She sighed. “My mother and the commander are a package deal, and you know it. For whatever reason, Mother has aligned her path with his, and if I want her in my life, I have to accept him. Work is all that matters to them, so I’m part of the work.”
It was the closest the woman had ever come to explaining her twisted relationship with Isobel Madison. Audrey had always reminded him of one of those abused kids who defended their abuser to the last breath. “Neither one of them are good for you,” Nate said quietly.
Audrey lifted a shoulder. “They’re all I have.”
He wanted to argue that point, but how? They weren’t together, and even if they were, there was a good chance his spine would explode in a few weeks. She’d be alone again. “You don’t owe them anything.”
Audrey’s eyes flashed fire. “I owe my mother everything. Life is the only thing that matters, as you know, and she gave me that.”
Nate shook his head. Dr. Madison had preached “life” and experimentation from the beginning. Maybe she’d manipulated Audrey with the thought from early childhood. “If you think that way, then I owe her, too.” Dr. Madison had created him in a test tube. That was life, right?
Confusion clouded Audrey’s eyes. “It’s different,” she said slowly.
A surprising hurt wound through his chest. “So being created in a tube isn’t life?”
“That’s not what I meant.” The words burst out of Audrey. “I mean that she raised me and paid for schooling, tutors, and doctors like a parent does.”
“What was she to me?” Nate asked, truly wanting an answer. He’d always wanted an answer to that question.
“I don’t know.” Sorrow and regret echoed in Audrey’s tone.
Nate studied her, wondering how their very different childhoods had somehow brought them to the same place once again. “Why haven’t you slept with anybody but me?” he asked, surprising himself.
Her head jerked up. Vulnerability paled her delicate face to be quickly hidden as she slid her arms into the robe and belted it around her tiny waist. “I haven’t had a lot of time, with being blown up, operated on, and trying to commit fraud on the U.S. government on behalf of your sworn enemy.” Sarcastic humor lifted her top lip, but the lightness failed to reach her eyes or display that devastating dimple. “Sometimes a girl has to prioritize.”
He’d loved her younger sense of humor. This one? Not so much. Sarcasm and fatalism didn’t fit with the person deep inside Audrey, the one she’d shoved down to survive. “I understand why you stayed to receive medical attention.” The commander’s medical team and facilities beat any other in the world, without question. If anybody could have saved her leg, it was them. “But now it’s time to go.” As much as the thought cut through him like a blade, he didn’t trust her enough to send her to his brothers in Montana. But he could find her safety. “Let me help you.”
“I don’t want your help.” Her stance widened slightly as if they faced off under high noon.
Worse yet, absolute truth lived in every word. The woman really didn’t want his help. A surprising hurt compressed his lungs. “Why are you still working with him?” he breathed out. Could her mother’s approval mean that much to her? After everything?
Audrey lifted her chin. “They saved my life and gave me a second chance. It’s the only life I’ve truly known, and I’m doing some good with the senator.”
“Find another life,” Nate ground out.
“No.” Regret filled her sigh. “You’re the one who told me that our childhood shapes us. I’m doing what I can right now.”
He shook his head. Why did he get the feeling she hid too many secrets? Enough truth breathed in her statement that he couldn’t find the lie, but one lurked deep. He was sure of it. “I’m going to kill him, Aud. Then I’m going to blow up every facility he owns and make sure they never function again. You don’t want to be here for this.”
Awareness pursed her lips as she studied him. Her breath hitched as her chest lifted. Those amazing eyes widened. “Suicide mission?”
“Probably.” Which was yet another reason the previous night had been a one-shot deal. Chances were slim he’d survive the attack he planned after saving his brothers.
She nodded, regret twisting her lip. “Hasn’t that always been your plan?”
“Yes.” Except for the brief time she’d been his. Then his plans had changed dramatically to a future with possible kids and even a fucking picket fence. He’d known better, without a doubt. A bullshit everyday life had never been for him. He’d been created to kill, and through a lucky turn of fate had been given brothers to love—to protect and ultimately save. They were happy, and once the chips were deactivated, they wouldn’t require his skill set any longer.
