From Sanctum with Love (Masters and Mercenaries #10) - Lexi Blake Page 0,118

had lied and manipulated her way in. She hadn’t come to Sanctum for the right reasons. She’d come to investigate, to report. Privacy was tantamount in a place like Sanctum, and all the while Mia had been investigating them.

“Please don’t be mad at me, Kori. I didn’t do this to hurt anyone. I can’t stand the thought of him taking another woman’s life. It’s going to happen. He can’t seem to go more than eight months without killing. He’s a predator and I’ve started to think that he’s got powerful friends covering for him. Something’s up at McKay-Taggart. They’re involved in some very shady business dealings. That thing that happened in the Caymans with the senator, I don’t believe the official reports. Someone’s hiding something.”

Kori stood up. Screw her ankle. “The only thing that happened was we lost a friend. Case lost his brother and I refuse to believe they were doing anything wrong. You don’t know them. You have zero idea who these people are. How dare you come here and lie to us. We were your friends. Case really liked you and now I’ve got to tell him you were playing him for information.”

Tears welled in Mia’s eyes. “I wasn’t. I like him, too. It’s why I haven’t done anything with him. I haven’t let him kiss me because I refuse to start a relationship with a lie between us. But Kori, can’t you see? He’s the one playing me. He knows. He knows I’ve been lying and I think he asked me out so he could spy on me. I think Kai knows his brother is a killer and they’re all covering for him.”

Kori shook her head, her mind rejecting every single word that came out of Mia’s mouth. “Why would they do that?”

Mia put her hands up as though trying to calm the situation down. “Because I think McKay-Taggart works for a group of corporations that run the world. I know it sounds crazy and paranoid, but I’ve been putting it together. I’ve managed to talk to some people who got out. These are beyond one percenters. They’re the richest of the rich, and so powerful no one knows their names. What if the production company Jared works for is involved? They would cover up his crimes. What if McKay-Taggart is one of the ways they control things?”

“Do you have any idea how insane you sound right now? You think Ian Taggart runs some sort of Illuminati?”

“I think he’s involved somehow,” Mia explained quietly. “His name comes up too often. I’ve found at least four operations that he was involved in with companies I know for a fact are in The Collective. That’s what they call themselves.”

“You’re insane.” How had she not seen that Mia had been hiding a whole bucket full of crazy?

Mia stood her ground. “They asked my brother to join them. Oh, it’s not like they sent out an engraved invitation. They’re subtle, but they’ve felt him out. They’ve made it plain that he can get with the program and things will be easy or he can work against them.”

“Who the hell is your brother?”

“Andrew Lawless. He started 4L Software.”

Mia’s brother was one of the richest men in the world? The youngest billionaire in the country? One of the most reclusive men on earth. Well, that explained how she could afford her Sanctum membership. She wasn’t listening to another word of this crap. It was time to make her intentions plain. “You’ve lied about everything. Don’t contact me again and understand that I’ll be talking to Kai and you won’t be allowed back at Sanctum.”

“Do you think I did this for fun?” Mia asked between clenched teeth. “I didn’t. I did it because I can’t allow him to do it again. He’s after Sarah. Can’t you see that? He’s watching her. He’ll hop in her bed and then she’ll be another victim by the time he leaves. And your boyfriend is helping cover it all up. He’s manipulating you. He’s using you.”

“You’re wrong. He loves me.” He wouldn’t have said it if he didn’t mean it. “And he didn’t want his brother here in the first place.”

“No, he’s doing it because he’s a loyal McKay-Taggart man,” Mia agreed.

“He’s loyal because they’re good people.”

“Good people don’t cover up murders. Good people don’t protect corrupt corporations.”

She was done with Mia. She strode toward the back of the lounge. She would go and clean up in the bathroom so she didn’t punch Mia in the face.