“Really? What about putting me in PR?”
“You’d be wasted there. I think you should have your old job back,” he said. Then, “If you want it.”
Totally a parallel universe. That was the only possible explanation.
Dinner concluded, Eleanor pressed Carrie for a hundred details about life with the Mahdfel. The questions got… intimate. At least she didn’t ask about Vox’s cock. Thank the stars for little miracles.
“Why the interest, Mom? I thought you’d want to put all this behind us. You were talking about loopholes and lawyers--”
Eleanor waved away the question. “I’m going to have a grandbaby. That’s all I care about.”
Wow. That put Carrie in her place. “How’s Tucker?” she asked, switching the subject.
Eleanor refilled her and Carrie’s glasses. Wine for her, lemonade for Carrie. “He’s dating his personal assistant.”
“Valerie?” Carrie coughed, lemonade threatening to spray across the fine woven rug. Carrie pictured the woman: blonde, thin and with a perpetual bored expression on her face. “She’s so… so…”
“They seem happy.”
“Best of luck to them,” she said, lifting her glass in a mock toast. Anyone going to marry Tucker needed a fair amount of luck on their side.
Carrie felt she could eliminate her parents from the list of suspects. Both seemed pleased to have her home but were genuinely concerned about her welfare. She wasn’t sure how she would recognize the saboteur … a twirling mustache, probably.
She wouldn’t speak with Tucker until tomorrow but if he was dating his assistant, he might not be the saboteur. Shame. She really expected it to be a jilted-lover seeks revenge situation.
In the meantime, she could visit her ill brother.
Chapter Seventeen
Carrie
The auto-taxi arrived nearly as soon as she placed the order on her comm unit. She climbed into the back of the vehicle without so much as a glance to the driver, just as the storm unleashed a cacophony of noise as the rain pounded the vehicle’s roof. She rattled off the address.
“I’m fine, thanks for asking,” the driver said.
The familiar voice startled her and a beloved grin waited for her in the rearview mirror.
“Vox!” She wrapped her arms around the seat from behind in an awkward embrace.
“Climb up here and kiss your husband, female.”
“Won’t someone see?” She climbed into the front seat and scooted close.
“The windows are tinted.”
“Hmm.” She leaned over and gave him a quick peek.
Vox growled with displeasure. “That is no way to greet your mate after our long separation.”
“Four days?”
“Four days of agony. Now kiss me properly.”
She did and she didn’t care who saw.
***
Justin was in rough shape. He swayed in the door, clinging to the frame for support. “Little sister!” He lurched forward and flung his arms around her. He stank of booze. Cheap booze.
“This is what Mom meant when she said you were sick?”
“Shh!” He held a finger to his lips. “My little habit is a secret. I’m so happy to see you!” And he surrounded her with another enthusiastic, if sloppy, embrace.
Carrie dragged him inside and sat him down at the kitchen table. The table and counter were littered with empty vodka bottles, beer cans, pizza boxes and grease stain take out containers. This was unlike her neat and orderly brother.
“Curiouser and curiouser,” she muttered.
“What?” he slurred, nearly sliding out of the chair.
“You need coffee. Where do you keep the beans?”
He giggled. “Beans. That’s a funny word. Bee-ans.”
Stars give her patience.
She found a bag of store brand grounds in the freeze and set the coffee maker through its paces. In no time it was a brewing away and the sharp tang of coffee replaced the stale, dank odor of alcohol.
She took cream and sugar in her coffee. This was her one cup a day, so she was within her limit. Justin took his black. She set the cup down in front of him.
“You’re too good to me,” he said before bursting into tears. “I’m sorry! I didn’t know!”
Carrie knelt beside her sobbing brother, rubbing his thigh until the ragging, gasping of air stopped. “You going to have to explain what’s going on.”
“I will.” He drained his mug. “I just… I fucked up, Carrie. Big time.”
“What happened? We can work it out.” Her brother had always been there for her. She could do the same. Whatever was going on, it was serious. She’d never seen him in such a state. A hot mess. That’s exactly what Justin was, a hot, drunken, mess.
“I tried to fix it but it was too late. And now you’re all alone.” Tears threatened to return.
Carrie looked away, too uncomfortable to watch her big brother sob. “I’m not alone. I have you. And this little fella.” She placed a hand on her stomach for emphasis.
That made the situation worse. “It’s my fault! All my fault.”
She poured another cup of black coffee down his throat and found sandwich fixings in the fridge. By the time he’d finished the second cup and the turkey and Swiss on wheat, his rambling made more sense.
“I got greedy, Carrie, and I fucked up.”
“Start from the beginning.” She nibbled on her own sandwich. Eleanor had a point about eating for two. Carrie was hungry enough for two.
“I needed money.”
“We have money.” That was the one thing the West family had: cash and plenty of it.
“Yeah, well, money that Dad couldn’t track.”
“What did you do—”
“Gambling. I got in over my head. I needed to pay off the debt fast so I—”
Did she want to hear this? All Justin’s sordid secrets?
“I sold a few project plans to Air Omni.”
“Air Omni?!” The competition and not even the main competitor. “That third-rate company?”
