Lynne Harmony watched Damon, April, and Greyson leave the war room and shut the door behind them. “I like them,” she murmured. It was odd to think that the Mercenaries had been their enemy before.

“Me, too.” Jax settled his hand on her bare thigh, and his callused fingers caressed her skin. “You think April is up to this?”

“Yes.” Lynne turned toward the only man she’d ever loved. In the dimmer light, his face was sharp and strong. Those eyes, those bourbon-colored eyes, startled her every time with their sheer intelligence. “She’s falling for him.”

“I know,” Jax muttered.

Interesting. “Is that why you spoke about the Twenty gang houses as well as the Bunker strike in front of her?” Lynne asked.

Jax nodded. “Yeah. She needs to know what she’s getting into with him. I knew guys like Damon in the military. They’re solid and strong…and if anybody else is in danger, they’re jumping in the way first. It’s who he is.”

“He’s a good guy,” Lynne said. Didn’t April deserve something good?

Jax studied her. “I know. Even when I wasn’t sure about Greyson or the Mercs, I liked Damon and wanted him on board. He’s smart and loyal. You can’t beat that.” Jax tapped farther up her thigh, sending her senses into overdrive. “But if you’re on the front line, you’re a target. With his size, he’s a hell of a target.”

“So are you.” Lynne leaned over and kissed him. “I’ve managed to live with that fact.”

“You’re stronger than any person I’ve ever met.” He took over the kiss, taking her deep, giving her everything.

Nobody was strong enough to lose the one they love. She never said those words out loud, but they were the truth. She leaned back, her body tingling head to toe. How he did that, she’d never know. “I noticed you didn’t tell Greyson or Damon what else those Twenty gang members told you.”

Jax cut her a look. “Why would I?”

She pursed her lips. “It’s information they both need for their jobs.”

“No.” Jax shook his head. “Just because some low-level gang member said that my brother was trained to work for the psycho president doesn’t make it true. Those guys are given misinformation every day.”

Yeah, but Marcus was definitely off.

Lynne trod lightly. “I think you should increase his sessions with Vinnie. She’s a good shrink, even if she doesn’t want to be one.”

“Those sessions are useless because Raze won’t leave Marcus alone with the shrink.” Jax played with her fingers, his touch warm and reassuring. “I’ll get through to him. At some point, I’ll figure out how.”

What if Marcus were working with the president? She couldn’t even imagine the experiments that had been conducted on him by the Bunker scientists. And if President Bret Atherton had been leading the charge, it was brutal and inhumane. She shivered.

Jax leaned in. “He is never going to get you.”

She swallowed. Before Scorpius, she’d dated Bret. He’d been Speaker of the House. Then he’d been infected, and he’d become brilliantly insane—if he wasn’t already. And he wanted her. Was obsessed with her like only a Scorpius survivor could become. “I know,” she murmured.

But they’d meet again. At some point, it’d come down to Bret Atherton and her. A fight to the death for one of them.

How she knew that, she couldn’t explain.

Some things were just meant to happen.

* * *

President Bret Atherton looked out of his office window at the sparkling Lake Tahoe in full summer shimmer. Blue and strong, it glimmered beneath a powerful sun. A fan blew somewhat cool air across his face, and he breathed deeply. At some point, he wouldn’t be able to use the generators for something as luxurious as a fan.

Maybe.

He’d taken over a mansion-turned-federal-park as his new headquarters, and the place suited him fine. After a recent attack, he’d shored up all of his defenses.

For now, he needed to think. He looked down at a drawing he’d finished the night before of Dr. Lynne Harmony, his soul mate. Her green eyes glimmered with desire, and her smooth, pink lips were pursed, waiting for him.

He really didn’t want to kill her. Oh, she’d pay for her betrayal. But she was strong and would survive what he had planned. Then they’d live the life he’d always wanted.

“Sir?” Dr. Ramirez stood in the doorway, his white lab coat wrinkled.

“Yes?” Bret focused on his head scientist. The guy had run the Century City Bunker before escaping when Vanguard had taken the facility. He had then, quite wisely, sought out the president. “I’ve finished gathering what intel there is on the other Bunkers. Besides the one in Reno, we have some evidence of a Bunker in Portland. May I send scouts to the city to start searching?”

Bret nodded. “Do it now.” He’d arisen to the office of president so quickly that many of the protocols hadn’t been followed. Namely, that of information. He didn’t even know where the Bunkers were located or how many existed.

