Loch threw back his hood. His face was set in hard, forbidding lines. He crossed his arms over his chest and stared down at Bianca. He looked as welcoming as an arctic tundra.
“If you hurt her,” Bianca said softly, her smile still in place, “I will geld you with a rusty fork.”
Loch blinked then raised an eyebrow. “Think you can?”
“Absolutely,” she said with utter certainty.
Loch laughed, fracturing his badass image. “In that case, it’s nice to meet you, Lady Bianca,” he said, extending a hand. “And if I hurt her, I’ll let you.”
She nodded in understanding and shook his hand. “It’s just Bianca when we’re with family,” she said firmly.
“Now that we’ve gotten the threats portion of our day out of the way, can we get down to business?” I asked. “Loch has a clean identity on a secondary chip. We are going to need Ian to set him up with diplomatic immunity.”
Bianca barely flinched at Ian’s name, but it was enough for me to catch. She wasn’t in public persona mode, so it was easier to read her. Ian Bishop was the director of House von Hasenberg security. He and Bianca had some sort of history, but I’d never been able to pry it out of her.
“How good is the identity?” Bianca asked.
“Rhys set it up,” Loch said. “It’s solid.”
“Okay, then the identity is the least of our worries. But Ian is bound to recognize you,” Bianca said, “and you can’t go around cloaked all of the time. Even if we figure out how to deal with Ian, someone else will recognize you.”
“There’s no way around recognition, at least not here,” Loch said. “The identity I have lists me as Marcus Loch’s cousin. I’ll claim familial looks. With a solid identity it should hold, but it forces me to rely on diplomatic immunity more than I’d like.” Loch shrugged. “It’s the best Rhys and I came up with on short notice.”
I didn’t love the plan, but between the debriefings and working behind the scenes to get Loch a pardon, I planned to lie low. Loch wouldn’t be too exposed until I had to start moving in Consortium society. And I would hold off on that until I was close to a pardon hearing.
Bianca didn’t look convinced, either, but she didn’t object, which meant she didn’t have a better alternative. “What do you need for the pardon?” she asked.
“I need everything you can dig up on the Genesis Project,” I said. I briefly filled her in on the details and was gratified to see her get more and more upset. By the time I was done, she practically vibrated with the need to get started.
“Leave it to me,” she said.
A huge weight lifted from my shoulders. Bianca was the best at information gathering. If it could be found, she would find it. “Thank you,” I said.
“You’re welcome,” she said. “Send Ian a message and ask him to come here. He’ll be easier to deal with here than in the main security office if something goes wrong.”
“Didi, ask Director Bishop to come to my suite to add my bodyguard to the diplomatic immunity roster,” I said. A chime sounded throughout the room as the suite computer sent my message. “I wasn’t sure that would still work,” I said. I’d changed the name of my suite computer to Didi ages ago, but I had expected Father to wipe everything after I left.
Bianca caught the direction of my thoughts. “As far as I know, Father didn’t touch your room,” Bianca said. “I checked on things a few times, but I don’t think anyone else, other than staff, ventured inside.”
Another, subtler chime sounded. “Read the message,” I said.
“Director Bishop replied that he is on his way,” Didi said.
Bianca started fidgeting. Anxiety churned in my gut. Only Loch, the one with the most to lose, looked completely calm. He pulled me into a half hug with an arm around my waist. “It will be fine,” he said. “You know Rhys’s identities are bulletproof.”
“The identity may be bulletproof, but you’re not,” I reminded him.
He gave me a squeeze and brushed a kiss across my temple. “We’ve got this. Now, what’s my name?”
“Vincent Loch,” I said. “Marcus Loch’s cousin on his father’s side, as far as you can tell.” The key to a good identity was the details, and Rhys always sweated the details. Vincent Loch had a family, deceased, of course, but with all the paper trails necessary to throw off all but the most dogged investigators.
The suite doorbell rang. “Director Bishop is at the door,” Didi said. I pulled on my public persona and watched Bianca do the same. It was always odd to watch the change on someone else. Bianca’s face smoothed out and her expression went cold and distant. Her chin tilted up just slightly, and her eyes were flat and hard.
