and fucking over what might be my only shot at saving my bro
ther.”
This was the moment she should walk away. The Taggarts could rise or fall on their own. She’d done enough.
If she thought for one second that they could not only find Tony, but also get him to talk, she would walk. The problem was she was the only person who could do this job. She was stuck between a rock and a hard place and it was obviously time to get to work on her own.
This trip had been a fool’s errand and she wouldn’t make the same mistake again. She would move forward. When it came time to turn the investigation over, she would do it, but until then she was on her own.
“Go home, Mia.”
She understood what he meant. He didn’t care where she went as long as she wasn’t bugging him. “Good-bye, Case.”
She started to turn, but he was right there, his big hand on her elbow. He twisted her around and she stumbled slightly, landing against his chest.
“Tell me why you came, Mia. Stop the bullshit.”
She might just be using her pepper spray tonight. “Do you think I faked that photo?”
“No.” His hand was still tight on her arm. “Not even you would do that. But you could have sent it to me. You should have sent it to Ian. But no, you came here to me, to my house, into my bedroom. So tell me why you’re really here. Maybe if you’re honest with me, I’ll give you what you want.”
“You seem to know everything. Why don’t you tell me why I’m here?”
“Because I think those fancy boys you play around with aren’t doing it for you, darlin’. I think you want to see what it’s like to go to bed with a man who gets his hands dirty. Is that what you want? A quick roll? Because I might be willing to do that for you.” His handsome face was so close to her own.
All she would need to do to bring their lips together was go up on her toes.
Unfortunately, she wasn’t willing to degrade herself. Not even for him. The sweet Case she’d known, the one who treated her like she was special, like she made him happy, had been a lie. This was the real Case. The other one had simply been his cover.
The great thing about the way he was holding her was how very easy he made it to bring her knee up and send his balls back into his body cavity.
She heard him hiss and then she was free. “Tell your girlfriend she’s got a real jewel on her hands. And thanks, Case. I think I just got over you. I’ve carried this stupid torch around from the moment I met you. It’s good to see those true colors shining through. If I come up with anything, I’ll let Ian know. Good-bye, Case.”
He’d taken a knee, one hand cupping the balls she’d so recently injured. “Mia, stop. We need to fucking talk.”
But she’d said everything she needed to say.
With tears in her eyes, she left his apartment, his building, and his life.
She would find Theo, but she was done with Case.
* * * *
Dear god, he might never have children. Not that he wanted them. Maybe he did. He let out a groan as the pain washed over him.
Did she have a damn bionic knee?
How the hell had he managed to maintain an erection? Shouldn’t his dick have shriveled up and maybe died after what she’d just done to him? But no, the damn thing was still hard as hell and likely pointing her way. His dick was a divining rod when it came to that blonde bitch goddess.
Fuck, but she was mean, and he was ten kinds of perverted because that did something for him.
He needed to get up off the ground and go after her. He needed to apologize because he’d been a dick.
He needed to go after her because she was right. They had to work together. If she knew someone who could take him to Theo, they definitely needed to work together.
Months had passed and he wasn’t any closer to getting his brother back. Theo was out there and every day was hell for him.
He should have known it would be Mia who brought him what he needed. Mia, who had lied to him. Mia, who invaded his every dream. Mia, who looked at him with those kick-me-in-the-gut eyes.
He managed to grab his phone and keys and forced himself to walk out. He had to catch her.
“Whoa, Case, was that who I think it was?” a familiar voice asked. “You ready to head out?”
Michael. He was standing outside Hutch’s door with a six-pack of beer in his hand. Hutch lived two doors down and he was going to ride over to Erin’s with him and Sean. Apparently Michael was going with them.
His partner was right on time to witness his horror.
Mia. Fucking gorgeous, lying, way too good for him Mia. Now he could call her Mia of the Sharpened Knee. “Can you stop her?”
Michael’s eyes widened. “I could and then I would likely get ye old restraining order in the mail. I try to avoid those. She had some crazy eyes on her. I thought you two had decided to play nice.”
There was nothing at all nice about anything that had ever happened between the two of them. Except that first night and that had been her way of manipulating him. Hadn’t it?
She would already be out on the street by now. Likely she’d had a car waiting.
