From Sanctum With Love (Masters and Mercenaries Book 10) (21 page)

He wanted some kisses. Like stupidly wanted them from her. It seemed wrong to him that he’d touched her pussy, brought her to orgasm, and hadn’t kissed her yet.

“I’ll go and see who’s here at a ridiculously early hour.” Sarah hopped off her chair.

“I should go.” He was the guy here. The neighborhood was safe enough, but bad things still happened.

“No, breakfast boy, you’re needed here. Trust me. I’ve opened the door many times.” Sarah flounced off. He wondered if she wore a full-length satin gown and robe with fluffy feathers and kitten-heeled slippers every morning. Sarah looked like she’d rolled out of a 1950s pinup girl’s bed. If said pinup girl wore full makeup and had perfect hair every morning.

“So you and Kori are an item now, huh?” Mia was wearing what she’d had on the night before. When he’d woken up earlier, she’d been using Sarah’s shower, the blankets and pillows neatly folded up.

He wished he could have gotten into her purse, but then again, he wasn’t an investigator. That didn’t mean he couldn’t help the cause. “I don’t think she would put a label on it.”

Mia smiled and nodded. “Ah, so you’re playing around. I guess I didn’t think you were the playboy type.”

So she was protective. That was interesting. Or she simply didn’t like men who weren’t committed. He shrugged. “I definitely wouldn’t call myself the playboy type. I kind of hate that type. Rich. Privileged. I’ve known a few. They’re practically their own stereotype. You know what I’m talking about, right? The young billionaire who thinks he owns the world because he thought up some silly app. Yeah, I’m definitely not like that.”

Her brother was though. From what he’d read, her brother had gone from foster care to the richest man in Austin in a short period of years. Of course he’d also found out that her father had killed himself and Mia’s mother in a murder/suicide. That kind of childhood trauma could fuck a person up.

Her mouth turned down. “They’re not all that way. Some of those developers work hard. Some of them use that money to pull their families out of poverty. You can’t always judge a book by its cover, you know.”

Definitely protective. But definitely not honest. “I don’t know. I only know what I see in the media.”

“The media often paints people in a bad light,” she said primly. “It depends on what they think will sell. They’re all about making money these days. No one seems interested in real journalism.”

“How’s the job going?”

According to her paperwork, she was a receptionist at a dental office. He, of course, knew her status as a freelance reporter. He had to wonder about that. He thought Big Tag and Case were too quick to think she was a Collective plant. Their own tragedy might be clouding their judgment in this case.

“Great. It’s really nice. Keeps me busy.” She leaned forward, her eyes on the pan. “I think the work you do is extraordinary. It’s important to help people. Not many people get that. It’s a calling, I think. People like doctors and therapists and the ones who put themselves on the line to get to the truth. Sorry, I’m still waking up. I’m probably not making a ton of sense. I just wanted you to know I admire you.”

And she felt guilty about lying to him. He would also bet she felt a kinship with him. It was there in the way she held herself as though she wanted to tell him her secret, thought he perhaps would understand. He added the egg mixture now that the spinach had gotten nice and soft and the ham was warm. “It’s important to help people in more ways than one. We all do our part. I’m sure you’re very good at helping people who are scared. A lot of people hate going to the dentist. You give them the proper facts and then they’re not so scared.”

She nodded. “Yes. Information is very powerful. I’m glad you get that.”

“Information can transform the world.” He was definitely getting to her. She was dying to tell someone. He wondered if she’d told Sarah, but he would bet she hadn’t.

“It can be very important. Sometimes people aren’t what they seem and it takes someone willing to stand up and tell the truth to make justice work the way it should.”

“What are we really talking about, Mia?”

She bit her bottom lip, but a light came into her eyes. He knew that light. It was determination, pure and simple. She’d made a decision. She was going to spill.

“Hey, brother. I thought I’d find you here.” His brother strode in, a smile on his face like he hadn’t been out partying like a rock star into the wee hours of the morning. Hell no. Not Jared Johns. He was practically glowing.

He was fairly certain his brother used some serious moisturizer. And Kai wanted to punch him in his cosmetically perfect face. He’d almost had Mia talking and now she was shut down. It was right there in the stiffness of her body, the way her arms crossed over her chest as though she needed protection.