He couldn’t even get into the Reno facility until now.

The people living in them, if there were any, certainly hadn’t sought him out.

Ramirez hovered in the doorway. “I also have that report you requested on my research.” He moved inside and slid a bright yellow file folder across the expansive desk.

Research? Human experimentation was a better description. Not that Bret gave a shit. “Do you have the intel on Marcus Knight?” The way to take down Jax Mercury and Vanguard was through Jax’s brother. Of course, Bret had other safeguards in place—namely inside Vanguard territory.

“Yes.” Ramirez stood to almost five-foot-nine, his back ramrod straight. “He was my strongest subject. No matter what we did to him, he survived.”

Bret flipped open the file folder. “He didn’t change?”

Ramirez chuckled. “Oh, he changed. He went from fighting us to defying us. He may have lost his ability to speak, and I think his memory was lost. In fact, I turned him into more of an animal than a human.”

Was that pride in the doctor’s voice?

“You did most of your work in Century City?” Bret asked.

“Yes.” Ramirez faltered for a moment and then recovered. “To be honest, Marcus was brought to me from another facility. One that specialized in conducting such research on Scorpius survivors. With the intent to create the ultimate killing machine, of course.”

Bret’s head snapped up. “Where was the other facility?”

“We weren’t told.” Ramirez’s darker skin paled a little. “The location of the Bunkers was a secret even to those of us in one. The government wanted secrecy on the project, obviously. I tried to get the location out of Marcus, but he didn’t know.”

He didn’t know, or he hadn’t broken enough to tell. It was more important than ever that Bret get his hands on Marcus. “How are the experiments going here?”

Ramirez shook his head. “The basement facility isn’t close to what I need. I had another subject die earlier this morning.”

“All right.” Bret smiled. “I have good news for you. We leave in an hour for Reno.”

Ramirez’s eyes lit up. “I’m being relocated to the Reno Bunker?”

“Yes.” It would be under Bret’s control by the following morning. While he’d had difficulty infiltrating it before now, after Greyson Storm had gone in, the scientists there must be terrified. It was time for them to rejoin the U.S. of A. “Do you have subjects to bring?”

Ramirez played with his new goatee. “Yes, three. I have two others, but they’re useless. I’ll take care of them before we go.”

“Make preparations.” Bret dismissed him. “Blankenship?” he yelled.

Ramirez hustled out of the room just as Jerome Blankenship strode inside. “Sir?”

“I’ve been reading your military file.” What there was of it anyway. Records were a thing of the past.

“Yes, sir?” Blankenship said, his brown eyes sharp and unyielding.

Bret reached for a stack of papers and read out loud. “US Military, Special Forces. Wet work. That you?”

“Yes, sir.” Blankenship’s posture and expression didn’t alter.

He wasn’t Vice President Lake, unfortunately. Although Lake had never been infected, he was a true sociopath who had no qualms about killing. Enjoyed it, actually. Oh, Bret was going to make Greyson Storm pay for killing Lake. Someday.

He brought himself back to the moment. “I need a vice president and a head of the military for now. Are you interested?”

Blankenship stood straighter in his black jeans and green T-shirt. “I am, sir.”

“Have you survived the bacteria?” It didn’t much matter to Bret since he had survived and didn’t have to worry about being infected, but he was curious.

“Yes, sir.”

Interesting. “Are you different than you were before the bacteria?”

Those piercing eyes focused on Bret, and he fought a shiver. “I feel less and am stronger. My path is more focused and clearer than ever before.”

Now that’s what Bret wanted to hear. “Do you have the plans to retake our Reno facility tonight?”

“Yes, sir. You’re the president, so I’m not expecting much of a resistance considering Greyson Storm already infiltrated them last month when he kidnapped Dr. Barter. Anybody still living there was put in place by the government, and that is you.” Blankenship was one long line of muscle, but his movements were graceful and smooth as he handed over a piece of paper. “If not, they will feel the force of our military.”

Bret glanced down at the directions. “What about Vanguard? They’re planning an attack soon, correct?” His sources were good, but there was a time lag in the flow of information.

“Yes, but they’ll have other things to deal with…soon.” For the first time, Blankenship smiled, and the sight was chilling.

Bret returned the smile. “All right, then. Let’s get you sworn in.”