“They paid in cash and didn’t ask questions.”
“You stole! From our company. From yourself.”
“I’m not proud.” He had the decency to look away.
“How has nobody figure this out?”
“Well, you never noticed.”
“I never what?” She rocked back on heels. “I didn’t notice what?”
“Exactly. I sold your designs, Carrie. I kept you busy with that project of yours and you never noticed that the other work wasn’t for West and Hunt.”
“Wait… wait…” Her mind spun. “You kept me busy by sabotaging my baby. And then you made me complicit in corporate espionage.”
“It sounds bad when you use words like espionage.”
“Because it is bad!” She jumped to her feet and paced the length of the kitchen. “It doesn’t matter what word you use, it’s very bad. How could you?”
“I owed money to scary people.”
“Who?”
“Scary people. They were going to hurt me.”
“So you stole my ideas? And sabotaged Sly Fox. Do you know how many millions of credits we wasted on that?” She paused in her pacing. “Was it ever going to fly? Could I have ever fixed it?”
He shook his head.
She sighed, shoulders tense. “How.”
“I’m ashamed.”
“How?”
“During manufacturing. I used a non-spaceflight grade material. No one would notice until the parts started to fail.”
“That failure could have killed someone.”
“Did. I killed your husband.” He slumped back in the chair and covered his eyes. “Stars, I’m so sorry, Carrie. Did you love him?”
“Yes, I love him.”
“I didn’t want to hurt him. Honest. But everything already set in motion. I couldn’t stop it.”
“The code.”
He groaned.
“There was a fi
rmware update pushed out after I left Earth. That was you.”
“Yes,” he admitted.
“Why couldn’t you stop that? Huh? Seems like you can stop it by not pressing a button.”
“It was already scheduled. I wrote the code months ago. I forgot.”
“You forgot. Forgot!” Anger overtook her. Carrie snatched the coffee mugs off the table and threw them against the wall. Justin flinched as they shattered.
She should have thrown them at his head.
“I’m sorry,” he whined.
“You nearly killed my husband! You’ve ruined my project for years, stole my ideas and sold them, and you’re sorry.”
Justin looked up. “What do you mean nearly killed?”
“I—”
The back door opened.
Vox strode into the kitchen, ducking as he entered through the door. His horns scrapped the top of the frame.
Justin succumbed to gravity and fell out of his chair. He looked as if he’d seen a ghost. Which he had, actually. “But… but…”
“Relax. This is Vox. My husband, who is clearly not dead or exploded.”
Justin’s head swiveled between Carrie and the huge purple alien in his kitchen. “I thought—”
“We faked it,” Carrie said. “When we realized someone tampered with Sly Fox, we set a trap.”
“And caught me.” He swallowed, the lump in his throat bobbing. “What are you going to do to me?”
“I,” Vox said, kneeling beside the drunken man, “would seek justice and end the life of a traitor. But my mate has a kinder heart and made me swear an oath to let the Terran authorities handle the matter.” His top lip curled, revealing stark white fangs.
Justin yelped and scooted away.
“Unless my mate is so disgusted by the betrayal of her own brother that she wishes me to end this now.” Vox gave her a hopeful look.
Carrie sighed. She was upset, yes, but she loved her brother. Family could suck. Her parents were proof of that, but he was still her brother. “No. He made a mistake. It wasn’t malicious, just stupid.”
Justin continued to scoot away from Vox, who continued to advance slowly.
Carrie recognized the grin on her husband’s face. He toyed with Justin.
“He’s lucky we figured it out and no one was seriously hurt,” she said. “We’ll let the police sort it out.”
Vox
He kept his promise. He delivered the traitor to the Terran authorities. The police seemed baffled but sabotaging Mahdfel equipment was treason, he informed the officers.
Carrie leaned against him, arms wrapped around his waist, and watched the police take her brother away. “I can’t believe he did that.”
“Fear motivates in strange ways.”
She tilted her head back and looked up at him. “Thank you for not hurting him. I know he wrecked my career and nearly killed you, but he’s still my brother.”
“I am unsatisfied at this resolution.”
“Yeah, well, treason is pretty serious. He’s facing serious time.”
“Time.” He shook his head. “Your Terran ideas of justice are so strange.”
Carrie covered her mouth and yawned. “It’s late. Do you want to sleep on Justin’s couch or risk meeting my parents?”
Vox tensed. “I believe I will sleep on the floor here tonight and you may have the couch.”
“Oh, big brave warrior scared of his in-laws?” Her comm unit rang.
It was Eleanor.
“Change of plans,” Carrie said. “They’re on their way over now with lawyers. How are your people skills?”
“Excellent.” He puffed up with pride.
“Good. I’ll make another pot of coffee.”
She moved toward the kitchen but Vox pulled her back. He rested his forehead against hers. He needed to convey so much through a simple action because he could not find the words to express his joy at reunification, relief at her safety and the pain at her brother’s betrayal.
“I missed you, too, big guy,” she said.
“It is more than I missed you.” Even though he did.
“I love you, too.”
Yes, that was it.
“You are my beacon.”