He wouldn’t be needed, and he needed them so very much. Too much.
“Hmmm.” Pain lived in her eyes, but no give existed in her jaw. “I just realized… I can’t save you.”
“No.” He frowned. What was she talking about? “I don’t expect you to save me.”
“I know.” She tightened the belt, her eyes glimmering with tears. “I’ll get you the codes and any info on Jory, but you need to decide to save yourself. When this is all over, if you and your brothers survive, you need to save yourself. Decide to keep going.”
That was the rub, now, wasn’t it? The life he’d been created for, the one he’d excelled at, was over. Where exactly was he supposed to go?
Chapter 10
Audrey left Nate at the apartment, arriving at work a few minutes late for the first time since taking the job. As usual, she paused at the entrance to search her vicinity. A man stood across the street and saluted her with two fingers.
She turned to face him, and he grinned.
So the commander’s men weren’t hiding any longer. What did that mean? The guy stood tall and muscled in jeans and a dark T-shirt. Glancing at the traffic, he stepped into the street.
Panic strangled her, and she turned, shoving open the door.
She hustled through security and jumped into an elevator, smashing into a man wearing a gray suit.
“Sorry,” she muttered, turning and straightening her skirt. Finally, she burst onto her floor and hustled through thick oak doors into a waiting room decorated in navy blue and white. Seated behind a hand-carved reception desk, the receptionist, a diminutive redhead who looked like a teenager, handed her a couple of messages with a murmured, “Everything all right?”
“Yes, thanks,” Audrey answered. “I’ll be in my office.”
“The senator is waiting in his office,” Red said.
What was her name? Audrey mentally listed the choices. “Thanks, Julie.”
“No prob.” Julie reached to answer the phone.
Good, she’d gotten the name right. The regular receptionist was on maternity leave after giving birth to twin boys. Audrey had given her a baby shower at the office, trying to enjoy the woman’s bliss while still feeling empty inside. When would she get over the loss?
With a shrug, Audrey stretched out of her trench coat and tossed the heavy Chanel into her office as she hustled by. Her leg hitched, even with her feet encased in the solid boots she’d donned under a gray pantsuit. Knocking quietly, she pushed into the senator’s office and stopped short.
“Hi, Audrey,” Darian Hannah said, standing from one of two leather guest chairs.
“Darian.” Audrey shut the door and strode forward, concentrating on diminishing her limp. What in the heck was he doing here? When she sat, Darian followed suit.
“How’s the leg?” the senator asked, leaning forward from behind an antique walnut desk.
“Great.” The man might be a sweetheart, but he had no clue about boundaries. Audrey shook her head. It was all she could do to get him to agree to wearing ties on the Senate floor for debate. Requiring him to hide his concern in front of visitors was out of the question. “Thank you for asking.”
The senator tapped long fingers on his desk. “Audrey was in a car acc
ident.”
Darian frowned. “I’m sorry to hear that.”
Audrey forced a smile. “My leg has healed, although I still have nightmares about the accident.”
The senator blew out air. “My wife died in a similar car accident, and I miss her daily. She was all I had in this too-short life. You’re fortunate to be alive.”
“Definitely.” Audrey smiled gently, well used to the senator talking about his deceased wife. He spoke fondly and with a certain sadness that the woman had passed. Audrey had made up the lie years ago about her damaged leg, and people usually believed her. Of course, she’d told the senator the truth, but in front of other people, they stuck to her old story. He was getting better at subterfuge, wasn’t he?
She glanced at Darian, her mind still reeling. “Did I miss a schedule for this meeting?”
“No. I dropped in unexpectedly,” Darian said, adjusting his purple tie, which contrasted nicely with his black shirt and suit. Sleek and stylish, the lobbyist showed a flirtatious side to his charming personality.
