Lost and Found (Masters & Mercenaries: The Forgotten #2)(124)

Owen could answer that one. “He’s a pathetic pervert who can’t understand why no one wants to sleep with him. But it’s all right. I’m going to make it easy for him. I’m going to cut that prick right off you, Carter. Then you won’t have to worry about it again.”

Carter’s eyes went wide. “It’s in my desk. It’s a letter that asks Becca to keep this for her. For old times’ sake. It’s a thumb drive. It’s got a bunch of medical research and files on it. Tabula Rasa. I think it’s illegal. She was testing on humans, and I think she was doing it against their will. Becca was involved. She was in on it.”

“She had no idea and if you decide to tell anyone, the next time you see me will be right before I slit your throat,” Owen promised. “Do I make myself clear? If you have other copies, tell me now because I won’t take it kindly.”

He shook his head. “None. That’s the only one. I bribed the postal worker to let me take them to her. I looked through her mail so I would know her better. I was trying to find things we had in common.”

“You have nothing in common.” Owen found the desk and opened the top drawer. There was a box with Becca’s name on it. It was posted from Malaysia. Dr. McDonald had reportedly held several of the men, including Tucker, there. Owen picked it up and made sure the thumb drive was there. The desk had nothing else of interest in it, though the man needed to lay off the mints. “If you come anywhere near her again, I’ll kill you. If you talk about her, I’ll kill you. Do you know what I’ll do if I even find out you whisper her name again?”

“You’ll kill me?” The question came out on a squeak.

“It’s good that we understand each other.” He turned to the door. “Let’s go.”

He was done here. It was time to deal with the real problem.

“I would take back my hair clips, but I don’t know what you’ve done to them,” Becca said. “And while I took a vow to do no harm, that doesn’t mean I can’t let him do you harm. Asshole.”

Owen stalked down the hall to the lift. It was a fitting place to have this particular conversation.

“I can’t believe he did that to me. I can’t believe I didn’t realize he was such a pervert. Cathy told me she didn’t like him, but I was trying to be tolerant,” she said as she hustled into the lift.

She hit the button for one and the doors closed, but he knew how to handle the lift.

He pressed the emergency stop button and turned on her, holding the package out. “This is yours.”

She took it but stared at it like she wasn’t sure what to do. “Ezra wants it.”

“Then give it to him if you like, but if you don’t then you keep it. You do what you need to with it whether or not that means giving it to my team. I’ll fight to make sure it’s your right.” That was out of the way and he could get to his point. “If you think I’m letting you go without a fight, you don’t know me at all. Maybe I don’t know myself, but I do know this, I’m not quitting. I love you and I’m not going to stop saying it.”

She frowned up at him. “I know you think you do, but I’m not going to hold you to it. It’s guilt. I turned out to not be the crazy person you thought I might be, so now you feel bad about using me.”

Was she daft? “I love you. I’ve never said that to anyone before.”

“That you can remember.”

“Don’t you hold that against me. I know what love feels like. And I never thought you were crazy. I had a moment of weakness. Please don’t let that ruin us.”

“Ruin us?” She crossed her arms over her chest. She was in a deep red cardigan today that let him know she’d done some shopping while he’d been waiting for her. “What are you talking about? Owen, I think we should wait to talk about this.”

“Wait? You think if you put me off this will go away?”

She leaned back against the lift wall. A soft smile curled up her lips. “Where would it go? Owen, I think your brothers are mean. Did they tell you I quit Huisman?”

No. No one had told him shite. When he’d asked, they’d all simply said he should talk to her. This was his first chance to do it. “Why would you quit?”

“Because I have a new job and it pays horribly and my lab apparently is going to consist of a couple of rooms in this club thing,” she said. “I didn’t stay away from you because I don’t care. When Phoebe managed to get the charges dropped, I flew home for a day and a half to talk to my dad. I needed to explain things to him, and he agreed that I have to do this. I have to fix this. I’m going to London to work on reversing Dr. McDonald’s work. I’m going to get Robert’s memory back. And yours. But you might not want me when you remember. That’s what I’ve been thinking about for days. Memory is a funny thing. It’s a part of our personalities. It’s the sum of the forces that shape us. You could wake up one morning and not want me anymore.”

Not want her? “Never. I’ll never not want you. I don’t care what memories come back to me, you’ll be the first thing I think of every morning and the only woman in my dreams at night. Becca, I love you. I think I’ve loved you from the moment I saw you. Oh, my love, if I get my memories back, the old ones can’t erase the new ones. They can’t erase what I feel for you.”