Edge of Betrayal

by Shannon K. Butcher

  “Be as angry with me as you like,” he said. “It’s no less than I deserve. But it’s a wasted effort. All it’s going to do is wear you out. There are other things that demand our attention.”

  “Like you care. You don’t get to pretend like you give a shit about me now. I know better.”

  His mouth shifted slightly, his lips pressing together. A flicker of pain wrinkled the skin between his pale gray eyes. Regret hung around his shoulders, making them droop more than she remembered.

  It had been a mistake to come here. He was too handsome, too intriguing. Once her gaze was on him, she started to forget that inside that lean, masculine package was a monster. A cold, calculating beast willing to use whoever crossed his path.

  “I’m not pretending,” said Adam. “Not anymore.”

  “And you just expect me to believe it? How the hell did you get Bella to agree to hire you, anyway? Is she so blown away by your good looks that she lost every bit of good judgment she ever had?”

  “Bella doesn’t find me attractive.”

  “How do you know?”

  “She doesn’t look at me like that.”

  “Like what? With drool running down her chin?”

  “No, like you look at me.”

  Mira hated it that he could see through her so easily. She wanted to deny it, but what was the point? It was better to send him away than to be lured into conversation with him. That’s what he wanted.

  “I’m leaving.” She lowered her revolver and started to turn.

  Before she could, he reached out, offering her an envelope. Only then did she realize exactly how long his arms were and that she had been within his grasp the whole time. He could have touched her if he liked, just as he had the night they’d gone on their one and only date.

  A shiver of something raced through her, gone before she could tell if it was nervousness or excitement.

  “What is that?” she asked, diverting her gaze to the envelope.

  “Open it. It’s important.”

  “If I do, will you leave me alone?”

  “Yes, as much as our work will allow.” He seemed sincere.

  It was probably another of his lies, but that was a chance she was willing to take. She holstered her weapon and did as he asked. Inside the envelope was a lab report listing test results for a series of diseases. HIV, hepatitis B and C, and a whole list of things she’d never heard of. All test results were negative.

  “I’m sorry it took so long to get the results. I didn’t think clearly enough to have myself tested until I’d recovered from my injuries. And then, of course, there was the issue of your unwillingness to speak to me.”

  He’d been in the hospital for three weeks after that horrible night last December. Her father, Dr. Richard Sage, had shot him. Shot her, too. But her father was dead now, unable to hurt anyone else.

  For that Mira rejoiced. Most of the time.

  Confused, she looked up at Adam. Way up. She’d almost forgotten how tall he was, towering over even most men. “What’s this for?”

  “The bullet that struck you went through me first. I thought it might bring you some peace of mind to know that I’m healthy, that you couldn’t contract any diseases from my blood.”

  That whole horrible night flooded back to her in a heartbeat. The horror of seeing that gun aimed at her. The panic of watching Adam move to block her body just as the shot was fired.

  She absently rubbed her chest where the scar puckered the skin along her ribs. The surgeon had told her that if Adam’s body hadn’t slowed the bullet, it would have killed her. He’d saved her life and he’d never mentioned it until now.

  “You didn’t need to do this,” she said. “My doctors knew I’d been exposed to another person’s blood. They took precautions.”

  “And how many more tests must you endure before they’re sure you’re safe?”

  “It’s none of your concern.”

  “I’ve done you enough harm for one lifetime. All I want is for you to find some peace.”

  “Who says I haven’t?”

  “I’ve seen you around the office. In the gym. At the range.” His pale gray eyes caught her gaze and his voice quieted further. “You’re afraid.”

  Mira stepped forward. At well over six feet, Adam was easily a foot taller than her. She didn’t care. She got right up in his face as close as she could and growled, “I’m not afraid of you.”

  “I would say that’s good—I don’t want you to be afraid of me—but I don’t believe you.”

  “I don’t care what you believe. Just keep your distance and no one has to get shot. Again.”

  He winced, pain flashing in his eyes for a split second. “I never wanted you to get hurt.”

  “Yeah? Well you should have thought of that before you agreed to trade my life for whatever was in that precious envelope my father gave you.”

  “I never agreed to trade your life. That exchange wasn’t about you.”

  “No, it was about my best friend and using me as bait to lure him in.” She smacked his chest with the lab report, wishing she had the nerve to hit him with her fists instead. “Did you ever stop to think what my father was going to do with me once he had what he wanted? Did you ever think about what he’d do to Clay once he had him?”

  “He was your father. I believed him when he said he wasn’t going to hurt you.”

  “Shows how much you know. I meant no more to him than a lab rat. He would have used me and dissected me with as much concern, too. If Leigh hadn’t come in to save me, I’d probably be dead by now and no more than a brief note in the margins of his lab reports.”

  “I never would have let him hurt you. It’s why I stayed. Why I refused to let you out of my sight after I realized the true nature of the situation.”

  “Which would have been all heroic if not for the fact that I was only there because of you.”

  His eyes closed briefly with regret. “I’m sorry for the pain I caused you, Mira. I always will be.”

