Cheating Time (44 page)

As soon as I saw the trashcan near the desk,
I dived for it, held my head over it, and let every bite of food
I'd eaten and every ounce of liquid I'd drunk expel itself from my
body.

Jayden was as my side quicker than I'd found
the trashcan.

"Jesus! What's going on here? What's wrong
with you? I need to know," Jayden pleaded.

"St. Romaine, help me get her back to the
infirmary. You can talk to her in the morning. In the meantime, I'm
going to assume my agreement with Carlie is safe with you… that you
won't share the first word of it because there's a confidentiality
clause in it that holds Carlie responsible for your indiscretions,"
Barone warned.

"If you weren't ashamed of what you're
doing, you wouldn't care who knew about this agreement," Jayden
countered.

"Neither Carlie nor I have to vet our
decision through a Surrogate… even if that Surrogate is the Lead
Surrogate. Now, do as I asked and help me get her back to the
infirmary. She's sick and needs Angleton's help."

Jayden was taller and stronger than Barone.
Before I knew what had happened, he had me up off the floor, in his
arms, and on my way to the infirmary.

Behind us I heard Barone. "I'll wait here.
Tell Angleton to call me after he's refilled her MicroPharm."

Under Jayden's breath, he mumbled. "I'll tie
a noose around your neck and hang you in the middle of the camp
before I call you to come check on her."

I put my finger up to Jayden's lips,
shushing him.

"I've bought your immunity, but if you keep
talking to him like that, he's going to have you killed anyway," I
said.

I was a lot more sober than I'd been twenty
minutes ago.

"What the hell have you done, Carlie? Are
you trying to make me lose my mind? Do you think I'm going to let
you marry that twisted fuck? Do you think I'm going to let him lay
one hand on you? I'll kill him first. I swear to God I will,"
Jayden seethed.

I leaned up and into his ear and said,
"Please… for me… Please don't say those kinds of things. It's hard
enough for me to know that I-I'm stuck with him. If he did anything
to you, I'd kill myself. I will. I thought I was going to die
without you for the last six months. I couldn't imagine a world
where you didn't exist. Just do this for me, Jayden."

He groaned. "You're sick. I want Thorne to
check you over. Then you're going to sleep. In the morning, you and
I are going to do the talking we should have done today. If you and
I had talked, you'd know I had a plan for getting you, Thorne, and
Rorie out of the camp and to the safe house Gran had set up. None
of this would have happened if we'd talked."

"If we'd have run, we wouldn't have been
able to save Tawney. She's going to live because of this agreement.
All of you are going to be safe because I've agreed to give him
what he wants," I said.

"Yeah… I believe every single word a
glorified pedophile says," Jayden whisper-shouted.

"Shh!
That's
what I mean. You can't go around saying things like that. He has a
plan to gradually introduce me, increasing the frequency to the
point were our marriage will be a logical progression in the eyes
of the nation's citizens."

"You honestly think they won't have a
problem with a president seeing and marrying a woman twenty-five
years his junior?"

"That's his problem, one he'll have to deal
with. I've done all I could to make sure research for lymphoma
becomes a priority and that all of you are safe." I huffed.

A few seconds later, we were in the
infirmary and Thorne was studying me as if I were a conundrum.
"Have you been drinking?" he asked.

I glanced to the side of the bed and saw
Rorie. "I had a few glasses with my meal." To her, I said, "It was
the best food I've ever eaten… by the way, Ro."

She beamed at me like my compliment was the
thing most precious to her.

"Rorie, go to bed. Carles is a patient. I
need to care for her, and you need to be sleeping," Thorne said
like he was out of patience with his sister. Based on her reaction,
it might have been the first time ever he'd ever been really cross
with her.

"If you're angry with me, take it out on me.
Don't be mean to her."

Jayden came to Thorne's defense. "Don't take
this out on him. He's not the one who's thrown his future away for
a piece of shit who wants to use you to make himself more money and
to gather a more fierce following," Jayden snapped.

