Adrenaline Heat

by Carolyn Reilly

  Derek swiped at his phone and deposited it back in his jacket’s front pocket. He quickly recounted to Luna that they’d come to the decision that Oliver would go to Barbados with her if the serum helped him heal without complications. “Nevertheless, I want you to tell Lewis tomorrow that Oliver can’t come. Tell him the truth about what happened at the club. See how he reacts.”

  “I fear he’ll insist Oliver come. He won’t believe me.” Luna’s eyes roamed Oliver’s monitor as she spoke.

  Derek’s brow wrinkled. “No, he won’t let him off, but if he knows Oliver is severely injured, he’ll probably let down his guard and won’t be suspicious if Oliver doesn’t mingle too much at the retreat. It would be easier for both of you if he believes Oliver needs rest.” After a short pause, he added, “and you’ll have an excuse not to be together twenty-four seven.”

  She eyed Oliver carefully. “Are you sure you can do this?”

  “Yes, with Dr. Bergmann’s help.” Oliver’s gaze flicked to Bergmann.

  But the doctor only averted his eyes, clearly unhappy. “If you’ll excuse me, I’ll be in the lab.” Passing Luna and Derek, he left the room.

  Luna watched Bergmann leave, her face featuring a big question mark. She was probably wondering what she might have missed. But then she cocked her head as if contemplating something. “I didn’t want to bring this up earlier since Oliver was injured. I don’t even know if it’s relevant, but Lewis has been to Barbados quite regularly the last few weeks. He claimed it was in preparation for the retreat, but he has enough people to handle everything. I found it quite suspicious that he would bother to fly there himself.”

  Derek’s brows drew together. “Why didn’t you mention this earlier?”

  Luna wet her lips with her tongue. “I thought it was too dangerous to mention. If anyone from the Committee had shown up on Barbados recently, GovCorp would have known that the info came from me.” She cleared her throat and walked up to Oliver’s bed. “But now that Lewis invited Oliver to Barbados….” She made air quotes when she said invited.

  After throwing Luna a dark look, Derek started pacing. “Okay. Anything else you want to tell us?”

  Luna inhaled, straightening her spine. “Yes. And I swear I only heard it this afternoon. I talked to Zach, the nurse friend of mine...” Her eyes jumped to meet Oliver’s for a second before she continued. “He thinks he saw Fry last night leaving the hospital.”

  Derek whipped around to face her. “What? How sure is he?”

  “Pretty sure. And pretty confused.”

  Derek threw her a questioning look. “Understandably. Why did GovCorp report Fry missing then?”

  Oliver’s expression darkened. “So he could go dark and work on more unsanctioned research projects?”

  Cursing, Derek pinched the bridge of his nose. “Let me know what you need for that trip to Barbados.”

  Luna’s skin crawled as their airport shuttle copter brought them closer to Barbados’s platinum coast, lined with exclusive beachfront resorts and luxurious private villas. The view of the brilliant turquoise bay and tranquil beach they were approaching was breathtaking. But her throat tightened for another reason as they neared the stunning colonial-style resort with a grand palm terrace. No, please, just no. Not there.

  She threw a panicked look at Oliver, who was texting Derek and not looking out the window. Sucking in a deep breath, she laid a hand on his arm to get his attention before he looked outside. When he glanced at her, she leaned in and whispered, “I didn’t know. I swear I didn’t know that's where we’d stay.”

  Oliver’s eyes darkened, and he turned toward the window. Straight ahead was the resort where she and Oliver had been married and they’d spent their honeymoon—at least according to his fake memories.

  Oliver’s jaw hardened. “Is this a joke?”

  Her heart raced. If Lewis, in the front row of the shuttle copter, turned in his seat now and saw Oliver’s face, they’d be screwed. Luckily, none of the other twenty passengers, all GovCorp employees, seemed to notice. Oohing and aahing, they all drank in the spectacular view.

