Chapter 50
Iresisted the urge to jump up and cheer as the manipulator’s output finally clicked into place.
“Ahh! I did it!” I chirped happily, and NOVA let out a chipper ‘Yay Milo!’
“Thanks, NOVA,” I grinned, holding the device up in front of me so I could examine it in better light.
Jay’s cave was relatively dimly lit, but I had several surgical lamps set up around my workstation to help me see better.
I couldn’t wait for Jay to get back from his meeting so we could test out my work and see if it did what it was supposed to do in practice.
His proud smile and soft words of praise I was sure he would give me hummed like a warm promise in my tummy as I picked up my soldering iron to add some final touches.
The morning had felt empty without him, no matter how delicious the bagels he’d ordered me were or how much my cheeks had warmed when I put on the outfit he’d picked out for me.
Today I was in a white button-up with little DNA strands embroidered into the fabric and a pair of comfy Levi’s. He’d also left out a chrome butt plug with a note next to it that just said: Please? <3
Despite the rush of embarrassment that coursed through me at the sight of it, I couldn’t help but indulge him.
I prepped myself with my fingers and some lube before inserting it, wincing against the sting. It wasn’t exactly a beginner plug, and I had a feeling it was to keep me ready for whatever it was he had planned later.
Once it was in, though, I was able to more or less forget about it unless I flexed intentionally around it, and I went about my morning as usual.
The walk to work had been uneventful, and I’d sipped my cinnamon dolce latte on my way to NeuroWell, waving to friendly colleagues as I passed.
Even Melanie had been nice to me as I’d made my way to the elevator that led to The Cave from the Memory Therapy Research floor.
Though in her case, it felt disingenuous.
I had a feeling she’d switched tactics, realizing that Jay and I were, ahem, *friends*.
I knew she was just trying to butter me up to get closer to him, but still.
It was nice not to have to deal with her hostility, so I would take what I could get.
Once settled in The Cave, I’d spent the morning working away on the manipulator, and I was really excited about the progress I’d made. If I kept working at this rate, it would be completed much sooner than we’d projected.
As if the universe timed it, the elevator dinged, and I glanced up to see Jay walk in.
Jeepers, he was so hot.
My body heated at the sight of him, and I leapt up from my chair, waving my soldering iron excitedly.
“Hey! Guess what! I think I got the output to oscillate like we discussed! I’m so glad you’re here. I think we should test it out. If we can get it to massage a memory, we can test a small manipulation!”
I paused my excited yammering when I took in the look on his face.
He didn’t look happy about the news; if anything, he looked devastated.
Giving me a shaky smile, he crossed the room and dropped a kiss on my head.
“You’re so smart, baby,” he hummed, but he sounded sad for some reason, and I pulled away, frowning up at him.
“What’s wrong? You don’t seem happy. What happened?”
Jay glanced down at the manipulator, his lips tight with concern.
“Milo…”
“What?”
He glanced at me, and all the warm feelings I’d had melted away as a zing of worry shot through me.
Something was wrong.
He opened his mouth to say something when the elevator dinged again, and we both turned to find Sebastian strolling into The Cave.
He looked just as stressed as Jay did, his five-hundred-dollar haircut a mess of waves as he nervously ran his hand through his golden locks.
The second Seb’s eyes landed on me, his expression turned from worried to furious.
He turned accusatory blue eyes on Jay and pursed his lips.
“Just a one-time thing, yeah?”
“He’s assisting me with research, Seb. You know he’s the best MTR we have. That’s all this is.”
I knew we needed to keep our relationship a secret, but it still hurt to hear him belittle it to Sebastian.
I pushed my hurt feelings away and smiled at Sebastian as best I could. Wanting to prove that I was here to help, I gave him a bright smile.
“I made a significant advancement this morning on the output for the manipulator. If you guys have time, I can show you—”
“Not now, Milo. We have… There’s been a development that we need to discuss.”
Seb’s angry expression grew even more stormy.
“You can’t share this with him, Jay. This is above his pay grade.”
“He deserves to know if he’s working on the project.”
“Then maybe he shouldn’t be working on the fucking project.”
“W-wait—” I stammered, putting down my soldering iron and nervously smoothing my hands over the shirt Jay had picked out for me.
His eyes tracked the movement, and a soft smile curled on his lips as he took in the fact that I was wearing what he’d chosen for me.
It made me feel slightly better.
“Please don’t remove me from the project. This is… I promise I’ll do a good job. You don’t have to tell me anything if it’s a problem.”
“I know you’ll do a good job, ba—Milo,” Jay said, nearly calling me baby in his rush to comfort me. “That’s the issue. It… It’s complicated.”
Seb’s eyes narrowed, and I swallowed, feeling my cheeks flush.
I needed to get myself together. The more upset I got, the more Jay wanted to comfort me, and it was messing everything up.
