Chapter 56
Melanie was triggering the shit out of me.
She was a smart girl, but she lacked the initiative that Milo had. Working with Milo felt like I was working with an equal… Honestly, most of the time it felt like I was working with someone smarter than myself.
This felt more like mentorship, if I was being kind about it.
There was a lot of hand-holding. Melanie could get to the conclusions I needed her to get to eventually, but I had to spend an annoying amount of brainpower leading her to the conclusions I expected her to be getting to on her own.
She relied on me to direct her, whereas when I was working with Milo, I could almost step back and just watch him make magic.
Milo was what I needed for a project like this. I didn’t need help getting to my own solutions. I needed someone to push past what I thought the solution was and challenge me to think bigger.
Milo had barely been gone twenty minutes, and I was already a hair away from just calling it a day and dismissing Melanie altogether when the door to the elevator dinged again.
I glanced up to find Sebastian leading my man through the doors, and suddenly, all my annoyance with Melanie melted away and was replaced with concern.
Seb looked like he literally might be sick, and Milo’s cute little brows were pinched together with worry.
He was favoring his left arm, and I glanced down to find that he had a small piece of cotton taped directly over the place where I immediately knew they’d implanted a key chip.
Rage tore through me at the sight of it, and when I rounded on Sebastian, ready to demand he tell me what the fuck he was thinking allowing Luke to implant Milo like that, I stopped in my tracks.
There was a confusing mix of regret, fear, and… blame in his expression.
I knew anything I wanted to say to him right now would just be thrown back in my face. He’d been against me keeping Milo here from the beginning, and now he was chipped, just like Seb and I were, and it was all my fault.
Taking a slow, deep, calming breath, I turned to Melanie, who was doing her best to give Milo a look of superiority, as if taunting him with the fact that she’d managed to worm her way into my lab against my wishes.
The look on her face was the final straw.
“Ms. Larson, you’re dismissed,” I snapped.
She glanced at me, her mouth parting in protest, but I didn’t give her a chance to start complaining.
“Get out,” I growled, and anger flared in her eyes at my very unprofessional tone.
“Mr. Reynolds, I really think I can add value here if you’d just let me—”
“Ms. Larson, if you are not out of this lab in the next thirty seconds, I will make sure you never set foot on this campus again. Get. Out.”
Like a toddler, she slammed the manipulator down on a tray next to the chair, and I didn’t miss the way Milo flinched at her poor treatment of the device.
“Fine,” she snapped, tossing her hair over her shoulder and stalking out of The Cave.
Milo stepped out of her way, giving her a wide berth, and I waited several moments for the elevator to take her up. Once she was gone, I turned to Milo next, softening my tone considerably before dismissing him as well.
“Milo, please take the rest of the day off.”
Shock flickered across his features, and his mouth dropped open in surprise.
“What? We need to keep working. We have the demonstration, and we’re not even close to having enough traction to—”
“Do not make me say it again, Mr. Murphy. You are dismissed. Please return to your cube and wait for further instructions.” I used my corporate voice, and the flicker of hurt that welled in his impossibly large eyes made me want to throw myself off a building.
He didn’t say another word. He just turned on his heel and left, leaving me alone with Sebastian.
Seb slid his hands into the pockets of his suit and gave me a bored look.
“Well. What is it that the great Jay Reynolds has to say?” he drawled, and I snarled at him, which only caused him to roll his eyes.
“You could have fucking told me you were taking him to get implanted!” I roared, but he barely flinched.
“You know, for such a smart guy, you’re pretty fucking stupid sometimes, Jay.”
“Fuck you,” I snapped, and Seb scoffed.
“I told you what would happen if you got him involved, and you refused to listen to me. This is what you get for thinking with your dick, Jay. Now he’s just as trapped here as we are.
Maybe worse. Who knows what upgrades that fucking doctor had installed in his chip?
If they’re anything like mine, then the next few days are going to be a fucking nightmare. ”
“What do you mean? You have the same chip as me.”
Seb looked like he wanted to literally hit me. “Do I, Jay? Please tell me you’re not that blind.”
I searched his face, thinking of all the times I’d seen him limping or moving stiffly. I’d assumed Luke had been physically hitting him… but what if it was something else?
“He’s using it to hurt you?”
Seb shrugged, refusing to meet my gaze. “I certainly haven’t been trying to fucking leave since the last time we tried.
He injected an upgrade into me a week or so ago and…
it’s much more restrictive. The one he gave Milo is even more advanced.
He winced when he touched my arm on the walk over here.
I wouldn’t be surprised if dear old dad found a way to optimize it to enforce the physical touch rule. ”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” I rasped, and he just leveled me with a hard look.
“Like you told me about your secret relationship with Milo? Fuck off, Jay. You can’t expect me to be open with you when you won’t extend the same courtesy to me.
Besides, what power do you have to stop him?
Luke is going to do whatever the fuck he wants.
When are you going to get that through your head?
And now, because of your selfishness, he’s going to hurt Milo too.
I hope you’re fucking happy.” And with that, he gave me a disgusted look and left me standing there, alone, angry, and fucking terrified that he was right.