“Aren’t you supposed to be at McKay-Taggart this morning?” He’d made a schedule for his brother, one that kept him busy most of the time and out of Kai’s hair. He’d also thought about the fact that if Jared bugged Ian too much, Big Tag might take care of his problem.

Jared gestured back toward the living room. “Your friend came looking for you so he gave me a ride here. I’m trying to get into character so I’m avoiding limos like the plague. According to Big Tag, they’re for douchebags.”

So Ian was already fucking with Jared. That was inevitable. He glanced back and Case Taggart was standing in the doorway, his massive body filling the space.

“I went to your office to find out if Kori’s all right,” Case said, his eyes going to Mia. “Hello, Mia. I’m surprised to find you here. Shouldn’t you be at work?”

She slid off her barstool. “I was getting ready to go. Kai, it turns out I don’t have time for breakfast. Thanks, anyway. I have a train to catch.”

Case didn’t move. “Or I could take you. I’ll drop you off wherever you like.”

Mia stopped, as though wary. “Really?”

Case nodded. “Of course. I’m sorry. We got off on the wrong foot. I’ve been sharp with you and I apologize.”

“You’ve been a complete asshole,” she argued.

“Then let me make it up to you. Let me give you a ride to work.” Where he would likely follow her to see where she went because Mia didn’t work at the place she said she did. It looked like Case was taking a play from his brothers’ book. Charm. It was so much easier to catch flies with honey or a smile and the promise of pleasure.

Mia softened, her eyes lighting a bit. “If it’s not out of your way.”

“Not at all.” Case was working. Kai was certain she could have said she needed to go to Oklahoma and Case would have claimed he was going that way, too.

Thank god. One less thing for him to deal with. Where the hell was Kori? If she’d slipped out, he was going to spank her.

He flipped the omelet and then slid it on the plate.

“It’s raining men in here today,” Sarah said with a smile as she looked over at Jared. “Can I get you some coffee?”

There was no way to miss how Jared’s eyes slid over Sarah’s curves. “I’ll take anything you have, honey. And I like it strong.”

He was going to vomit. “Mia, do you want to try to take this with you?”

“I’m late, but thanks anyway.” Mia was following Case into the living room.

“Thank god,” Jared said, taking her place at the bar. “I’m starving. All you had at your place was granola and shit. I need some protein. I can start with that, but I’ll probably need two or three of those.”

Sarah set the coffee mug in front of him. “Because you burn so many calories when you’re doing all that workout stuff. I subscribe to all your YouTube channels. My favorite one is Jared’s Abs of Steel where someone spliced all your
Dart
workouts together and set it to Marvin Gaye’s ‘Let’s Get It On.’ I watch it at least once a day.”

He was definitely going to vomit. There was a reason he didn’t spend much time on the Internet.

“So you can give Kori a ride?” Case said as he held the door open for Mia.

Sarah sat down beside Jared as he dug into Mia’s omelet. Kai was fairly certain he heard her saying something about how perfectly masculine Jared’s eating practices were.

Kai was confused and not only by his brother’s innate ability to attract fawning women. “I can but why would Kori need a ride?”

Case looked out the door as though making certain Mia didn’t get away. “You don’t know? I thought that was why you came over here. I was sure when I saw your Jeep in the driveway that she’d called you. Dude, did you and Kori get it on last night? Because I’ve got some money riding on it and it would be better for me if you held off a few weeks.”

Fucking assholes. “When did this start up?”

“After that scene last night,” Case admitted.

“This is excellent, Kai,” Jared said with a nod. “I don’t suppose you could whip up some pancakes. It’s been a long time since I had your pancakes. I’ll run ’em off, if you know what I mean.”

“I’ll watch you run,” Sarah vowed. “I’ll set up a couple of lawn chairs, make some mimosas, and you can run all around the block.”

“Shut that shit down, Case.” He wasn’t about to have it get back to Kori that there was a damn betting pool concerning when they were going to sleep together. Still, something was definitely missing in all the chaos his brother had brought with him. “And why were you coming over here to check on Kori? Did you honestly think I would hurt her?”

Jared shook his head. “No. My brother would never hurt her. All that sadism stuff is strictly for the dungeon, and it looked like she was having fun, Case.”

