From Sanctum with Love (Masters and Mercenaries #10) - Lexi Blake Page 0,164

understand how she can scream and curse my brother’s name one minute and then be crying with joy the next. I’m so happy I’m a dude. Not that I’m ever planning on procreating, but at least we only have to do the fun part.”

“Wait until you’ve changed a couple of diapers,” Kori said. She went up on her toes and brushed a kiss across Kai’s lips. “I’m going to play with a baby. Pretty soon my writing partner will have a new one. It’s awesome because I don’t have to have one of my own. Winning.”

She flashed him a thumbs-up sign as she disappeared into the room with her stash of baby clothes and diapers.

“So now Serena’s her writing partner?” Case yawned behind his hand.

“They’re doing the screenplay for the next movie. Love After Death did shockingly well at the box office. Who knew so many women want to see that kind of stuff on screen. I have to admit, it was pretty fun.” And hot. It helped that it wasn’t his brother’s ass on display. That made it much easier to take, but the whole while he watched the film he couldn’t help but think Jared’s version of Big Tag had been better. “So Ship of Passion is going into production. I wonder if Damon’s going to be more self-aware than Tag.”

Kori and Serena were forming their own production company. They were taking it easy while Serena was pregnant, but they had plans for bringing their favorite romance novels to the big and small screen. His wife had dreams and he was going to love watching her fly.

Case shook his head. “Yeah, my brother’s smarter than that. I don’t buy his act one bit. He just doesn’t want anyone to know that he loves watching himself on screen. Even when he’s played by another dude. I swear after the film he talked about how anyone who played Pierce Craig should be bigger than that actor, more muscular. He was practically preening. I wanted to punch him. All I could think about the whole time was how much Theo would have loved that shit. He would have gotten a kick out of it.”

Kai looked around to make sure the door was closed. “Any news on that front?”

He was out of the action loop now that he’d done his job. He was back in the role he preferred, prepping to help heal. He’d spent the last six months studying the effects of memory loss and Stockholm syndrome. He wanted to be ready if Theo came home. He’d also spent time studying their new partners. The Lawless clan was fucked up, but they seemed to fit with Big Tag. The brothers had been working with a select group of McKay-Taggart operatives, but it seemed like Mia was out of the picture. While Drew, Riley, and Bran had shown up from time to time, Mia hadn’t been seen since she left about a week after that terrible day.

And Case never mentioned her again.

“Drew has a meeting scheduled. His connection has been cagey, but we think this time we might get something moving. I have to hope so because the last lead we got from the feds went nowhere. I’m almost at the end of my rope, Kai. I have to think if he was out there, he would find a way to let us know. Anything. I don’t know. I have to think that Theo’s gone.”

“The type of mind conditioning Hope McDonald is known for involves the complete suppression of the victim’s identity. Theo could be alive, but if he’s had enough of the drug she’s been developing, he might not know he’s Theo,” Kai explained.

“So we could get him back and he would still be gone?”

“I think with time and the right therapy, he could come back.” It was what he was prepping for. “But we don’t know a lot about the drug she’s using. It’s not something I can look up and find out the side effects.”

Case shook his head, seeming infinitely weary. “I don’t feel him anymore. I don’t know what to do. I have a nephew to think about now. I have to think about Erin, too. It’s what Theo would want. We’ve got a schedule to help her through the first couple of weeks, but eventually everyone has to go back to their own lives. I’m thinking of moving closer so I can be there.”

For months Case had done nothing but work. He’d even stopped going to Sanctum.