CHAPTER SEVEN
Morgan
I’m such an idiot.
The UPS driver smiles at me while I sign for a package. It’s one of a hundred I’ll get during the day. Unfortunately, my front desk coworker Oliver is off, so I have to take everything to mail the room myself as well as deliver any time-sensitive packages.
Normally, I enjoy the opportunity to chat with familiar faces and meet new people at PharmGen. The company is so large there are endless opportunities to do so. Except I just had to go and sleep with one of the higher-ups, and ruin everything. Now he’ll probably fire me for harassment or being a clingy chick after sex.
Why couldn’t I leave well enough alone?
Because you don’t have the sense God gave a gnat, my grandmother’s voice whispers in my head.
I had enough sense to get the hell out of Georgia.
Because you defrauded two governments and lied on your PharmGen job application.
A little lie never hurt anyone.
Besides, the woman whose identity I borrowed didn’t need it anymore… and I pay my taxes like a good little ex-pat.
“This one needs to be taken to Dr. Clark straightaway.”
With an internal wince, I nod. “No problem.”
The driver gives me a wink, and I smile before forwarding all calls to the head receptionists on floors two through eight. Gathering the small box, I move to the private elevators in the back.
It’s not easy with every muscle in my body aching from last night’s escapade with Benjamin. I even had to wear flats today instead of heels. Plus, with all the hickeys that man put on me, I darn near had to wrap my body up like a mummy.
Tugging at the scarf around my neck, I attempt to loosen it and almost send it flying. Using my elbow, I stab at the up arrow and wait for the elevator while praying I don’t run into Mr. Romanov. No use in calling him Ben or even Benjamin now.
I’m positive I can avoid him for as long as it takes me to find another job. Now that I have experience working in London, especially at such a prestigious corporation, I should have no problem finding another position.
Only I don’t want to find another. This is my favorite position. Along with riding Ben like a cowgirl in a rodeo.
Stop thinking about him.
The door opens with an almost silent whoosh. I step inside, silently praying it’s empty. Thankfully, it is. Must be my lucky day. So far.
“Only forty floors to go,” I mutter as the elevator starts to ascend. It travels so quickly that my stomach does this funny little flip, reminding me of when Benjamin flipped me over on my stomach and taken me from—
A wave of heat flashes over me, making my entire body tingle from head to toe. I should have known the best sex of my life would happen with a man I’ll never be able to face again.
But Lord, what a man. Coal-black hair and eyes the color of a blue glacier I’d seen in a National Geographic magazine once… only his gaze was never cold. It was white hot. Just like the rest of him.
Last night, that long, lean body belonged to me, and I explored every muscled part of it. Kissed it, licked it… wrapped my mouth around his—
The elevator dings, and I jump.
As soon as the doors part, I hightail it out of there. Already, I feel like my life is becoming unraveled. My scarf floats to the floor, and I glance upward.
The irony of it all doesn’t escape my notice.
“I’ll get you when I get back,” I tell the scarf, kicking it out of the way. I can’t afford to stop and pick it up.
Like a spy on a mission, I check the hallway before I enter and start to hum the Mission: Impossible theme song.
In order to get to the lab, I have to go right by Mr. Romanov’s office. I can’t take the chance on him seeing me. While I know he knows everything that happens in this building, I’m counting on him being out for lunch or using the restroom at the very moment I pass his door.
Please sweet baby Jesus, make him have to pee.
My heart leaps into my throat as I force my legs into a run. My muscles protest, but I ignore the pain, promising to soak my body in a hot bath as soon as I get home.
Glancing over my shoulder, I half expect to see him step out, but nothing happens, so I turn my attention back to my mission and make a beeline for the lab.
I open the door, calling Dr. Clark’s name, but no one answers.
Strangely, the lab is eerily quiet. The times I’ve come here before, music is playing in the background. There’s usually a tech nearby to chat with me.
It’s cold as anything in here, so I grab one of the white lab coats hanging by the door and put it on, then shove my hands into the large pockets and let the small package rest inside.
When I walk further into the room, my footsteps barely echo as I try to find someone to give the package to. When it comes to the lab, I’m not allowed to simply leave a delivery on a counter in the hopes it will be seen. These lab types barely know the rest of the world is still going because PharmGen’s lab is their world, so I’m required to physically hand it over to one of them.
“Dr. Clark?” I call again. Dr. Clark is the only one who requires that we address him by his title. The others are very laid back. Not even Tansy has me call her by Dr. Bhamra, and she’s the assistant lead scientist here.
“Tansy? Farooq?” I wait another beat before finally trying again, calling out the name of the woman I like least. “Olivia?”
No one answers.
My skin pricks. Foreboding rakes its sharp claws down my spine. With every step that leads me further inside, my body screams to leave. Finally, I listen. I have no desire to end up like a girl in a horror movie—dead in the first ten minutes from the killer slashing her throat, so I start to hightail it in the opposite direction.
Suddenly, a hand appears in front of my face. I suck in a breath to scream, but the hand covers my mouth, and then I’m being dragged backward. Shock turns me into a rag doll. I can’t scream for help. I can’t even move. Fear paralyzes me.
