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.”