I moved to the sitting room doorway, then checked if Bianca and Loch were ready. Bianca settled back onto the settee then nodded. Loch lounged against the wall. “I’m ready when you are, darling.”
“Let Director Bishop in,” I said.
Chapter 27
The suite door opened and Ian Bishop stepped inside. I’d never seen him in anything other than a suit or tuxedo and today was no different. He wore a dark navy suit with a white shirt and pale blue tie. He was a handsome man, with blond hair and blue eyes and just enough rough edges to be interesting.
Ian bowed slightly. “Lady Ada, I heard you had returned. I am glad you are safe.” He sounded almost sincere, despite the fact that I’d been unsafe for two years thanks to him.
“Thank you, Director Bishop. Please, come in.” He stepped past me into the sitting room. He was nearly as tall as Loch, but built a little leaner. In his late twenties, he was incredibly young for the director of security of a High House. He’d climbed through the ranks so fast no one had noticed until he was running the show.
“You already know Lady Bianca,” I said with a wave to her. Even watching closely I couldn’t see a reaction from either of them. Bianca was well and truly in public mode.
“And this,” I said, turning to Loch, “is Vincent Loch, my bodyguard. He needs diplomatic immunity and access to the house. I’ve already cleared it with Father.”
An odd look passed between Loch and Ian, but it was over before I could catch the meaning.
“Vincent Loch, you say?” Ian asked.
“In the flesh,” Loch said.
“Lady Bianca, Lady Ada, may I speak with you privately?” Ian asked, his gaze laser-focused on Loch.
“No, you may not,” I said. “Mr. Loch is in my employ. I vouch for him. Add diplomatic immunity and house access to his identity chip.”
“You are making a mistake,” Ian said. He met my eyes. “He is dangerous.”
“Not to me,” I said simply. “And I advise you to keep your theories to yourself. If anything happens to Mr. Loch, I will come after you and then you will see who is truly dangerous.”
Ian stared at me for a few more seconds as if judging my seriousness, then he smiled. Bianca’s eyes widened before she regained her icy control. She had it bad, but he was incredibly gorgeous when he smiled. I wondered what would happen if I accidentally locked them in a closet together.
“Very well,” Ian said at last. He turned to Loch. “I need to scan your identity chip.”
Loch held out his right arm. Ian used his com to scan the chip then tapped on the screen a few times. “Your identity has been tagged with House von Hasenberg diplomatic immunity, but that won’t necessarily prevent other Houses from arresting you. Stay out of trouble.”
“I’m not here to cause trouble. I’m just here to protect Lady Ada,” Loch said. He grinned and continued, “She’s here to cause trouble.”
Ian slanted me a sharp glance. I shrugged. “I am not going to blow up the building, if that is what you are thinking. I am on a diplomatic mission.”
“I will ensure Lady Ada stays out of trouble,” Bianca said.
Ian did not look reassured. But his gaze had snagged on Bianca and now seemed stuck. Interesting.
“If you are finished,” Bianca said, “you are free to go.” She fol
lowed it up with a dismissive sniff. The condescension was so perfectly executed that if I hadn’t seen her reaction earlier, I’d buy it—and I was her sister.
Ian didn’t stand a chance.
He stiffened as if struck, then his mask slid back in place. He bowed to Bianca and then myself. “Ladies, I am glad to be of service. Please let me know if you need anything else.” He didn’t wait for dismissal; he just walked from the room and let himself out of the suite.
I rounded on Bianca. “What was that?” I asked, outraged on Ian’s behalf. She tried the sniff on me and I laughed at her. “Oh, no, that doesn’t work on me. Spill.”
Bianca’s public persona crumpled and she looked small and frail and sad. “I don’t know,” she said miserably. “I always say the wrong thing to him, so I’ve started preemptively striking to end the conversation early. It’s less embarrassing for both of us.”