“You wasted your time trying to alert the media,” a low voice says. It’s heavily accented, but I can’t tell if he’s German, French, or even Middle Eastern.
Do something.
I bite his hand, and he jerks it away.
“Bitch!” He kicks the back of my legs, and I hit the floor hard. Pain shoots through my kneecaps. Tears spring to my eyes as my survival instincts finally kick all the way in.
“Help me. Help,” I scream, scrambling to my feet.
The man shoves me back onto my knees.
“No one will hear you. The lab is soundproof.”
The unmistakable sound of a gun cocking makes me almost wet myself. “Someone will see you,” I insist.
“No one will see you die because the windows are frosted, you stupid girl. It’s only you and me.”
I whimper. “Can’t we talk about this? Make a trade or something?”
“There is nothing to talk about. Nothing to trade.”
“Sure there is. There always is,” I babble. Keep him talking. Make him do a bad-guy monologue so that, somehow, the hero shows up and saves you. “Like a helicopter. Money. Your own island.”
“Shut up.”
“Don’t you want to tell me how you’re going to kill me?” Frantic and desperate, I scan the room, looking for something to hit or stab him with. “All the best villains give a detailed description.”
He nudges my head with something hard. The gun, probably. “It’s simple. You didn’t follow protocol, so now I have to kill you.”
Protocol? Oh crap. “You’re going to kill me for sleeping with Ben?” I all but shriek.
“Shut up.” He kicks me in the back.
I fall forward with a cry, my head narrowly missing hitting the floor. Squeezing my eyes shut, I begin to pray.
A shot rings out. My body jerks, and I’m sure I’m dead. Except there’s no pain. There’s a thud. My eyes open to find a man staring at me. Only after a moment do I realize it’s a dead-eye stare—his forehead has a smoking hole in the center of it, and it’s trickling a thin line of blood.
He’s dead.
Images of dead bodies flash in front of my eyes. Lifeless arms reaching for me. Pale skin and dark blood on the floor, on the walls.
I swallow a scream. I have to get out of here. I have to.
“Oh, God. Oh, God. Please help me. Oh, God. Oh, God,” I chant.
Move your ass, Morgan. Don’t think about the past. It can’t hurt you.
My slick palms make it hard for me to find purchase, so I start to army crawl my way to the door. Only a few more feet and I can escape. I can run for help and—
I’m grabbed from behind again and lifted into the air. Only this time, I fight like hell, landing a few kicks and backward head butts along the way.
“Be still, Morgan,” a harsh voice whispers into my ear as I’m set on my feet. “If you want to live, be still and be quiet.”
“Ben?”
“Yes.”
I’m so happy it’s him and not the bad guy come back to life that I start weeping. “Oh, thank God.”
His arm comes out to the left side of me. That’s when I notice he’s holding a gun and using me as a shield, his arm like a band of steel around my chest.
The asshole.
“Get behind me,” he says and shoves me to one side.
Okay, maybe he’s not using me as a shield after all. Still, he has a gun and he used it. “Why do you have a gun?” Slipping behind him, I hold onto his suit jacket for dear life.
“Every hacker has a gun.” He stops, then turns to his right.
“I thought computer viruses were y’all’s weapon of choice?”
“Not today.”
“Thank you,” I whisper, leaning against him. My body starts to shake violently, and he turns around, his blue eyes as sharp and cold as diamonds. I miss the heat he provided. But, at this moment, with him looking at me like that, I’ll keep my hands to myself.
“Are you okay?” he asks.
I attempt to nod, but end up shaking my head instead. “No.” My teeth chatter against one another. “I thought I’d get fired, not executed for breaking the rules.”
He eyes me, as if he doesn’t believe a word I’m saying. “That man works for Wraith. He’s not here to enforce PharmGen’s rules. Most likely, he mistook you for Dr. Neal.”
“Why would he do that?” Yes, Olivia and I both have blonde hair, and we’re of similar build, but that’s about it.”
His gaze drops to my boobs, and I cross my arms over my chest. Does he really need to be ogling what he’s already had an up close and personal view of right now? “Because you’re wearing her lab coat.”
“Oh.” My teeth start chattering again. “Can we get out of here? Go tell whoever what happened?” Then it hits me… “Wait, y-you said most likely. Why else would he try to kill me?”
He slices his gaze to my face. “Perhaps you made a deal with the Wraith organization and didn’t follow through.”
My mouth drops open. “A deal with—Look I’ve never even heard of this Wraith Organization.”
“I have to keep every possibility in mind,” he says softly.
“I prefer you not judge me until you know all the facts.”
“Fair enough.” He leans against a counter casually, as if there isn’t a dead body in the lab. “I’m listening.”
“Oliver has off today, so it’s my job to deliver time-sensitive packages. I signed for one not even twenty minutes ago, and then came up here.” I flick my gaze to the body on the floor, then back to him, and shudder.
His mouth quirks on one side. “I saw you.”
Of course he did. “Once I got to the lab, I let myself in. No one answered, and I couldn’t leave the package, so I grabbed the nearest lab coat and went searching. Except that guy found me instead.” A shaky breath leaves me. My knees tremble, but my heart rate is slowly returning to normal. “Then you saved me.”
“That remains to be seen.” He grabs my arm. “Let’s go.”