Case stepped away, leaving her cold and flipping the switch next to the door, flooding the room with light. “If this is something about the op my brother is running with yours, then talk to Ian.”
She forced herself to turn around and then she felt her jaw drop. He wasn’t wearing anything. Well, he was wearing a towel, but so very much of him was on display. A whole lot of gorgeous tan skin was right there, and damn but that boy worked out. The towel was wrapped around his lean waist, riding low on muscled hips. He was so drool worthy and the sight of that big freaking gun in his hand was an odd turn-on. Not to mention the fact that the towel tented out admirably. It looked like Case was built on big lines everywhere. “Really? You walk around like that?”
Like a flipping Greek sex god.
He gave her his big old gorgeous jerk smirk and put a hand on his hip as though he knew exactly what she was thinking. “Darlin’, I just got off the phone with my girlfriend. She’s good at getting me revved up, so to speak.”
That was a kick to the gut. It had been months since she’d last seen him. He’d gotten a girlfriend? A sub? Had he taken a sub? Kori hadn’t mentioned a sub, but then she likely wouldn’t talk about Sanctum since Mia hadn’t been there in months. She wasn’t sure she would even be welcome. No one had told her her membership had been canceled, but she wouldn’t be surprised.
Was she pretty? Thin? Mia wasn’t thin. It almost never bothered her. She wasn’t that girl who worried about her weight, but Case made her vulnerable. If he had a girlfriend, then he was dumb because she was so obviously the one for him. If he couldn’t see it, then she wasn’t going to beg. She would do what she came to do and then he could get back to his tiny, thin sub who likely never ever disobeyed him or lied to him for perfectly good reasons. “I didn’t come here to talk about your love life. I came here because we need to work together.”
A single brow rose over his blue eyes. “So you decided to break in?”
Yeah, now that seemed like a stupid thing to do. What had she been thinking? Of course he hadn’t been sitting around for months waiting for her. He likely hadn’t thought about her at all. “I didn’t know when you would be back. And I kind of thought it would prove to you that I can be a good partner. I have skills, too. I thought if I was waiting here for you when you got back from whatever you were doing, maybe you would take me seriously for once.”
“Oh, I take you seriously. You seriously annoy me and now you can leave.”
She stood her ground. “I’m not going until you’ve listened to me. Drew told me to stay out of this and I have for the most part, but I never stopped looking. I never stopped trying to find him.”
Case went still as she pulled a folder out of her massive bag. “Who?”
She heard it in his voice. It was a little hopeful question. He’d been hoping and praying since that moment he’d found out his brother was dead. She knew it because it’s what she would have done. She loved her brothers. They were obnoxious and way too interested in her business, and if one of them died she would be devastated. If she thought for a second one of her brothers was out there and being horribly tortured, she would move heaven and earth.
Case had known that pain for almost a year. It didn’t matter that he had a freaking girlfriend and might never be able to love her. None of that mattered. He was a man who needed to save his brother and she was going to help him.
“Theo.” Mia handed him the grainy printout Tony had sent. “I found Theo and we’re going to get him back together.”
Case stared down at the photo. She’d memorized the damn thing. It showed two men, both holding AK-47s. One still had a mask over his face, but the other had slid it up so his features could be seen. She’d known immediately who he was. Case and Theo were fraternal twins, but they looked enough alike that they could be mistaken for each other. Case had a tighter jawline, his eyes slightly wider than his younger brother’s. He was the tiniest bit bigger, maybe a half an inch and ten pounds of muscle.
She’d studied Case, mooned over him like a teenaged girl, so she knew damn well what he looked like. The man in the photograph was Theo Taggart. She’d known it before the facial recognition software had confirmed it.
“Where?” Case’s voice sounded harsh and deep.
Tortured, as though he was being hurt along with his brother.
“It’s from a bank heist in Colombia.” She hated telling him that, but she couldn’t hold out on him. It was far too important.
More important than her heart.
“Where in Colombia?” His eyes narrowed, staring at her. That gorgeous jawline of his had gone tight.
“Cartagena. I have a friend there. I’d put out the word to my network that we were looking for him and Tony came through with that. He makes a careful study of everything that goes on around him, including certain police frequencies he shouldn’t be involved in.”