Page 101 of Silent Comrade
His hands went up. “Hey, everything elsestill works.”
And how. “Jake didn’t get a vasectomy. Whydid you do it?”
“He got one after having sex with Kiera,because putting her at risk freaked him out.” Red kept kneeling andscrubbed at his face. “I personally never wanted anyone to riskthis damned virus for themselves or for a baby.” He ducked hishead, not meeting her eyes. Guilty. Good. He should be. “But alsobecause I have no family, came from nothing. And there’s nothingholding me anywhere, but I have to stay in hiding because thegovernment wants all of us to go back to being lab rats heldprisoner in the testing facility. My career options are bothlimited and endless. I wouldn’t want a child born to that kind oflife.”
“Wow,” she breathed, like her opinionmattered at all. Fine, he used condoms. Still. That’s informationyou give your partnerbeforetaking them to bed.
Come to think of it, very little of theirsex involved a standard bed. She shivered and shoved her legstogether. Excellent sex. Not enough pre-sex disclosures.
“Any more secrets you want to share?” sheasked.
“No. Isn’t that enough?”
Her laugh came out fractured, like puzzlepieces were two different sizes. “Here I thought your secret aboutbeing an undercover operative to protect me from a madman intent onrevenge was a big bombshell. Boy, was I wrong.”
“You’re not wrong. How could you haveknown?”
“How? You open that big mouth, say words,then close the mouth. Pretty simple.”
His face could have been carved instone.
Rubbing her chest, she tried to ease theache there. Didn’t help. “Wow. You’ve done a great job screwingwith my mind. Screwing with more than that, really.” Her heart,damn it. She rubbed harder. Still didn’t help. “Goddamnit, I’m sostupid.”
“No. Britt. It’s my fault.”
“Is it? Maybe some. But I made the biggestand worst decisions on my own. My parents always said I wasimpulsive and one day it would bite me in the ass.” Her laughsounded like nails rattling in a metal can. She hit herself on thechest with a hollow thud. “Good ol’ Britt, making a bad choice.Again.” Air burned in and out of her windpipe. She was dizzy. Theexercises, she should do therapy exercises. Ground herself.
Floor beneath her feet. Bed beneath herbody.
She could hear a truck idling in the parkinglot.
She could see a man standing two feet awayfrom her.
She could smell his scent of pine … damnit.
Her eyes burned.
A minute passed with only their breathingaudible. Well, audible at least to Britt. Who knew what Redheard?
Finally, he cleared his throat. “Where do wego from here?”
“You’re asking me?” A manic bubble burst ina half-giggle, half-sob. “Fine. You have one job to do. Finish itand then get out of my life. Forever.”
“What if—”
“Keep me safe until I complete the one thingI’ve truly wanted to accomplish. And yeah, even if it’s a dumbdecision, it’s my decision. I’m not stopping two feet short of thefinish line, so you can take whatever new recommendation you haveand shove it.” She drew in a breath and stared at his intense hazeleyes. “Oh my God, you were going to try and convince me tostop.”
“It’s a viable option.”
Of course it was. If her goal had put herfamily in danger, then sure, she’d quit. It would suck, but she’ddo it. But if her family didn’t attend, then the only one at riskwould be Britt. And anyone else at the show.
Good God. “Can your people keep my dad andsisters safe, wherever they are?”
“Yes.”
She leaned over to check the time on herlock screen. Just past midnight. “It’s super early Tuesday morning.Can you keep Lequire in check long enough for me to survive untilthe show on Friday?” She whispered words she never thought she’dhave to say. “Can you keep me alive until then?”
A muscle popped in his jaw. “I will dothat.”
