Page 34 of Savage Beauty

Stop it.

I pat her leg. Touching her because she needs it. I sense that. Patting her like a friend because I need to get my head out of the gutter and focused.

“Don’t be too hard on yourself. You were held against your will too.”

I squeeze her shapely thigh one last time because I’m a masochist, and then I push back. My smaller head might be juggling the idea of crossing lines with her, but I won’t. We need to find answers.

“So, I take it your logic is that Origins would never be involved in the organ trade, and therefore they couldn’t be responsible for your abduction?”

“Exactly. Origins is first and foremost interested in research that delivers for its investors. I mean, most of the research conducted at the labs is related to anti-aging products. Skin-focused. My research is the one project that could one day—and realistically, it’s not as far away as you think—lead to a scenario where we can grow functional organs.”

“You dream big.” Can’t hate someone for having big dreams. If anything, jealousy stabs me. I’ve lived my big dreams. Climbing ranks, qualifying for Special Forces, a SEAL team, highlights of my life. I long for dreams.

“Yes. And no. A team at Mass Gen and Harvard Medical School used adult skin cells to regenerate functional human heart tissue. They infused hearts with a nutrient solution and allowed them to grow. After two weeks, the hearts contained well-structured tissue that looked similar to immature hearts. And… get this.” The skin along her slender neck flushes. “When they shocked the immature hearts with electricity, they started beating.” She cocks her head. “Why are you grinning? It’s not funny.”

“You’re not even looking at my face. How do you know I’m grinning?”

“I’m looking at your face.”

No, she’s not. Her gaze bounces all around, but she’s not a person who looks someone in the eye. “You’re totally geeking out. I’m not knocking you. I love it.”

“It’s world changing innovation. Growing an entire human heart is conceivable. And, if we can grow them, we can create individualized hearts so transplant rejection will no longer be a side effect.” Now, she looks right up at me, and this time she’s the one who touches my leg, and her touch travels to my groin. She’s got dark brown eyes with thick brown eyebrows that capture you, drawing you in. My heartbeat kicks up a notch above resting. Under her intense gaze, I’m the one blinking, shifting because my briefs are now uncomfortable, and I look away to the ocean.

There’s a thin strip of sand and miles of jewel blue water. No one’s on the beach. We’re away from the hotels and the resorts. This job is a solar system away from my deployments in the Navy.

“Anyway, my old boss called my research a pet project. He was an ass.”

“Growing heart tissue was a pet project? What did they hire you to do?”

“Organoid research. The heart tissue. But then the woman who hired me went back to the States, and the new investors started placing priority on financial returns. And I had to pick up the other project.” She sounds incredibly bored with the concept. A loud sigh underscores her lack of enthusiasm. “We’re trying to find the right dosage levels that won’t bring on unwanted side effects for this anti-wrinkling product.”

“Oh. What are the side effects?” I’m not a medical guy, but I’ve injured myself enough to know that sometimes medicinal side effects suck balls.

“Suppressed immune system. And then you can get all kinds of things, you know, like cancer.”

“Yeah, I’d say that qualifies as a detrimental side effect.”

She waves dismissively. “Whoever can get it right and get it approved for use is going to make a mint. I didn’t want to work on it. I only came here to work on trying to duplicate the Mass Gen team’s work, only I wanted to grow the heart to maturity. And here, no one’s checking in on us. We can do whatever we want. I mean, there are international laws, but it’s…” Again, she waves her hand. “Those laws are put in place by people who don’t understand. Politicians who don’t understand cellular behavior and deal in fear.”

“How’d they talk you into working on the skin project?”

“Rapamycin. That’s the project. My boss offered to triple my salary if I took over the project.”

“Wow.” I jumped ship for a better payday, but it didn’t triple my salary.

“I said no. I told them to keep paying me the same rate, but to let me oversee both research studies.”

“You did what?”

“They agreed.”

Yeah, I’d imagine they did. Some suit did a giddy dance over having a sucker in their employment.

“That’s another reason I want to break into the lab. I want to see what they are still working on. My project is everything to me. And it has nothing to do with what we saw in Cambodia. I understand why you suspect my employer, but there is no connection between what I was working on and what was going on back in Cambodia. The more I think about it, if I return, they’ll hire me back. I can’t imagine they found my replacement yet.”

This little talk is rapidly getting away from me. “Hey. I hear your frustration. But you owe it to Sage to figure this out before you waltz back into the office. Anton Solonov didn’t do this on his own. He’s a for-hire kind of guy, and an expensive one. And someone wanted you kept alive. And whoever did all this used Sage to keep you motivated.”

“I’m the most motivated person I’ve ever met. They wouldn’t need Sage to motivate me. And anyone who has worked with me knows that. I could show you years of performance reviews?—”

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