  Oliver was alarmingly quiet as he stared out the window next to her, while his whole body seemed to vibrate with strain. He’d started to inject himself with the serum he’d gotten from Dr. Bergmann yesterday, and the stuff had accelerated his wound healing as hoped, but it left him on edge in a way his adrenaline issues never had before. Bergmann had recommended she stay away from Oliver whenever she had a chance. For both their sakes. But that would completely defeat the purpose of this charade. So, she and Oliver had agreed that she’d take part in all excursions and activities that were offered as part of the retreat while Oliver would claim to have to rest. Still, they’d have to show themselves as a happy couple at dinnertime and afterward.

  Sighing, she tucked a stray hair behind her ear while stealing a quick sideways glance at Oliver. Maybe she should have insisted he was too injured to go and tried harder to convince Lewis that it was impossible for him to come. But now it was too late. The copter descended on the large helipad on the rooftop of the vast resort, the whirring blades thudding to a stop. It was one of altogether twenty-five shuttles that landed almost simultaneously. About five hundred of her GovCorp colleagues, a good quarter of all GovCorp staff who worked at headquarters, would also be here. Lewis always split the yearly retreats into four separate parties to ensure headquarters would continue operating seamlessly.

  A beeping sound went off, and the left wall of the copter slowly slid open. A step extended from underneath the copter’s floor, and Lewis motioned them to follow him outside. He marched ahead like the big shot he thought he was.

  At the roofed elevator bank, he was greeted with a formal, stiff hug by a man in a lilac linen suit. She knew the man, though she’d never met him. As part of her cover, she had to know Oliver’s fake memories by heart. The man was the director of the exclusive beachfront resort. After a quick sideways glance at Lewis, he approached Oliver and Luna with a big smile on his face. “Mr. and Mrs. Shaw, I am overjoyed to welcome you back to our beautiful resort.” He was obviously well aware of Oliver’s fake memories. He nodded to Lewis before he went on. “It is my great pleasure to inform you that Mr. Lewis personally had me reserve the honeymoon suite for you. He heard how much you enjoyed your romantic wedding here and therefore decided to have the annual GovCorp retreat at our humble premises.”

  Lewis good-naturedly patted the director’s arm and gave Oliver a big toothy smile. “I’m so happy you decided to accompany your lovely wife, despite your injuries.”

  According to Oliver’s memories, Lewis had already sponsored their wedding and honeymoon here to make amends for turning him rogue. Luna worked hard to keep the smile on her lips in place, incredulous to what lengths Lewis had gone. He must have been even more suspicious than she’d feared.

  Some of the bystander colleagues clapped their hands, and Lewis nodded self-indulgingly.

  Luna could practically feel Oliver seething next to her as he pulled her in a quick, steely hug and mumbled, “Bunch of brownnosers,” before he met Lewis’s gaze and returned his fake smile.

  To Luna’s great relief, a colleague started doing a little happy dance, squealing over the gazillion massage options displayed on one of the giant monitors.

  As the hotel director snagged Lewis’s attention, Oliver put an arm around her, quietly cursing. “Should have seen this coming from a mile away. Son of a bitch.” He kissed the top of her head and laughed with her as Lewis tossed another look their way, but Luna could feel the strain vibrating through his rigid body. She didn't know how he'd kept it together, but she was glad he’d weathered Lewis’s vile attempt to gauge a negative reaction. It was probably the first of many more to follow over the course of the next three days.

  Seething inside, Oliver pressed his thumb to the door scanner of the honeymoon suite. As he entered after Luna, everything looked perfectly familiar. GovCorp had gone to great lengths to feed him authentic memorie
s, from the plushy floral sofas of the sitting area, down to the colorful wicker fruit baskets on the side tables.

  Refusing to let this deter him, he pulled out his phone and started to scan for spyware as he maneuvered through the posh suite with the device in hand.

  Luna placed her purse on the four-poster king-size bed and opened their suitcase that had already been delivered to the room. “I told Lewis you’d be using spyware and drone detection and that he shouldn’t try to plant something. You’d only get suspicious if you found a bug or hidden camera.” She bit her lower lip and regarded him silently, keeping her distance.

  “Good.” He set the device on the bed and let it run. He didn’t trust Lewis’s word. Sliding the door to the spacious private balcony open, the intoxicatingly beautiful view of the Caribbean Sea and the wide stretch of platinum-colored sand that greeted him were exactly as he remembered. A place where memories were destined to be created. Or faked.

