Page 102

“Why?”

“Because I want you to be happy.”

“What do you want me to do? If I gave you the decision?”

“If it was up to me? You’d never leave my side. We’d spend the rest of our lives together.”

“What if I don’t want to be Lady Aste?”

“Then I’d walk away and leave it to my cousin.”

Stars, I wasn’t expecting that answer. “Why?”

“Because you’re mine.”

He stands and leaves me to spiral. Which I do.

As Vynia pulls into the loading bay of Raiz’s ship, I don’t see one of the Order’s cruisers. Instead, I see a large freighter. It carries deep marks in the hull from what I can only assume are battles with pirates. Our galaxy is generally peaceful as far as interplanetary space goes.

Mydax is standing in front of a small group of the Order’s security team. Two Zeahiri security officers flank him. No one has weapons out, but the atmosphere seems tense.

A flash of gold streaks around the Zeahirian crew, and my breath is knocked free of my lungs when I feel Torre wrap herself around me. My arms embrace her back just as hard. It feels so good to have my best friend back in my arms. My eyes turn glassy as I look up and meet Raiz’s gaze over her shoulder.

“Torre, this is?—”

She drags me away from Raiz and pulls me behind her back protectively. “Stay away from her.” She lifts a blaster, clicking off the safety.

The space echoes with the shuffle of weapons being drawn, and when I look around, I see everyone has their weapon trained on someone else. All except for Raiz who just stares at me.

I put my hand over Torre’s arm and push it down. “Stop. They haven’t hurt me. It’s okay.”

She narrows her eyes. “They kidnapped you.”

“Only because they needed my help.”

“Your help for what? Reading a book?”

Her dismissive tone stings, and I take a step away from her. One of the reasons she and I would never work romantically is her tendency to not take my work seriously. She never saw a use in learning so many languages when universal translators exist.

“Watch how you speak to her, female,” Raiz growls, stepping toward me.

Torre lifts her blaster again. “Get the fuck away from her. Now.”

“How about we all calm down?” A male voice says, stepping out from behind the freighter.

I do a double take at the human male. Maybe it’s because I’ve only seen one other in real life, but he looks so much like the male I saw back on the pleasure planet in the bar. He walks over toward us with both hands up. As he comes closer I see that the holster he wears on his hip is empty. Finally, someone with some damn sense.

He comes to a stop in front of us, and he’s taller than I expected a human male to be. Not as tall as Raiz, obviously, but only an inch or two shorter than Hyva. His hair is a sandy brown color with streaks of gray. Deep lines crinkle from the corners of his dark blue eyes. He looks friendly. Almost familiar in the oddest way.

“Everyone put your weapons away. There’s just been a misunderstanding, Neev is fine and has been well taken care of onboard my ship.” Raiz holds his hand out for me, and I take it with no hesitation.

We link our fingers, and I dart a look at Torre, who looks like I just punched her. “Apparently she’s been so well taken care of that she's forgotten who she is,” Torre snarls the words. “What are you thinking Neev? This isn’t like you.”

“I just trust him. I trust them all. They’ve helped me learn things.” Raiz squeezes my fingers.

“Like how to suck a cock apparently,” Torre says under breath.

“Torre.” One of her commanding officers steps forward and pulls her back. “Speak like that again, and you’ll lose your rank faster than you can blink.”

She doesn’t care; I can see the glint of recklessness in her eyes as she steps toward us again. But instead of speaking to me, she turns to the human male. “Are you just going to let this go on without telling her? After everything you’ve done to keep her safe?”

Everyone’s head swivels to the male who glowers at Torre.

“Who are you?” Raiz asks.

“Captain Timothy Sanders,” he answers Raiz before turning to me. “But you can call me Dad.”