I crossed the room and sat next to her. I pulled her into a hug. “Hey, it’s okay,” I said. “You like him, right?”
“Yes,” she whispered. “But it’s one-sided.”
“You don’t know that—” I started.
“I do, actually.”
I winced. Okay, that had to sting.
“Just let it go, please,” she said quietly.
I nodded my agreement and changed the subject. “What are the odds that Ian will go to Father with his suspicions about Loch?”
“I don’t know,” she said.
“He’ll keep it to himself for now,” Loch said. “If not, he wouldn’t have warned me about the limits of the diplomatic immunity.”
“We’ll still have to keep a low profile and hope Rhys’s identity holds,” I said. “And get the info about the Genesis Project as quickly as possible.”
Bianca stood. “I will get started. Will you host dinner tonight?”
I nodded as I rose. It was tradition that whichever sibling was most recently returned from a trip would host a dinner for the others. “Who is around?”
“So far, just Benedict and myself,” Bianca said. Benedict was Bianca’s twin brother. “With the war, Father called everyone in, but they haven’t arrived yet.”
I smiled. It was rare for all of us to be together at once. House business usually kept my siblings spread across the universe, with only one or two stationed in Serenity to represent House von Hasenberg’s interests. It would be nice to be able to catch up with everyone, even if it was under the threat of war.
Bianca turned to Loch. “Remember my vow,” she said.
He inclined his head with a poorly suppressed grin.
After Bianca left, I showed Loch around my suite. It was one thing for him to know I was the daughter of a High House but it was entirely different for him to see it. I flushed with embarrassment. My guest bathroom was bigger than most of the places I’d stayed in the last two years.
Loch’s scowl deepened in each new room. By the time we reached the master bedroom, he’d returned to the chilly, forbidding face he’d used to meet Bianca. When I reached out to touch his arm and he didn’t react, I knew we needed to talk.
“Okay, I know I’m hideously embarrassed for you to see how spoiled I was growing up, but what’s going on with you?” He tried to shrug me off, but I tightened my grip. “Communication is important, remember?”
He refused to meet my eyes, but finally he said, “How am I supposed to compete with all of this?”
“You’re not,” I said. “I don’t care about any of this stuff. I left it all behind. It’s true that I like a little luxury when I can get it, but I have enough money to make that happen—for both of us.” I swallowed and looked away. I couldn’t preach communication then refuse to follow through. “I care about you far more than I care about any of this,” I said, waving a hand at the suite.
Heat crept up my cheeks. I held my breath to see what he was going to do with the fragile piece of my heart I’d extended. I peeked up at him to find him staring at me as if he could see the thoughts in my head if only he tried hard enough.
“You mean that,” he said.
“Of course—”
His lips slanted across mine, interrupting my words and scrambling my brain. His tongue traced my lips and I opened with a moan. He pulled me closer as his tongue slid into my mouth. I pressed up against him and slipped my hands under his shirt to caress the rippling muscles of his stomach. He made a deep sound of pleasure that sent lust bolting through me.
A few minutes later, I pulled back with a groan. When Loch tried to follow, I pressed a kiss to the corner of his mouth. “I have to put in the dinner order with the kitchen before you distract me and I forget,” I said.
He gave me one last squeeze then let me go. “Hurry,” he said with a devastating grin.
Stepping away from that grin was nearly impossible, but I forced myself out of the room and to my study. If I stayed in the bedroom with him, dinner would be the last thing on my mind.
The study looked the same as I remembered, with silvery walls and an antique wooden desk that dominated the middle of the room. A mail cart had been added next to the desk. It was piled high with luxury paper invitations to various Consortium events. A large, flat box topped the pile.
I sat down at the desk and pulled up my House account on the terminal. I sent the invite to Benedict and Bianca then put in a food order with the kitchens. I had neither the time nor the energy to cook, and while I could pull everything out of the synthesizer, I’d gotten used to eating freshly prepared food again thanks to Veronica.