Chapter Eighteen
Carrie
The rising sun glowed pink and golden against the indigo sky. Carrie shivered against the chill and zipped up the front of her favorite hoodie.
“Are you well?” Vox asked, hovering just off to the side. “Do you need to return? Can you walk? I will carry you.”
Poor guy. In the last two weeks, he tried to hold himself back from suffocating Carrie with his constant vigilance and care taking. She could see him struggle. And because he tried, she relaxed and let her mate care for her. Within limits. She could walk just fine, thank you very much.
“I can walk. The air is a little nippy, that’s all.”
“You are cold. We will return.” He moved to pick her up but Carrie scooted away, holding up a hand. Two days ago she sneezed and he had a meltdown, convinced she needed urgent medical care. She tried to explain pollen and dust but that made the situation worse. He just couldn’t believe that Earth allowed allergens to float freely in the air.
“If we go back now, my parents will want to have a big family breakfast,” she said.
Vox paused. “Perhaps we should continue our walk. Meridan says moderate exercise is good for expecting females.”
“Let’s do that.” She patted him on the arm and took his hand.
For the last two weeks, they waited to get the medical all clear for Carrie to return to the Judgment. Entering and leaving orbit wasn’t exactly awesome for the baby but it wasn’t harmful, just tiring. Vox insisted that his mate be deemed medical fit before venturing back onto a space shuttle, which amounted to a two week vacation at her parents’ house on the Florida coast.
In those two weeks, Eleanor and Josiah peppered Vox with questions. Josiah wanted to know the latest in Mahdfel tech, asking pointed questions to catch Vox up in an untruth or to get him to accidentally divulge top secret information. Eleanor’s questions were far more intimate and inappropriate. Carrie took every opportunity to act as tour guide for Vox and sightsee, just to escape her parents for an hour. Of course they indulged in a trip or two to Bucky’s burgers. Now she could honestly say the cartoon cowboy squirrel made the best hamburgers in the galaxy.
Justin was currently held in custody of the planetary government. The threat to Vox’s life had been unintentional, which could sway the judge toward a leniency. Even so, Justin knew someone would test pilot the craft he sabotaged. His actions were selfish and shortsighted. It didn’t matter if he didn’t intend to harm Carrie’s husband. He knew someone would be harmed. Regardless of the trial, he would spend time in prison.
Part of Carrie hurt to see her brother in prison. Another part thought his punishment was not severe enough. She could have lost the male she loved.
Carrie sighed, leaning against Vox. He radiated warmth.
Justin was alive, thanks to her bargaining with the warlord, and he wasn’t going anywhere. She’d have time to sort through her conflicting emotions.
“I’ve been thinking,” Carrie said. She tilted her head back to look him in the eyes.
“Yes, my clever female?” One arm snaked around her waist and rested there comfortably.
“We should name the baby after your father.”
His legs stilled. “Truly? Valle Karey.”
“Yeah. It’s not bad luck to name your kids after the deceased, is it?”
He shook his head, the breeze off the ocean whipping his hair about his horns. “It is a great honor.”
“Valle is a good name,” she said. She’d like it since reading the inscription in Vox’s treasured storybook.
“You would not wish for a more Terran name?”
She shook her head. “How about a human middle name? Valle West Karey.”
He swept her into an embrace, warm, protective and tender. “T
hat is the best name. Thank you.”
He pressed his lips to the base of her throat, the joyful growl reverberating through her.
Two months ago she couldn’t see the point of having a life outside of her work. Now she couldn’t imagine life without this amazing and frustrating alien male.
She turned towards the sun, the light warm on her face. Unconsciously her hand rested on her still flat stomach. Wherever the stars, took them, Earth or deep space or a planet as yet undiscovered, her home was with Vox and the life they made together.
Lucky her.
Epilogue
Mercy
The contraction came over her in a wave. Gritting her teeth, Mercy clamped down on her mother’s hand until the pain passed. Eventually only a dull, burning sensation remained in her lower back and pressure on her pelvis. And bladder.
“I need to pee,” she said in a whisper to her mother.
“Don’t worry about that now.”
She didn’t know when else she was supposed to worry about it.
The nurse appeared with a cup of water and pressed it to her lips. “Drink. You need the fluid. The pressure on your bladder is from the baby. It’s not real.”
“Feels real.”
“Well, if you make a mess, I won’t tell,” she said with a wink.
“I don’t care about a mess. I want my husband. Where is he?” Mercy turned to her mother, clutching her hand tightly.
“The men are looking for him now.”
Meaning no one knew. The warlord was missing and his son’s birth wasn’t going to wait.
Thank you for reading!
Vox! Finally! I hope Vox and Carrie’s story left you with a gooey smile on your face. That’s pretty much the expression I had on my face while I writting.
We’ll revisit Mercy and Paax next in the Warlord’s Baby. (Betcha can’t guess what it’s about.) After that… Seeran? Rohn? Someone new? If you have a burning need for a particular Mahdfel, let me know. Drop me an email at [email protected] or on my Facebook page.
Vox: Warlord Brides (Warriors of Sangrin Book 4) Page 11