“Okay.” Audrey lifted an eyebrow and concentrated on the senator.
A smile lifted the corners of the senator’s eyes. “Darian came to me with information today, and I realized we’re on the same side.”
The breath left Audrey’s lungs. Okay. Relax. She forced a smile. “What kind of information?”
“I know about the commander and his organization,” Darian said.
She blinked. Irritation grated along her spine. “So our date last night was a fishing expedition for you?”
Darian’s eyes glittered with genuine amusement. “Of course not. Our date was me using business to try to get you to see me socially.”
The senator chuckled. “That was probably your only chance.”
Darian grinned. “I know. The woman is all about business.”
“How was the date?” the senator asked, his chair creaking as he shifted in his seat.
“Boundaries, Senator,” Audrey murmured as heat climbed into her face. She’d been used as a pawn before, and the thought that Darian just wanted to see her socially warmed something inside her.
“That good, huh?” The senator guffawed. “Ah, to be young again.”
Audrey shook her head. She needed to regain control of the situation. “You were saying about an organization?”
Darian sighed. “After we left the restaurant, I went back to work. My computer hackers told me everything about our main competition for funding. An organization run by some commander.” Darian’s smile revealed strong white teeth in a handsome dark face.
Audrey held perfectly still. No way did Darian know an inch of everything. “Who’s the commander?”
Darian sighed as if disappointed at her secretiveness. “The Red Force has amazing computer hackers. Believe it or not, some of my soldiers are excellent. We’ve been following the senator, who had a meeting with the commander, so we began investigating him.”
Three meetings, actually. Audrey crossed her legs, her pulse increasing. “Do tell.”
Darian picked a piece of lint off his pant leg. “We started investigating and discovered this commander guy is our main competition for funding. Digging deeper, we realized some of the missions that have been going on for decades.”
Audrey tilted her head. “Digging deeper?”
Darian lifted a football-player-sized shoulder. “Digging, hacking, you know, the stuff we’re not supposed to do but all do anyway.”
Hacking? Darian’s guys managed to hack into the commander’s computers? Audrey’s lids half lowered. “What’s the commander’s first name?”
“Don’t know. Do you?” Darian asked, challenge lifting his chin.
Audrey’s gaze slashed to the senator.
He lifted gnarled hands. “It’s okay, Audrey. We can trust Darian—he wants the commander shut down as much as we do. I told him about your mother working there and that you know about the organization.”
Audrey shot to her feet. “Are you kidding me? You told him?” This was bad. This was beyond bad. “I trusted you.” The man shouldn’t be a politician—he didn’t have it in him.
Which was why she liked him.
He pushed back and stood, looking every one of his sixty years. “You have to trust somebody sometime. I made you the guarantee that your mother would be safe when we took down the commander, and I’ve expressed that to Darian.” The senator pressed his palms against the desk and leaned forward. “Darian has more information than we do, and if we work together, we’ll be successful.”
Nausea swirled in Audrey’s stomach, and she frantically gulped in air to keep from diving for the garbage can. Her entire reason for going along with the senator’s plan was to protect her mother—right or wrong. She had no guarantee Darian would follow the plan, no matter what he said. “You’re crazy.”
Darian stood and gently grasped her arm. “I have the means to find out where the commander’s other facility is located.”
Audrey’s mind spun. Darian even knew about the commander’s secondary facility?
The senator nodded. “As soon as we discover the location, we’re going public with the information about him and the inhumane missions he has created and endorsed. Plus, we can’t forget the men who have had to work for him. They must want freedom. I give you my word your mother will be protected in any governmental sweep.”
Audrey had made the deal on day one. While her mother didn’t deserve leniency, the woman was still Audrey’s mother. What child wouldn’t try to protect their one parent? But what about Nathan? What about all of the supersoldiers who’d escaped five years ago? Audrey couldn’t ask the question, because it was possible neither the senator nor Darian knew there were any freed soldiers. But if files were found, if records were deciphered, their secret would be out.
