“His name is Case,” Mia said, barely able to breathe for how tightly Robert held her. “Case Taggart. He’s Theo’s brother. Theo is Tomas’s real name. Theo Taggart. Please, Theo, you have to listen to me. Everything that woman has told you is a lie.”
Theo turned to her, his eyes glacial. “Stop calling me that. You’re the one who’s lying and it doesn’t matter that he looked like me. He’s dead now.”
Her vision suddenly seemed to waver. No. He couldn’t be dead. He couldn’t. Her heart threatened to seize and then she heard it.
“Theo!” The shout threatened to shake the walls.
Case. He was still alive. He was out there. He was hurt, but he wasn’t dead.
“Sounds like you missed,” the third man said. He was as big as Theo, his coloring dark and his eyes hollow. “Mother will be upset and you need your meds. You’re looking pale, brother.”
“I hit him, Victor,” Theo insisted. “Apparently he’s very stubborn. You can let her go, Robert. There’s nowhere for her to run. She can’t get out of this room and I doubt he’ll be able to get in.”
“We have to take them to Mother,” Robert insisted. “Did you do as she asked? Did you get rid of the microchip in his hand? She told us where it would be.”
Mia was released and she immediately saw what they were talking about. Who they were talking about. “Hutch?”
She hurried across the room. It looked like it was used for storage, with big industrial shelves on all sides. Hutch was on the floor, his body utterly limp. Mia slid to her knees, reaching for his hand. Case would come for them. He was out there and he wouldn’t stop looking. She had to make sure she and Hutch were alive when Case came.
She gasped as she got a good look at him. There was one light on in the back of the room, illuminating the damage done to the smart, funny man she’d come to like over the last week. Hutch’s face was swollen, his skin covered in blood. Only the sight of his chest moving up and down gave her hope. “What the hell did you do to him?”
Theo stood over her. “He resisted. Don’t act like this is my fault. You came into our house and tried to rob us. What were you looking for? Bank accounts? Do you work for the cartel? Because we’ve paid for our protection already. Don’t think for a second, we won’t defend ourselves.”
“Can we keep the girl for ourselves?” Robert stood beside Theo, staring down at her. “She wasn’t doing anything wrong. The guy was the one breaking in. You didn’t know anything, did you, sweetheart?”
She was so aware that she was surrounded by men who weren’t entirely in control of their actions. They each wore a Bluetooth device they seemed to communicate through. Was Hope McDonald on the other end of that line? Was she the one they called Mother? Her hands were shaking as she looked up at the face so familiar to her and yet utterly foreign. “Please help him, Theo.”
“Stop calling me that,” he snarled as he dropped to one knee beside her. “Why do you call me that?”
“Because it’s your name. Because you’re being lied to and used. All of you. Robert, listen to your own accent. You’re not from New York.” Tears poured from her eyes, but she forced herself to speak.
Robert ran a hand over his head, twitching slightly. “I am. I don’t know what you’re talking about. Now come on. We have to get back to base. You need to keep your mouth shut or she’ll hurt you. You can stay with me.” He looked at his “brothers.” “We can hide her. We can share her.”
Victor’s eyes narrowed menacingly. “We have our orders. We’re going to follow them.”
Robert reached for her, dragging her up and against his muscular body. “No. She didn’t do anything. She can’t hurt us. I’m not going to turn her over.”
“You’re not.” Victor hefted Hutch’s still body up and over his shoulder in a fireman’s hold. “Tomas is. I’m taking this one and we’re leaving tonight. We’ve been made. We have to move and we have to do it now. The cartel is here. They’re fighting the invaders.”
So Case was at work along with Michael and Fain. How many were they up against? How hurt was he? He was definitely hurt. There was no way he wasn’t. How bad was it? Was he dying out there right now?
“Go.” Theo stood tall amongst them. “I’ll take care of the girl.”
Robert held her tight. “But I want the girl. I want a woman. I’m sick of being alone. I need someone.”
“Please take me with you.” If she could get on the inside, she could work on Theo. Case would find her. She just had to stay alive. They’d made two turns after Theo had shot Case. They’d passed a couple of doors. It would take him time to find them. She needed to stall and she knew who the weak link was. “I don’t want to die. I want to live. Please, Robert.”
His arms tightened around her. “It’s going to be okay. I’ll talk to her. She promised. She promised I could have someone. A woman.”
So Robert was horny. Or lonely. She could play on that.