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“But I wouldn’t have believed you.” She kissed my cheek and dropped her head on my shoulder. “Actions speak louder than words.”

When she fell asleep, I kissed her forehead and thanked the heavens for keeping her safe for me.I tried to extract her hands from my arm, and she murmured, “I love you, Attikus.” She breathed. “Even your cane.”

I smiled and replied, “I love you more than you can imagine.”

I could have lost her—the only woman who held my heart. The only woman who loved me and all my flaws.

My vendetta against Ashton blazed into my head.If vengeance consumed my heart, Vanessa was the lifeblood that eased it.

Was the First Lady responsible for everything? Did I have another enemy besides Ashton? Were they working together?

If something happened to Vanessa, I’d scorch the world for her.

I entered my office, logged into Vanessa’s tracker, and noticed she had several recordings. When I listened to the first recording, fiery blood surged through my veins. I called for an urgent meeting with my friends.

CHAPTER SIXTY-TWO

ATTIKUS

That night,I informed the boys that Vanessa and Joseph were doing well.

“That’s great to hear,” Remi said.

I raked a hand through my hair, releasing a sigh. “Thanks for your help with the drones.”

“Anytime, man,” Grayson said.

“You look tired.” Forrest sipped from his tumbler. I should’ve gotten one for myself prior to this meeting. “Do you want to postpone this meeting until tomorrow?”

“No. I need to give you information while it’s still fresh in my head. Besides, I need to spend time with Vanessa tomorrow, so the schedule might be too chaotic.”

“Okay. What do you have?” Remi inquired.

“The First Lady injected Joseph, asking him questions about me.”

“As in the President’s wife?” they all asked at once.

I nodded. “Seems like she’s involved in these dangerous drug experiments.”

“What did you do to her?” Royce asked.

I was about to tell him I wasn’t sure yet when Orion popped onto the screen.

“Sorry, guys. My meeting ran late.”

“No worries,” I said and caught him up.

“I spoke to my contacts in the CIA,” Orion said. “They confirmed there are military research programs that use torture techniques and powerful drugs for behavioral studies like mind control. There are research centers in Canada, Texas, and Wyoming. He said there could be smaller ones that aren’t listed in the database.”

“The one in Providence just got exposed,” Arrow said.

“Why would there be one in Canada?” Grayson asked.

“Maybe the Canadian politicians are colluding with our government, who knows?” Royce drank from his water bottle. “Politicians are corrupt everywhere.”

“I wish Paul Exinor could’ve given us more information before he died,” Forrest said. “His brain was bleeding. I couldn’t stop it.”

“Not your fault,” I told him. “He gave us some clues to work with. We know they’re using agents who are against their horrendous experiments. Some even threatened to expose it, so the people running the program had to get rid of them. They injected the agents with the drug, manipulated their minds, turned them crazy, and forced them to commit the crimes. Then they killed the agents.”