Page 16 of The Alpha Experiment
“Loyal to their older siblings,” I repeated through gritted teeth. Did he think Fiona would, what, participate in his creepy research to save me from…what? Not a chance I’d let that happen, no matter what he threatened me with. “She is not. Available,” I managed. “And I don’t know what you mean by ‘loyal,’ unless you’re threatening me. Are you?”
“Don’t be so dramatic,” he said. “I’m negotiating with you. You have something I want: your research. We’d pay you well to come on board with Initech. Much better than any university, and probably better than other companies with similar research interests. Not that any of them would want to hire you, I expect.”
“It doesn’t matter, because I’m not looking for another job!”
“Perhaps not at the moment,” he responded smoothly. “But you never know. Institutions like yours don’t always retain their non-tenured employees. A rumor here, a few negative interactions with students there…academic careers end all the time, Dr. McEwen.”
I sucked in a breath, because that felt like a punch to the gut.
Yes, I’d started with the assumption that he was threatening actual bodily harm, whether to me or to Fiona, and that had been awful.
But this…this was almost worse. And a lot more plausible. A well-placed pharma exec might not be quick to kidnap or murder, but ruining a reputation? Getting me thrown out of the university and blacklisted in my field? Yeah, not only plausible, but possible, and a lot harder to fight back against.
“I haven’t done anything wrong, so that’s not going to happen,” I said, sounding more confident than I felt. Bravado and bluff, that was all I had going for me. “My career’s perfectly stable.”
“Oh, that’s not what I’ve heard,” he said, his tone going cajoling and disgustingly friendly. And amused again, the asshole. “If you don’t come to work for us, you’ll wish you had. Men in your position are judged by the company they keep. And not all of yours is so savory. Your…friend, Colin Kimball, for example.”
The breath caught in my throat.Colin. He knew about Colin? This bastard hadn’t only stalked me for the sake of scaring me, he’d had me investigated.
Rage, it turned out, made it hard to think. I’d never had a panic attack. Was this what one felt like, the narrowing and blurring of my vision, the tightness all over, the heaviness in my limbs?
“Leave him out of this.” I had to force the words out, my lips gone numb. “He doesn’t have anything to do with this. He’s not a scientist. And he’s a normal alpha. Nothing interesting about his genetics at all.”
“Oh, I don’t have any interest in Kimball. He’s nothing, as you say. He’s nothing but—”
“He’s not nothing!”
Greenwald let out another horrible chuckle. “He’s nothing tous, Dr. McEwen. Except a violent, murderous, unethical pack leader who’s not at all the sort of person who ought to be on intimate terms with a man entrusted with the molding of young minds. Or at least, I’m sure the university’s board would take that position.”
My blood felt like it might boil right out of my veins. “He’s none of those things, and the university’s board doesn’t have any say in my personal—”
“Your very biased defense of Kimball is irrelevant, and you’re wrong,” he interrupted me, his tone crisp and completely unruffled.
“Have you had your investigator or your stalker or whoever he is following Colin too? Do you have photos of him? None of that would convince anyone of anything! Speaking of unethical!”
A short pause, and the ghost of a laugh. “I have no idea what you’re talking about, Dr. McEwen. Do you have someone stalking you? Our corporate campus is very secure, by the way, if you feel unsafe at your university.”
I dropped my head into the hand that wasn’t holding the phone, squeezing my eyes shut and trying to get a grip.
Fuck.
I’d gone into this thinking I could fight Greenwald with reason, with a strongly stated refusal. Hoping that Initech had been putting pressure on me, but would back down once I told them no. Hoping, if that didn’t work, that Greenwald would openly state his intentions. But he hadn’t, I was pretty sure. Everything he’d said was open to interpretation. Pushy, and creepy, but not illegal and not a direct threat.
Why the hell had I thought I should make this call? How had I been so stupid? I couldn’t play his game by his rules. I wasn’t a sleazy executive for a reason: I wouldn’t be any good at it.
“What do you want from me?” I ground out. “To leave Fiona alone. To leave Colin out of this. To—not ruin my career. What the hell do you want?”
“You make it sound as if I have some intention of attacking you and yours, Dr. McEwen,” he said, a thread of amusement in his tone. Did he guess I’d recorded this call? “Don’t be absurd. I only want what you want. Scientific progress. A deeper understanding of the shifter genome, and why some offspring are blessed with their ancestors’ magic, and others are not. Thatiswhat you want, isn’t it?”
Not like this. I hadn’t wanted this. Had I brought this on myself, letting my own selfish emotions dictate the course of my career? It burned like acid that he’d figured me out so easily, seen through the scientific façade I’d erected over my own insecurities, my desperation to be something I wasn’t.
I didn’t want this, but I’d run out of good choices. If I didn’t have anything that would make the human authorities get a warrant and go bust down his door, I didn’t have any leverage at all. Working for this asshole and his company might feel like sacrificing my soul, but it was better than losing everything I’d worked for my whole life.
Every word tasted bitterly of defeat as I said, “I want you to leave me alone. Leave my family and friends alone. Tell me what you want me to do.”
“Complete your research, Dr. McEwen. Make a real, concrete discovery. I’ve been following your progress, reading your publications. You’re close. You’ve been hampered by your orthodox methodology, but you’re nearing a breakthrough. Make that breakthrough, and you’ll be well compensated for your time and effort.”
I couldn’t help it; I burst out laughing, a high, hysterical crack of something that had nothing to do with humor. “Like it’s that easy? You think I wouldn’t have already made my breakthrough if it was that goddamneasy?”
