Rough Edges Read online

  He slumped to the floor, sliding down the wall for support.

  “Whoa,” said Leigh, rushing to his side. “She’s going to be okay. I had to sedate her so she wouldn’t fight the tube down her throat, but I think we pumped out most of the toxin.”

  Victor let the words settle in, filling the cracks that had started to form under his feet. He pulled in one deep breath after another, replaying Leigh’s words in his mind over and over. She’s going to be okay. She’s going to be okay. . . .

  “How long until she wakes up?” Payton asked. He was looking a little shaky himself, but far steadier than Victor.

  Leigh shrugged. “At least another hour or two. She was fighting the sedatives pretty hard, so I couldn’t go easy with the dosage. But she metabolizes sedatives fast, so it shouldn’t be long. Just know that if you hit her with a hundred problems the second she wakes up, I won’t be pleased. And, as a general rule, you really don’t want to piss off the woman who sews you back together.”

  “We’ll be gentle with her,” Victor promised. As far as he was concerned, he’d protect her from every little problem that came her way for the rest of her life if she’d let him. Seeing her out of her mind like that had left a scar on him he knew would not soon fade.

  Leigh eyed Payton. “Come on. We’ll get your hand patched up. I saw the blood on her teeth. That can’t feel good.”

  “I’ll be along shortly.”

  “You have until I’m done setting up the room. After that I’m coming for you. Be ready.”

  Payton nodded. “I will. Victor and I need a minute.”

  Leigh went into the room where Lila was sobbing and went to work soothing the distraught woman.

  As soon as Leigh was out of earshot, Payton said, “We need to plan our next move. I assume you have an idea.”

  Victor pushed to his feet. He couldn’t plan an attack slumped on his ass. Bella was safe. He had to find the strength to lead the team until she was well enough to do the job herself. “I do. You said a man gave Lila the drug?”

  “Yes.”

  “Then we use him. Lure him out of hiding and follow the drone back to the queen bee. Once we take her out, the rest will fall into place. We’ll cure her victims, find Gage and Lila’s son, and make sure Stynger is never again able to hurt another living soul.” Especially Bella.

  “It won’t be that easy. Randolph is smart. He’s going to expect a trap if Bella survives.”

  “She’s going to survive.” Victor simply couldn’t let himself imagine another possible outcome. He needed her alive and well, bossing him around and making his whole world a brighter place.

  “You and I know that, but that doesn’t mean the world has to know.”

  Pieces began shifting in Victor’s head. “You want us to pretend she died?”

  “It’s the only way to make sure Stynger doesn’t keep coming after her. It gives Bella a layer of security she’ll get no other way.”

  He was right. No one would bother wasting time coming after a corpse. Unless they wanted to perform an autopsy, which was always a possibility with someone as deranged as Stynger.

  Victor shook his head. “Bella is not going to like sitting back and hiding while the rest of us move in for the kill.”

  “She doesn’t have to like it. All she has to do is accept it. That’s where you come in.”

  “You think I can talk her into handing over the reins?”

  “I sure as hell can’t,” Payton said. “She’d be convinced that was my plan all along—that I poisoned her to make it happen.”

  The man was right. Everything Payton did or said was suspect. If anyone was going to have a chance at getting Bella to play along, it was Victor.

  Now all he had to do was fundamentally alter Bella’s DNA so that she would willingly sit back and play dead.

  He let out a long breath. “You know we’re going to need a plan B, right?”

  “There is no plan B. Make it work, Victor. It’s our only shot at keeping her alive.”

  And because of that, because it was true, he was going to make Bella acquiesce, no matter what it took or how hard he had to push to make it stick. In this, she would submit.

  Chapter Thirty-three

  Gage woke up handcuffed to a hospital bed, staring up in to the face of Satan.

  Stynger’s bloodred mouth stretched into a gruesome smile. “Glad to see you survived. It was a close call there for a while.”