Thorne couldn't believe the vengeance behind
Jayden's words. "Look, she's sick. Let me assess her. In the
morning, we'll all sit down and talk about the mess you seem to
think she's gotten herself in," Thorne said reasonably.

I nodded and closed my eyes. As the list of
people with immunity scrolled through my mind's eye, they popped
back open, and I struggled to sit up.

"Where are Sean and Simon?"

It was Jayden who gently coaxed me back down
and answered. "I gave them our camping gear. They're camped out
somewhere no one will find them. They've promised to stay put until
I give them the all clear to leave."

"They don't have to run. Simon is safe.
Barone promised."

Jayden stared at me like he wasn't quite
sure what to do with me. Like he was proud of me.

"You might be the only person in the world
who could've negotiated the unconditional safety of two Surrogates
and two genetic anomalies… two of which are being actively hunted
for treason."

I grabbed Jayden's hand as if it were a life
preserver and I was drowning. "That's just it, Jayden. I realized
that through him I could make a difference. I could use him… even
if he doesn't know he's being used. It would certainly serve him
right." I bit my lip, the place where I already had a scar, until
it began bleeding again. "I can do what I need to do as long as I
have people around me that I love and trust. That list is that for
me, and I hope I gave you and Thorne the people you needed most in
the world… because I have a feeling we're all going to be doing a
lot of things we don't necessarily want to do."

Jayden's eyes went black and cold. "I won't
let him touch you. Not ever. I'll kill him first. I don't care
about anyone in the world but you. Sean, Simon, and my surrogate
mother… under other circumstances, they'd be among the first people
I wanted to save, but I've never really known them. I know you. I
love you. I won't let him touch you, and I mean it. I'll do
whatever I have to in order to keep that from happening." Jayden
fumed once again for good measure and so I knew he was serious.

"I asked you to stop saying things like
that. I've told you I need you near me. If he hears those types of
comments or feels your animosity, he's going to keep us apart. I
can't bear the thought. Those six months were enough to last a
lifetime for me. Please just do this for me. Please," I begged.

Jayden leaned down and kissed me on the
forehead, but he never agreed. He never said a word that let me
know what his thoughts and plans were. When he pulled me into his
arms and hugged me so tight I couldn't breathe, I knew he meant
what he'd said about Barone touching me.

"We have three years, Jayden," I whispered
in his ear. "We'll find a way to be together before then. I swear.
Let's use the time to test Barone's word… to see what all we can
get done as it relates to changes in the government, ones that'll
give Surrogates and genetic anomalies the same rights as the
Procreates… ones that'll put more and more money toward research
geared toward eradicating diseases like lymphoma. You, Thorne, and
I have a lot of work to do and very little time to do it. After
that, we'll run away together, even if that run is taken only in
our dreams."

Jayden's gulp was loud. "Let's run now.
Let's get away from him. He's promised you the world because he
knows that's what you want. He's done the same with your mother for
years. It's just been different because he was too scared of Sam to
make this same offer. That's why he's been on the outskirts of your
life since you were born. He wanted to be your first because he
knew… like predators do… that you will be eternally loyal to your
first.

"Please, Carles, I'll never ask you to do
another thing for me. Just please, let's go."

I was so torn. Jayden had never begged me
for anything before. Not ever. I loved him enough to give him
anything. I needed some objective parties.

I pushed him back, and I glanced toward
Thorne who was going out of his way to pretend he was busy
gathering supplies for the nonexistent procedure he wasn't going to
be performing.

Loud enough for him to hear, I said, "We
need to let Thorne know what's going on. I want his opinion. Then I
want you to find a way to get in touch with Gran so you can tell
him the conditions of the contract. If both Thorne and Gran agree
with you… that I should run away and ignore the once-in-a-lifetime
offer Barone has given me, I'll leave with you and never look back.
If not, I want you to agree to see this through with me."

Thorne spoke up. "I'm not deaf. I've
overheard most of what's been said. There are a few blanks that
need to be filled in, but I think I've gotten the gist of what's
going on. Barone has made you an offer you can't refuse… not
because it will benefit you. In fact, I suspect you're going to be
the only one paying the price for his offer. How close am I so
far?"

