Lost and Found (Masters & Mercenaries: The Forgotten #2)(28)

“She’s smiling at herself in the mirror.” Tucker looked up as they walked into the flat. He sat at the kitchen table, a laptop in front of him. “She went inside, put her stuff down, and now she’s kind of staring at herself.”

Sasha sat beside him, a glass of what looked like water, but was more than likely vodka, in his hand. “She looks incredibly pleased with herself. What did you do, Owen?”

Luckily, Robert ignored Sasha altogether. “Give us an update on everything that happened with her. I’ll be honest, we weren’t entirely sure she was the person with you in the elevator until that kid Colin came in. We thought you might be alone. Jax was about to go into the shaft and rescue you.”

“I’m good at fixing things,” Jax admitted.

“But then Colin, who looks a lot like the human version of a chihuahua, came in,” Ezra explained. “Apparently Dr. Walsh is vocal in the residents’ association meetings. Colin is scared of her, but then I think he might be scared of a stiff breeze. Are you okay?”

“I’ve been in a lift for four hours,” he said because he had something to take care of. He couldn’t have simply pulled the thing off and tossed it aside. He’d been trying to be a gentleman around Becca. “I’m hitting the loo before we have this debrief.”

Because the debrief could turn into his firing. Could they fire him? They didn’t actually pay him, so they probably couldn’t fire him. Of course they could kick his arse out on the street.

And he could show up at Becca’s. He might be able to worm his way in. She was lonely. He was lonely. They could not be lonely together.

Shouldn’t he be more worried about how they would take things? Apparently righteously good sex put him in a mellow mood.

“Need to clean up, do you, Romeo?” Sasha asked with a deep chuckle.

He turned and headed to the bathroom because he hadn’t exactly gotten rid of the condom and it was starting to feel nasty.

He handled his business and washed his hands, looking at himself in the mirror. Was this what Becca was doing? Staring at herself because what had happened in that lift seemed to have changed her somehow? He felt it. Something had shifted in his life, but in this moment all he could think about was his past and how far he’d had to come to get to the second he’d held a hand out and opened the lift doors for the woman. The horrible rash he’d had from the drugs he’d been given had faded over the long months. He was back to being strong again. It had taken him almost two years, but he could hold his own in a fight. He’d had to relearn how to walk practically, and that hadn’t come from his memory loss.

Becca would call it a side effect. Dr. McDonald’s drug would almost surely have a black box warning. Side effects may include complete and utter loss of self, rashes that decimate the skin, and overnight atrophy. That meant his muscles stopped working. At least he thought that’s what the doctors had meant.

He had a handsome face, but it was different from the one he’d had before. There wasn’t a lot of light in his eyes. He didn’t smile the way the bugger in the photos did—like he hadn’t a care in the world. Except he had. He should have cared about the fact that he was a disloyal bastard who should have trusted his team.

Did any of them actually trust him?

Should Becca Walsh trust him?

He picked up his bag and strode back into the room where his whole team seemed to be arguing. Apparently the movers had done their job and the decent-sized apartment was filled with boxes and furniture.

“It’s not a bad thing,” Robert was saying. “Being alone with her probably allowed Owen to lay the groundwork for our cover. Unless they didn’t get along, and then we’re fucked.”

“I would be surprised if that’s the case. River and I like her a lot,” Jax replied. “She’s easy to get along with. You’ll see. We’re having her over for dinner. It’s good that she’ll already be comfortable with Owen.”

“I bet she’s incredibly comfortable with Owen.” Sasha was staring at the laptop screen.

“I don’t know.” Ezra paced in front of the fireplace. “There’s a reason Tag put him in a backup role.”

“Owen can handle himself,” Robert replied with a confidence that Owen was pretty sure he was about to shake because he couldn’t hide this one. “According to all his records he was good in the field.”

“Yeah, well, he doesn’t remember a damn thing and he didn’t get the training the rest of you had,” Ezra pointed out.

“You mean the training where we were tortured and forced to commit crimes?” Jax’s arms had gone over his chest and his stare was steely.

“The training where a crazy bitch doctor pumped us all full of drugs and then proceeded to force us to try to kill each other? That training?” Dante walked in from the kitchen, a beer in his hand.

Yeah, he hadn’t been forced to survive that. What had happened to him had been brief. She’d only managed to dose him once, though it seemed to have been enough.

Then why have you started to remember things you shouldn’t? Little things like how it feels to stand in a surf with the sun on your face?

He shoved the thought aside because Ezra had his hands up, obviously conceding the point.

“I get it,” Ezra said. “It was hell, but it also trained you all on how to conduct yourselves during an investigation.”