“I don’t take kindly to being treated like a slave. I make my own fucking decisions.”
“How?” I allow my hold to loosen slightly this time. She needs to be able to ask me questions, and if I hold her any tighter, I could lose it and strangle her.
“The headaches. Middle of a fucking fight, Rebekah. I’m being told things by the scum I’m hunting, and next thing I know, my head is ready to explode, and they are escaping. You put me in a dangerous position.” I spit my words into her face, so she understands the level of anger supposedly surging through my body. “Why? When?” I ask.
“Years ago. I’m sorry,” she whimpers. “It was a prototype. All the boys have it now to make them feel no emotions. It causes you to forget. Makes you a better soldier. What are you going to do?” Her eyes are filled with tears. She knows the type of man I am with the chip. I’m a cold-blooded killer, and what I do next will convince her I’m the same without it.
I push her up the wall, so her feet are barely on the ground. She is gasping for air in my hands, and I know I could so easily kill her, but I can’t do it yet. Not until we have answers and freedom for everyone involved in this place, this nightmare of a life.
“Worried I’m going to kill you?” I smirk, and her lips move in a plea, but no words come out. “I should. I should shake the fucking life from you until you tell me everything you’ve done to me. I get I was a kid when I first started this, but not now. You know exactly what I’m capable of, and I’m pissed you don’t trust me enough. What have you made me forget?”
I inhale deeply and reluctantly let her go, but not without a push across the room; she stumbles and falls to the floor but recovers quick enough to spin around and look at me from the ground.
“You don’t remember anything?”
“You aren’t getting it, are you? I don’t give a shit about what happened in the past. This is the man I am now, Rebekah. I’m your employee. I’ve had my fucking dick inside you before, yet you don’t trust me. You put a chip in my head which controlled me. It made me do things at your order.” I bring my fist up and slam it into the wall. The plaster shatters underneath, and I savor the pain. It reminds me I’m me again.
“It was part of the plan to develop the business. You were only a kid then. It had to be done. I saw the potential in you, and I’ve asked for it to be removed several times, but the doctors were concerned about what would happen if they did.”
“Well, you can tell them nothing happened.”
“What?”
“The chip’s gone.”
She pales.
“How?”
“You don’t need to know. All you need to understand now is that in front of you is Archer King, the man in charge of discipline and security. A person you need to fucking trust, because if I find out you pull any other moves like that, then you’ll regret it.”
She gulps when I storm over to where she still sits on the floor.
“What you see is what you get, Rebekah. I was a killer before you put the chip in my head. It’s what I was brought up to be. I lost my conscience the day my parents died. This, for fuck’s sake, is my life. You think I’m going to walk away from it? From the elegant suits, the money, the pussy?” I force a smirk onto my lips at the last comment.
“But. What about . . .?” she pauses. “You really remember nothing but what you are?”
“A trained killer,” I answer, knowing she was about to question my memories of Samara.
“The trail you were on. Who was it?”
God, help me for what I’m about to do.
“A bitch. She said she was once here. She seemed to know me, but I’ve no recollection of her. She’s after revenge. If I hadn’t had a sudden migraine, you would have her head on a platter in front of you right now.” I shrug with annoyance.
“We have to get her. Put a stop to whatever she’s planning.”
“Don’t worry. That’s exactly what I’m going to do.”
Rebekah gets to her feet and places her hand on my broad chest.
“I’m sorry. I wanted to stop them from using the chip. They thought you might be hurt or turn against us if it stopped working. You were too valuable of a commodity to lose.”
I snort. “Commodity. That was your mistake, Rebekah, I’m just as bad as you are. Money and power motivate me. I want this as much as you do.”