“Braden, what are you doing?”
He grinned at me. “Showing you what I do.” He waved his arm around the room. “This is the most advanced medical equipment in the country. I can cure almost anything here.”
“Shouldn’t you…tellsomeone?”
He laughed again, like I was being clever. I’m never being clever.
“I can’t wait to get some electrodes on you,” he said. “And we’ll need a fasting sample, too. Maybe tomorrow morning.”
“Why? Am I sick?”
“No, you’re perfect. You’re exquisite.”
“Do you have some weird medical kink?”
He shrugged. “Maybe. A little. I just geek out over stuff like this. I like to see what makes people tick. I like to decode them.”
I pictured Braden unravelling my DNA and selling it off for parts.
“This is a sales pitch, isn’t it? Where you sell me juices based on my blood type? Because Ginger and I tried those. It’s a pyramid scheme.”
Braden picked up my hand. The one that was clenched around the chair.
“Agatha, why can’t you accept that I’m exactly what I look like? A billionaire genius who can’t take his eyes off you.”
That was yesterday.
I spent most of the day with him and didn’t see Ginger till late in the afternoon. “Where have you been?” she asked. Herwhole face was shining. “Don’t tell me, I already know—youlikehim, don’t you?”
“Who?”
“Don’t give me that. Josh saw the two of you in the members’ wing. You like him!”
“I don’t know,” I said. “I suppose he’s interesting.”
“Interesting? He’s handsome and powerful, and he eats cleaner than anyone I’ve ever met. No grain, no meat, no nightshades, no dairy.”
“What does that leave, Ginger?”
“So much! Nut meats, plant proteins, green vegetables, algae—”
“Right,” I cut her off. I gave up meat when I left England, as well as any animal by-product that isn’t freely given—but these people will scrape your whole plate into the trash if you let them.
“I can’t believe Braden allowed you into the members’ wing,” Ginger said. “I’ve been cleansing for weeks to prepare. I think he’s going to let you skip some steps in the programme. He likes yousomuch.”
“I’m not in any programme.”
She grabbed my hands excitedly. “Agatha! What if we get to level uptogether?”
“I’m not levelling up,” I insisted. “I’m just… talking to a boy.”
“You’re evolving before my very eyes. You’re at least forty per cent activated.”
I rolled my eyes.
But I still let Braden give me another VIP tour before dinner. He showed me the grounds. Gardens, golf course, greenhouse. “You’re missing your retreat,” I said.
“The goal of the retreat is to focus,” he replied. “I feel very focused.”
