The next thing Lexie knew, they were here, in a room with no windows and no natural light. It looked like a basement.
Lexie winced as a strong pain shot through her abdomen. She was about ninety percent sure she was in labor. And it scared the crap out of her. Over the past couple hours, the surges had become progressively stronger and closer together.
Oh, bubs, please wait.
Although Lexie was doing the best she could to hide the pain, it was getting more and more difficult. But the last thing she wanted was some nutty professors from Project Arma to realize her baby was close to being born. The thought of them snatching him away from her left her in a pool of terror.
Lexie needed time. Time for the guys to find her. Time to get to Sage.
Asher’s groan drew her gaze up.
Please, heaven almighty, please be waking up.
Finally, Asher’s eyes began to open. Immediately, his gaze darted around the room. As soon as it landed on Lexie, a deadly stillness came over him. He did a once-over of her body before he tugged at his restraints.
“They used rope for me. Chains for you,” Lexie murmured with regret.
She had hoped that once Asher had woken, he would be able to break them both out. Watching him tug on the unrelenting chains, she doubted that wouldn’t be happening.
Lexie ground her teeth as another contraction hit. She was lucky that Asher was distracted at that moment because there was no way to hide the pain. It was like nothing she’d felt before. And it was the strongest one yet.
“Are you okay?” Asher asked, his head lifting.
Lexie considered his question. Other than feeling an unbearable pain to her stomach every few minutes while trying to dull an overwhelming fear of birthing their baby in a kidnapper’s basement, she was great.
“They didn’t hurt me.” Lexie deflected from what was currently going on in her body.
Asher blew out a breath. “Good. That’s good.”
She wasn’t sure if he was telling her or trying to convince himself. Probably a bit of both.
Asher went back to struggling with the chains while Lexie attempted to push past the consistent surges that were ripping through her body.
Sitting was becoming more painful by the minute. Her body needed to stand, move, walk around. Heck, a nice hot shower wouldn’t go astray.
But she knew she wouldn’t be getting any of those things. So, she needed to deal with her circumstances. Survive until help arrived and hold it together for the sake of her baby.
You can do this, Lexie.
Closing her eyes, she had to make herself believe those words. Otherwise, she’d crack.
Footsteps sounded on stairs above them before the door opened. The man who walked in first was the man who had eyes as black as midnight. Eyes that haunted her nightmares.
Dominic.
Behind the man was Bill, and then an older woman wearing a white lab coat.
Swallowing a lump in her throat, she had a bad feeling. Lab coat meant scientist or doctor, right? Neither of those things sounded particularly appealing to Lexie in her current state.
Where Bill and the woman stopped a few feet from the door, Dominic kept moving forward. He walked straight up to Asher and punched him in the face.
Lexie cried out as blood dripped from Asher’s mouth. He barely reacted. Simply spat a mouthful of blood onto the ground before turning back to the man, fire in his eyes.
“That was for Packer and Thomas,” the man snarled.
Fear clawed up Lexie’s throat at the sound of his familiar voice.
Asher showed no fear as he sneered at the thug. “Who the fuck are you?”
The man crossed his arm. “Consider me the new you, asshole. New and improved.”
Asher’s eyes narrowed. “What the fuck does that mean?”
Dominic suddenly swung his arm again, backhanding Asher.
Swinging her head to Bill, she pleaded with the man. “Bill, do something.”
Although Lexie caught a flicker of what she could only assume was remorse on his face, Bill kept his eyes straight ahead. He didn’t make a move to help. The man didn’t even open his mouth to stop Dominic.
Another surge hit drawing her attention away from the violence and forcing her to focus on her breathing. She’d come to realize that every contraction was like a wave. She breathed through to the peak of the pain, then her body slowly worked its way back to normal.
At the feel of wetness on her hands, Lexie realized she’d clenched her fists so tightly that her nails had cut into her skin.