The door opened, and Ernie Rastus poked his head in. “Sorry I’m late. Long meeting.” He glanced from Audrey to the senator and back. “Um, what’s going on?”
Audrey whirled. “Senator Nash told Darian about our hidden agenda, because apparently we’re on the same side.”
Ernie hurried inside and shut the door. “We are?”
“Yes.” The senator sighed. “Darian wants the commander out of commission as badly as we do. We’re on the same team, and he even has discovered the experiments to create human soldiers from birth.”
Ernie swallowed and gave Audrey a look. “We need to use caution here, Senator.”
A hard gleam entered the senator’s eyes. “The time for caution is over. We have to take them out. On all that is holy, the atrocities must end.”
Wow. Audrey frowned and focused on Darian, still trying to keep her coffee down. “What did you find out about experiments?”
“Not enough. Just that the commander has been creating soldiers to fight. Supersoldiers… and training them as killers.” A veil dropped over Darian’s eyes.
Audrey nodded. “I see.” Either Darian didn’t know about the intense training, or he was damn good at hiding the truth. Either way, nobody knew about Nate and his brothers’ extra abilities—the hyper-hearing, the reading of body language, the impossible strength… those had never been documented, even by the commander. “Where are these soldiers now?”
“A disaster happened in Tennessee five years ago.” Darian shook his head. “We think the commander might’ve killed his creations, or maybe the explosion was an accident and they all died.”
Audrey exhaled. “I see.” So Darian didn’t know about Nate or any of the other soldiers being alive and free in the world.
“Or, perhaps, the creations escaped and blew the place up.” Darian’s gaze narrowed. “What do you think?”
“I think you’re crazy.” Audrey swallowed. “The commander is a bad guy who trains soldiers to work outside of the United States. He’s so good at his job, there’s no way any soldiers could’ve escaped him. Whatever happened in Tennessee was executed by the commander, I’m sure.”
The senator shook his head
. “What if some of the commander’s soldiers actually did escape? What if we have created killers out there with no hope of living among society?”
Anger and panic threatened to bubble up, so Audrey forced a chuckle. “You both are getting way into a conspiracy theory here. Who else have either of you told about the commander or his organization?”
The senator shook his head. “Only you.”
Darian nodded. “I have two men, hackers, who have discovered the information for me. Only we three from Red Force are privy to the truth. Right now, anyway.”
Audrey wished she could trust Darian. Unfortunately, a woman who kept secrets didn’t trust anybody, a lesson she’d learned at her mother’s knee. Trust was a luxury she couldn’t afford—especially right now.
If she told the truth to Nate, the smartest thing for him to do would be to take out both Darian and the senator—maybe even Ernie. He’d do it, too. To protect his brothers, he’d do anything.
What a complete mess. “Our recommendation is due next week, and the Senate vote is a day later, so we only have a few days for one of you to discover the commander’s alternate base, if there even is one.” Oh, there definitely was one—she knew it. “Then we either have to give the money to the commander, or we have to shut them down. Quietly.”
“Publicly,” Darian said.
The senator glanced from one to the other. “Now that I think about it, Audrey is correct. If possible, we should do it privately. While the group hasn’t been sanctioned by our government, well, it has done a lot of governmental work… with taxpayer funding. We can’t go public with all of the information. We want to shut them down for good with the smallest of fanfare.”
Audrey turned toward Darian. She needed to at least look like she was playing ball. “If you guarantee privacy and you won’t go public, we’ll guarantee your organization will receive the recommendation for the funding this year.”
“The next five years,” Darian countered, his eyes darkening to black.
“Deal,” Audrey whispered, caring little that it was the senator’s place to make the promise. At this point, he’d screwed up enough. She was two seconds from puking on his shoes to make her point. They’d rocked her world, and she needed a moment to figure things out. How could she protect her mother and Nate? Right or wrong, she needed to protect both.