chapter 6
The scent of gardenias surrounded Nate in the sensual bedroom. While Audrey hadn’t decorated the rest of the apartment, the lone bedroom whispered of her sensuality. A deep purple bedspread, dreamy paintings of storms over mountains, and antique furniture all showed class and femininity. Two open doors led to a walk-in closet and attached bath.
The closet looked as if a hurricane had passed through, and discarded clothing littered the floor around the bed.
He’d forgotten what a slob she was. At the memory, his lips twitched.
Then a voice from his biggest nightmares echoed from the other room. The commander—in the flesh and close enough to kill. Nate’s system instantly shot into cold, deadly alertness.
He crept forward and cracked the bedroom door open to better see the man who’d ordered his creation. The bastard hadn’t changed much in twenty years. Tall, lean, and muscular, the emotionless soldier even sat at attention on Audrey’s floral sofa.
His black hair had turned a steel gray, shaped in a buzz cut as always.
The gun lay heavy against Nate’s back, offering opportunity. His fingers twitched with the need to hold cold silver and end the man who’d created such a hellacious childhood for Nate’s brothers. But now wasn’t the time. Not until Nate found the codes to defuse the kill chips, and not until he discovered what had happened to his youngest brother.
But having the commander sit so close to Audrey heated the breath in Nate’s lungs.
“So these are the other pseudo-military organizations currently vying for funding,” the commander said, pointing at a series of papers laid out on Audrey’s coffee table. “What do you know about them?”
Audrey leaned forward, her slender face pale. “The NSA decommissioned this one a day ago.” She tapped her nails on a piece of paper. While she appeared calm, Nate could hear her heart racing and a stressed tenor in her voice.
Would the commander notice?
Apparently Audrey understood that being allies with the commander wouldn’t guarantee her safety if she screwed up. So why would the woman align with him? Nate rubbed his chin, trying to make sense of the situation.
The commander glanced at her. “Why did the NSA get involved with that organization?”
She shrugged. “Failure to complete several covert operations that almost brought attention to the States.”
A satisfied gleam filled the commander’s eyes. “Good. Were they also operating outside of the U.S.’s military reach?”
“No. You’re the only organization, as far as I know, that considers the United States as merely a client. Of course, our military and political leaders have no idea about that.” While she kept her expression bland, a bite echoed in her words.
The commander nodded as if he hadn’t noticed the tone. “What about these other two groups?”
“They’re in the running for funding from the subcommittee,” Audrey said.
The commander anchored her arm. “We put you in place to prevent that.”
Nate felt a growl low in his belly at the sight of the commander touching Audrey. Even now, he wanted her away from the sadistic monster. So when she patted the commander’s arm, all feeling left Nate’s legs.
Audrey chuckled. “The senator is on board with your plan and realizes your organization can accomplish much more than the other two. I believe he will be able to convince the remaining members of the subcommittee to earmark all of the funds for you. Don’t worry, Franklin.”
Franklin? She f*cking called him by his first name? Who the hell was this woman, and how could Nate have been so wrong about her?
“Good.” The commander brushed the papers into a pile and pointed to something on the top page. “The base out of North Carolina run by this group is going to experience a gas explosion late tomorrow that will put them out of commission, so they’ll be out of the running.”
Audrey pursed her lips and slid a paper from the bottom. “So that leaves TechnoZyn Corporation and the Red Force group that’s headquartered in Florida.”
The commander chuckled. “Such amateurs. A computer company and Red Force. Having a name is a bad idea, and choosing a stupid one is ridiculous.”
Audrey nodded. “I have a dinner date with Darian Hannah tomorrow night, and I’ll find out more about them.”
Nate stilled.
The commander’s gray eyebrow arched. “He’s the newly hired lobbyist for the group?”
“We believe so,” Audrey said.
“Who arranged the meeting?” the commander asked.
Audrey leaned back. “He’s been asking me to dinner for about a month.”
Approval lifted the commander’s thin lips. “Smart to make him wait. Is the dinner a personal or business meeting?”
