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, Oliver is off today 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 that there is an endless opportunity 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’s 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 straightaway to Dr. Clark.”
With an internal wince, I nod. “No problem.”
The driver gives me a wink and I smile back 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 wrapped my body up like a mummy.
Tugging at the scarf at 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 that 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 position. This is my favorite position. Along with riding Ben like a cowgirl in a rodeo.
Stop thinking about him.
The door open with an almost silent whoosh and I step inside, silently praying that it’s empty. Thankfully, it’s 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 had flipped me over on my stomach and taken me from—
A wave of heat flash 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 see again. But Lord, what a man. Coal black hair and eyes the color of a blue glacier I’d seen in a National Geographic 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 upwards.
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. In order to get to the lab, I have to go right by Mr. Romanov’s office and 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.
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 tonight.
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 out 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 and usually a tech is 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.
Walking further into the room, my footsteps are barely echoing 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 that 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 out again. Dr. Clark is the only one who requires that we address him by his title while 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 me.
My skin pricks. Foreboding rakes its sharp claws down my spine. With every step that leads me further inside, my body screams at me to leave. Finally, I listen. I have no desire to end up like a girl in a horror movie, 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 ragdoll. 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 up 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 and 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 back 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 backwards 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 and 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 weapons of choice?”
“Not today.”
“Thank you,” I whisper, leaning against him. My body starts to shake violently and he turns around, his blue eyes sharp and cold as diamonds. I miss the heat he provided but at this moment, with him looking like that, I’ll keep my hands to myself.
“Are you okay?”
I attempt to nod, but end up shaking my head instead. “No.” My teeth clatter 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. “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 had. “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.”