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Zoey had encountered more evil in her job with the TSP than most people would ever encounter in their entire lifetimes. But this? This was far worse than anything she had ever heard before. "You've been watchingusthis whole time? Our entire lives? Rafe and Caine and Paige and Ariella."
Right there in Rafe’s hospital where he could watch her brother every day. And Rafe’s son, Caine’s youngest son and two youngest daughters—in the daycare. Right there. With a madman. For hours every single week.
He had beenthat closeto her brothers’ children.
"Yes, yes, and all the rest.” He waved a hand impatiently. “Your mother donated oocytes to me twelve months after their birth—after it became clear how exceptional Rafael was. Rafael and Caine, though I expected Caine to have passed on by that point. Imagine my surprise when I learned he was alive and well. And flourishing."
He seemed impatient at the questions, but also...happy to discuss it. Of course, he was. He was a megalomaniac, after all. She had to keep him talking while she figured out what to do next.
"Julius Deane helped fund my early lab. My early research. He was fascinated by horse breeding; did you know that? Brilliant at it, actually. We had wonderful discussions on how horse breeding could transfer to, well, breeding more perfect children. He was interested in comparing one of my golden children to his own son, if one was raised in the same environment. He was quite proud of his son, you know. So we made certain that that longitudinal study became a reality. I added the other twin, raised in a far less nurturing environment, to the study later. I am continuing it now. Ironic, isn’t it, that Julius’s eldest son married one of my Denita’s daughters? Their children will be phenomenal. Exceptional and brilliant. Those I have studied of Denita’s grandchildren are just that. Extraordinary. Those Alvaro girls, perfection. I do have to say, both male Alvaro infants did turn out to be quite exceptional as adults, didn’t they? And, of course, I am observing their young children in the hospital daycare on a twice weekly basis. Julius’s soon-to-be-born grandchild will make a wonderful addition to the study."
Will make. That meant…he most likely didn’t have Ariella.
That left Paige. Or that little girl. Or some random woman Zoey had never met before. Anything was possible now.
He'd studied them. And he’dengineeredsome of them. Like they were nothing more than cattle.Now he was watching Caine and Rafe’s children? Zoey bit back the urge to vomit.
She had to keep him talking. Her hand was almost free.
"What about Julius’s wife? What did she get out of the deal?" Every record they'd found had said Evelyn Deane had purchased Rafe because she had wanted another child. Nothing more complicated than that. Then she’d practically abandoned Rafe as an infant.
Nothing about Julius Deane anywhere. He was almost a footnote.
None of his sons mentioned him much at all. At least not positively. And even though Marcus had asked his mother about the woman who had sold Rafe to her so long ago, she had refused to cooperate.
"She received nothing, why would she? Just another child to raise and love, of course. It wasn't her decision at all. Julius was the one who made all the important decisions in their life. He gave her the boy, told her they were going to raise him as their own, under very specific rules, and that was it. That woman knew better than to argue. Julius knew how to control her adequately."
He hadn't secured her feet. There were stirrups right there. Zoey tried not to freak, seeing those stirrups. She knew…what they were for. And that just was not going to happen.
"It took the back of his hand or his belt quite frequently at first, but Evelyn eventually learned to do as she was instructed. She has always been a bit of an obstinate woman. I do hope you will be far more manageable as we move into Phase II. That includes you donating the oocytes I need without arguing. I do not want to have to sedate you too often, young lady. I know you are not a proven breeder, yet, of course, but you should be reasonably fertile at your age. If you are not, you will be disposed of, and I will find another.”
Like her entire purpose for being was tied up in his little experiment. She was livestock, breeding stock, and nothing more. This man…was worse than any other sociopath or psychopath she had ever heard of.
“There are plenty more of your half sisters out there to choose from. I simply need your mother's DNA to continue my experiments. And my donor must not be a carrier for that heart condition. There are many who will meet those requirements. It doesn’t truly matter which of her daughters I choose. And my last embryo was too flawed. I should have kept the one before that, but the offer I was made for a male embryo using that particular gentleman’s sperm was too good to refuse. Very lucrative.”
He just kept talking. Rambling. As he made notes on a clipboard. “That embryo will be birthed and final payment delivered within seven months, I believe. Pity. I would like to have him, but a debt is a debt. I was paying back a debt made more than thirty years ago. With you, actually. You were supposed to have been a male, and sent to the same client as your two brothers immediately before you. You were misidentified as male. Back then…it caused me a great deal of trouble.”
Brothers before her. Those would have been…Slater and Royal Davis. She thought.
He patted her on the knee, almost paternally. Zoey tried not to jerk away, to kick. Just…not yet.
“For Phase II. It will take about six weeks to adequately arrange the first harvest. If you take well to the process, we may even manage ten harvests. In the commercial donation world, six is the cap for a young woman. But that is foolishness. The experiment deserves as many as we can harvest expediently. You are young and healthy appearing. That is phenomenal, considering the trauma of the shooting."
Zoey was trying not to freak. This asshole wasn't getting anywhere near her damned eggs. That just wasn't going to happen.
"Tell me, where exactly are you at in your menstrual cycle?"
Zoey just blinked at him.
Had he seriously just asked her that? "What kind of a doctor are you again?"
"Obstetrics, women’s health, reproductive specialist. I am the founder of four different IVF clinics in this state, and two in Oklahoma. I am on the Board at FCGH, and FCU. I guest teach at FCU Med occasionally."
"How did you know my mother? Tell me about her. I never knew her."
"Denita was so extraordinary." His eyes changed. Just like that. He had an almost dreamy look that terrified her.
An obsessed look.