  “Be sorry all you want. It doesn’t change anything.”

  He took the report and tucked it into her jacket pocket. “I’m sure you’ll want to verify that the information is true. If you have any questions, I gave Dr. Vaughn permission to speak to you about my medical records. Anything you want to know.”

  “All I want is for you to leave. Preferably out of state. Thanks to my father, there are all kinds of people in those files we found who are in need of help. Go find one of them, do your job, and leave me the hell alone.”

  He stared at her for a long moment. The heat of his body flooded over her skin, bringing with it his scent—one that brought back memories of another candlelit dinner when there had been no fear between them, only a shivering kind of excitement she could barely believe was real. “I’ll respect your wishes and stay away. Whatever you need, Mira. It’s yours.”

  Chapter Two

  Adam was waiting for Bella Bayne when she unlocked her office door the next morning. “What’s up?” she asked, juggling a full mug of coffee and her keys.

  Bella was tall, with the kind of self-confidence that commanded respect. She didn’t wear the typical tailored suit one would expect of a CEO, but rather preferred jeans, combat boots, several weapons, and an air of capability that warned others not to cross her. With her glossy black hair pulled back in a no-nonsense ponytail, she almost seemed like a normal woman. Adam knew that in her case, looks were definitely deceiving.

  “I need to speak to you.”

  “Sounds serious. Come on in.”

  Adam followed his new boss into her office and shut the door behind him.

  Light filled the space, highlighting a massive glass desk and minimalistic, modern chairs gleaming with chrome. There was no clutter here, only a laptop, phone, notepad, pair of pens, and neat stack of folders.


  “Hit me,” said Bella as she settled in her chair.

  Adam was uncertain how to start—a feeling so unusual he wasn’t sure quite how to handle it.

  Walking away from Mira last night had been harder than he would have thought possible. All he’d wanted to do was beg her for forgiveness, but that would have been its own kind of selfishness, and he’d already caused her enough pain for one lifetime.

  He shouldn’t have cared—not that his presence upset her or that he’d once felt something for her. Still felt something. It lay hot and vibrant in his chest, urging him to act. But feelings didn’t matter in his world. Only results.

  Which was why he was following through on his promise to give Mira the space she needed.

  Bella glanced up at him, her eyebrows raised in impatience and expectation.

  Adam cleared his throat. “I think my usefulness here has come to an end.”

  “Mira’s idea?” asked Bella.

  “You’ve talked to her, I see.”

  Bella shrugged. “She talked to me. Loudly. Told me what you did. All of it. If not for the part where you saved her life, I would have shot you myself.”

  “One more reason among many for me to leave.”

  “I thought you wanted this job. I was told I didn’t even have a choice in the matter of hiring you if I wanted the new contract. My ability to help all those people that Mira’s father and the other scientists fucked up was tied to you.”

  “I can imagine how well that ultimatum must have gone over with you.”

  She set her coffee down on her glass desk with a precise, controlled movement. “I seriously doubt you can. But there are bigger things in this world than what I want. And you know more than most people what we’re up against. I may think you’re a disgusting waste of human skin, but what Gage has reported after partnering with you is that you kick ass and you seem to be on our side. These days, that’s a pretty short list.” She opened her laptop and started typing.

  “So I can count on a glowing recommendation from you, can I?” asked Adam, sarcasm scalding his tongue.

  “Nope. Not letting you go. I want you where I can keep an eye on you. Besides, we got a lead on one of the folks on the List to track down, and I’m shorthanded as it is. Whether or not I like you, you proved that you can get the job done. The people out there hurting deserve the best we can give, and sadly, that includes you.”

  He wasn’t sure if she lumped him in the category of people who were hurting or as part of the best she had to give. Either way it made him uncomfortable. He didn’t like that anyone knew he’d been part of the Threshold Project experiments. Then again, he didn’t like people knowing anything about him. And yet he’d just handed Mira unrestricted access to his most personal medical information.

  Being with the people here at the Edge—working side by side with them—had changed him. He wasn’t yet sure whether or not he liked it.

  “I’m making Mira miserable. I should go.” He gave Bella a hard stare—one that would make most men cower. Instead, she just grinned.

  Bella stared pointedly at her laptop. “She’ll get over it. Besides, she needs to toughen up a little.”

  “You’ve had her in the sparring ring and at the range nearly every night since she recovered from her wounds. I think she’s tough enough.”

  “Hardly. Which is why I’m sending her into the field.”

  The thought of Mira in danger made some dark, violent force lunge from somewhere deep inside him. He tamped it down, but only barely. Even his best effort to control himself couldn’t keep the heat from his tone. “You can’t. She’s not ready for that.”

  “She’s as ready as she’s going to get until she has some experience under her belt.”

  “A woman with her intellect must be of more use to you here, behind a desk, where she’ll be safe.”

  Bella didn’t even glance his way. Her focus was on her laptop. “Her tech is mobile enough. She can still do her job from the road.”

  “Have you even talked to her about this?”

