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lifted until she stared into the gentle blue eyes
she saw every day when she looked at Nate. Yeah, she was still hurt and angry
with Ben but she couldn’t hate him. Not when he’d given her Nate. It might have
been a devastating realization if she had the energy left to care at that
moment.
    “I’m just following orders.”
    Her laugh was hollow but it was the best she could manage.
“Aren’t we all?” She shook her head sadly and then nodded in the general
direction everyone else had gone. “The sooner you show me to my quarters, the
sooner you can be free of me.”
    He murmured something that sounded suspiciously like, “If
only it were that easy,” but then started off at a brisk pace. After having to
practically jog to keep up with him, though, she quickly decided she’d misheard
him. The man obviously wanted nothing more than to ditch her. And, if his pace
was any judge, the sooner the better for him.
    They came to an abrupt stop in front of a heavy metal door.
“This is where you’ll be staying. Dixie says you’re free to move about the camp
but I wouldn’t if I were you. The others aren’t very trusting.”
    So she’d traded one prison for another. She rearranged Nate
so she could take the magnetic keycard from Ben. Well, if she got to keep her
son with her this time, she’d happily stay confined to her quarters. “I take it
everything I need to replicate my research will be provided?”
    “We have a state-of-the-art laboratory that will be at your
disposal. Someone will be here to escort you there first thing in the morning.
And as soon as your palm has been programmed into its biometric scanner, you’ll
be free to come and go as you please.”
    She swiped the key and breathed a sigh of relief when the
door popped open. “Great.” Light flooded the spacious room as she stepped over
the threshold, chasing away the last of the nervous knots that’d taken up
residence in her stomach. “I’ll be seeing you around, then.”
    He cast her a doubtful look before saying, “I wouldn’t count
on it. You may be willing to help us out, but you’re still a geneticist.”
    “And you’re still an unbending, closed-minded ass. It’s good
to see some things never change, don’t you think?”
    Before he could answer, she nudged the door closed with her
hip. Okay, maybe being nice to him was more than she could manage right now.
She refused to take the blame for it completely though. Had he tried to be to
be civil to her, she would’ve been able to return the favor. And civil
should’ve been doable. She was here to save his freaking life after all.
    Not his specifically of course. She was there to save all of
them. But, still, that should earn her a little courtesy. Did it though? No. He
couldn’t care less that she’d discovered a way to correct the flaw that made
them dependent on the NB-7 injections. Stubborn ass that he was, he’d probably
be the last one to go through the surgery because he didn’t trust her.
    And what had she done to deserve his distrust? Fuck him
senseless for two weeks. Well, she’d certainly learned her lesson there.
    A knock at the door pulled her out of her thoughts. “Who is
it?” she asked loudly. She might not have been happy with Ben right then, but
she knew he’d been telling her the truth when he’d warned her about some of the
people. There were bound to be some who were more than pissed about having her
here. And she couldn’t really blame them. Lisa might not have been one of the
people who experimented on the soldiers, but her expertise made her suspect.
    “Dixie, ma’am. I brought some food for you and the little
one.”
    She went to put Nate down but he immediately started
complaining. So when she opened the door she still had the little boy on her
hip. She’d been held captive in Dixie’s arms as he’d raced across the compound.
But, still, she didn’t remember him being as large or as intimidating then.
“Nate. His name is Nate.”
    Dixie nodded