Page 95 of CHOICE Lover
“Jerme,” he urges, tears burning a hot trail down his cheeks. He knew this would be the hardest part—bringing a man back to life who’d wanted to die. But with Electra’s help, they’ll give him a reason to live. “Say something,” he begs.
“Res6?”
Everything freezes but the erratic rhythm of his heart.
“Jerme.” It’s all he can mutter. Jerme is real. He did it. It worked. “I’m so sorry. I promise I’ll fix you—” A trickle of blood sliding out of Jerme’s nostril cuts his apology short. “No.”
He reaches up, his hand trembling as he brushes the blood away. More follows. The trembling becomes a violent shake as he wipes at it. Instead of undoing the biological betrayal happening in his brother’s brain, it smears, staining Jerme’s unblemished cheeks. Jerme’s eyes—his perfect, tragic, beautiful gold eyes—turn pink. Then bright red. Broken veins, then a single crimson tear.
“No. No. No. No. This can’t be happening. The corrections department—we have to get you to the corrections department. Hang on, Jerme. I can fix this.”
Res6 frantically reaches out to wrap an arm around Jerme’s waist. “Let’s go.” He urges him forward a step, but Jerme stumbles, catching his shoulders, and dragging them both down. He barely feels knees slam into the concrete.
He’s about to scream for help when Jerme meets his eyes. “It hurts.”
“I’m so sorry,” he chokes out.
“Please, Res6. Make it stop.” Jerme goes limp.
He cradles his brother’s failing body as they slump to the floor. At least this time, he gets to hold Jerme as he dies.
30 – Rose-Colored Comfort
Electra
“What happened to you?” Electra asks as Res6 shuffles through the door. His hair is askew and his eyes are bloodshot as if he’s been crying.
“I fucked everything up,” he says. He looks like he hasn’t slept well in days.
Her first instinct is to panic, but she reminds herself,This isn’t about you. He’s clearly been working very hard on something that didn’t go well. “Come,” she says, taking his hand. “Sit, and you can tell me as much or as little about it as you like.”
He seems to be in a daze as she walks him over to the couch and presses him down onto it. He leans forward, burying his head in his hands. She crawls next to him, getting on her knees for better access, and massages his shoulders, working her way up the tense, corded muscle of his neck. “You are incredibly tight.”
He groans as she digs into an especially firm knot. She does this for several minutes until her hands ache. Still, she keeps working his angry flesh. “You can’t hold everything in, Res6. If you keep bottling things up, one day you’re going to explode.”
He shakes his head. “I think I already did.”
She stops massaging as he turns to face her.
“I fired Lextr,” he says, shaking his head.
“Oh God, that must have been awful.” She waits as he stares blankly ahead.
“He betrayed my trust by stealing unregistered manupartners to rent out for some type of side gig. Openly leasing a manupartner from the company as an employee is one thing, but he knows we strictly prohibit the unauthorized use of company materials, not to mention unregistered manupartners are illegal and could get us fined or our license to operate revoked. That he did such a thing during an active investigation when missing samples could be discovered is highly risky. Granted, he did a decent job of covering his tracks. When I confronted him about it, he threw a bunch of stuff in my face. Then he called me a hypocrite, and I snapped.” His Adam’s apple bobs as he blinks back tears.
“Me?” she guesses. It wouldn’t surprise her, since the man clearly dislikes her, even refusing to call her by name. But firing Lextr can’t be what has him so upset. She wants to push but resolves to be patient.
“Among other things.” He leans back on the couch, melting into it. Boneless, like all the fight has left him. “The experiment I stayed in the office to work on . . . he failed. I got my hopes up.” His breath hitches, and he takes a moment to collect himself. “He was growing perfectly, but I let my pride cloud my judgment. I missed the smallest marker. So fucking stupid. It worked, Electra. It finally worked, then . . .” He buries his head in his hands, muttering, “Thenhe didn’t.”
Hold on. He usually calls manupartnersit. Nothim. It couldn’t be him, as inJerme. That would explain why he’s so upset. Her heart stumbles. “Him?”
He glances up, his face agonized. “The manupartner . . . a prototype. It was male.”
Right. They discussed it, and he agreed that trying to bring back his brother would be a terrible idea. Why did she even think that? She nods, trying to understand. “The experiment clearly meant a lot to you. I’m sorry it failed. I can’t believe that about Lextr. I’m definitely naming the villain in my next book after him.”
His lips twitch like his smile can’t quite get there. Without meaning to, she starts rubbing soothing circles on his chest. The fabric of his shirt is so thin that her fingertips absorb the heat of him and feel every defined ridge. Her gaze lifts from her hand to his golden eyes, which are fixed on her.
“What would I do without you?” The desperation in his voice makes his words feel like a confession. “Since you’ve come into my life, everything is changing so fast. I’m unmoored.”
