Daniel lifted an arched eyebrow. “If that’s what you want, I’ll head there tomorrow morning.”
Her smile even felt catlike. “What in the world will we do with tonight?” Were his sweats tented? Why, yes. Excellent. Heavy footsteps sounded down the hallway, and she hustled back around her desk to sit. “We can talk about it later.”
Elton Cobb strode into the room and stopped instantly at seeing Daniel. “You put three of my men into the infirmary,” he barked.
Daniel just looked at him with no expression on his face.
Isobel watched both men, reminded of a film of fighting tigers she had watched years ago. They were both deadly and most likely sociopathic. While Daniel had more training, Cobb was seasoned and lacked remorse. It’d be an impressive battle, and she wasn’t sure who’d ultimately win. Daniel could probably take Cobb in a head-on fight, but Cobb would come at the younger soldier from behind.
She smiled. Things were certainly getting interesting.
Sheriff Elton Cobb stared at the bare-chested man eyeing him with no expression. Daniel Brown was the scariest motherfucker Cobb had ever met, and that was saying something. The guy was a deadly machine completely lacking in emotion, and he’d been created by Isobel to be just that. “My men?” Cobb probed, struggling to keep the man’s gaze.
Daniel shrugged. “The missions we’ll send them on when we’re back up and running aren’t like a typical milk run, Sheriff.”
Had there been a snide edge toSheriff? Cobb glared. “Train them. Don’t kill them.” If he had to teach both Daniel and Isobel a lesson in not to mess with him, he would. A bloody one. His hand itched to hold his gun. Not because he was afraid, of course. Just equipped.
“If your men die in training, they weren’t prepared anyway.” Daniel turned toward Isobel. “I’ll put together a plan for tomorrow and then run it by you later.” He moved past Cobb to the door.
Cobb instinctively pivoted to keep the man in his sights until he’d disappeared down the corridor. He was tempted to smother Daniel with a pillow one night. After drugging him. “That man is crazy.”
Isobel chuckled. “No. He’s just the perfect soldier. I worked hard to create him, you know.”
Cobb shut the door and moved to drop into a chair. “You’ve lost too many of your creations, and I think you need to offer more incentives for the remaining ones to stay. Especially Daniel.” Oh, Cobb might not like the asshole, but the soldier certainly got the job done. For now, Danny-Boy could stay—until Cobb figured out a suitable death. Something that would make Isobel eye him with alert contemplation, like she did Daniel. He could be deadly, too. “An incentive for Daniel should be one of your top plans.” Maybe if Daniel found an interest beyond Isobel, Cobb wouldn’t feel so off-center.
Isobel arched a finely plucked black eyebrow. “Interesting. Like what?”
“A woman,” Cobb said flatly. One that didn’t belong to Elton Cobb.
Isobel sat back. In her pressed white dress shirt and slim skirt, she was the epitome of a businesswoman. But Cobb knew what she liked, and he had plenty of mental images of her hair down and wild . . . around all that bare skin.
“Meaning?” she asked, her eyes like a cat’s.
Oh, she knew what he was saying. “Hire somebody to work here and seduce him.” It was all so simple, really. “Many men are led around by their dicks, as you know. That guy has never been in love, and when he falls, he’ll topple hard and fast. Let’s take advantage of that.” Cobb picked lint off his dark jeans. If Isobel thought she was leadinghimaround, she had it wrong.
Some women needed to feel pain, the real kind, before succumbing to love. His Isobel was one of those, and he hadn’t shown her enough to truly bind her to him. Yet.
Isobel tapped red nails on her glass desk. “Daniel is not interested in love.”
The dickhead probably had no clue how to love. “All the better.” Cobb narrowed his gaze. “Unless you’re saving him for some reason.”
Her tinkly laugh eased something in him. “Are you joking? I was there when that boy was born. Ew.” Her eyes were overbright and the tone of her voice was calm. Did she really believe those words? Was there a line she wouldn’t cross?
“Sorry.” Cobb glanced at the snowy field outside. “All men need sex.”
“Oh, I’m sure he’s getting sex.” At the word, Isobel’s blue eyes flared. “I had the best whores in the world teach those boys about sex, and they learned everything from seduction to technique. The way to motivate Daniel is by offering him a permanent home in the form of a job with our new facility. That’s all he has ever wanted.”
Well, the woman was brilliant and probably did know her creations. So long as she didn’t want to keep this one as a pet. “All right. What’s this plan he’s coming up with tomorrow?”
“He’s going after the Gray brothers,” Isobel said, slowly unbuttoning her shirt, her gaze remaining steady on Cobb as she referred to a group of brothers with gray eyes whom she’d created in test tubes and trained to be killers. “It’s time we hunted them down and brought them home.”
Cobb shook his head. “You said they escaped and have formed attachments.” He paused. “Or do you want your daughter back?” One of the Gray brothers had apparently married and knocked up Isobel’s only daughter.
“I’d love to see Audrey again, especially since she’s pregnant. Just think. Another generation of supersoldiers is now in the works.” Isobel’s eyes gleamed as she shrugged out of her shirt, revealing a lacy tan bra.
Cobb’s dick hardened. Was she seducing him because she wanted him or because half-naked Daniel had just revved up her engine? His chest prickled.
“I am so excited to see if the genetic alterations I made have been transferred to the kid. My grandbaby,” Isobel continued.