As I stood up, the box caught my eye again. Packages were unusual. Curious, I picked it up. It felt light for its size and didn’t rattle when I shook it. There was no return address, but it had been sent from APD Zero several days ago, before I’d gone to the Antlia sector. Had Rhys sent me something and not mentioned it?
I opened the box and gently dumped the contents on my desk. A tissue paper–wrapped bundle of red fabric slipped out, along with a folded note. I picked up the note first. Bold script flowed across the page.
Darling Ada,
Not everything has to be left behind.
—L
I carefully unwrapped the tissue paper, revealing the red dress I’d desperately wanted but had talked myself out of buying. Loch had bought it for me while I shopped for practical clothes. Tears pricked my eyes and I blinked rapidly to clear them.
I touched the fabric reverently, almost afraid the dress would disappear. I looked up and caught Loch watching me from the doorway. I knew he must’ve seen the depth of my emotion, but I couldn’t hide it and didn’t want to. He’d touched me deeply.
“Marcus, it’s perfect. It’s the best possible thing you could’ve given me,” I said softly. “How did you know to send it here?”
“I sent it the morning before we left APD Zero to hunt for the Rockhurst planet. With the war looming, I knew you’d find your way home sooner or later. I wanted you to have something to remember me by.”
“I prefer having you to remember you by,” I said with a smile, “but I’m not going to turn down a gorgeous dress.”
“Try it on,” he said.
“You just want to see me naked,” I teased.
“Sweetheart, I never tire of seeing you naked,” he rumbled at me. He was so getting laid tonight.
I took the dress to the bedroom. I stripped off my practical clothes, then slid the dress over my head. It fit perfectly. I went to the full-length mirror in my closet to see how it looked. The snug bodice and V-neck enhanced my figure without making me look like a twig.
I twirled and the skirt fanned out around my legs. I could conquer the universe in this dress.
I met Loch’s eyes in the mirror. “I’m going to wear this dress to your pardon hearing,” I said. “And then, when we get home, I’m going to demand you remove the dress. Slowly. With your teeth,” I said with a saucy grin.
He stepped up behind me, wrapped his arms around my waist, and nuzzled my neck. “Maybe I should practice now,” he murmu
red against my skin.
I shivered. “I think that is an excellent plan.”
He proved just how talented his mouth could be.
After dragging myself out of bed, I’d showered and redressed in clothes I’d found in my closet. The silver and blue dress I’d chosen was a modest tea length, but I still felt almost naked without the sturdy pants and long-sleeved shirts I’d lived in for the last two years.
“Are you sure you won’t join us?” I asked for the tenth time.
Loch reclined on the bed, watching me get ready. He shook his head, as exasperated with me as I was with him.
“Why won’t you join us? You already met Bianca. I want Benedict to meet you.”
“The fewer people who know about me, the better,” he said. “I’ll meet him after the bounty is lifted.”
“My parents may not be the nicest people in the universe”—huge, huge understatement—“but my siblings would never do something to hurt me, and betraying you would hurt me.” Our parents had tried to drive us apart, to pit us against one another, but it had massively failed. Everything they tried just drove us closer together.
“What if he thinks it’s for your own good? Are you saying your brother wouldn’t opt for you to feel a little short-term pain in return for a long-term benefit? Tell me you absolutely believe that and I’ll join you for dinner.”
I hesitated and the argument was lost. I knew my sisters would stick with me no matter what, even if they had to threaten Loch’s balls to make their point, but my brothers were the wild cards. I couldn’t say with absolute confidence that Benedict wouldn’t think turning Loch in was for my own good.
“Fine,” I grumbled. “But I still don’t like it.”
“Ada, go, enjoy your family. Don’t worry about me.”
The doorbell rang before I could argue further. “Kitchen runners are at the door,” Didi said.
“Let them in and tell them to arrange dinner on the table. I will be there directly.” I crossed the room and kissed Loch. “Once they leave, I’ll bring you dinner. There’s also a synthesizer in my private sitting room if you need anything. Dinner will probably run late. If you change your mind at any time, you’re always welcome to join us.”
Polaris Rising Page 30