“That old man’s not gonna help you,” Dominic snickered once he was done with Asher. “He’s here for one reason. To make sure he gets his money.”
Lexie had held out hope for Bill. Even with the evidence Wyatt had pulled up and even after he’d tranquilized Asher, she had still had hope that there was some good in him.
Swallowing her disappointment, Lexie turned her attention to the lady in the white coat as she stepped forward. “If you’re done, I’m going to do my job.”
With a neutral expression and a stiff spine, she dropped a bag to the ground and pulled out a syringe. It was an empty syringe, but that didn’t do much to calm Lexie’s nerves. Her entire body tensed as the lady walked toward her.
“Don’t you fucking touch her!” Asher snarled as he fought his restraints harder. His muscles were visibly tensing, and the metal pole groaned at his movement.
Dominic reeled back and punched Asher in the gut, causing him to cough up more blood.
“Asher, stop it,” Lexie begged. “She’s just taking blood. I’m okay.”
Everything about their situation was hard enough. Add watching Asher get beaten to within an inch of his life and it was almost too much to bear.
Asher went still as the lady reached Lexie. The anger came off him in waves, and Lexie had no doubt, if he wasn’t restrained, the woman would be dead.
Taking the cap off the syringe, the woman plunged the needle into a vein in Lexie’s right arm. She wasn’t surprised that the lady didn’t bother with an attempt to be gentle.
On a normal day, Lexie would be spitting fire at the sting. Today, the pain to her arm was nothing compared to the pain in other parts of her body.
As if she’d conjured one up, another contraction hit at the exact moment the lady pulled out the needle.
“It’s not that bad, dear,” the lady said without an ounce of compassion, obviously mistaking the reason behind Lexie’s cringe.
Closing her eyes for a moment, Lexie willed the pain to pass.
When it was over, she glanced at Asher, noticing his eyes were narrowed. Shit, Lexie had no doubt he was catching on to what was happening. That was if he hadn’t already.
She attempted to clear her face of any expression, not wanting Asher to do anything that would get him further injured.
Turning to the lady, she watched her package the sample. “What do you plan to do with my blood?”
“The same thing we intend to do with the baby. Study it.”
Terror stole Lexie’s words. Her body turned icy as panic flared inside her. They wanted to take her baby. Take it and study it. Like it was a specimen that needed to be analyzed, rather than a living, breathing baby. Her baby.
The woman hadn’t even flinched when she’d said the words. Did she not have a heart?
“Never gonna happen,” Asher said quietly.
Lexie looked across to see his eyes on her. He was speaking to her. Not to the woman. Not the men in the room. Just to her. Confirming he was going to stop them.
Some of the fear eased from her body. Because she believed him. If Asher said he was going to protect their child, then that was exactly what he was going to do.
Dominic snorted. “If that’s what you think, it’s no wonder they needed to upgrade their soldiers.”
“Yeah, you’re so fucking tough you needed an old man to pull a gun on me to keep you alive.”
Dominic took a threatening step for
ward but stopped when his phone beeped. Pulling it out of his back pocket, he read the message before turning to the lady in the white coat.
“He’s gonna need a bit more time to get here. Wants the ultrasound done and images sent through now.”
With the same clinical look, the lady nodded. “We’ll have to untie her. She needs to be lying flat.”
Dominic’s brows pulled together. “Can’t you just pull the bitch’s top up?”
Asher growled. His muscles were visible bunching and she noticed he was still pulling at the chains. Lexie didn’t think there was any way he could break them. But then again, she didn’t really know the full extent of what he could do.
“No,” the lady said, seemingly unfazed by the big thug.
“Fine.”
Dominic took a step forward but stopped when Asher lurched against his chains. “You fucking touch her and I’ll rip your damn throat out.”
Dominic regarded him with a chuckle. “Yeah? And how exactly are you gonna do that? Those are specially made metal chains. Tried and tested against men like us.”