Forcing down my anxiety, I clenched my fists at my sides.
“I’m not sure what’s going on, but I’m here to help, in whatever capacity that entails. Please just let me know what you need from me, and I’ll do my best to make it happen,” I said firmly, proud of myself for keeping my voice from wavering.
“You can help by leaving. Go talk to the floor manager and see if they need any help with software optimizations for the extractor. We need to clear Jay’s plate,” Sebastian snapped, his expression stone cold.
My lips parted, and a cold shot of panic shot through my chest.
That was a huge demotion.
What was happening?
“You don’t get to dismiss a member of my team, Seb. You’re not his direct report. That was a massive overstep,” Jay snarled, and I glanced at him, frowning at his sudden change in demeanor.
Jay was always laid back and smiling. He had a strange, predatory look on his face that I’d only ever seen him use on me in bed before.
This wasn’t hot. It was scary.
I shivered and glanced at Seb, expecting him to stand down.
He didn’t; his own mask continued to peel away, and the air between them was sparking with tension.
They were like two wolves, circling each other, looking for a weakness before committing to an attack, and I was caught in the middle of them.
“You’re making a mistake, involving him in this. You know you are. This is fucking dangerous, Jay,” Seb growled, and Jay’s jaw clenched so hard I could see a muscle pulsing in his neck.
“He’s already involved. I need to tell him,” Jay finally bit out.
Seb looked like he wanted to punch a wall.
Suddenly, the anger on his face twisted and turned to a sort of pleading desperation.
“Please don’t do this, Jay. Don’t do this to me. You don’t know what he’s capable of. What he might make me do. I don’t want anyone to get hurt.” There was a crack in his voice that made my heart break.
“I’ll just go upstairs,” I said, making the snap decision that whatever was going on here was serious enough to make Sebastian look like he was going to freaking cry.
“No. I haven’t dismissed you,” Jay snarled, grabbing my wrist and tugging me back into him.
“Jay…” I frowned up at him, clocking how pale and tight his own expression was. “It’s okay. I don’t want to come between you two. Why don’t you guys talk, and we can meet up later?”
“No. We’re done here, Sebastian. I’m sure you have a lot of paperwork to do. Please go so Milo and I can decide how we’re going to proceed.”
Sebastian was staring at where Jay was clinging to my wrist, the sadness in his eyes gone now.
That ice-cold look was back on his face, and he pursed his lips, giving Jay a steely look and shaking his head.
“You’re making a mistake. When he takes Milo from you next, don’t come crying to me. This is your choice, Jay. Anything that happens to him is on you.”
Sebastian turned to look at me, his fists clenched at his side.
“If you’re as smart as I think you are, Milo, you’ll run far away from here and never look back. This is your one warning.”
And with that, he turned on his heel and exited The Cave, leaving Jay and me in the cold wake of his absence.
I shook, feeling like those words were loaded.
Were they talking about Luke?
They must be.
What did he mean by ‘take me away from him next?’
Had he just implied that Luke had Jay’s dad freaking killed?
A half-finished puzzle that I hadn’t even realized I’d started in my mind started falling into place.
My veins were filled with ice at the thought that the man who ran such a massive, successful company could potentially be capable of something so sinister.
I needed to look into this.
If that man had anything to do with the death of Jay’s dad, the world needed to know.
Jay wasn’t safe here…I wasn’t safe here.
Suddenly, I wasn’t afraid of losing my job. I was afraid of something much worse.
“Jay?” I asked, glancing up at him to find him nearly quivering next to me. He was staring at the now closed elevator door, looking absolutely furious.
When he turned to look at me, he immediately softened, as if he couldn’t possibly stay angry as long as he was looking at me.
He reached out and brushed a thumb across my cheek, his eyes sad and haunted.
“Let’s call it a day,” he whispered, his voice soft and delicate. “Come home with me?”
I nodded, shrugging out of my lab coat and laying it on the desk next to the abandoned manipulator.
“Of course. Anything you want,” I said, doing my best to give him a reassuring smile.
He pressed a kiss to the top of my head, pulling me in close and enveloping me in his spicy scent.
“You’re so perfect.” He sighed as he clung to me. I wrapped my arms around his waist and let him hold me. The way he shook in my arms told me he needed contact.
Whatever had just happened had upset him as much as it had upset me.
I would ask him to explain more later.
Right now, he just needed someone to hold him, and I tried not to think about the fact that Sebastian probably did too, but I didn’t think he had anyone to turn to.
The thought made me sad, but I could only do so much.
Sebastian had made it clear he wanted me to leave, but I was in this now.
I wouldn’t abandon them, not even if it meant I might get hurt.
I may not be an inherently brave person, but I was loyal, and I cared about Jay more than I was even willing to admit to myself.
For him, I would have courage.
I’m not going anywhere, I quietly promised him, and as he squeezed me tighter, the world fell away.