Page 51 of His Asset
Reuben snorted, breaking my stand-off with Adam.“Please, does anyone herereallythink I’d have sex with a GM?”He looked at Adam.“Some men, like you, might have a fetish for things like her, but I’m not one of them.”
Adam’s men exchanged a smirk.But if Adam noticed he didn’t seem to care.All his attention was centered on me.“Tell me you’re all right.”
I exhaled sharply.“Never better.”
He turned to Reuben and snarled, “You’re going to pay for hurting her.”
Reuben was still on his knees when he curled his lip.“Whatever.Don’t pretend you haven’t done worse.”
Adam stepped forward, his entire body drawn tighter than a spring.“I’m going to enjoy watching you die.”
I shook my head.“No.No more killing.Please.”
Reuben didn’t seem to hear my voice.He was focused on Adam, his jeering laugh directed at him.“Oh, please.You’ve hurt her far worse than I ever have.You and all the other scientists who bred her and otherthingslike her.”He finally turned to me.“Did you know the imperfect ones are either left to slowly die, or sold to people like me?To underground fighting rings, where their brawn or their powers are exploited.”
A cold shiver snaked down my spine.I didn’t want to believe him, but the truth had been staring me in the face ever since I’d seen Taurus.It was staring me in the face right now, Adam’s guilt pronounced by his tight ashen features, his lips thinning with restraint.
“Bella, there are some things I can’t stop, no matter how much I wished I could.”
“Like profiting off your discarded experiments?”Reuben scoffed.
Adam’s face hardened as he stepped closer to the other man.“I couldn’t save everyone in the facility, but Ididsave Bella.”
“Bravo, one saved out ofhowmany?”Reuben asked.“Hundreds?Thousands.More?”He snorted.“I guess all of them meant nothing to you when Bella meant everything.”
Adam didn’t deny it, though his jaw clenched as he stared at Reuben.When his men moved forward, their weapons raised once again, Adam lifted a hand.“No.He’s mine.”He jerked his chin toward me without breaking eye contact with Reuben.“Make sure she doesn’t escape this time.”
My heart lurched.This time.As if I was still his prisoner.As if nothing had changed.
Adam’s three men immediately flanked me, their expressions blank but their intent clear.I was trapped again.Not that I was willing to try and escape just yet.I was learning more now than I ever had in the twelve months I’d lived with Adam.
“That’s not necessary,” I said, but he was already moving toward Reuben with the controlled precision of someone trained to kill.
I’d always known he was more than just a scientist.Military?Special forces?I’d seen him practice in his dojo, easily taking down three or more men at a time.When he’d hurtled down a rope through the treetops, the helicopter above making him sway precariously, I’d wondered even back then how much of what I knew about him had been real.
“You want to beat up women?”Adam’s voice was cold as he focused on Reuben.“Let’s see how you do against someone who can fight back.”
Reuben struggled to his feet, still clutching his groin but managing a pained grin.“The white knight routine is touching.But we both know you’re just as bad as me.Worse, maybe.At least I don’t pretend to care about the things you create.”
“I disposed of six bodies for her,” Adam said quietly, circling.“Made sure there was no evidence, no investigation that could be traced back to her.What have you done except try to use her?”
My stomach twisted.He’d covered up my kills.Protected me.Butwasit protection, or was it controlling the evidence?Keeping me dependent, grateful?
“So noble,” Reuben mocked, though his breathing was labored.“But what about the others you sold like cattle?Or the ones who died in your experiments before you developed a conscience?”
Adam’s face went rigid.“I had nothing to do with that.”
“Bullshit.”Reuben wobbled, then shook his head as if to clear it.“Your facility.Your organization.Your name on half the transport documents.”
“Because I was investigating them,” Adam bit out, his usual control slipping.“Tracking every shipment, every contact.Building a case—“
“How convenient,” Reuben sneered.“The scientist claiming he’s the hero.”
My head spun.Investigating?Adam was a spy?Or was this just another lie, another manipulation to keep me compliant?
Adam’s fist connected with Reuben’s jaw before I even saw him move.The crack echoed through the penthouse.
I’d once been terrified of the thought of these two men confronting one another.Terrified of choosing between them, of losing the one connection that felt real.Now, watching them trade blows like animals fighting over territory, I realized something both freeing and devastating.