“Ever tried and tested them against a man protecting his woman?”
The lady in the lab coat stepped behind Lexie and began working the knot. “For goodness’ sake, I’ll do it.” It took her less than a minute to get the knots undone. “Lie on the ground and lift your shirt.”
Lexie eyed the dusty floor but did as she was told. Lucky she didn’t have an allergy to dust because this place was covered in it.
Just as Lexie crouched on the ground, a huge contraction hit her stomach. Oh God, not now.
Bending forward, she pretended to be moving slowly when really she was gritting her teeth through the pain.
“So, if you plan to keep us, why not tell us where we are?” Asher asked, clearly deflecting their attention.
Doing her best to relax her body through the contraction, Lexie sucked in deep breaths. When the worst of the pain was over, she finished moving to her back.
“You haven’t figured it out? You’re in the basement of the fucking pizzeria.”
Lexie’s eyes widened, looking around the room again. She’d had no idea there was a basement at the pizzeria.
A spark of hope filled her. The team knew that Bill was involved. When they found out her and Asher were missing, surely Wyatt or Evie would uncover this space under the shop.
“Why would you bring us here?” Asher asked as the woman beside Lexie pulled out her equipment.
“You left us with no fucking choice. Our attempt to take her didn’t work out because of you fuckers, then you never left her side.”
Asher shrugged. “Okay. That doesn’t explain why the pizzeria.”
The man kicked Asher in the shin. Again, he barely reacted.
“The organization is in between locations at the moment. So, we’ll just wait here until they get us.” Dominic smirked. “This worked out better, anyway. This way, we don’t just get the baby, we get you, too.”
The lady covered Lexie’s stomach with cold gel before pulling out a machine. After pressing a few buttons, lights came on. She then proceeded to press a probe to Lexie’s stomach.
Why they needed scans of her stomach at this exact moment, Lexie had no idea. But as long as her baby remained unharmed, she would do as she was told and remain calm.
Her gaze drifted to Bill. He had remained quiet since entering the room. The pizza maker looked bad. Sick with fear. Large dark circles shadowed his eyes. And his gaze kept flicking from Dominic to the lady. She could even see sweat soaking into his shirt.
Lexie wondered if he was finally realizing he was in over his head. Or maybe he was feeling guilty. Guilty that he’d exchanged the lives of his friends to sustain his gambling addiction.
But that was probably wishful thinking on Lexie’s behalf. Wanting to believe that the man had a conscience.
“I say we just cut the thing from her now and let her bleed out,” Dominic sneered.
Asher’s leg flew out and hit him in the balls.
Collapsing forward, Dominic growled before his head lifted and he looked at Asher.
Lexie knew exactly what was about to happen. And it sent a bolt of panic through her.
Dominic lunged.
Lexie sat up quickly and watched helplessly as Dominic began to repeatedly hit Asher in the face.
When the man didn’t stop. She tried to move forward but was grabbed from behind by the lady. Her surprisingly strong arms stopped Lexie from going anywhere, her fingers digging into Lexie’s flesh.
“Asher—” Lexie called, real fear in her voice.
“Stay the hell back, Lexie!” Asher roared from where he was being pummeled in the chair.
Lexie looked to Bill for help, but still, the man just stood there, motionless. Uncertainty in his eyes.
28
“Enough!”
Asher’s body throbbed, but at the sound of the familiar voice, he conjured up the energy to lift his head.
It can’t be.
Every muscle in Asher’s body tightened at the sight of the man he’d once considered a father figure. He looked exactly as Asher remembered. Which shouldn’t be a surprise. It had been only a couple of years.
His dark eyes met Asher’s. “Striker. It’s been a while.”
Asher’s pain faded into insignificance.
“Commander Hylar. I was starting to wonder if you’d show your face around here.” Asher spat blood to the ground, keeping eye contact with the man who’d pulled them into all of this.
