Page 89 of Degradation
‘What’s wrong with her?’
‘Nothing, not that it’s any of your fucking business.’
‘Not what I heard.’
My eyes narrow. The last thing I need is Sauvage or his goons looking closer at Daisy. I don’t want them anywhere near her.
‘She’s autistic. That’s it. There’s no conspiracy or big secret.’
‘Okay.’ Sark gives a nod and stands. ‘I’ll tell him you’re close and production will begin before Christmas.’
‘Fine.’
He gives me a mock salute. ‘Be seeing you, buddy.’
The silence in the office after he leaves is stark. It rings in my ears. I need to make sure Daisy isn’t caught up in anything because of me.
I wish we hadn’t been forced to make this deal, but our assistant, that asshole, Angelo Giuliani, was going to spill all our secrets. If Pierre Sauvage’s son hadn’t had to take the fall with the other guys, we wouldn’t be in this position, we wouldn’t have had to make a deal to ensure silences were bought.
Fuck.
I leave the office and the club. I should head straight back to campus and go to the lab, but I don’t. I always think best while I’m driving so that’s what I do. I drive. For hours.
By the time I get back to campus and leave my car in the lot by the science building, it’s late afternoon. When I get in the lab, I find Mav and Daisy working side by side. I can’t hide my amusement at how similar they look, both with their feet on the rung of the stool, matching expressions of deep thought.
I notice her hand is next to his on the table, their little fingers touching and I feel a pang deep inside. There was a time when she would do that with me. The feel of her initiating skin to skin contact was always a rush. Not many people would understand that, but I see Mav’s finger flex, stroking hers. It’s the merest touch, like the brush of a hummingbird’s wings, but she does it back and I find I can’t look away. I’m warring between happiness that she’s so close with my friends to outragethat she’s so close to my friends.
But I turn away and grab my laptop out of my locked drawer, trying to focus on the ideas I had in the car. There were a couple things that came to me that I think might be viable options, and I want to run through simulations. That should give me a good idea of what’s more likely to work and then I can change the formula and test itagain.
I have some guys for that who I pay, which might not be ethical. I mean, of course it’s not, but it’s not as if a drug like Envy can go through a legitimate trial process the way the other drug we’ve made will. It wouldn’t even get off the ground and the DEA would be all over us even though Envy isn’t actually illegal according to the law as it stands today.
It’s a few hours before I look up again and blink. I stretch and yawn, glancing at the clock. Almost seven.
‘We’re going to go grab some dinner,’ Mav says. ‘Want to join us?’
I look at my screen. ‘I need to keep going,’ I answer. ‘Maybe another time.’
I glance at Daisy. She’s putting on a long blue coat. She waves at me a little awkwardly and grabs her stuff, walking slowly to the door. She doesn’t need the crutches anymore, but she’s still limping heavily.
‘Where did that come from?’ I ask Mav quietly.
‘Blake.’
‘He bought it for her?’
‘She didn’t have one,’ Mav explains. ‘I think he was trying to show her that she’s special. Show us, too, maybe.’
She didn’t have a coat? It’s been so cold lately. How could I not have noticed?
‘I...didn’t know.’
‘She barely has anything, dude. You saw. Her friend might take her to that local consignment store all the sorority girls were talking about a couple years back sometimes. But I saw the balance in that account you set up for her. She has like five bucks to her name.’ He frowns. ‘Guess it’s not surprising. She hasn’t been working since she got hurt.’
Jesus. The account. The one I set an automated allowance payment into to give her two bucks a weekas a joke.
With everything else that’s going on, I’d forgotten all about it. She couldn’t buy anything for herself without her hours at Grinder, even if she wanted to.
What the fuck is wrong with me? God, I’m an asshole.
