26
Merc stood therein stunned silence, heart thundering in his ears as her words replayed over and over in his head.You don’t even have a family…
He didn’t have a past either. Or a future.
Marissa possessed more deadly skill than he could have imagined. She’d been able to take his touch and mock the desire they’d both felt. She’d denied him. Used him.
He’d been a fool.
If that really was Marissa, and Mr. J had raised her from infancy, she didn’t have a heart, let alone a soul. And that meant Merc had severely under estimated J again.
Fuck. She’d be headed straight to steal the intel on Operation Midnight and, if J had his way, probably murder Cotter.
Merc darted out of the room, yanking his wrist to his mouth and speaking into the communications piece. “I need eyes on the target.”
He hit the top of the staircase and froze. She was at the bottom of the stairs, Rainier’s arm wrapped possessively around her waist. Fury unlike anything Merc had ever felt overtook him.
No matter how much Merc told himself he'd seen the hurt and pain in her expression, her words left him feeling empty. Hollow. Worse than before when he’d only been a soldier with no memory. A man with no family.
It took everything he had to convince himself his Caroline, or whatever her name was, was here for a different reason. She was being forced to do what she did.
He had to believe it.
He'd known from the way her blue eyes went brittle that she was lying through her teeth when she told him he was just a fling, but he still felt the agony. Still had to stand there and force himself to calm down as she took the arm of her ex-fiancée and led him away, her body plastered to the other man's.
Merc clenched his hands into fists, knowing he'd be sent to prison for killing a four-star General, even though that's exactly what he wanted to do when he saw the way the man looked at her. The way he touched her. Dammit.
“Where the hell were you two? Ya’ll completely disappeared from the cameras.” Hunter James jogged down the hallway, his team leader still in the black tactical pants and shirt they normally wore.
“Just talking in a bedroom. Everything's fine.” Or it would be as soon as he got to the bottom of the situation. He'd seen the way she flinched when he called her Caroline, reinforcing his belief that that was not Caroline Cotter but Marissa downstairs pretending to be her sister.
“Where is Caroline? You're supposed to be with her,” Hunter said.
Merc forced himself back to the present. “Visiting with the General downstairs.”
“And you just let her go? Which room?”
Merc realized with a start he wasn't sure, they’d disappeared around the edge of the staircase and there were a number of rooms back there. “Don't worry, I've got her. Get back to the room and keep an eye on everyone.”
Merc took the stairs quickly at first, and then slower near the bottom. The last thing he wanted to do was draw attention to himself any more than was necessary.
The lobby remained crowded with guests dressed in gowns and tuxedos laughing and clinking glasses together, the dull roar of chatter an annoyance. Aaron and Ranger stood sentry on each side of the door, checking guests as they entered. Merc caught Ranger's attention and gave a head nod. His two teammates had it well under control out here.
Merc moved left, weaving through small groups of people, most of which were around Senator Cotter's own age. He had a hard time picturing any of these people to be Caroline Cotter's friends, not that it had been Caroline who'd hugged the General’s arm.
“Excuse me,” he turned sideways and kept moving toward the ballroom, pointedly ignoring a redheaded woman's open invitation.
How could she have tricked him like this? And how could he not listen to his instincts? It was like when it came to Caroline or Marissa or whoever she was, he'd developed a blind spot.
Merc kept moving, glad he was taller than anyone here, within minutes he'd easily spotted her blond head in the far corner, next to the General. Dammit, he took another step forward, but the crowd was so thick he didn't make any headway. He cut for the wall at the edge of the room, circling the crowd to get to her. If Cotter and Rainier were in the experiment together, then Marissa could be working him right now.
But as Merc neared, he could see her pale drawn expression and realized she didn't want to be anywhere close to the man. Rainier held her arm, keeping her at his side, while he talked and visited with the people passing by.
Merc didn't know for sure who she was or why she was here, but he knew deep inside that no matter what, he'd find a way to wipe that strained expression off her face.
“Don't look so shockeddear, people will wonder what's wrong.” The General smiled and dipped his head closer to hers, his overpowering cologne burning her nostrils. “Can't have my future bride looking like she wants to throw up every time I'm around.”
Nightshade tried to snatch her hand free, but he tightened his grip locking her in place. She'd have to cause a scene to break from him, and the last thing she wanted to do tonight was draw more attention to herself. “Didn't the Senator tell you the wedding is off.”
