Devoted: A Masters and Mercenaries Novella Read Free Page A

partnered up in an intimate pairing.
    Slaten was known for dirty dealings. Maybe this was her next play. He would never know if he backed off.
    Besides, she really was a beautiful woman.
    Mitch stared at him in a way that let him know big brother thought he was a dumbass. Flynn wasn’t sure how Mitch had perfected that particular stare. It might have come to him naturally when he’d become a dad. “Are you serious?”
    It would be better to back off. The trouble with Amy Slaten was her connection to Laurel. Laurel’s brother, Will, was married to Bridget, Amy’s sister. God, sometimes he was fairly certain any Sanctum family tree would be the weirdest tree, with branches that wound around each other in a stranglehold. He’d managed to stay away from that side of the family. From what he understood, Bridget Slaten, now Daley, took next to no interest in her family company, though she had taken on a voting share when her sister had commandeered Slaten. She would be nothing but a guaranteed vote at a board of directors meeting. He would actually be surprised if Bridget knew who he was and how he was connected to her sister.
    “I think it might be interesting to see what happens.” And if she’d done all of this so she could play Mata Hari. How far would she go?
    Mitch was silent for a moment. A little too silent.
    “What aren’t you telling me?” Flynn knew when his brother was holding back. Mitch had an incredible poker face, but he rarely used it around his family.
    “She might have come in on an assumed name. Not exactly assumed, but she’s not using Slaten. She’s got her membership under Amy Lyndon. It was her married name, but legally she’s gone back to Slaten.”
    “So she’s trying to hide her last name,” he mused. “I find that interesting.”
    “I do too, Flynn.” Mitch used his name with a pointed stare. “It’s not like you’re going in as John, Jr.”
    Flynn waved that off. “I only went by that at the office. I’ve always used my middle name since I discovered that chicks dig Irish sounding names. Also, might I point out if I was still using my legal first name, the baby and I would get very confused.”
    Johnny’s head came up at that moment and he yawned as though telling his uncle he didn’t have to be confused. He was the center of the universe and he knew it.
    Sometimes Flynn kind of envied the kid. He’d never had that kind of attention lavished on him. Not even when he was a baby. He’d had a succession of nannies who came and went. His parents were all right, but they’d led very busy lives and hadn’t had time for their children. His father had mellowed over the years and he’d been a much better dad later in life.
    Flynn had to face the fact that he was lonely. He’d changed up his life and it had been for the better. He enjoyed his job more now. Chase was happy and healthy. But he’d also isolated himself.
    It had been an easy thing to do after how his engagement had ended. He never talked about it. Only Chase knew how he’d screwed up. He hadn’t even told Mitch. That was how ashamed he was of not seeing through her lies. After he’d figured out how bad it was, he’d taken a step back and devoted himself to work.
    Gaining Master rights at Sanctum had been his way of getting back out there. His brother had introduced him to the lifestyle and he’d realized very quickly it suited him.
    That was when he’d started to think about taking a submissive.
    It was a logical thing to do. He would look for a woman who wanted the same things he did. They would discuss their relationship up front and work out a contract between them. No more of that shitty go-with-the-flow dating that inevitably ended in him getting his ass kicked. This time he would do it right.
    “I thought you were going into this because you were serious about finding a sub.” Mitch didn’t seem to notice the fact that his son suddenly found his father’s nose deeply fascinating. Johnny giggled and