Jayden said, "So far, you're doing damn
good."

Thorne nodded. "What did he offer you? Your
family back together and safe?"

"That's some of it," I mumbled.

"Enlighten me," Thorne insisted.

Jayden took my silence as permission to fill
in the blanks. "Well… he wants her to marry him. He's justified his
pedophilia by agreeing to wait until she's twenty before marrying
her… after their long courtship filled with philanthropy geared
toward masking his fetishes.

"For the honor of marrying a man her
father's age and giving up the chance to marry someone her own age,
Barone is going to put every research scientist at her disposal. A
cure for lymphoma their shared mission. Her cousin's life her only
concern.

"In order to make this ridiculous agreement
more palatable for the two of us, she's made Barone guarantee in
writing that her immediate family, you, Rorie, your parents, and me
and my brothers and mother will be granted immunity. We'll be cared
for and pampered close enough to Carles for her to stay in contact
but far enough away that we won't be able to do anything but watch
our dear old president paw at her like he's a cat and she's
catnip.

"I've been adamant that I don't want her to
sell her soul to the fucking devil. She's too stubborn to care what
I say. She wants you and Gran to hear the offer and weigh in on her
decision. Seems she respects you and what you have to say more than
me and what I have to say." Jayden ended his speech on an accurate
but still sarcastic note.

"Rorie will be granted immunity. Does that
mean no one would ever be allowed to hurt her?"

I nodded.

"But you'd have to marry Barone and have his
kid."

"Kids," I clarified.

Both men's eyes widened and their brows shot
up.

"To hell you will." Jayden fumed. "To hell
you will."

Thorne's response was a lot less knee-jerk.
He loved his sister and didn't have the luxury of putting anyone
else before her. He busied himself, thinking about how wonderful it
would be to not have to worry nonstop about Rorie's safety. At the
same time, I suspected he was no happier about me being with
Barone—having Barone's kids—than Jayden.

Finally, he turned toward the two of us.
"Here's the thing. Neither Rorie nor I can condone any situation
whereby you would be married off and raped—because that is what
it'd be—by anyone. Our lives are no more important than yours,
Carles. Your intentions were great, but we would never agree to
that."

Thorne stared down at my hands as if he
couldn't quite look me in the eye. I reached over and put my hand
over his. His stare snapped up, and I smiled. I wished I were a
better person, but I loved the way these two men were refusing to
let me settle for Barone, regardless of his miraculous offer.

"Thanks," I mumbled, lifting his fingers to
my mouth and kissing his knuckles. "That means more to me than
you'll ever know."

I glanced over to Jayden. "It looks like you
have Gran to convince, and you get your way."

Jayden actually looked surprised by the turn
of events. With a bow to his chest that hadn't been there seconds
before, he—without asking permission—logged onto Thorne's computer.
As soon as he began typing, the computer's hologram blinked alive
above it, giving Thorne and me a firsthand view of every action
Jayden took. Watching the neon-green, 3-D holographic shimmering
majestically, blinking rapidly, and turning elegantly before us, we
stared on with amazed curiosity.
Unexpectedly
hypnotized
.

It was with apprehension that I realized
Jayden was going to sites forbidden to Surrogates and Procreates
alike, ones brimming with viruses, trojans, worms, and zombies. As
he made his way through the maze of sites that he was determined to
maneuver, I saw flashes of pornographic images that were so quick I
questioned what I'd seen. As I watched the video-like pictures,
Thorne held my hand and we were both inundated with visual images
related to sex. I began to feel the mesmerizing effects that
gradually began taking over my libido.

There was a burn in my lower belly that I'd
only ever experienced when I was being kissed thoroughly by Jayden.
Based on the way he moved closer to me and began tracing an endless
infinity symbol in the palm of my hand, one that was making the
burn in my belly grow hotter and more intense, Thorne was just as
impacted by the subliminal messages flashing before us.