  He tried to move, but the pain riding his ribs took him off guard. He collapsed back to the bed, panting and weak.

  “None of that now,” Stynger said. Her spindly body moved around to the far side of the bed to push a button on his IV pump. “Your fever finally broke. We can’t have you pulling out the stitches my surgeon put in. That bullet did plenty of damage, thanks to your little escape attempt.”

  He could already feel the numbing weight of painkillers flooding his system. “Where’s Jordyn?”

  “She found one of my men and got you the care you needed. She, of course, had to come back home. I’m not done with the girl yet, despite her rebellious nature.”

  “If you hurt her—”

  Stynger laughed. “You’re barely able to hold up your own head. What on earth do you think you could do to me?”

  Gage refused to rise to her taunt. Better to save his strength so he could show her what a man like him could do to a bitch like her when the time came.

  “That’s better. I’ve always liked the strong, silent type.” She patted his arm. “Get some rest. I have plans for you.”

  His eyelids grew heavy, and he had to fight off his lethargy. “I want to see Jordyn.”

  “She’s . . . indisposed.”

  Thoughts of that horrible White Room that terrified Jordyn so much sprang to his mind. He had no idea what the place was or what had happened to her while she was in there, but the fear he’d seen in her eyes had been real enough for him to know she wasn’t making it up. “Let. Me. See. Her.”

  “So cute. Truly, you amuse me more than any of the other subjects I’ve had over the years. I’m glad, since I’ll be keeping you around for a while.”

  “Why?”

  “I have need of your unique genetics.” Her bony fingers trailed down his thigh and back up over his groin. His balls tried to crawl up into his abdomen in order to get away from her touch. “You’re a lovely creature. If I were younger, I’d make use of your sperm myself. But I guess I’ll just have to be satisfied with living vicariously through Jordyn.”

  Gage laid there in shock for a full ten seconds before the meaning of her words finally sank in. “You think I’m going to fuck your daughter?”

  Stynger frowned. “Why in the world would I want you to do that? It serves only to allow the two of you to create unnecessary emotional attachments. I took care of the insemination myself, rather than leaving such a thing to chance. Everything went beautifully. Jordyn doesn’t know she’s expecting yet, of course, but she’s smart. She’ll figure out something is going on when I don’t send her to the White Room for her latest escapades. Can’t risk the embryo now, can we? Your offspring is an important piece of genetic history in the making.”

  He couldn’t quite get his head around what the woman was saying. The words were clear, but their meaning escaped him completely. “Offspring?”

  Stynger patted his arm like he was a slow child. “Yes, dear. Jordyn is pregnant with your child, and my newest test subject. She has been for weeks now. The first of many offspring, I hope. Congratulations, son.” She left his side and went to the door. “Get some rest now. I think it’s best if the news comes from you. Jordyn seems fond of you, and we wouldn’t want to do anything to upset her in her condition now, would we?”

  Stynger closed the door behind herself, leaving Gage to his stunned silence. Jordyn was pregnant. With his child. He’d barely touched he
r, leaving him with no way to predict this kind of consequence. He sure as hell couldn’t have guessed such an outcome. He hadn’t even known they’d taken his semen. They must have done it while he was in a drugged sleep somehow.

  What the hell?

  In the weeks he’d been here, he’d thought of a lot of reasons why Stynger had been keeping him locked up, but never once had he considered it would be to use him as a sperm donor.

  What the motherfucking hell?

  Poor Jordyn. Her own mother had done this to her. Impregnated her without her consent or knowledge. That kind of violation wasn’t going to be easy for her to swallow. She was already dealing with so much—she was nervous and frail. He couldn’t imagine how it was going to feel for her to know what her own mother had done to her.

  Then it hit him. Some of the shock and drugged lethargy cleared and he realized the monument of all of this. Jordyn was carrying his child—a child who was going to be the victim of whatever twisted experiments Stynger wanted to run on him or her if Gage didn’t get Jordyn out of this place.

