Her father shrugged and strode for the door. "We need to conduct some tests, and we don't require him to be conscious for these." Without another word, he exited the room.

Piper swallowed and swiveled to face Chance, who'd continued to work through the entire action. "How are you still typing?"

He shrugged, his fingers tapping, his gaze on the screen. "Have work to do."

She blinked and slowly sat down, her knees shaking. The entire scene had been violent, and yet Chance didn't seem remotely affected. Her fingers trembled, and she stretched her hands out to the keyboard.

Enough of the secrets. She was a hacker, d.a.m.n it.

Angling slightly away from Chance, she opened another window and began to tap. Layers upon layers of security hampered her, but she doggedly pursued information. Finally, she found the right section of the servers.

Within thirty minutes, she'd written a weak program, created a buffer overflow, and gained administrator privileges. This was much smoother than the brute force attack she'd employed previously in order to learn the computer program dealing with the kill chips.

Then she found the file.

Jory. Interesting. No last name listed. She pulled up doc.u.ments listing his recruitment, training, and a.s.signments. A photograph of Jory at eighteen showed him as already seasoned and hard, his eyes blank and his jaw appearing to be made of rock. Had he ever been happy?

The next few doc.u.ments showed proof, with pictures, of his dealings with the Russians. s.h.i.t. She even recognized one of the Russian soldiers meeting with Jory from her time at the NSA. Definitely a bad guy.

Exhaling slowly, she closed the screens. Her father had told the truth.

A chill swept down her spine, while her cheeks heated. She shouldn't have doubted him, especially for a prisoner in a cage. And now she'd hacked into a very secure area. What would her father do if he discovered her infiltration this time? This time, her motivation wasn't to help him. It was to find the truth about Jory.

Chance stopped typing and stretched his neck. "You done hacking?"

Her head jerked up. "What?"

"Don't worry, lady. I don't really give a s.h.i.t." He still didn't look at her.

She shook her head. "How old are you, anyway?"

"Old enough." His voice was already low, so maybe early teens?

"Are you an intern here?" she pressed, her instincts humming again. Who was this kid?

"Yep. Just on loan for a few days earning some high school credit." He popped his knuckles. "Back to work?"

Movement sounded beyond the door, and the three orderlies carried in a still-unconscious Jory to drop onto his cot. The second they'd locked the door to the cell, all three men breathed out heavily.

Piper glanced at the silent soldier in the cell and then at Chance's profile. What exactly was going on in this place?

Jory kept silent in the cell while Piper and Chance typed away on keyboards. He'd awakened nearly ten minutes ago, instantly sitting up to watch. For now, he wouldn't worry about whatever his PET scan and MRI had shown. Hopefully his brain had looked normal.

Did Chance have extra abilities, too? The kid had dark brown hair like Shane and Nate, Matt's square jaw, and Jory's mouth. s.h.i.t.

Just how many brothers did Jory have out there? This would f.u.c.king kill Matt. The idea of another one of them being held captive and trained to kill was almost too much to carry. The Dean brothers had only escaped five years ago, so where had this kid been?

Jory couldn't ask the questions with Piper in the room, but he'd d.a.m.n well get answers.

While the kid typed away, he'd looked over his shoulder several times, curiosity in those gray eyes. Apparently he knew better than to question Jory in front of Piper.

Good.

Piper ignored Jory completely, her shoulders stiff, tension all but cascading from her. The woman seemed to be getting angrier and angrier every time she was in Jory's vicinity. He sighed. Whatever was going on, he'd have to handle it. The clock was ticking down not only on Madison discovering his extra abilities, but with his chip about to explode, he had to get to his brothers.

Finally, Piper excused herself to head to the ladies' room. She'd barely cleared the door when the kid stretched to his feet and approached the cell. He kept his face stoic, hard, but his eyes burned bright.

"Who are you?" Chance asked.

Jory flicked his gaze to the camera in the corner. The meet-up was deliberate, and surely Madison was scribbling in a notebook right now. "Jory."

