Page 62 of His Asset

His mouth curved faintly, but the smile didn’t quite reach his eyes.“You might be right.”

For a heartbeat, neither of us spoke, the silence stretching until it felt like an elastic band about to snap.

Then his gaze met mine, steady and unwavering.“How are you feelinginside?”he asked.“I’m guessing you want to know about your parents.”

My throat tightened, though a part of me was relieved he wanted to get straight to the point.“Yes.But I only want the truth.No more lies.”

He leaned back in his chair, the flicker of firelight cutting shadows across his face.“I never lied to you, Bella,” he said quietly.“I just never divulged what I knew.Not then.It was too dangerous.”

I frowned.“Dangerous forwho?Me?”

“For everyone.”His jaw flexed as if the words pained him.He reached up, rubbing absently at his side where his ribs were healing.“I’m not sure how much you know, what you’ve learned, but I never wanted to be a part of the facility, not the way you were led to believe.I was placed there.Embedded.My background in molecular science got me through the door, but it was my combat training, my instincts, that kept me alive once I was inside.”

I blinked, trying to process his words.“So youwerea spy.”

He nodded.“For the government.For the side I thought was helping you.They wanted proof, evidence of what was being done to the experiments.I was sent to observe, collect data, and protect who I could without blowing my cover.”

My stomach turned cold.“Protectedus?”I shook my head.“I watched you stand over the bodies of my friends.You didn’t protect them.”

His eyes shuttered.“I tried my best, but I couldn’t give away what I was really doing there,” he said, voice low.“I did try to make sure their deaths weren’t for nothing.Every file, every sample, every detail I could get out, I sent directly to the people who could end it.Who could stop them.”

I shook my head, the air thick with disbelief and something darker, a grief that threatened to suffocate me.How long before itdidend?“And my parents?”

He hesitated, just long enough for me to witness the part that hurt him most.

“They were the first generation of GMs.They both had bat and human genetics.Like many GMs, your father’s body was breaking down fast.He was one of the dying populations.He couldn’t be saved.Only their love for one another kept him going.They wanted one night together before the end.So they escaped.When security looked for them, it was assumed they’d fled outside of the facility.”

“Are you saying they didn’t?”

“From what I learned from the reports and the people who were there, they were found in a janitor’s closet.Your father was already dead, but he’d died happy.He’d experienced real love in its emotional and physical form.”

They’d been together in the least romantic place imaginable, yet they’d been happy just to be together.I didn’t know whether it was the most romantic thing I’d ever heard in the world, or the most deplorable.

I swallowed hard.“And my mother?”

“She was one of the few GM’s who was strong physically, but weak mentally.She withdrew...she didn’t even protest when the scientists took away her lover’s body to be examined.She was inconsolable, her grief all-consuming.His death broke her and she no longer wanted to live without him.When it was discovered she was pregnant with you, the facility had to restrain her so she wouldn’t hurt herself...or you.”

The words hit me like a physical blow.

I pushed my wings low, past the hem of my dress and down the back of my chair, anchoring myself to the floor, to something solid.My chest ached, my heart hammering against my ribs.“No,” I whispered, voice shaking.“No...that can’t be true.”

Knowing my own mother hadn’t cared enough to protect me—a product of intense love—hurt more than I imagined was possible.The truth left me hollow.My wings ached.My breath came too fast.Even the air felt cruel.

Adam’s eyes held mine, calm and steady, but I could see his pain, and the guilt he carried even though he hadn’t been there.“Bella...”

I shook my head violently, wishing for just one second I hadn’t been born.If my own mother hadn’t wanted me, what chance did I have that anyone else would?All that angst, that bitter acrimony, it flooded from my mouth as though Adam was at fault.“You knew, and you didn’t tell me?You didn’t let me know I had real parents.You let me think I was born from some sterile test tube—“

“If I’d told you I would have either been kicked out of the program for revealing sensitive information, or separated permanently from you, and I couldn’t have allowed that,” he said quietly, his voice low, almost ragged.“Believe me, I did what I could to keep you safe.I watched, I reported.I never imagined I’d fall for you so fast, nor care half as much as I did.”

My hands balled into fists.“Care?You made me feel as though I was nothing more than your expensive prize, an asset to be added to your collection.”

“You were never just an asset to me,” he said softly, starkly.“I admired you beyond any other woman I’ve ever known.”He pressed a hand to his heart.“You touched me here.”His eyes reflected the flames glow.“I respected your spirit, your courage and your intelligence, along with your will to not only survive, but thrive.”

I picked up my fork, the tines clanking against my plate.“Not my looks, then?”I asked, my vanity—myeverything—needing reassurance.

“That goes without saying.”He reached forward, his hand covering my other one on the table.“I admired everything about you, but somewhere along the way, my feelings grew even stronger.I couldn’t help what I felt.I never meant to—”

The room seemed to close in around me.I leaned back, the air too thick, my chest too tight.Every feeling I’d buried clawed its way up at once.