  He thought he’d wanted to escape before, but that desire paled in comparison to the furious need that possessed him now. He hadn’t asked for this child. He hadn’t even participated in its conception. But he’d be damned if he was going to sit back and let his child and its mother suffer.

  One way or another, he was getting Jordyn out of here. Before it was too late.

  * * *

  When Jordyn was dropped off at her quarters instead of in the White Room, she knew something wasn’t right. Mother didn’t do lenience. She didn’t understand forgiveness. Punishment for Jordyn’s actions should have been swift and severe.

  Why then was she sitting on her bed, safe and sound, rather than strapped to a gurney, screaming for mercy?

  Something was terribly wrong.

  Jordyn’s stomach did a low, swooping dive. She lurched for the toilet in time to distract herself with a painful bout of vomiting. As soon as the worst of it passed, she cleaned up and tried to still her nerves enough to think.

  Mother always did things for a reason. Was she postponing the torture in order to give Jordyn time to dread it more? Or was she simply dealing with more important matters before getting to the job of making her daughter pray for death?

  And what about Gage? He was too valuable to let die, but what if Jordyn had acted too late? What if she hadn’t realized how bad his wounds were in time for the medical staff to save him?

  Anxiety over his health outweighed her desire to stay hidden. She left her room and hurried down the halls to the infirmary. Guards watched her as she passed, but none of them moved to stop her. It was almost as if her escape attempt had never happened.

  She made it all the way to Gage’s room on shaky legs. A guard stood outside, but rather than block her path, he opened the door to let her in.

  Gage was chained to the bed with a pair of handcuffs around one wrist. Thick layers of bandages swaddled his chest and abdomen. His skin was pale, and there was a heavy kind of listlessness to his posture.

  As she came in, his eyelids fluttered slightly under the weight of the drugs being pumped into his system. A flare of recognition lit his features, and he reached for her.

  “Don’t move,” she said as she rushed to him. “Just lie still.”

  “You’re safe?”

  “I’m fine. How are you?”

  She could see him trying to shed the effects of the drugs through sheer force of will. “Need to wake up.”

  “No, you don’t. Just sleep for now. Everything’s fine.”

  His words slurred together. “Have to go. Baby.”

  His endearment warmed her heart and made her even more determined to see him recover. “We’ll go as soon as you’re well. I promise.”

  “No. Baby.” He grabbed her hand as if trying to make her understand. His eyes shut under the weight of the medication he was on, but he was still shifting as if trying to get out of bed.

  Jordyn didn’t know how else to ease him, so she climbed in bed beside him and held him down. “Lie still. I’ll stay with you.” For as long as Mother allowed. “Everything will be fine once you sleep.”

  He grabbed her like he was afraid she’d float away. The chains on his handcuffs rattled. The hot strength of his arms felt good. She hadn’t realized just how worried she’d been until seeing he was alive with her own eyes. The exhaustion of their ordeal sank in, and she let her eyes shut. There was no way of knowing how many precious minutes they’d get together like this. She was going to soak him up for as long as she could. As soon as she woke, she knew she’d be headed for the White Room.

  When she went, she wanted to take this memory with her to keep her strong and help her live through the pain.

  Chapter Thirty-four

  Bella felt like she’d been turned inside out and used to clean a hot charcoal grill. Her whole body ached, and someone must have shoved a dirty toilet brush down her throat a few times to make it so raw and swollen.

  She shifted in her bed just enough to wish she hadn’t.

  “Easy,” came Victor’s low voice.

  She opened her eyes. He was right beside her, standing over her bed. Light from above glowed around his head like a halo. “Pretty as an angel,” she croaked.

  His hand pinned her shoulder to the bed so she couldn’t sit up. “You’re still very much of the living, sweetheart. And I’m no angel.”

  “Need to sit up.”

  Rather than move his hand so she could, he did something to make the head of the bed rise up slowly. “Water?”