What had been her plan? She’d obviously wanted him to go to Colombia with her. He’d had a vision of being alone with her in a foreign country. He would have to protect her because she could be so very reckless. Hell, she’d tried to go after a serial killer on her own. He couldn’t leave her alone, so they would have to share a room.
He could let nature take its course and finally find out how it felt to sink himself into Mia Lawless.
He groaned because she might have done some nerve damage to that very part of his body he wanted to sink into her.
“Dude? I don’t think you should do that out in the open.” Hutch had opened the door and was staring at him. He was a lanky kid in his mid-twenties. Case had worked with him during his CIA black ops days. Hutch was a hacker of the highest order, but apparently he couldn’t tell the difference between self-preservation and masturbation.
“Maybe we should go inside for a minute.” Michael moved them inside Hutch’s place. “Apparently Mia took exception to something Case did.”
A look of horror crossed Hutch’s face. “Dude, did she actually bust your balls?”
Case gritted his teeth and forced himself to move. He’d taken bullets before and still completed his mission. It was kind of his specialty. He took a licking and kept right on ticking. The fact that his balls were flattened against his pelvic bone wasn’t going to stop him. “Did she say anything to you?”
“She walked by like a woman on a mission,” Michael explained. “If she even recognized me, she didn’t acknowledge it.”
He wondered if Hutch had a bag of frozen peas lying around somewhere. There wouldn’t be any at his place. Definitely not, since he usually ate out or at one of his brother’s houses, but now it seemed like an oversight. When a man was involved with a crazy chick like Mia, said man needed to keep something cool to rest his balls against at all times.
Because she was fucking mean.
And she’d found Theo.
God, she’d found Theo and he’d treated her like a piece of ass. She made him absolutely nuts. He never treated women like that, but then he’d never had one twist his guts up only to find out she had a fiancé.
They might have broken up at this point, but she’d been engaged when they met, engaged when he’d kissed her the first time. She’d been engaged to a Harvard-educated lawyer who worked for her brother. Case had seen their engagement picture. It had run in the Austin society pages. He was all shiny and polished, in what was likely a thousand-dollar suit and expensive loafers, and Case had been wearing the same pair of shitkickers since he’d gone into the Navy. He’d probably paid forty bucks for them and he’d wear them until he couldn’t patch them up anymore.
Still, he shouldn’t have behaved the way he did. He wasn’t that guy and he wasn’t about to let her turn him into that guy.
“She is on a mission.” He managed to keep himself standing by leaning against the arcade machine
Hutch had in his living room. The entire apartment was a geek’s paradise. “She just left after kicking me in the balls, though I have to admit I likely deserved it. I need to stop her.”
Because there was no way her sweet ass wasn’t on a plane to Colombia tonight. She could say anything she liked. He knew her. He knew what she was capable of. If she’d walked out, it was so she could go on the incredibly dangerous mission herself.
Luckily, he had his ways of stopping her.
“Do you want me to see if I can catch her?” Hutch asked. “Though if she’s in a ball-busting mood, I kind of want to stay out of it. She’s got that look, you know.”
Yeah, he knew it well. Crazy eyes. Crazy, gorgeous, a man could get lost in them eyes. “No, she’s gone. I think I need you to do something else for me. I need you to find out what plane she’s about to be on and delay the fucker. She’s headed to Cartagena. While you’re at it, I’m going to need you to find a man in Colombia named Tony.”
Hutch stared at him. “Seriously? Nothing more than Tony? Because I’m betting there’s more than a few.”
He needed to think strategically. It wasn’t his strong suit. He preferred to kick ass. It was what he was good at. “Mia said he’s ex-Agency.”
Of course, sometimes Mia stretched the truth. What if she wasn’t in this case? What if there really was a mentally disturbed ex-operative out there who happened upon his brother’s whereabouts, and the only person he would chat with about it was Mia Lawless Danvers?
It was a long shot, but then so was finding his brother.
“Okay.” Hutch reached into a glass container he kept on the bar and pulled out a Red Vine. It was his candy of choice when hacking, but then Case was pretty sure the kid was made of sugar. “That narrows things down. I’ll be right back. Do you know what airport she’s using? Airline? I’d prefer not to shut them all down. Tends to get the feds on my ass.”
What airline would Mia fly? He could guess that one. The last time Ian had flown out to meet with her brother, Drew Lawless had sent the private jet. “She won’t fly commercial. Look for a 4L Software executive jet. She’ll be using that.”