Frustration welled up, a nasty feeling he didn’t like. It made his tone harsher than he’d wanted. “I don’t want her to know and neither would Theo.”
She took a deep breath. “All right. It’s your call, but I think it’s a mistake. I think she would want to know. I think she would want to feel everything she can where it comes to him, even the rough parts. If she’s not that woman, then you would know better than I do.”
Was he keeping something precious from Erin? No. He was making the right decision, the one Theo would want him to make.
Should Erin have a voice in that decision, too? They’d left her out of so much in an effort to protect her. He was Theo’s brother. It was his decision to make. His and Ian’s and Sean’s. If they got Theo back, it would be a gift to her. If they didn’t she never had to understand this fear. He was right. Mia was wrong.
Still, when she turned and a sad smile curved her lips up slightly, he felt guilty for not giving her what she wanted.
“I’m ready when you are.”
He wasn’t ready at all, but she was right about one thing. She’d done the charity event thing more than once. This was her world. “Make sure Hutch doesn’t make a complete idiot of himself. He’s not exactly used to high society. He’s more used to microwaving his supper and playing MMORPGs.”
She waved off the thought. “He’ll be fine. I’ve already written a nice-sized check to the organization. That will buy us an enormous amount of goodwill.”
“I don’t know about that. What if they recognize your name?” He had to stop this bouncing around, looking for reasons to call off the op. His brother was in there. Guilt assailed him. He should do anything to get his brother back. Why was he waffling?
Mia breezed on, luckily not picking up on his inner turmoil. “I’ve got a fund I do charitable work from. It’s the Iris and Ben Fund. I doubt they’ll connect it to 4L and the ticket was issued to Mia Danvers. My legal name comes in handy.”
He’d wondered about that. “Do you miss it? Your name, I mean.”
She sighed. “Sometimes. Don’t get me wrong. I love my moms. They’re awesome. They saved me from a lot of what my brothers went through, but I’m still a Lawless. I’m still my parents’ child.”
“You could change it back.” He wasn’t sure why she hadn’t, except that she’d chosen to honor her adoptive parents.
Of course, he rather thought Mia Taggart was a better name. He didn’t even flinch at that thought now. No waffling there. He wanted her. He would eventually marry her and tie her to him in every way he possibly could. She wasn’t the same woman he’d met. As long as she was honest with him, he would give her everything he had.
“That wouldn’t fit into my brother’s plans,” she said cryptically.
Before he could ask her what she meant by that, there was a knock on the door. It wasn’t the time for long explanations, but he needed to figure out what was going on with her family. Her brothers tended to be quiet around him, but he could tell something was bubbling under their seemingly placid surfaces. Then there were all the secretive meetings with Ian. There would be time later to find out what was going on. He opened the door and his crew strode in, Hutch first.
“Do I really have to wear this thing? It’s scratchy.” Hutch tugged at his brand new tie. He’d gone out with Fain an hour before and picked up the elegant-looking suit.
“I told you, yes. You have to wear it. And it’s not scratchy. It’s an excellent quality suit and we were lucky to find someone who could tailor it in such a short amount of time.” Fain frowned Case’s way. “He’s got problems with focus. He kept wandering away any time I took my eyes off him. Do you normally keep him on an actual leash?”
Hutch groaned. “Looking at suits is boring. Those girls walking around in bikinis were not.” Hutch winked Case’s way. “This country is full of gorgeous women. We should think about spending a little more time here. It’s been a while for me.”
He wasn’t hanging out because Hutch got horny. “We’re leaving as soon as we have enough intel to call Ian in.”
Michael grimaced as he made his way to the lone chair in the room. “We’re leaving? I doubt that. Someone’s hanging out here and keeping an eye on that building. If Theo’s there, we can’t risk losing him. Even in the couple of days it would take to turn this op. They could decide to run again.”
“All right. I should make myself plain.” He’d kind of wanted to avoid this particular conversation for as long as possible, but it looked like his time was up. “We’re doing this job tonight and then Mia and Michael and Fain are heading home. Hutch and I can keep tabs on the situation until Ian can get us backup.”