“No worries.”
“Good. Matrix, I need a full workup on Ari.”
Matrix flipped a switch next to his workstation as a door slid open. Inside was a complete body x-ray machine. “Ari, go stand on the red dot, and do not move.”
Ari looked at me, and when I nodded, she did as instructed.
When she was set, the machine clicked on and moved up and down her body. It was over in less than a minute, and when the machine stopped moving, Matrix said. “Okay, you can come out. Ghost, remove your belt and any metal you may have and go stand where Ari was.”
Sighing, I did as Matrix ordered and went through the same process. When it was all done, I sat back in my chair with Ari in my lap when Matrix said, “Okay. Ghost is clear, minus the screw he had in his leg from when he crashed his bike several years ago. As for Ari, her left-hand ring finger.”
Turning to her, Matrix held out his hand and patiently waited until Ari placed her hand in his. I watched as he turned her hand over, looking at it as if her hand was something foreign. When he was done, he got up and walked over to a set of shelves he had on the left wall and dug through one of the drawers, pulling something out that looked awfully like a fucking gun.
Quickly standing, I put Ari behind me and shouted, “What the fuck!”
“Calm down,” Matrix replied, walking over to me. “It’s not what you think. This is an injection gun. Typically used for vaccines and shit, but I’ve modified it to extract as well. It should be painless.”
“Should be?” I growled.
“Never tested it before.”
“Then how do you know it will work?”
“Because I designed it.”
“That’s reassuring,” I deadpanned and turned to Reaper. “No fucking way is he getting anywhere near my woman with that thing. Fuck no!”
“Calm the fuck down,” Reaper shouted. “She either lets Matrix take that fucking thing out of her, or she’s on her own. I will not have one of my brothers killed because of her. Got me!”
“Balthazar,” Ari whispered. “Reaper is right. I don’t want anyone to get hurt. Let Matrix do this. I can handle it.”
Turning to her, I grabbed her and hugged her to me. The thought of hurting her anymore was killing me. I wanted to take that contraption in Matrix’s hand and shove it up his ass. I hated this. I hated seeing her hurt. I hated seeing her cry. She should be protected and loved. Never this.
“Please, Balthazar. Let me do this.”
Fuck, she was killing me. Taking her head in my hands, I kissed her for all that I was worth. All I wanted was to protect her, and I couldn’t even do that. There were too many people coming. I knew the longer that thing was in her, the faster they would find her. Logically I knew it needed to go, but something was still holding me back. I couldn’t explain it.
“Ghost. Now or never!” Reaper shouted, getting my attention. Looking at Ari, I reluctantly nodded and said nothing more as she left my arms and approached Matrix and whispered, “It’s okay. I promise not to cry. I know you don’t like this any more than Balthazar. I trust you.”
Matrix blushed and nodded.
Ari extended her left hand, and I watched as Matrix put that contraption against her ring finger. When he pulled the trigger, Ari winced, and I was beside her instantly. “Is that it? Is it out?” she asked calmly.
“Let me check,” Matrix said, turning to a microscope he had set up. After a few minutes, he bent down and looked into the scope. Instantly he looked up at Ari, then back down again. “No fucking way!”
“What!” Reaper roared, slamming his hand down on the wood table. Yeah, the boss man was at his limit. Sitting back down with Ari, I took her left hand in mine and kissed it as Matrix came running back over to his beloved computers.
“Matrix, tell me what the fuck has got you all excited. I hate suspense, and I’m not in the fucking mood.”
Leaning forward, I whispered. “You better tell him. Bossman didn’t have his coffee this morning, and his woman cut him off.”
“I heard that, you fucker!”
“What do any of you know about nanotechnology?”
“Not a damn thing. Explain.” Reaper said.
“Okay, Nanotechnology or nanotech is the use of matter on an atomic, molecular, and supramolecular scale for industrial purposes. The earliest, widespread description of nanotechnology referred to the particular technological goal of precisely manipulating atoms and molecules for fabrication of macroscale products, also now referred to as molecular nanotechnology.”