of all the lies.
Erin sat down across from the couch, leaning back. “I wouldn’t say that. If I don’t find out what I want, I might cut a bitch.”
“She doesn’t mean that.” Kori patted the seat beside her. Sometimes she thought Erin had been born to be a Taggart wife. Sarcasm and a little streak of violence had been bred into her DNA.
Mia ignored the couch and stepped up to Erin. Her voice went low. “Don’t let the blonde hair fool you. I’m not about to back off a fight. You want to come at me, we’ll see who wins. My brother might have all the money in the world now, but I didn’t grow up that way. I fought for everything I have and I’ll fucking fight you too, if I have to. I won’t pull hair or try to bitch slap you. I’ll go for the kill and I’ll do it quick.”
“She’s pregnant, Mia.” Kori thought that should be put out there before Erin and Mia started throwing punches. Or stabbing each other. Jeez, she didn’t want to get in between a couple of alpha females. All they needed was Charlotte Taggart to show up and they could start their own wrestling crew.
Mia took a deep breath. “Damn it.” She sat down on the couch. “I could use a good fight after tonight.”
A smile of pure pleasure swept across Erin’s face. “Oh, see, now I like you. You’re going to need that fight if you take on McKay-Taggart. Now tell me why you’re here and why you’ve lied to my people.”
Mia’s eyes narrowed. “So you can report back to them? How deep are you in? You can tell them my brother will never join them. They can block his access to resources all day. He’ll find a way around them.”
Kori saw the moment Erin realized what Mia was talking about and she got a chill. She didn’t understand the spy stuff, but she did know when a moment got real. Really fucking real. She tried to laugh to bring the potential for violence down. “Mia thinks McKay-Taggart might be involved with some weird corporate thing. I think it’s price fixing or something. I told her that’s crazy.”
“The Collective killed my husband. Theo. The Collective killed Theo,” Erin said, her jaw tight. “Are you telling me they’ve come to your brother? Did they try to tell you we’re involved?”
Mia took a moment and seemed to come to some kind of decision. “They approached him a year ago, right after his stock soared. They were quiet about it, but my brothers started to do some digging. I have three brothers, Drew, Riley, and Bran. Riley’s a lawyer. Drew found out where the contact had come from and then Riley connected that man to a couple of companies. Mega firms with so many arms it’s hard to tell who’s who, but Riley managed to make sense of most of it. Then Bran and I ran with it and figured out how they operate. They’re responsible for a lot of crimes. This goes way beyond price fixing. They own politicians and start wars in Third World countries to advance their business and to crush their rivals. Ian Taggart’s name came up more than once. And when I found out the very man I believe killed my friend was tied to this company, I knew they were involved.”
Erin pulled her phone out of her pocket and dialed a number. “Tag, I need you to come to my place. Now. I don’t care. Case is a big boy and he can find his way home. Ian, I’m serious. I need you here now.”
She flicked her finger across the screen. Not many people in the world would hang up on Ian Taggart. Erin had balls. She sat forward and looked at Mia. “We’ve been fighting The Collective for years. I wasn’t here in the beginning, but the firm’s involvement goes back to a rogue CIA agent who attempted to use McKay-Taggart to help him steal technological plans for a drone that would have put the US military years ahead of every other country on the planet. He intended to sell them to China. McKay-Taggart stopped him. We’ve been fighting ever since.”
“So I was right and Senator McDonald was a member of The Collective,” Mia said.
Kori’s stomach was in knots. What did any of this have to do with why Kai needed to clone Mia’s phone? “But you’re wrong about McKay-Taggart working for him. They wouldn’t