Free Turning Payne by Chantel Seabrook

can you even look at me?"
    "You're not responsible for his actions." He placed his hand over hers.
    "No, but I'm still his daughter."
    "You're nothing like him," he said, knowing in his gut that it was the truth. How could a man like Richard Boyd be responsible for creating a woman like Riley? He tightened his grip and pulled her closer.
    "Do you really think my father created whatever is responsible for changing Kiera and all those other people?"
    "Yes."
    She was quiet for a moment. "So you think Marcus continued his research?"
    He nodded against her head. It was more likely that Marcus was still working with Boyd, but he couldn't tell her that.
    "Marcus idolized my father, and the way he hung around Kiera, I thought he had feelings for her. Why would Marcus want to turn Kiera to hurt her like this? It doesn't make sense."
    He scrubbed his free hand over his face and sighed. "I don't know."
    "When he had the needle to my neck, he said it was the only way of fixing her, but I don't think he was talking about Kiera."
    "Why do you say that?"
    "I don't know, just something he said."
    Turner propped himself on an elbow and looked down at her. "Tell me."
    "He said he needed Kiera, because he would have to fix her."
    "Who?"
    "He didn't say, but I got the impression that he knows someone who may be able to reverse the process."
    "Fuck." Turner threw himself back on the pillow. It had to be Boyd. There was no other explanation. If what she said was true, then there was no doubt that Boyd was alive, and he was sure Marcus knew where the bastard was.
    "What is it?"
    What was he supposed to say? He couldn't tell her that her father was still alive, not after what she'd already learned today. How much shock could one person go through without having a complete nervous breakdown?
    "I think I may know who Marcus is working with."
    Her eyes brightened. "That's good then?"
    He cringed inwardly. "Yeah, it's good news."
    "Thank you." She wrapped her hands around his neck and kissed him hard on the cheek and pulled back smiling. "I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't shown up yesterday."
    He knew exactly what she would have done; he'd seen it a hundred times. She would have called the police. The call would have been flagged by the Therian agency, and a team would have been assigned to wipe the place, and Riley's mind of the event. Kiera would have been placed in holding among the other victims, and Riley would spend the rest of her life believing some fabricated tale that one of the agents would have created to explain Kiera's disappearance.
    In some ways, it would have been better if he hadn't found her. She would never have known, wouldn't have to live with the knowledge of what her father had done, what kind of a man he was. But it was too late now, and Turner was in way too deep to walk away.
    He brushed her hair away from her face. If Boyd was alive, then that meant he wasn't responsible for her father's death. The knot that had been tightening in his stomach slowly started to loosen.
    "You're smiling," she said, as if it were a rare occurrence.
    "Am I?"
    She nodded, tucked her chin and looked at him under hooded lashes. Fuck, she was irresistible when she looked at him that way. His heart thumped painfully in his chest. He lifted his hand and ran his fingers over the soft outline of her jaw and down her neck. His fingers skimmed the rapidly beating artery, his gaze drawn to delicate skin that covered it.
    She swallowed hard. "What are you thinking about?"
    "That there's nothing more in the world that I want then to kiss you right now."
    Her tongue darted over her lips. It was as good as an open invitation. He dipped his head and brushed his lips lightly over hers. When he pulled back, a feral growl tore from his throat. She was a freaking aphrodisiac, and yet she pulled on something deeper within, a part of himself he didn't know existed.
    Her breath came in little bursts. He was aware of her body, the physical reaction she