“I have no idea.”
“Lily is unquestionably brilliant.”
“As I said, she saved my life. She has discovered that Zenith kills if it stays in our systems too long, but you must have known that.”
“Of course.”
“And the risks are acceptable because . . . ?”
“I don’t have to answer to you.”
“No, you don’t. But I figure they’re acceptable because the benefits outweigh the risks. Those of us who need anchors can perform without them being too close to us. If we’re wounded, we heal much faster, and if we’re captured, we don’t have time to give up information under torture.” She kept a straight face, simply reporting, not thinking about breaking his scrawny neck. She wanted to recite the reasons in front of Sean. Sean—who often ran missions and was shot full of the drug. Sean—who had turned on the very people who had been his family.
Sean met her gaze and looked away. Good. He was getting it—finally.
“You will be taken to the medical facility and examined there, Mari. In a few days we’ll test for pregnancy. I’ll send Norton’s file to you so you can read the data I’ve collected on him. I think you’ll see it’s a good match.”
Mari nodded, keeping her head down, afraid she wouldn’t be able to hide the relief she felt. The story was plausible, and Whitney was happy there was a chance she had conceived a child with Ken, so he wasn’t going to delve too much further. She waited until he was gone before looking up at Sean.
“Unlock the cuffs.”
“This isn’t over, Mari. You’re not having that man’s baby.”
“Better his than Brett’s.”
“I was taking care of Brett.” He reached for her hands and unlocked the cuffs.
She rubbed her bruised wrists and sent him another glare. “You didn’t have to put them on so tight.”
Sean took her hand in his, thumb sliding over the bruises. “Did Norton force you?”
She jerked her hand away. “You should have asked me that question hours ago. It’s too damn late to show concern now. Go to hell, Sean.” She stood up, had to grab the metal railing to keep from falling, and stood swaying, gritting her teeth against the ferocious pounding in her head. “Did you hit me again?”
“No way. I wasn’t about to give you an excuse to kill me. And I knew you’d wake up pissed.” He reached out and captured her hand again. “I did put those things on a little too tight. You’ve got bruises.”
She pulled her hand away again and rubbed her palm down the thigh of her jeans. “I’m really angry with you, Sean.”
“I know. You scared the hell out of everyone. Damn it, Mari, they shot you.”
“Everything is all mixed up. No one was there to assassinate Senator Freeman. Both teams were there to protect him. Could the threat have been a publicity stunt? And why would they send two GhostWalker special ops teams in to do the same job? There aren’t that many of us. They couldn’t just have made a mistake.”
She took a tentative step and the room lurched. “What the hell did you do to me, anyway, Sean?”
He steadied her by taking her arm. “I drugged you. It probably reacted with whatever was already in your system.”
“Well, that’s all right then.” She gave him her best sarcastic tone, wishing she had a knife to slit him from throat to belly. “I’m still really angry with you. You acted like a jerk. I should have let Norton shoot you.”
“You were really talking him out of killing me?”
“Yes. He doesn’t like you, but I told him you had a good side. When he asked what it was, I couldn’t remember. I need to go to my room before I go to the doc.”
“I’m supposed to take you straight to the medical wing.”
“Sean, don’t make me kick you. I need to stop off in my room. It will take two minutes. I can’t stand wearing these shoes a minute longer. In case you hadn’t noticed, they aren’t mine.”
“We swept you for tracking devices.”
“Did you sweep me for shoes hurting my feet and giving me blisters?”