Rough Edges by Shannon K. Butcher Read Free Book Online Page A

was one of pure warning. There was no love between them now as there once had been. The man who’d been like a father to her since her own had died was nothing to her now. He’d lied to her for years. Hidden what had been done to her. How was she supposed to forgive not only the horrible things he’d done, but also years of hiding those things from her?
    The only way Bella could mitigate the damage was to suck it up and tell Victor the ugly truth. Better he hear it from her lips than have Payton twist the story to suit himself.
    She clasped her shaking hands together and stared at the wall just beyond Victor’s shoulder. She couldn’t look him in the face when she admitted her shame. “I didn’t know it until recently, but I was one of the kids Stynger experimented on years ago. And like all of them, I’m fucked in the head. There’s a chance I could crack the way they do.”
    Victor went still. “How much of a chance? Is that what happened with Adam a minute ago? You started to crack?”
    She swallowed down her anger at Payton for his hand in getting her to this place. “No, I don’t think so.”
    Victor’s mouth hardened. “You don’t think so? This is the kind of thing you need to be sure about, Bella.”
    â€œI’m fine. You don’t need to worry.”
    â€œYes, you do, son,” said Payton to Victor, though his gaze was fixed firmly on Bella. “You’ve seen what can happen with the people who were part of the project. You close your eyes to that, and you’re asking to become a victim.”
    Bella’s voice vibrated with anger. “I’m not like them. I’ve got things under control.”
    â€œFor now,” Payton said. “But you didn’t always. You’ve let your anger get the best of you before. Or have you forgotten Dan?”
    â€œThat was different. I was defending myself.”
    â€œSixty-seven stab wounds is a bit more than self-defense. It’s rage.”
    â€œThat’s not the way the jury saw it.”
    â€œWait a minute,” Victor said. “What are you two talking about? What jury?”
    Bella was a little surprised that he didn’t already know. Some folks in the office loved to gossip about her. If Victor hadn’t heard the rumors, it was only because he’d chosen not to listen.
    For some reason she liked that he didn’t know about her past. She wasn’t ashamed of what she’d done—it had been absolutely necessary. But she was ashamed of the person she’d been before she’d killed Dan. Weak. Helpless. A total victim.
    â€œIt’s none of your business,” she snapped, hoping to stop the conversation right here before it changed how Victor saw her.
    â€œHe needs to know the level of violence of which you are capable,” Payton said.
    â€œOh, I know all about her skill with violence,” Victor said. “I’ve been working with her for weeks. If violence were an art form, she’d have a display at the Smithsonian. What I need to know is whether or not there’s a risk she’ll become unstable and inflict that violence on the wrong person.”
    It grated against her nerves that Victor would ask Payton instead of her, but she hid her irritation so she wouldn’t appear unstable when Victor was already questioning her mental health. “I’m completely steady. That little incident with Adam was just a fluke—a product of too many hours of sleep deprivation.”
    â€œIf that’s the case,” Payton said, “then you won’t mind if I keep an eye on you. You have nothing to hide.”
    â€œI mind,” she said. “I know you’re looking for a way to make things like they used to be, but it’s never going to happen. Not now that I know the kind of man you really are.”
    â€œI’m the man I’ve always been—one trying to make up for past