Page 76 of Gorgeous Misery

I hold in my anger. It does you no good to fuck things up now, Nick. You’ve come this far. Hold it together. So when I say, “Wake her up. Now,” I am almost able to hide the snarl.

Merc is focused on Wendy now, so he’s not paying much attention to my mood as he messes with a tackle box filled with ampules of drugs and lots of syringes. He fills a syringe and pushes the drug into her IV. Moments later, Wendy begins to cough.

“That’s normal. It’s just a reflex.”

I know this. And I tell myself that I know this. It’s just a side effect of the drugs he’s using. Wendy is OK. She’s gonna be fine. But it hurts me to see her like this. I actually have a pain in my chest as I watch Merc check her vitals. I have an urge to do it myself, but luckily the inner voice calms me down and reminds me to step back.

There is no logical reason to be emotional right now. It’s all gonna work out.

But giving yourself the pep talk and actually buying into the pep talk are two very different things.

“You OK there, partner?”

I turn and find Harrison looking at me intently. He comes across as worried—which is understandable, since I’m having a silent freakout. And he probably is concerned, but he’s not just concerned.

He’s suspicious.

Yeah. Harrison is a wild card and I need to be careful around him. I didn’t realize he was as tuned in as the rest of us and that was a mistake. Not a fatal one, but it’s serious enough that I need to make sure he doesn’t become the reason I fail.

“I’m fine,” I say. Merc is ignoring us. Wendy is trying to sit up now and he’s focused on removing her IV before she rips it out. I want to pay all the attention to her recovery, but Harrison is still looking at me, so I feel the need to keep going with him. “I’m pissed, actually. I mean, what the actual fuck? You knew who she was, you knew this was a bad idea—”

“I’m OK.” I turn and find Wendy trying to smile at me. “It’s OK, Nick. I’m OK.”

I walk over to her, kneel down, and smile as we lock eyes. It’s a real smile. “You sure?”

She nods. Then she narrows her eyes and directs a scowl to Merc. “You’re an asshole. Stay the fuck away from me. And I mean that. If you—”

“OK,” I say, cutting her off. “He gets it.” I send Merc the compulsory warning look, which just makes him narrow his eyes at me, daring me to threaten him. But I don’t. We’re done with Merc for the moment. I want Wendy all to myself. “Come on.” I brace her against my shoulder and help her to her feet.

“Whoa. Slow down there. She needs to sit for a while or she’ll just pass out.”

“I got this,” I tell Merc. “I’m taking her to the bedroom.”

Merc looks like he wants to object, but Harrison cuts in. “Let him go. We need to talk, anyway.” And then he’s also narrowing his eyes at me.

Lots of suspicion being thrown around this room at the moment. And I should probably hang back and wait for Harrison to voice his concerns to Merc, just so I’m up to speed. But fuck them. I need to get Wendy somewhere private, and that needs to happen now.

I pick Wendy up, cradling her in my arms, and then I take her into the bedroom and kick the door closed with my foot. I set her down on the bed, then turn, lock the door, and let out a long breath. “Are you sure you’re OK?”

Wendy coughs again and sits up, like she needs to catch her breath. I’m instantly hot with anger over how this played out. “Wendy.” My voice is stern now. Because if she ignores me, then she won’t have to answer. And if she doesn’t answer, then she doesn’t have to lie either.

She takes a couple more breaths. “I’m OK. I promise. It was—”

“Never mind that. We’ll talk about that later.” Her speckled blue eyes meet mine and she coughs again. “In private,” I whisper. This makes her look up and around for surveillance. I don’t know if Merc broke into my control room and took over my cameras and microphones in the house, but if I were running his side of this little operation, that’s what I would’ve done.

Wendy nods, getting it.

“Now tell me the truth. Are you really OK?” I’m not so worried about the coughing. I know this is a side effect of the drugs Merc used. They tighten up the alveoli in the lungs and this is what triggers that reflex. It’s not going to kill her. The symptoms will wear off over the course of the evening

What I’m worried about is her mind.

He was inside her.

It feels every bit the violation it sounds like.

He was in her head. He had control of her. He manipulated her.

And I. Am. Pissed.