Queen of Quarantine (Brutal Boys of Everlake Prep #4) - Caroline Peckham Page 0,173

have only chosen someone who we could trust to do this, who won’t take the vaccine and sell it to the highest bidder instead of offering it to the people who need it most.”

Her throat bobbed as she closed the lid of the box. “How can I be sure this isn’t some trick?”

I sighed. “You can’t. But if you let me bring Saint Memphis inside, he’ll explain it to you.”

“Memphis?” she gasped.

“He’s Troy’s son. And he’s working to help expose his father for everything he’s done. He wants to help. But we need you on our side to do it,” I said earnestly.

She wet her lips, glancing from the box to me as she considered it. “Bring him inside. Just him. I need to refrigerate these.”

She moved to walk away and I caught her arm as my pulse thundered in my ears. “They’re the most valuable thing in the world right now. I don’t give them to you lightly, do you understand? You will protect them.”

Her eyes widened and she nodded, seeming to grasp the seriousness of this situation at last. “I will. I promise.” She went to walk away again but I didn’t let her go.

“I’m going to need you to give me your phone,” I said softly, but there was an undercurrent of threat to my voice. “We need to trust you too.”

She hesitated, eyeing my hand on her arm before nodding and taking it from her dressing gown pocket. I took the phone and let her go, turning back to the door and opening it.

“Saint, come in here,” I called, and he stepped away from the group who all stiffened sharply.

“What’s going on?” Kyan growled.

“She wants to hear the truth,” I said. “And you’re all pretty fucking scary so you can’t all come in.”

Kyan shifted his weight from one foot to the other, looking uneasy as he glanced at Blake and Monroe. Saint muttered something to them then picked up the travel bag and walked across the lawn, moving to the door where I let him inside.

He gazed around the small hallway with a wrinkle of distaste in his nose. He was such a freaking snob sometimes. Scrap that - all times. I elbowed him in the gut just as the doctor returned and she moved closer to the shotgun on the table, but thankfully didn’t pick it up again. I was almost certain Saint had a gun stashed under his coat, but I hoped she wasn’t going to make him use it.

“You’re the Governor’s son?” she asked, her eyes roaming over his features.

“I am,” he replied then opened the travel bag and took out a folder of documents. “And I am going to need you to sign an NDA before we have our next conversation, Martina. Is there somewhere more formal we could talk?” He gazed around in disdain at her small home and I pursed my lips at his expression.

“Yes, come through to the lounge.” She turned her back on us cautiously and led us into a cosy lounge with furry throws on the couch and mismatching rugs and curtains. She offered us a seat at the small dining table by the window and cleared her throat. “Would you like a drink, a coffee perhaps?” she asked.

“No, thank you,” Saint said curtly.

“I’m fine, thanks,” I said, and Martina sat down opposite us.

Saint opened his folder, placing various documents neatly beside it before pushing an NDA across the surface towards her with a pen. She read through it before signing her name at the bottom and gazing questioningly at Saint as she waited for him to go on. He explained how his father had held me captive and how the newly procured vaccine had ended up in our hands, leaving out the trail of blood my boys had left in their wake. Then he went into detail about the vaccine itself and I got lost in a sea of science talk which I only managed to follow thanks to my dad’s job.

When he was done, he placed another contract under Martina’s nose. “You will become my employee effective as of the moment you sign this contract. You will be well compensated for your role in creating the vaccine and your laboratory will have any and every item of equipment you need, including the expansion of your facilities when necessary. Rivers Laboratories will be the most famous pharmaceutical company in the world once the job is done-”

“Rivers?” I blurted.

“Like the terrorist who started all of this?” Martina