My heart begins to race and the need to escape, to get away, to protect myself and my possible unborn baby, grows with every passing second.
Just as I try to move my arms again and find them still restrained, the stranger breaks the tense silence.
“That is, if you think she’s worth the effort of salvaging.”
I freeze as I sense someone moving closer to me. Cracking my eyes open just enough to peek out of them, I see Alexei’s dark form stalking toward me through my lashes.
The look on his face is so icy, so foreboding, I squeeze my eyes shut again.
“Ah… that’s what I’m not sure of,” Alexei admits. “Is she worth the effort?”
I can’t see him, but I can sense his presence looming over me, nearly smothering me with the weight of it.
“Only you can decide that,” the doctor says quietly.
A hand touches my head and brushes my hair back. And it’s everything I can do not to squirm or giveaway that I’m conscious and aware of what’s happening.
“Explain the process and the odds of success,” Alexei says.
“Well, there are a few options,” the stranger says thoughtfully. “We could use medication to terminate any possible chance of pregnancy, but it might not take.”
Alexei sighs. “So what do you suggest?”
“A preventive termination via menstrual extraction.”
The words bang around inside my head, not making any sense.
“And, pray tell, what is that?” Alexei asks with a hint of irritation.
“A simple suction procedure that will remove anything unwanted in her womb.”
Fuck me. This guy wants to vacuum out my insides? Are you shitting me?
Sounding almost bored now, Alexei asks, “And the chance of success?”
His hand continues to stroke my hair back, and I pray to God I don’t start to break out in a cold sweat.
The doctor sounds overly cocky as he says, “In my hands, I can assure you one hundred percent.”
One hundred percent… One hundred percent chance that if Gabriel’s baby is inside me, this fucking butcher of a doctor will kill it.
Alexei’s hand stills against my hair as he asks with more interest, “And she’ll be able to have more children after the procedure?”
“Of course,” the doctor says almost cheerfully. “If you like, you can begin to breed her immediately.”
Breed me?
Breed me?!
“Oh? There’s no recovery time?”
The doctor snickers. “None is needed. The procedure itself might be long and painful, but once it’s completed her body will be ready to be impregnated.”
God help me. Is there no end to this fucking madness?
“How soon can you perform the procedure?” Alexei asks, sounding eager now.
Bile rises up in my throat and I fear I might be sick. Once again, I attempt to move my arms and legs, but there’s absolutely no give.
“Immediately. Thanks to our current operation, we already have all the equipment on hand.”
“Excellent,” Alexei says, and he moves away, taking the unwanted touch of his hand with him.
Hinges creak as a door swings open, and I peek open my eyes once again.
This time Alexei’s eyes meet mine, glittering with dark amusement.
He smiles at me and then looks to the man seated between my spread legs.
“I’ll leave you to it, Doctor. Inform me when the procedure is completed.”
21
Gabriel
Racing into the warehouse parking lot, I slam on the breaks as hard as I can before yanking the gearshift of the truck into park. It’s going to kill the fucking transmission treating it like this, but I don’t have any other choice.
Every second Meghan isn’t in my protection is a second that fucker could be hurting her.
The truck swings sideways as we come to a screeching halt.
We’ve got luck on our side to the extent that the entrance to the warehouse and parking lot looks like a giant upside-down L. Trees and small buildings hide our approach, giving us the opportunity to get the jump on these dick-sticks.
Johnathan and I slide out of the driver’s side of the Lexus so we can get a good angle on the building and the two guards in front of it. Both guards stand at the office portion of the warehouse, guarding the door. So far, these are the only ones dumb enough to stand outside where we can get to them this fucking easily.
Both guards go down quickly as Johnathan and I bring our M4’s up to our shoulders and let out two suppressed shots. Blood, skull, and brain matter splat against the wall behind them before they drop to the hard asphalt.
The office portion of the building is entirely made up of bricks, with one steel-framed door for its entry. The rest of the warehouse is made of sheet metal. We knew this fucking door would be the biggest issue for us getting in.
Big issues mean big ideas. Our big idea is a shit ton of plastic explosive.
Johnathan sprints up to the door before us, his hands already moving to place the plastic explosive to take out the door frame and hopefully fuck with whoever’s in the room behind the door.