  He stepped outside and latched on to the balustrade, steeling himself against an onslaught of anger. In his memories, he and Luna had sat on the rattan love seat in the corner and watched the sun go down almost every night. What a fool he’d been. Adrenaline exploded through his veins, and he started pacing. She should have trusted him and told him the truth. How could she expect him to believe her now if she hadn’t believed in him in the first place?

  The soft slapping of flip-flops on the mosaic-tiled floor had him turn.

  Luna stood at the edge of the sliding door. “Are you all right?”

  “What does it look like?” He couldn’t just go for a run at the beach or blow off some steam at the gym. His broken rib had completely healed, and the stab wounds started to scab over. Still, Bergmann had warned him that they would break open again if he didn’t take it slow. Even a swim had been ruled out by the doctor.

  Luna regarded him through big chocolate eyes. “I’m so sorry you have to go through all this because of me. Do you think you can handle it?”

  A new wave of adrenaline tore through his body, and Oliver wanted to smash something. “You ripped my heart from my chest, and you stood by as they tore my real memories from my brain. What else could possibly be harder to handle?”

  Luna’s gaze dropped to her feet, and she leaned her forehead against the glass door.

  He sucked in a breath. “Don’t worry, I can do this.” The adrenaline wouldn’t kill him. And neither would her betrayal. He’d been one of the first to desert his kill squad and join the rebellion, and that had almost killed him four years ago. Disabling GovCop’s tracker in this bloodstream using high voltage had given him a heart attack. But in retrospect, it was nothing in comparison to what Luna had done to his heart.

  He turned and passed her on his way back into the suite.

  Despite his outbreak, Luna inched closer, pulling her red tank top over her head and wiggling out of the matching shorts. The lacy cream-colored bra and matching panties underneath gave her dark caramel skin an irresistible shimmer.

  His heart rate spiked instantly. “What are you doing?”

  “We could...” She cleared her throat and searched his eyes. “You know… You can do with me whatever you want. I deserve it.”

  His blood rushed south of the waistband of his slacks, although something about her words rubbed him the wrong way. Sex had worked in the past. At least as a temporary fix. But that was before she’d pushed his world off-center. He wouldn’t repeat the mistake he made at the fight club. Sleeping with her had only complicated things further. It was hard enough to keep his shit together as it was.

  Though she looked uncomfortable, her chin jutted out. “I mean it. You can’t go running. You can’t go to the gym or the fight club.”

  His nostrils flared. Did she really offer to prostitute herself in exchange for his cooperation? “It’ll take a little more than a fast lay to calm me down.” He pointed at her discarded top and shorts on the floor. “Put your damn clothes back on.”

  She stopped in her tracks and blinked. Casting her gaze down, she murmured, “Okay. I’ll go take a shower. Give you some privacy.” She turned on her heel and picked up her stuff before slipping into the bathroom.

  Groaning, he tossed some of the throw pillows off the bed before he sat down and pressed his palms to his pounding temples.

  The water started running in the bathroom a few seconds later. But he could still hear Luna sobbing behind the door, and the desperate sound tore at his insides. He raked his fingers across his skull. There had been a time when he would have done anything to protect her from pain. Now he was the source of her anguish. He needed to pull himself together. His being here wasn’t entirely her fault. He had alerted GovCorp when he went to the lawyers. It had been a stupid move. He dropped down on the floor and started doing push-ups, hoping the routine would tire him out without putting too much strain on his kidneys.

  A few minutes later, Luna stepped out of the bathroom wrapped in a big white shower towel. She crossed the room and pulled a lavender summer dress from her suitcase. Though her hair was wet, she’d pinned it up, and even from a distance, he could see a big bruise on her upper arm he hadn’t noticed before. He got up and walked over. “What the hell is this?”

  Luna pulled her makeup bag from the suitcase and wiggled a small tube in her hand. “Don’t worry. The camouflage will cover it up.” Then she flipped open the lid and squeezed a small amount of makeup on her fingers. She carefully dapped at the bruise until it was almost invisible.

  “When did that happen?”

