Free Project: Killer (Project Series Book 1) by J.L. Beck

disease.”
    Tears formed in my eyes. How could they do that? Immediately, I wondered if Roger knew. If that was what all his secrecy was about.
    “It can’t be…” The words escaped my lips. I was astonished. A tear slipped from my eye, trickling down my cheek. I watched Gauge’s eyes follow my tear. There was no compassion in his eyes, and I understood why. It was true—everything he had said was true. My heart ached, and the contents in my stomach threatened to come up.
    “It is. Your tears mean nothing to us. We aren’t looking for sympathy or understanding. All we want is retribution. Which we will get in due time. For now, we will settle for what we can get. I will keep this tidbit of information between you and me as long as you do as I say.” His voice held authority and caused shivers to run down my spine. Was I being blackmailed?
    “What do you want me to do?” I asked hesitantly unsure if I wanted to agree to anything he had to say. Diesel was a lethal monster now, a man I no longer knew. A smile formed on his face, and I should’ve taken it as a warning.
    “I want you to work with Killer.” My jaw all but hit the floor. He wanted me to work with Killer. Killer who was technically Diesel.
    “I don’t—”I didn’t get a chance to finish what I was saying because Gauge cut off my words. The table before me went flying with one swipe of his hand. With brutal force, it hit the far wall with a loud thud, and then he was right in my face like a raging bull.
    “You will do whatever the fuck I tell you to do. If that little secret doesn’t help keep you in line, then the fact that I know who Killer is to you will,” he seethed. My arms went slack falling to the sides of my body. My chest heaved with every breath. How had he figured that out? How had he discovered anything about my job, about whatever it was that PGI did?
    “He—”I mumbled. “He tried to kill me. He wrapped his hands around my neck until I couldn’t breathe. He isn’t the same person I knew. He doesn’t recognize me, and he doesn’t care. He was going to kill me. I saw the look in his eyes.” I sounded hysterical as I shook my head back and forth. I had once loved Diesel. But the man who almost forced the life out of me wasn’t Diesel. He was a monster, one on a mission for death.
    Gauge stopped my head from shaking with a hard grip to my chin causing me to come face to face with him. He was so close I could feel his breath on my face. Terror grew deep within me. He looked like he was about to shake me to death.
    “It doesn’t matter. We won’t tell him who you are until his memories allow him to remember you. That’s what you will be doing. You will be working through his emotions with him, his memories of the two of you. He won’t hurt you. He has promised not to.”
    I wanted to snort. This man had a very trustworthy heart if he thought Killer wouldn’t try to take my life again if he got the chance. He had almost killed me without cause—what would he do with a cause?
    “Oh, yeah, because that is so believable. In fact, almost everything you’re saying is hard to believe. Impossible even,” I said straight into his face, unable to turn away from him. His grip on my chin tightened to an almost unbearable state.
    “Once you get out there and you start interacting with Killer—once you hear all he has gone through, once you spend one night listening to his screams, you will know all I have said to you is true. It’s only impossible to believe because you haven’t seen it yet.” His voice was right next to my ear, his words being forced into my mind causing me to think, making me feel.
    As soon as he was done talking, he released me. I wanted to reach up and rub away the pain that had formed in my jaw, but I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction.
    “Report to the arena in ten minutes time. Be prepared to see him. He knows you’ll be there.” Those had been Gauge’s final words to me before he left what I now