"You look familiar."

"Yeah." Would telling the kid the truth put him in danger? Or rather, more danger than he lived with daily? Jory stood and approached the gla.s.s. The wave of protectiveness nearly floored him. "How many kids are here?"

Chance shuffled his feet, his lip curling. "Why?"

"Because I'd like to know how many brothers I have that I didn't know about," Jory said slowly. Forget the cameras. This was a brother, and he never lied to a brother.

Chance blinked. "I'm not your brother, a.s.shole."

Jory grinned. The kid had b.a.l.l.s. "Right. Because gray eyes are normal. I was created by the commander and Dr. Madison, trained as a soldier, and I'm not the only one."

Chance's shoulders went back, and his Adam's apple bobbled. "What do you mean?"

"I have three older brothers." Jory cleared his throat. And now one younger brother. At least. "That is, you and I have three older brothers. Same sperm donor."

Chance glanced at the closed door and back. "This is a setup."

"Yep." Smart kid. "But not by me."

The kid's hands clenched into fists, and he glared up at the hidden camera. So much anger rolled off him, Jory's gut heated. "Chance?" Jory asked.

In a clearly Matt Dean f.u.c.k You head bob, Chance began to speak, defiance in every nuance. "Our sperm donor's name was Bruce Wilc.o.x, he supported the program and voluntarily gave up sperm, and then he died on a mission."

The blood roared between Jory's ears, and he stepped closer to the gla.s.s. "You found him?"

"Yeah. I hacked the records." Chance shrugged, rawness in his eyes. "I can hack."

Something had hurt the kid and bad. Jory's throat closed with the need to help. The brutal need to break out of the cage and clasp the kid made Jory's hands shake. "Any records of our mothers?"

Chance exhaled, his already broad chest moving with the effort. "Just the program directives of buying top-grade genetic material and then hiring surrogates. Some grad students, some single moms, some wh.o.r.es. All records of who and when have been destroyed."

The records had been in Utah? That made an odd sense. The kid knew more about Jory's history than he did. Pride lifted his chin. "You're smart, kid. Now how many gray-eyed brothers are running around with you?"

Chance blinked, silent for several moments. Jory let him work out the thought on whether to reveal information or not, impressed when not one emotion crossed the kid's face. Well trained, now wasn't he?

Finally, Chance scratched his chin, a veil dropping over his gaze. "Two brothers younger than me."

Jory blinked. "There are three of you?" G.o.d. There were three more brothers. "Three brothers."

"We're not your brothers, so don't get any ideas. You're on your own." Chance still refused to look at him.

Jory eyed the kid. What was he hiding?

High heels clicked down the hall, and Jory stiffened along with Chance, their movements an exact mirror. The door swept open, and Dr. Madison clipped inside, four soldiers behind her.

She smiled sparkling white teeth. "What a nice reunion."

Chance shifted to the side, keeping her in sight. Everything in Jory stilled with the need to protect this newfound brother, and his body settled into fighting mode. "More experiments, Madison?"

"Yes." A gleeful gleam filled her blue eyes. "Same but different."

"Meaning?" Jory tilted his head to the side.

She shrugged. "Chance, get back to work. Jory, your brain showed some interesting activities on your tests earlier, and now it's time for a physical."

"No." The last thing he wanted was more poking or prodding. Although getting out of the cell held certain appeal.

"Yes. We need you awake this time." Madison jerked her head at the soldiers, who immediately fanned out and drew weapons. Madison then drew a small pistol from her lab coat and pointed the barrel at Chance.

Jory growled.

To the kid's credit, he didn't flinch, although his muscles tightened in antic.i.p.ation of a fight.

"Fine." Jory backed away from the gla.s.s, and Madison turned the gun on him.

A soldier punched in numbers on the pad next to the door, and it slid open.

Jory gauged the men's stances and their weapons. He could get two of them quickly, but he'd have to kill the other two, and who knew if Madison would shoot him or not. He debated his options, his decision made the second Piper walked back into the room. Too much danger for somebody untrained.