  She evaded his eyes. “Really, it’s nothing.”

  It struck him like lightning. He did that. He’d grabbed her harder than he’d intended when she showed up at the fight club. “Was that me?”

  She just waved it off. “It’s okay.”

  Regret washed through him. “You shouldn’t have come to the club. There’s a reason why I always held back with you.”

  “Maybe I shouldn’t have come, but I don’t regret it. I love you, and I know you’d never hurt me on purpose.”

  She loved him. He wanted to believe her, but everything inside him screamed not to. She’d been too good at deceiving him. “Then why didn’t you confide in me? If you loved me, you would have trusted me.”

  She took a step closer but didn’t reach out to touch him. “I know, I keep asking myself the same question.”

  “Did you think I wouldn’t help you? Rat you out to the Committee?”

  She fidgeted with the seam of her dress. “I made a mistake. I was too scared.”

  A lump formed in his throat. “Of me?”

  “Of losing you. But that’s exactly what happened, right?” Her words were barely audible.

  He leaned his head back against the wall. He wanted to tell her she hadn’t and that everything would be okay. But it would be a lie. Since he found out about her betrayal, he’d been analyzing every word that fell from her lips, always wondering if she spoke the truth. And he had no idea how things would play out now that he was forced to spend the next three days with her. He didn’t have an answer, at least not a positive one.

  The sun-shaped holographic clock on the corner desk displayed 6:54 p.m., reminding him they were supposed to be downstairs for predinner cocktails in a few minutes. “We better get ready.”

  A shadow flitted across her face, and she nodded slowly. “I understand. I just need another minute.” She regarded him silently and opened her mouth as if she wanted to say something more, but then she grabbed her makeup bag from the suitcase and disappeared into the bathroom again.

  The strumming pain in his back shifted his attention away from her sad expression that mirrored his own feelings. He probably shouldn’t have done the push-ups. And it was time for his next shot. Opening his own travel bag, he pulled out the padded container with the syringes Bergmann had prepared. He removed the safety cap from the first syringe and pushed the needle into the vein in his forearm that Bergmann had pointed out to him. Tearing a hiss from his lips, the serum stung l
ike a million pins rushing through his system. But after a few deep breaths, the sharp pain abated, and his body relaxed. He pulled his T-shirt over his head and changed into a button-down white shirt.

  Leaving the bathroom, Luna dabbed at the shiny coat of red lipstick on her plump lips. After smacking them twice, she met his eyes. “I’m ready.”

  For a moment, his gaze refocused on her mouth again and heat flared inside him. Despite everything, there was nothing more he wanted to do than press her up against the wall and smash his mouth over those delicious lips. Instead, he tore his gaze from her and motioned toward the suite’s exit.

  She didn’t hesitate to take the hand he held out to her before he opened the door to step into the hallway. When the pads of their fingers touched, all-too-familiar tingles still rushed through his body, and the light smile that tugged at her mouth still made his heart squeeze. But the feeling was more bitter than sweet.

  As they entered the open-air terrace, restaurant people were already crowding around an enormous champagne pyramid next to a row of buffet tables laden with exotic foods. Forcing a smile on his lips, Oliver tugged Luna along, and they both took a glass when Lewis positioned himself in front of his waiting employees.

  Lifting his glass, the deputy director flashed his square teeth. “Don’t worry. I’ll save the big speeches for our great corporation’s fortieth anniversary tomorrow and the big charity gala in GovCorp City this weekend. Tonight, let me just say that I’m grateful for all the hard work each and every one of you is doing to ensure the thriving continuation of GovCorp. Without you, the work and life force of GovCorp, our great corporation wouldn’t be what it is today! Let’s lift our glasses to a beautiful, relaxing retreat!”

  Everybody did as he told them and cheered. The happy chatter made Oliver sick to his stomach. He knew that most of GovCorp’s employees didn’t have anything to do with the military program their scientists had created. But he could make out some faces in the crowd who had profited from the horrible things that had been done to him and countless other GVs before they’d started to rebel and demand their freedom. He sucked in a deep breath and forced himself to focus on the waves rolling softly onto the nearby shoreline.