“I think he wants both.”
“Sometimes you remind me so much of your mother,” the commander said, his tone flat and factual, as if making a business observation.
Fury roared through Nate.
Regret tinged Audrey’s smile. “Genetics do shape us.”
“Absolutely. I’ll report back to your mother what a wonderful job you’re doing here. She advocated your assignment, while I had doubts. I’m pleased she was right.” The commander gathered his papers together.
“Thank you.” Audrey reached for a piece of paper that had fallen onto the floor. “I owed her and you.”
“Yes, you did.” The commander stood and tucked his papers at his side. “The doctors did an amazing job healing you. Sometimes I forget how badly you were injured when I see you thriving like this, working so hard for our cause.”
His cause? Nate rubbed a hand through his hair. He shoved an image of Audrey, broken and hurt, down in his mind.
Audrey stood up. “I’ll find out from Darian Hannah what he and Red Force have planned, and more importantly, what they know about you.” She retrieved a pillow from a chair to replace on the sofa. “I’m sure they don’t know a thing.”
“Good. I’d hate to think they know about any of our experiments,” the commander muttered.
Nate swallowed several times. The woman really was working with the commander. While Nate had suspected her complicity, deep down, he’d hoped he was wrong. That Audrey was an unwilling victim somehow. How had she become so lost in five years? Did she think Nate was just an experiment?
Only thoughtfulness colored Audrey’s tone. “Don’t worry, I’ll find out what Darian knows.”
Anger glinted in the commander’s black eyes. “Do what you have to do and report back to me Thursday morning.” He all but marched to the door.
“I have my last doctor’s appointment on Thursday and will request to see you afterward.” Audrey escorted him, her head barely coming to the commander’s shoulder.
“Excellent.” The commander paused and turned. “How was the fund-raiser the other night?”
Audrey’s heartbeat increased in tempo, and Nate winced in the bedroom. “It was fine. Why?” she asked, her tone merely curious and in a direct contrast to the blood whooshing through her veins. But the commander couldn’t hear that, now, could he?
“I had several friends there, and they said you disappeared. Where did you go?” The commander stepped slightly into her space.
Nate tensed, ready to leap.
Audrey chuckled. “The party became boring and I walked to ease the cramp in my leg. After the pain eased, I came home.”
She was a damn good liar.
Nate’s breath heated and his lungs seized. The sense of loss threatened to swamp him, so he welcomed the tide of hot, fierce anger rising in him. With anger came control, as only a bastard with no soul could manage. His fingers twitched with the need to kill the commander, so he placed a hand against the wall to keep himself inside the bedroom as he watched.
The commander studied Audrey and slowly nodded. “You are dedicated to our cause, right?”
The bastard wanted her afraid. Nate reached for the gun tucked at his waistband.
“Of course.” She tilted her head to meet the commander’s gaze.
Most trained men faltered when trying to do that. An unwelcomed admiration welled in Nate, mingling with the anger. During their brief time together, nightmares had plagued him with the terror that he wouldn’t be able to protect her. As Audrey plotted with the commander now, it became painfully obvious she learned to hold her own—even with evil.
Nate felt a loss of something he hadn’t realized he had. His senses reeling, he backed up to sit on the bed before he did something that would get them both killed.
The outside door opened and closed, and the tension in the small apartment dissipated. Seconds later, Audrey strode barefooted into the room. “He’s gone.”
Nate nodded, his gut swirling, his mind finally settling on the sure fact that she’d never be who he’d fallen in love with. That woman didn’t exist, and this one had used him. Deep down, he’d always hoped she’d be able to explain what had happened.
He truly was alone.
Fine. Reality sucked and bit like a hungry cobra, and any hope in his life existed for his brothers. He’d do whatever it took to make sure they lived. So he stood, eyeing her. “You and Franklin seem to get along well.”
“We do.” Audrey glanced at the bed, avoiding his gaze.
Something about her posture gave him pause. Hunched shoulders, facial tic only he’d be able to discern. “What are you hiding, Aud?” he asked softly, her small feet looking so feminine and vulnerable his stomach ached.