  She nodded, and was blessed with a cool cup of liquid pressed to her lips. It slid down her throat, easing the burn.

  “That’s enough for now. Doc said not to push it.”

  Doc? “What happened?”

  He paused for so long she forced herself to look back up at him, squinting at the light.

  “We’ll get to that in a minute. How do you feel?”

  “Shitty.”

  “Are you in a lot of pain?” he asked.

  “Not enough for drugs, if that’s what you mean. Now tell me what happened.”

  “What do you remember?”

  “I was working on sorting through files we’ve collected on Stynger. After that, things went a little sideways with a visit from my dead husband and a few of his crooked cop buddies. I’m guessing that didn’t actually happen.”

  “Fortunately, no. You did, however, get a not-so-healthy dose of something Stynger cooked up.”

  “Drugs?”

  Victor nodded as he stroked the back of her hand. “Everything seem clear now?”

  “I could use a nap or three, but yeah, no more ghosts.”

  He was pondering something. She could see it in his clear blue eyes.

  “Want to tell me what’s going on?” she asked. “Any idea who tried to kill me?”

  He pulled up a chair and sat down close enough he could still touch her. She knew they were in one of the medical rooms at the Edge, and that anyone could walk in at any time, but damn it, his touch felt good. After the day she’d had, she deserved a little something nice.

  Victor took her hand in his and held it tight. He looked right in her eyes with an expression of apology so thick, she could almost feel the bad news before it reached her. “We don’t think anyone was trying to kill you. We think the drug you were given was meant to screw with your head. Leigh is having a friend of hers analyze a sample, but the effects were pretty . . . convincing.”

  “It was Stynger, wasn’t it? Anyone else would just kill me and get it over with. That crazy bitch likes fucking with people’s brains way too much to let her keep breathing free air.”

  “About that we agree. But there’s something else you need to know. And it’s not going to be easy to hear.”

  “What?”

&n
bsp; “You were drugged by one of our own, Bella.”

  “Payton. That bastard! I’ll—” She threw off the covers so she could go find him and confront him, but Victor stopped her cold.

  “No, Bella. It wasn’t Payton. It was Lila,” he said. “She was the one who drugged you.”

  Lila? No way. Bella had taken her in. Bought her clothes. Found her an apartment and helped her furnish it. Given her a job. She’d picked the woman up from the depths of her despair and made sure she was on the path to a new life. There was no way Lila would do that to her. Was there?

  “I’m sorry, honey.” Victor stroked her arm, staving off some of the chill her shock had brought down on her.

  “Are you sure it was Lila?” Bella asked, her voice small and weak.

  He nodded, sorrow drawing his mouth down. “She confessed. Stynger has her son. She felt she had no choice. It doesn’t excuse what she did, but it does explain it.”

  “Lila has a son?” How could Bella not have known? How could Lila not have so much as mentioned him in all the months they’d worked together?

  “Apparently so.”

  “I didn’t know.”

  “None of us knew. Stynger has had him all this time, using him as a lever to gain Lila’s cooperation. It’s why Lila applied for the job—Stynger forced her to find a way into your life.”

  Pieces clicked together in Bella’s head. “She was the one who drugged Sophie, too, wasn’t she?”

  Victor nodded. “She’s done a lot more than that, but we’ll worry about that later. You need to rest now.”

  “Fuck rest. Tell me. You have interrogated her, haven’t you? We need to know what she’s done.”

  “Payton and I both questioned her. And if it’s any consolation, she never wanted to hurt anyone. I believe that.”

  “Tell me what she’s done.”

  He sighed, but didn’t try to dodge her question. “She planted bugs in your office. She fed information about our efforts to find Stynger to her allies. She planted misleading information in our files to throw us off Stynger’s scent. She let that man who attacked you into your office the other day without a background check. And she gave someone else a key to your house so he could plant that bomb. He also put a drug in your hot water tank so you got a dose of it every time you took a shower.”