“He’s a liar. One who deserves to die. One who I already promised to help you deal with. I got you a name, you should have trusted me to find out where he was.”
“We were desperate.”
“I understand that, but I don’t want you going rogue again.”
“You're not firing us?”
Not killing us?
“Don’t be ridiculous. But I won't pretend I'm not disappointed and angry about what you did. Rose deserves better. Do I need to send in a team to extract her?”
They both knew if he did, that Delta Team could kill them all without blinking. But they both also knew that they wouldn't. Prey was filled with good men and women who put their lives on the line every day to save innocents and make the world a safer place. Killing any of them, especially when they would be trying to rescue an innocent woman being held captive, would truly make them the monsters they believed themselves to be.
“No. She’s safe with us even if she doesn’t believe it.”
“Then make her believe it,” Eagle said like it was that simple. “Don’t waste an opportunity for a future because you believe the lies you were told in the past.”
With that, his boss ended the call, leaving Steel sitting there, staring at his cell phone, wondering how Eagle could have more faith in his humanity than he did.
December 29th
3:42 P.M.
Sometimes boredom could be as bad as overstimulation.
As a child, Rose had experience with both. Since she was homeschooled, she was expected to learn at double or triple the rate that children typically would in a regular school. Her brother expected perfect grades from her and created his own program for her to study, a combination of what their parents had used with him, and his own tweaks based on his experience. Most of her day was taken up with that schoolwork and her chores. There was barely time for her to catch her breath, and she usually collapsed into sleep at the end of the day, not even bothered by the hard wooden bed she slept on.
Then there were the days when Ridge flew into a rage and locked her in a closet, or the basement, or the dreaded well. On those days, there was nothing to do but count down the seconds until it was over.
Rarely did her brother keep her locked up for more than a handful of days at the most. He needed her to do the chores, and he wanted to believe she could be trained and molded into the perfect protégé. Someone who would work with him and carry on their parents’ legacy.
If Rose hadn't faked being bad at biology and chemistry, she doubted she would have escaped him.
But she had, and in the end, she’d wound up a prisoner anyway.
And now she was dying with boredom as she paced around her room getting more irritated with each step.
She could handle the pain. It was annoying, and it made her want to curl up in a ball and hide from the world, but it was familiar and that made it bearable. Some dizziness lingered, but she wasn't sure if it was the head injury or the fact that no one had brought her any food since she was locked in there last night.
Maybe they weren't really going to work with her. Maybe they’d just wanted to lull her into a false sense of security, but were really planning on leaving her to slowly starve to death.
Rose was just contemplating throwing herself at the first person to step through the door, assuming someone would—and if they didn't, she’d break the glass in the window and jump and pray for the best—when the doorknob jiggled.
A moment later, it swung open, and Steel stepped in, a stack of bags and boxes in his arms.
She might have gone with her plan, attacking the only way she could, even though she knew it wouldn’t have the desired effect, wouldn't even if she wasn't covered head to foot in bruises, if nothing else, it would have made her feel better. But Steel didn't close the door behind him, and he shot her a smile as he walked to the bed and began setting things down.
He knew he’d left the door open, there was no way he couldn’t. Maybe he just wasn't worried about her trying to escape again because he knew he and his team could take her, or maybe he was trying to build trust.
Part of her hoped it was the latter, but that was a thought she ruthlessly squashed. The only chance Steel and the others had at breaking her was if she allowed herself to fall for the mind games. They were working with her to get what they wanted, not to be nice to her.
“Didn't know what you like so I got some of everything,” Steel said. There was a note to his voice that hadn't been there before, only she didn't know what to make of it.
“Some of what?” she asked, eyeing the bags with a hint of curiosity.
“Everything,” he repeated, looking over his shoulder and shooting her a wide smile.
When he did that … damn, he was one good-looking man. Terrifying sure, but so handsome it almost hurt to look at him.
