Authors: Rebecca Zanetti
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?
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 accident.”
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?”