The encrypted message on the screen contained only two short lines. Lucian put down his phone. Since he had decided to make this Long Island villa their future home, there were things he no longer needed to hide from Cate.
He beckoned to Cate, who was still gesturing about where to put the sofa in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows.
Cate ran over barefoot across the thick carpet, her gaze sweeping over his phone.
"Off to take care of something again?" She bit her lower lip, her shoulders drooping.
They had finally picked a place to live, and he was leaving again before they had even finished planning it out.
"Want to come see my business?" Lucian slipped an arm around her waist. "As my personal assistant, you can't very well not know what your boss does."
Cate laughed and reached up to pinch Lucian's cheek. "You jerk. That's only because you never tell me anything."
Lucian tilted his head away and bent down to kiss her forehead. "Not anymore."
As soon as he finished speaking, Lucian spread his arms and scooped Cate up.
Cate cried out in surprise. Before she could react, Lucian had shot into the sky with her in his arms, heading straight for Detroit.
On the outskirts of Detroit, Lucian landed at the bottom of a rusted ventilation shaft with Cate in his arms. He pressed his hand against the dust-covered wall, and disguised metal panels slid apart, revealing a long, high-tech corridor.
Cate followed beside Lucian, looking around.
A fully enclosed sterile corridor, centrifuges running with precision, live-subject observation rooms behind bulletproof glass.
Every time they passed through an area, the researchers in white protective suits stopped working and bowed their heads in unison.
"My lord."
Their voices echoed through the empty corridor.
Cate swallowed.