Her eyes widened, and she faltered. "Wh-"

"Please get back to work. We're running out of time," Madison said, her cheerful voice contrasting with the gun in her hand.

Piper swallowed and glanced from Jory to Chance and back.

Jory tried to make his smile rea.s.suring. "I would appreciate it if you found a way to deactivate the chip near my spine." There wasn't a chance, but he needed her focused and out of the way. So he allowed one soldier to shackle his wrists and ankles, shuffling out of the room, an ache pounding in his gut as he left his brother behind.

Again.

The walk through hallways took over two minutes. They reached a medical lab, and he hitched inside to jump on a table. "How could you?" he asked Madison.

She blinked, glancing up from a computer tablet. "Excuse me?"

"More creations?" he asked, fire bubbling up his throat.

"Yes." She squinted. "Four boys, an experiment to see if they'd bond like your family did. We wanted to see if the four behaved like you four boys did."

Jory stiffened. "Which is why you made Chance the oldest? To see if he'd behave as Matt did."

"Yes." Madison slid to the side as a pretty nurse entered the room. "He has. Treats those younger boys just as protectively as Matt did you."

Jory swallowed. "You said four boys, and Chance told me there were three of them. Why?"

Madison clicked her tongue. "We lost one months ago on a mission."

A rock slammed into Jory's gut. "How old was he?"

"Eleven." Madison sighed. "He showed such potential. What a pity."

Fire burned Jory's ears, and his hands clenched with the need to wrap around her slim neck. "You f.u.c.king b.i.t.c.h."

The door burst open, and heavy combat boots clomped inside. "Watch your mouth, boy," the commander muttered.

Jory lifted his head to meet the black-eyed gaze. "So you finally got one of us killed. Nice job, d.i.c.khead." With his hands shackled at his back, and his feet all but tied together, he'd need leverage to tackle the commander while keeping Madison from shooting him. So he shifted slightly on the table.

Madison smoothly shoved a needle into his leg and depressed the plunger.

Instant warmth filled his thigh, and his vision swayed. d.a.m.n it.

The commander widened his stance. "Soldiers die all the time, and it's a miracle you've never lost a brother. h.e.l.l, I can't figure out why you're still alive. As a kid, you were pathetic."

He was still alive because his brothers had made sure he survived. Without question, without his brothers, he never would've made it through early training before he grew. Now, he was a stone-cold killer who'd do what he had to do-even use Piper against the commander. He wavered on the table, trying to remain conscious. "You'll pay for getting that kid killed."

The commander glanced at his wrist.w.a.tch. "Take blood and do a full mock-up, and then toss him into the training field. Let's see how fast he heals now."

Jory's head lolled. "Why don't you join me?" he slurred.

"I might." The commander clasped his hands at his back. "I haven't beaten you in a while, although I did have a good time with Nathan in DC."

Jory forced a grin. "You mean before he escaped with Audrey and blew the place up?"

The commander frowned. "He'll pay for his disloyalty, I promise you."

"Right." Jory sucked in air and tried to focus his vision while Madison drew blood. "Your daughter has no clue what a b.a.s.t.a.r.d you are."

Pain flashed in Madison's eyes, to be quickly veiled. Jory cleared his throat. He'd forgotten how much the batty scientist loved the evil commander. "Did you know the commander had a kid?" Jory asked.

She turned to tap info into her tablet. "Your vision should be graying."

Yeah, it was. He faced the commander again. "One-night stand?"

"Yes. She was a receptionist at the Tennessee compound. She was good in bed." The commander leaned to read over Madison's shoulder. "My first instinct was to force her to get rid of it."

"You didn't, though?" Jory concentrated on the blood pumping through his veins and tried to speed up the action. He needed to move the drugs quickly to absorb them.

"No." The commander sighed. "Ego, I'm afraid. I'd hoped for a boy to raise here, but alas, it was a girl. So I just left them alone."