The commander stepped forward. He had a scar that ran across his right eye, and he stood well over six feet tall. Asher knew that being slightly older did nothing to detract from the man’s physical capabilities. He was strong and knew how to fight.
“You boys have disappointed me.”
Asher fought for calm, but his voice dripped with unconcealed rage as he spoke. “We were nothing but loyal to you, and you sold us out. Gambled with our fucking lives.”
The commander cocked his head. “Is that what you think? That someone offered me some money and I just volunteered you for an experiment?”
That’s exactly what Asher thought.
From his peripheral vision, Asher saw Lexie wince again. He struggled to keep his eyes off her and on Commander Hylar. She was in pain. Which meant he had to get them out, dammit. Away from these psychopaths.
“Tell me it isn’t true,” Asher growled.
“It isn’t true.” The commander’s response was instant. And Asher couldn’t detect one sign of insincerity. His pupils remained the same, his heart rate steady.
But then again, the commander was trained to lie under pressure.
“I wasn’t bought, Asher. I was the buyer.”
Shock rendered Asher motionless. He had to toss the words over in his head before he could make sense of them.
“What are you saying? That you’re responsible for creating Project Arma?”
He prayed the man denied it.
At the sight of Hylar’s smile, pain ricocheted through Asher’s chest.
“Creating. Masterminding. Call it what you like. The idea was mine.”
No. None of it made sense to him. He’d suspected the man was involved due to greed. But not this. It was a level of betrayal that Asher struggled to wrap his head around.
“It came to me when your team was training,” the commander continued. “So damn strong and lethal, but still human. Too many weaknesses. At first, it was my goal to make the team stronger. Faster. But you’d always reach a limit, wouldn’t you? Then it hit me—what if I could make you more? So I got the ball rolling. All it took was reaching out to the right people, putting in some fake paperwork, and Project Arma was born.”
Utter disbelief coursed through Asher. He had never had more desire to kill a man than he did in that moment. Commander Hylar hadn’t just pulled them into this mess, he’d manufactured the whole thing.
“You could have killed us,” Asher snarled.
; Asher had seen the images of previous drug recipients. Dead. Disfigured. Others survived but with significant brain damage.
Visions of his brothers injured or worse had lingered in Asher’s mind. All because of this man.
The commander frowned. “We tested for years first. Many died to achieve the perfect drug. They died to make you stronger. Faster. You received a tried and tested version, Striker. Everything you are now, I gave to you.”
That was bullshit. Physical strength and speed don’t make a man who he is. It’s mental strength and knowing right from wrong. Asher may be stronger and faster, but what made him the man he was inside was all his own doing. And his brothers’.
Hylar took a step closer to Asher. “That’s why I’ve been watching you. I know how dangerous you are. For a while I hoped you would join us. That was always the plan. But I can see now that’s not the case. And I can’t have you messing anything up. Project Arma has become too valuable. That’s why we had to create weapons against you. You’ve already experienced Tovid. What a pleasure that was to see it used against Hunter and Shylah. You experienced it, too, didn’t you, Striker?”
Asher remained silent. During a mission to one of the Project Arma locations, Asher had been injected with what was, at the time, an unknown drug. It had sent him into a rage. Eden had been injected, too. It was a biological weapon, there was no question about it.
“We’re working on improving it. Making it stronger. You also experienced the chemical spray we made.”
“So, you’re what? Spending all your time coming up with ways to stop us?” Asher snapped.
“And watching you.” The commander half smiled. “Dominic here has been in town for a while, and you didn’t even know.”
Asher didn’t need reminding. The fact that the asshole had been close and watching his woman made him want to kick his own ass. He shouldn’t have missed it.
“He was assigned to watch your team. That night you went to Lexie’s mother’s house, he followed. The next day, he returned to the house. That was when we found out she was pregnant. And that was when the target changed from your team—to her.”
Asher: A steamy contemporary military romance (Project Arma Book 3) Page 22
