Becky (The Protectors #30)

Chapter 1

Becky stared at the numbers on her screen, willing them to make sense. They didn’t. She needed to finish payroll before she was hunted down by angry Warriors wanting their money. She had done half of them yesterday before she left and came in early today to finish up.

With a quiet sigh, she leaned back in her chair and pressed her fingers to her temple. She’d done this a thousand times, but lately she had been making mistake after mistake. It wasn’t like her to mess up something this simple. But right now… nothing felt simple.

Her stomach felt off and she had a slight headache, which seemed to be her norm lately. Reaching for her coffee out of habit she stopped herself since her well used coffee mug was empty. The last few weeks the smell of it had made her nauseous. She missed her coffee she thought with a frown.

Sighing she glanced at the clock, then frowned. It wasn’t even lunch yet, but she already felt like she’d been here all day.

Her gaze drifted toward Sloan’s empty desk.

She missed him, which was ridiculous, considering she saw him every day.

Something between them had shifted. It wasn’t anything major, she could just feel the tension between them, and she hated it.

Becky knew the tension was her fault. She should tell him what was going on with her, but kept telling herself it was nothing.

She’d almost said something to Sloan, more than once. But every time she’d opened her mouth, she’d seen the weight he carried, the shit he dealt with daily, and told herself it could wait. It wasn’t worth adding to everything else already on his shoulders.

Her jaw tightened as the realization of what the problem really was with talking to Sloan.

Years of being told she was overreacting by her ex, Frank.

Of being made to feel like every ache, every concern, every question was just her making something out of nothing.

It was easier to stay quiet and deal with it herself.

That’s what she was doing, what she had always done.

Nausea rolled in her stomach, and this time she reached for her phone to check the time just to make sure the clock on the wall was right, which it was. Damn.

She didn’t know why she was waiting for lunch. She hadn’t been hungry and was forcing herself to eat. Even the smell of certain foods made her feel ill.

A shadow appeared over her desk making her head snap up.

Viktor stood staring down at her. She knew all the Warriors well, but Viktor was quiet and kept to himself.

Lacey, his mate, on the other hand was a good friend to her.

Actually, all the mates were good friends and yet, lately she had even been keeping her distance from them.

“Hi, Viktor,” Becky pushed her thoughts to the back of her mind as she looked at the huge Warrior. She forced a smile. “Sloan should be back soon.”

“I’m not here to see Sloan,” Viktor smiled back at her, then pulled a chair over and sat in front of her desk. “I’m here to see you,”

“Oh,” Becky’s smile slipped. “What can I do for you?”

“Unless Sloan decided to give me a raise and not tell me…” he held out his phone, “…I think you overpaid me.”

Her stomach dropped as she looked at the screen, and sure enough, she’d doubled his paycheck. Not a small mistake.

“Shit,” she muttered under her breath, her shoulders sinking as she dragged her eyes back to her computer.

“I’m so sorry. I’ll fix it.” Her fingers hovered over the keyboard, but the numbers on the screen blurred together, her focus gone as embarrassment crept in hard and fast. She didn’t make mistakes like this, dammit.

And yet here she was, screwing up again.

She was starting to think coming back had been a mistake.

Maybe she wasn’t as together as she thought she was.

“Hey,” Viktor said, his voice unexpectedly gentle for such a huge man.

She glanced up, and the concern on his face only made her feel worse.

“It’s okay,” he added with a small grin. “Just reverse it. Sloan will never know.”

The second he said Sloan’s name again, something inside her cracked. Her chin wobbled before she could stop it, as unshed tears burned the back of her eyes. She tried to get control, but it wasn’t happening. Becky couldn’t stop the soft humiliating sob that left her lips.

Mortified, Becky pushed back from her desk and stood. “I’m sorry,” she mumbled, already moving, needing out before she completely lost it.

Making it to the door she yanked it open stepping into the hallway only to see Katrina and Mira standing there talking. Katrina’s smile fell the second she looked at her. “Becky?” she said, already moving toward her with Mira right behind her.

Becky just shook her head, not trusting herself to speak. Turning away before they could reach her, she headed for an exit, any exit. Her steps picked up, uneven, her stomach twisting hard as the nausea rose to the back of her throat. She refused to vomit here; she had to make it outside.

Pushing through one of the side exits she stumbled into the yard and barely made it a few steps before dropping to her knees beside a bush.

Becky heaved so hard it felt like her stomach was lodged in her throat.

It came in waves, violent and uncontrollable, her body folded in on itself as she gagged and retched, her eyes burned as her body broke out in a cold sweat.

Finally the retching slowed, leaving her shaking, her face damp with sweat and tears. She knew she wasn’t alone, could feel them there and it made everything worse. The humiliation hit hard, settling deep in her chest. “I’m fine,” she tried to say, but it came out strangled, barely audible.

“The hell you are,” Katrina said, already dropping down beside her. “Thanks, Viktor. We’ve got it.”

“Oh, God,” Becky groaned, squeezing her eyes shut. Of course he followed her out. Because this wasn’t embarrassing enough.

“Here,” Katrina said, handing her a wet cloth. “Mira had Viktor get this for you. He’s gone now. It’s just us.”

“Thank you,” Becky murmured, taking it and wiping her face. The cool cloth felt good against her skin, giving her something to focus on. Her stomach rolled again, the nausea creeping back up, and she stilled, pulling in a slow breath… then another… until it eased off.

“Becky, what is going on?” Katrina asked, sitting in the grass beside her while Mira stayed close on her other side, quiet but watching.

“I don’t know,” Becky said finally, pushing herself back to sit. Holding the cloth to her cheek she looked from Mira to Katrina. “I really don’t know.”

“You need to see Slade,” Katrina said, frowning as she brushed Becky’s hair back out of her face. “You’ve been sick for a while, don’t try to deny it. I’ve seen it. You’ve lost weight, you’re pale, and—”

“I look like shit,” Becky cut in, a tear slipping free even as the corner of her mouth lifted just a little.

“No,” Katrina said, firm, no hesitation. “You look beautiful, but sick. And I should hate you for that. Who in the hell looks beautiful when they’re sick?”

“That’s sweet, but I’ve looked in the mirror.” Becky gave her a half smile.

Katrina just rolled her eyes, then frowned at her. “You need to see Slade, Becky. I’m not playing about that. Something is definitely wrong.”

Out of everyone, Katrina was the one Becky trusted the most out of the mates.

When Katrina had issues with some of the new recruits, Becky didn’t think twice about letting her move in with her.

Somewhere along the way they’d become close—really close.

The kind of close where you didn’t have to explain everything, which meant Katrina knowing something was wrong before Becky could even say it, hit harder than it should have.

Becky let out a breath and dragged the cloth over her face, stalling for a second.

“I had some… female issues. The women in my family have had this kind of stuff before, so I didn’t think much of it.

” She gave a small shrug. “They ran some tests, put me on medication for a bit, then scheduled an outpatient procedure for a cyst removal which I’ve had once before in my twenties.

” Becky frowned as she pulled the cloth away from her face.

Katrina watched her closely. “What?”

Becky didn’t answer right away, her mind going back over every appointment, every conversation, the little things that hadn’t felt right but she’d pushed aside because it had been easier to trust than question.

She’d trusted it. Trusted the doctor. Now her stomach tightened for a whole different reason, and she couldn’t shake the feeling that had been building the last couple of weeks.

Slowly, she looked at Katrina and then Mira, something unsettled finally breaking through. “I…” she started, then stopped, her grip tightening on the cloth as she shook her head slightly. It sounded crazy. It was crazy. But it didn’t feel wrong.

“I think they did something to me.”