“Kori was having fun,” Mia said, her purse over her shoulder as she stepped back in the doorway. “Case should understand that. I know he’s a baby Dom, but he’s been around Sanctum for a while I would think.”

“I am not a baby Dom. I hate that term. It makes me sound soft and fluffy.” Case stared Mia’s way.

“Well, I was told you don’t have Master rights at Sanctum,” Mia returned. “If you’re in a training class you’re a baby Dom.”

“I think we use that term in the script.” Jared seemed to warm to the conversation. “It’s cute.”

“And it doesn’t apply because I do have Master rights,” Case argued.

“I don’t care about baby Doms. I want to know why you thought I would hurt Kori.” It rankled. He would never hurt her.

“I think he’s talking about her car,” Sarah explained.

“Some French toast would be good if you don’t want to make pancakes.” Jared was already finished with omelet number one and had reached for one of the muffins Sarah had made earlier. Where the hell did he put all those calories?

“You should have more respect. They’re Doms in training.” Case was still trying to make his point.

This was why he lived alone. Chaos. So much of it. “What about Kori’s car?”

“Someone slashed her tires last night,” Sarah explained, passing Jared another muffin. “The secret ingredient in these is love. Well, and chocolate chips, so you’ll definitely need to lift some weights. I have hand weights in my room. Never been used before.”

Someone slashed her tires? What the hell? She hadn’t mentioned that. Not once. They’d talked and cuddled and slept together wrapped up all night and she hadn’t once slipped that tidbit of information in.

They had rules. Oh, they needed new rules, but they had a few rules that had been set down when she’d become his assistant. Try to be on time. Call if you’re late or sick. She had free run of the building, including his living quarters if she needed anything at all. And if she felt herself in danger, she was to call him.

He hadn’t gotten a fucking call.

Everyone was talking at once. Mia defended her use of the word baby while Jared talked to Sarah about his workout plans. Kai turned to walk down the hallway. It was time he and Kori had a serious talk. He’d meant to be patient, to ease her into this whole couple thing, but he needed to make a few things plain.

She stood in the hallway, her eyes wide. She was wearing a tank top and those pajama bottoms that clung to her curves. She looked soft and sleepy and infinitely fuckable. Also confused. “Why is everyone here?”

“Why didn’t you tell me someone slashed your tires last night?” Kai shot back.

“Damn it,” Case said. “Ian’s going to win. He took the ‘within twenty-four hours’ slot.”

Kai shot Case his middle finger as he prowled down the hall toward Kori. “We need to have a serious talk.”

She backed up, her eyes steady on his face. “We do?”

“Your room. Now.”

She scurried back. At least one person was willing to obey him.

* * * *

Kori ran back to her room and gave serious consideration to locking the door behind her. She could live here now. Sarah could stuff protein bars under the door and she could live off tap water. This could be her home for many years. As long as it took for that wicked look to get out of Kai’s eyes.

Or he would find a way inside anyway and then her ass was grass because that man looked serious.

She should have told him about the tires. She’d made that promise a long time ago. In her attempts to avoid him the previous evening she’d decided that calling and telling him her car had been viciously attacked was counterproductive to the whole point of avoiding him. Now with a night’s wisdom behind her, she could see that it might have been a mistake.

Locking him out of her room would probably be another mistake.

She turned on him. Maybe she could get out of this. “Hey, you know in all the craziness of last night I totally forgot to mention that my tires got messed up. Maybe that was a manufacturer defect or something. It’s hard to tell in the dark.”

He stood in the doorway to her bedroom. Past him, she could still hear a lot of talking since it seemed her normally quiet house had been invaded. It didn’t matter. They could talk all they liked because all Kori could see or really hear was Kai. “Are you certain that’s the tactic you want to take with me?”

“Nope. I’m not certain at all.” She wasn’t certain of anything. When she’d woken and realized he wasn’t still in bed with her, she’d been disappointed. She’d reached out and his side of the bed had been cold, and for a second she’d felt tears cloud her eyes. Then she’d decided it was a good thing. He’d done what she wanted him to do. He’d snuck out and avoided all the embarrassing morning after stuff. Except he hadn’t. Apparently he’d invited friends over to witness the embarrassing morning after stuff. “What are you still doing here?”