Page 14 of Alien Spare (Cosmic Mates #9)

Wasn’t the queen the kinder, gentler monarch?

This cold woman with the icy glare was not the maternal sort her sister had described or the generous woman who’d sent her on a vacation.

It took every ounce of bravado to stand tall and not curl into a protective ball. It’s like they blame me for the exposé.

She did feel partly, indirectly responsible. If she hadn’t entered the picture, there wouldn’t have been strife between the two men, and the scandal wouldn’t have occurred. But she hadn’t gone to KCN. And Falkor had founded Kaldoronics long before he met her.

As the air over the holodeck shimmered, her husband reached out and took her hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze. We’ll get through this together, he seemed to say. She flashed a small, grateful smile.

Light flickered over the holodeck, and the now-familiar mystery woman from the café materialized again. If she’d gotten a better look in the eatery, she would have been able to place her sooner.

Bynti sat at a desk in the KCN studio. “In this exclusive report, Kaldor Celebrity News has learned that karma is about to bite the Prince of Scandal in the backside,” she reported in a gleeful tone.

“Reliable sources say His Highness’ hasty, hush-hush marriage is teetering on the rocks.

His new wife, Karma Kennedy of Earth, has been having an affair with the prince’s secret business partner, Soton! ”

Shocked into speechlessness, she gaped. “That’s not true!” she finally burst out, her gaze darting from Falkor to his parents.

He squeezed her hand. “Turn it off!”

The holocam pulled back to show Soton seated next to Bynti. “Is it true that you and the prince’s wife have been seeing each other?” she asked him.

“Not for long, but yes, that’s true.”

The liar! Oh, Goddess.

“How did you meet?”

He shrugged sheepishly. “The prince introduced us. But as soon as Karma and I laid eyes on each other, we recognized we had something special, that this kind of mutual chemistry doesn’t happen very often. When she contacted me and asked me to meet her, I was reluctant.”

Contacted him?

“Prince Falkor is a very dear friend, but she assured me their marriage is over for her. Karma and I haven’t been together long, but our relationship has been pretty…intense, if you catch my drift.” For an instant, his expression shifted from sheepish to smug.

If the queen’s face got any harder, it would shatter. The king appeared ready to explode. Karma felt the blood drain from her face and dizziness envelope her. Don’t pass out. Don’t pass out. Oh, Goddess, this is bad. Falkor gripped her hand so tight, her fingers went numb.

“He’s lying!” Her voice came out a hoarse whisper.

The scene shifted to the hall in the café—where she stood, back to the wall as Soton leaned in, in an intimate, almost-sexual clinch. Oh, Goddess. I’m going to throw up. Her palms were on Soton’s chest, and she lifted her face as if to kiss him.

No! She’d been warding him off, trying to reclaim her personal space.

“You’re beautiful when you smile,” Soton intoned. “You and I have some…unfinished business.” Watching it like this, she could hear the suggestiveness in his tone.

“Our marriage was a huge mistake. I don’t love Falkor. I married him to stay on Kaldor.”

Her voice. Not her words. Using her image, replicating her voice, Bynti and Soton had fabricated an entire holovid.

Falkor threw her hand away as if burned.

“We’re done. I’m going to tell him the marriage is over.”

“I never said that!” she cried. She grabbed Falkor’s sleeve, but he jerked away. This can’t be happening. He has to believe me.

“I don’t want to hurt Falkor,” Soton was saying.

“Better a little hurt now—than a bigger hurt later,” her voice said. On the holovid, they were still in a passionate-appearing clinch in the hall.

Karma shook her head. “That’s not the way it was—I swear!”

The king, the queen, and Falkor seemed to have turned to stone. The holovid shifted to the KCN studio where Bynti interviewed the slimebag. “So, where do things stand now between you and the prince’s wife?” she asked.

“Well, she told me she’s going to break it off with him, and then we’ll be together. We didn’t mean for this to happen, but the heart cannot be denied.”

The holocam zoomed in on Bynti. “So, there you have it, my fellow Kaldorans—the Prince of Scandal is about to become the Heartbroken Prince.” She flashed a gloating smile, and the holovid winked out.

Karma felt crushed by the weight of the accusatory silence.

His face stricken, Falkor backed away. “I trusted you!”

“She’s lying! Soton is lying. She’d made it all up. I was never with Soton!”

“That was our first thought when the holovid was brought to our attention,” the queen said tightly. “Of course, we looked into it. The café verified you were there with Soton. Witnesses saw you embracing.”

“We weren’t embracing. I was standing there. I was having lunch with my sister! You recommended the café.”

“Kismet has confirmed you were alone with Soton.”

Why would her sister say that? She knew the truth! She’d told her. She’d come from Kismet’s. Her sister never mentioned discussing her and Soton with the queen. What was going on? “I met with him briefly. He said he had business to discuss! I assumed he meant Kaldoronics.”

“He knows better than to talk business with you,” Falkor said.

“That was the ruse to get me alone. I couldn’t mention the business in front of my sister because it was supposed to be a secret, so I stepped into the hall.”

Falkor’s face remained stony, and he wouldn’t look at her.

Tears threatened to fall as her marriage disintegrated under her feet. How could he believe I’d cheat on him?

She’d thought Falkor was different from other men. Once again, she failed to hold a man’s devotion. The evidence looked damning, but if he loved her the way he’d claimed, wouldn’t he give her the benefit of the doubt? “You have to know it’s not true!”

“Do I?” he said.

She reeled as if he’d slapped her. How could he think so little of her character?

He should believe her because she said so; she shouldn’t have to present evidence of her innocence like she was on trial.

“You’ve seen how Bynti operates,” she argued desperately.

“You saw the holo about you. She did the same thing with the holo of me and Soton! Bynti doesn’t report scandals—she creates them. ”

His bark of laughter held no humor. He squeezed something in his pocket.

“Well, you see, that’s the problem I’m having.

Everything she reported about me is close to factual.

Some things were taken out of context and sensationalized, but the essence of the report is accurate.

I have been operating a secret business. ”

“Not this time! She manufactured the whole thing—”

He cut her off with a flick of his wrist, and she shriveled up inside. “I can’t—I can’t—even…look at you right now.” He left the library.

She burst into tears.