Page 68 of Chad's Chase

Surely I would’ve remembered someone planting a device inside me. Unless it was done when I was unconscious.

Grabbing my wrist, he started marching out of the room. “We need to get that out of you. Now.”

“Okay,” I agreed. “But you’ve yet to tell me thewhobehind all this, Blood. Who turned us into these people?”

Still pulling me along, without stopping or looking back, he took an audibly deep breath, before answering, “My father.”

“…plant it under a cab or something. Anything that’s constantly moving…”

Consciousness kissed my eyelids, and I woke to the rumbles of male voices above my head. Chad was issuing a bunch of orders to two of his men, while a sophisticatedly dressed brunette standing beside him smoothed her hand down her neat, charcoal-pencil skirt, all but brushing up against him. When it seemed as though he was taking too long to give her his attention, she walked over to the coffee table and picked up a black doctor’s bag that was on it.

Taking out a pad and a pen, she scribbled something down, then ripped out the paper and handed it to Chad, telling him, “Seven days’ time, I’ll be back to remove the stitches.” As if she was more than familiar with the apartment, she walked off with a slight pout.

“Sophia, wait,” Chad called after her.

Catching up with the doc, he mumbled words not meant for anyone else to hear, but the woman was full-on attitude, clearly upset about something. And with a stiff spine, she left.

With a confused expression, Chad stared after her, then shook his head and came back to the sofa, where I was lying on my stomach.

Whatever drugs that woman shot me up with had left me temporarily paralyzed, because I couldn’t move at all. Only see and hear.

Chad caught me watching him as he approached, but quickly averted his attention to his men, shooing them with the order to leave the tracking chip on a moving inanimate object.

Audience gone, leaving only us, Chad knelt down by the couch, clasping his hands beside the cushion my head was on, then resting his chin on top of his clasped hands, leveling his face with mine.

“Was drugging me this much really necessary to remove a simple tracking chip from my back?”

“Sorry. We had to get it out.”

“You could’ve given me a goddamn leather belt to bite on and dig it out yourself.”

“No. You’re not an animal. I wanted this to be clean and painless.”

“Yeah, well, I think that stupid doctor bitch overdrugged me. On purpose.”

Something cold flickered in his eyes, as though he hadn’t considered that. He tried to cover his fury at the realization with a chuckle, but I could smell the evil emanating off his thoughts. “Yeah, I think she did.”

I tried to move my hand again, but there was no point. I’d have to wait at least an hour or two before my limbs started working again. Chad must’ve really pissed her off or something.

“You two have a ‘sex with meaning’ thing going on?”

He leaned in and kissed my cheek, and amazing grace, I felt it. “Used to.”

“If it’s in the past, why the hell is she still mad? Taking her shit out on innocent little me?”

A brow arched as he laughed out, “Innocent?”

“Of course I’m innocent,” I defended. “What did I ever do to her?”

Chad made a disgruntled sound, clearly unhappy about this. “Women are strange creatures I’ll never understand.”

Humming in agreement, I closed my eyes and smiled.

“You’ve grown to be so achingly beautiful, Jhay. You leave me impeded at times.” Pause. “In other words, I’m fucked with you. So completely fucked.”

Keeping my eyes closed, so he wouldn’t see how deeply his words affected me, I whispered, “You’ve known it was me all along, and you said nothing.”

“I was waiting for you to stop hiding,” he whispered back, his hot breath touching my skin, as if he’d drawn closer to me. “Did youreallythink I would see you again and not recognize you, Tweety Byrd?” He laughed, but the laugh wasatme. “I thought about youevery single dayfor the past twelve years. I thought you were in college somewhere, crushing on some greasy-haired drummer in a rock band or something. Having fun and living recklessly like girls your age do. Never in a million years did I think…” He trailed off, holding back.