Page 8 of His Asset
The bearded man glowered.“We found this one, Chief.She’s ours.”
I didn’t need to see the man they called Chief to feel his waves of hostility.“Get off her before I break your worthless neck.”
For one breathless second, disobedience poured out of the men.Then the bearded man freed me and stood, jerking his pants back up before repositioning his junk with a pained grunt.
My chest rose and fell sharply as I stared at my savior who strolled toward me.Aside from his short, silver-white hair, he was almost invisible in his long black jacket, long black boots and a dark shirt.That he looked impeccable and out-of-place in this area was all too easy to distinguish.
“Leave, now,” he commanded the men.
The bearded man bristled.“Chief, she’s dangerous—“
“Are you deaf?”Chief growled.“Go!”
The men ran off, their footsteps fading even as Chief crouched low and peered intently at me with his light blue, almost silver stare.“You must be frozen.”He took off his jacket and I fumbled to push my arms through its sleeves before he saw my wings.Thank goodness his vision wasn’t as enhanced as mine.He cocked his head to one side and asked gruffly, “What is your name?”
I swallowed hard.Should I tell him I didn’t really have a name?Only Adam had bothered giving me one after I’d lived with a letter and two numbers for most of my life.Q27.As bad, if not worse than being called a GM—genetically modified.The letters and numbers had been meant to keep me nameless, soulless, something not someone.
Not anymore.
I cleared my throat even as I breathed in the comforting, smoky amber scent on his jacket.“Bella.”
“Bella, it suits you.They call me Chief here, but you can call me by my real name, Reuben.”
“Thank you, Reuben, for saving me.”
His smile was white, his eyes glinting brighter as they flared wide.“You’re welcome, and I’m sorry that you got to see the worst of humanity.Not everyone who lives around here is a parasite.”
My stomach crunched.If he hadn’t intervened I would have experienced firsthand the uglier side of humanity.“I-I’m glad to hear it.”
He straightened, but he didn’t leave.Not right away.“Can I escort you home?”
I bit back a laugh that verged too close to hysteria.“I don’t have a home,” I admitted in a small voice.
He stared down at me.“You’re homeless,” he murmured.“That explains a lot.”
I wasn’t completely naïve, I’d learned a lot in my short life despite the fact I’d lived inside four walls as a prisoner...an experiment.It still didn’t make me street wise.“It does?”
He nodded.“No sane woman would be outside alone, not even in daylight in this area, but especially not when it’s dark.”He pushed a hand over his face, his outside light giving enough illumination to showcase his indecision.“Do you have friends or family, somewhere I can take you?”
My chest tightened, the pain I’d locked in a vault inside my head rattling as though its door was about to pop open and flood me with emotions and memories I couldn’t face.My throat contracted, making my voice sound strangled.“I have no family and any friends I had are dead.”
I snapped my mouth shut.Why was I telling this man—this stranger—so much?Unlike Adam who’d had to all but pry the truth out of me, I was prattling off random facts to Reuben like there was no tomorrow and I had nothing left to lose.
I pushed to my feet, wincing as I put weight on my throbbing, inflamed ankle.“Thank you for everything you’ve done.You’re right, not all humans are parasites...or monsters.But I’m not looking for—“ I searched my brain for the word I’d learned on my daily one-hour screen time.“—charity.”
“Then what exactlyareyou looking for, Bella?”he asked, his rough voice gentling as he said my name.
I bit my bottom lip, hating that I wanted only Adam to call me Bella.But while Adam had shown me his shadier side, Reuben had shown me nothing but transparency.
That might change, a little voice whispered.You’ve experienced firsthand the darkness that can hide behind kindness.
Reuben tilted is head to the side.“Whatever else you might think about me, I’m not going to hurt you.”
Even after everything I’d been through, I had confidence in him.I managed a smile.“I believe you,” I said softly.I put a hand on his forearm, his bicep bunching under my fingers, raw power fairly bristling from him.“Thank you, Reuben, for everything.”
I felt his eyes on me as I dropped my arm and stepped past him, back into the depths of darkness that was the alleyway at nighttime.I made it three steps before the thumping roar of an approaching helicopter made me freeze in my tracks.
No.No, no, no!Adam couldn’t have found me this soon...this easily.