When Matt coughed loudly, Kat couldn’t help but wonder if her nervous ramblings were the cause. It was a habit she’d had since she was a young girl. One he used to love teasing her about.
“It’s okay.” Jake offered a kind smile. “Just take your time.”
After filling her lungs once more, Kat began again. “This particular formula is for a special serum commissioned by the government. It’s been slated for military use only, and in my opinion, is the most important thing we’ve ever done.”
“What’s so special about it?”
Everything.This project was the sole reason she’d continued working for Anderson. Not because she felt any sort of loyalty to him. Not even close.
Kat glanced around the room. “With our serum, thousands of American soldiers’ lives will be saved. Maybe more.”
Chapter 3
“Spit it out, already, Doc,” Matt ordered impatiently. He knew he was being a dick, butfuck.
How the hell was he supposed to react to seeing her again? Not only that, but he had to sit here while she talked about her job at the super important lab owned by her rich as fuck former father-in-law. Seriously?
At least he’s a former and not current.
Matt shot that thought down hard. There was no ‘at least’ in this situation. He wouldn’t have given a flying fuck if she’dstill been married. Just like he didn’t give a shit aboutheranymore.
So why did your chest tighten when she talked about the explosion and the break-in?
That was pure coincidence, he told himself. Probably something he ate.
To make matters even worse—as if that were even possible at this point—he had to continue to stare at her gorgeous face while listening to the sexy, sultry voice that once had the power to bring him to his knees.
Still does.
Shut the fuck up!
Christ. Now he was arguing with his own subconscious. No wonder he was grumpy as shit.
Maybe, if he was lucky, she’d get mad at him and leave. Jake would be pissed, but it would be worth a slap on the wrist if it meant getting her out of here.
Flickering an annoyed glance his way, Kat revealed the supposedly huge government secret.
“My team and I developed a serum that can slow down the body’s response to trauma.”
Okay, so thatdidsound sort of cool. He and the others remained silent, so Kat continued to explain further.
“Basically, it works on both the cellular and molecular levels to deter a person’s normal physical reactions when they’ve sustained an injury.”
“How?” Zade asked the same question rolling through Matt’s mind.
“I’m sure you’re all well aware of how adrenaline works in the body, yes?”
She was in a room full of former-military badasses who now worked the private sector.Brilliant assumption, Kat.
The other guys all responded with nods, but Matt kept his emotionless expression going strong.
“Okay, good. So, when we’re injured, our brain signals the release of adrenaline to help combat the pain, sometimes to the point where we aren’t even aware of the injury until a few seconds, or in some cases, minutes later. Not only that, but there have been thousands of reports of people becoming uncharacteristically stronger, more focused, even during high-stress situations such as the ones you’ve all experienced.”
“Are you saying this serum your lab has been creating is some kind of synthetic adrenaline?” Kole asked.
Matt gave his teammate a look. “That’s what epinephrine is, dumb ass.”
“Sort of,” Kat answered Kole. “However, what we’ve been developing is much more advanced than your average epi pen. This stuff will slow your heart rate, which in turn, slows the bleeding. It makes it so you don’t feel pain. Or, if you do, it won’t be enough to keep you from being able to defend yourself or your teammates. Your breathing remains more even, as opposed to the heaving breaths we tend to take in when we’re hurting.”