  Bella turned her laptop around, showing Mira’s enraged expression. She was saying something, but the sound had been muted. With the click of a button, Bella turned up the volume.

  “What’s he doing there?” raged Mira. A second later she disappeared from the screen, leaving her desk chair empty.

  “She knows,” said Bella. “We’ve been discussing it for a while. Like you, she’s been . . . hesitant.”

  “Surely she’s smart enough to stay here.”

  “It’s not her call,” said Bella. “It’s mine. The decision is made.”

  Accusation filled his voice, making it boom out into the space. “You’re going to get her killed.”

  “Like you almost did?” asked Mira from the doorway. She must have run all the way here from her office.

  He couldn’t tell if the pretty pink flush covering her cheeks was due to exertion or anger. Either way, her pull on him was too strong for his peace of mind. Every time he got near her, all he wanted to do was get closer. That wasn’t fair to her or to him. He’d destroyed his one and only chance with Mira when he’d abducted her and taken her to her father. It didn’t matter that he’d done so only to find his baby brother, who’d been lost to him for more than twenty years—a brother who was suffering and in need of help for all Adam knew at the time.

  The irony was that while his brother had no clue who Adam really was, he worked at the Edge and knew what Adam had done to Mira. Whatever connection he’d hoped to have with Eli was now lost to him because of what he’d done to find Eli. Lost, just like that instant attachment Adam had formed to Mira during a few shared moments. He’d traded Mira to reach Eli, and because he’d done so, Eli would never trust him.

  “That’s enough,” said Bella. “Adam is an asshole, but he’s a skilled asshole. And he’s proven he’s willing to take a bullet for you, which is why I’m partnering the two of you.”

  “No way, Bella,” said Mira, her tone final.

  Adam agreed. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

  “I don’t care what you think. Either of you. I’m headed out of town to track down one of the victims of the Threshold Project who’s just been located. Riley will be back in the office in a day or two, but until then, there’s no one else around to take on this assignment.”

  “I’m not working with Adam,” said Mira.

  “You’re not ready to work alone yet, sugar,” said Bella, “and I still don’t trust Adam enough to send him out on his own.”

  Adam spoke up, hoping to defuse the situation. “I thought Gage was my keeper. You’ve had me paired up with him for weeks now. I’d rather work with him.”

  “He has more important things to do.”

  “He didn’t mention anything to me,” said Adam.

  “Because I ordered him not to. I might be forced to have you on my team, but no one can force me to trust you, and what Gage is doing is way too sensitive for you to know about.”

  “I see,” said Adam, trying not to let her mistrust of him chafe enough to show.

  “I don’t,” said Mira. “Either this assignment is too important to let Adam touch, or it’s unimportant enough that it can wait until I have someone else to go with me.”

  “Not your call, sweetie. This is happening. Your only choice is whether or not you enjoy it.”

  “I could quit.”

  “You could. But then you wouldn’t get a chance to help all those people your father fucked up. I know you better than that, so please don’t waste my time bluffing.” Bella pulled a file from the stack and tossed it on the corner of her desk nearest Mira. “This is information on one of the men on the List. All I have is a name and address. Research him today. Make contact only after you’re sure of what you’ll face. If he shows any signs of cracking, bring him in.”

  “Wha
tever,” said Mira.

  Bella rose, making full use of her impressive height. She gave Mira a stare cold enough to freeze her in place, warning clear in her tone. “If you leave this office to make contact or do surveillance, Adam goes with you. Clear?”

  Mira scowled.

  Adam nodded. “I’ll make sure of it.”

  Mira scowled harder, aiming it in his direction. “I know the drill.”

  “Perhaps, but you haven’t executed it yet,” said Adam. “I have. Several times now.”

  Bella pulled a pistol from her shoulder holster and checked the weapon with fluid, practiced movements. “And so far, it’s gone well. See that the trend continues. And if Mira comes back to me with so much as a hangnail, we’re going to have words.”

  “Your warning is overdramatic but clear. I won’t let her get hurt,” promised Adam.

  Mira’s nostrils flared and the file folder crumpled in her fist. “I won’t let me get hurt. I don’t need him.”

  “Your opinion is noted and ignored,” said Bella as she holstered her weapon. “Play nice, kids. I’ve got lots to do before I hit the road.” She swept out of her office with her coffee, leaving a fuming Mira in her wake.

  “I can’t believe she would do that to me,” said Mira. “She knows how I feel about you.”

  “Everyone who works here knows how you feel about me. The question is, are you adult enough to put your feelings for me aside and do your job?”

  “Easy for you to say.”

  “Of course it is. Compartmentalization was merely one small part of my training. Was it part of yours, Mira?”

  She flinched and tucked her brown hair behind her ear with shaking fingers. “What my father did to me is none of your business. You gave up the right to care when you sold me out.”

  “I am responsible for everything stemming from my actions last year. There’s plenty of blame to go around, certainly, and I willingly accept my fair share for what was done to you. The question now is do you really think that your hatred of me is going to help anyone in need now?”