Fucking Steven.From the first meeting to the last, the petulant little farmhand made him want to feel what it was like to crush a windpipe with his hands. No guns. No teeth. But a dry, quiet death.
Zeph glanced down to see his skin turning green.
It’s getting worse.
He looked at the door longingly.
Somehow the distance between him and those within the room grew further apart. He pressed his hand to the door and sighed, wishing he could see through the wall at that moment.
Maybe if he got Lily to love him…her older sister would quickly follow.
Bastard.
Janet could take all of him. He didn’t need a child to help him out, although he wasn’t honorable enough not to use every weapon in his arsenal. Zeph blamed it on his coding, his ingrained military tactics, but those were all very convenient excuses. He wasn’t trying to be excused. He wanted to be invited.
Footsteps approached the door from within and he backed up a step, his muscles tensing. He thought he was ready to be enveloped again by Janet’s scent, but barely stifled a groan as the door slowly opened.
Their eyes met through the crack.
Janet’s lovely brow creased as a smile formed on his lips.
“Why am I not surprised?” she whispered, looking back into the room for a moment before opening the door wider and stepping out. He saw Lily sleeping on the bed a moment before the door closed behind her. Janet walked into the passageway, coming closer to him freely.
“I needed to speak with you. You happened to open the door before I could knock.” Zeph nodded toward the room. “Good thing I didn’t. Is Lily doing all right?”
“Don’t pretend you care about her.” Janet crossed her arms. “Are you spying on us through the android?”
Straight shooter.Zeph shrugged. “If you mean by listening in, sure. It’s a good way to check on you when I can’t get close.” What was the point in lying now?
“And what about looking at us through it? I’ll find a way to dismember you if you’re watching us.”
His smile faded. “I’m not watching you.”
“How do I know you’re telling the truth? Lily is just a child,” Janet said, her arms tightening across her middle. “We need our privacy. We deserve that much.”
“You really think so little of me?” His voice lowered. “You fucking know I’d do anything to keep you and Lily safe. Even from me, even from yourselves. If I wanted to watch you, I’d force you to remain by my side.”
“So you’re not watching us?”
“No, for fuck’s sake.”Now ask me if I’m licking the things that your mouth has touched.
Janet sighed and her arms loosened to fall to her sides. “I believe you.” She lifted a hand to her cheek. “I hate that I do but,” she tore her gaze from his and looked around them, “I’m getting serious deja vu.”
“Welcome to deep space,” he said hurriedly.
“We need to talk.”
“Then let’s talk.”
Janet shifted on her feet, and without fully turning her back to him, opened the cabin door and looked back into the room. He could’ve told her Lily was entering a REM cycle but that would come off as a little too strange. Although, knowing such things wasn’t strange at all for him.
She turned back to him. “I don’t want to leave her,” she whispered. “What if she wakes up and I’m not there?”
Zeph stepped toward the room and ignored Janet’s immediate stiffening as he pushed the door open to look in. The room was spotless except for the toys scattered around the floor and the gaming tablet on the table.
“That’s why you have a nanny,” he whispered back as he seeded into Bin-one. The android was sequestered in the lavatory.
“That android?”