She sighed, the darker blue band around her spectacular iris seeming to almost glow in the soft light. “So much, Nathan.” She bustled over to retrieve a pair of pink panties and a couple of blouses from the floor. “Sorry about the mess. I, ah, didn’t expect anybody to be in here.”
“Not even Darian Hannah?” Nate asked, anger lighting through him yet again.
“No.” She snagged a skirt from the bed and tossed the entire bundle into the messy closet, kicking the doors shut behind her. “Of course not.”
“Really?” Nate’s voice dripped with darkness as he stepped into her space to prevent her from leaving the bedroom. “Good old Franklin told you to do whatever you needed to do. Does that mean the commander is now your pimp?” The words tasted like acid on his tongue, but he couldn’t prevent their slipping out.
Audrey’s head jerked up. Anger flushed red across her delicate cheekbones. “You’re calling me a whore?”
Not in a million years. He needed to shut up, but the hurt spiraling through him pushed him on. “Are you screwing people on command? If so, sounds like a whore to me.”
The right cross to his cheekbone jerked his head back and echoed around the room. He turned his head back toward her, a smile tugging at his lips. That was his Audrey. No soft-girly slap from her. She went for the closed-fist impact.
“Feel better?” he asked.
The left cross cracked his jaw. He glanced down at her, an apology on his lips because he knew she was no whore. Which she quickly countered by aiming a punch at them.
He caught her hand in his before she made contact. Her other fist flew at his gut, and he caught that one, too. Sliding forward, he clasped her wrists together with one hand behind her back. He lifted her chin. Hurt and raw fury glittered in her eyes. “I’m sorry,” he said.
Her gaze flickered, and only excellent reflexes had him shifting to the right in order to avoid the hit to the balls. Her knee bounced off his thigh.
He felt his own smile all the way to his heart. “Let me get you out of here. New identity, plenty of money. You can get that degree and work with kids like you always wanted.”
For the briefest of seconds, thirst hinted in her eyes. Then the veil dropped and hid her thoughts again. “My wants and needs have changed.”
“No, they haven’t. You’ve always wanted your mother’s approval, and you’re working too hard, becoming somebody you’re not, in order to get it.” Even as he said the words, he realized he had no clue what he was saying. He didn’t have a mother and would’ve probably done anything to get one to love him. “Please, Audrey. You don’t belong in politics making deals and committing fraud.”
“Yet I’m so good at it.” A self-deprecating smile tilted her lips. “The girl you loved is gone, Nate.”
But was she? Nate studied her guileless expression, his instincts clamoring. Or maybe he wanted to believe that girl still existed—if she ever had.
A truck engine ignited outside. The commander was leaving. Apparently he’d taken a few moments, probably to speak with the two men currently watching Audrey.
Nate leaned down and smacked a hard kiss against Audrey’s lips. “I have to go. See you tomorrow.”
Leaving her sputtering, he jogged through the apartment. While Nate wouldn’t be able to infiltrate the commander’s base on such short notice, at least he could get the lay of the land if he followed the a*shole.
“Wait, Nate—”Audrey called, limping after him and into the hallway.
He turned. “Stay here.” Then he had to ask. He’d wanted to hold on until he had more information to use, but he couldn’t wait any longer. All hell was about to break loose, and he needed to know. “Is Jory at the base?”
Audrey frowned. “Jory? Why would he be at the base?”
Dread slammed into Nate’s gut. “So he’s dead?”
Audrey shook her head. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I haven’t seen Jory since you escaped the Tennessee facility.”
Nate studied her body language and expression, listening closely to her heartbeat. She was telling the truth. Unfortunately. She didn’t know anything about Jory, which meant he probably wasn’t located outside of DC. Fear for his brother sizzled through his veins. “I’ll catch up with you tomorrow, Aud.” Turning, Nate jogged to follow the one man he wanted to kill in order to hopefully find the one he wanted to save. Where was Jory?
He had to be alive.