by Abel, Regine
“Relax, my love. Everything is fine. Don’t worry so much. My son is just as nervous as you are; he, too, wants to earn your approval,” Krygor said in a soft voice. “He knows how important this is to me, how important you, Siona, and all my sons are to me. Family is everything.”
“I know but...”
Anton’s return prevented me from continuing. Grace had joined him. He sat on a chair across from us before pulling his mate onto his lap. She cuddled against him, and the love between them moved me deeply.
“Your daughter went out like a light,” Grace said. “I promised you would come to wish her goodnight. She said thank you, closed her eyes, and off she was into dreamland.”
“I’m not surprised,” I replied sheepishly. “It’s a long and somewhat complicated story, but she has decided she will be the Empress of Sarenia. And as such, she must be a fierce warrior. Krygor made the mistake of showing her the training program the Dagna has set up for Braxian females. My baby now spends her entire days in the holodeck going through the various modules over, and over, and over again.”
Grace burst out laughing, while her mate simply smiled, a knowing expression in his eyes. The next thirty minutes flew by with us having friendly conversations. However, taking mercy on us, the younger couple sent us to bed, looking forward to spending more time with us in the morning. According to Krygor, Anton and Grace were night owls who could stay up till the wee hours of the morning going to one of the local clubs—a boast I intended to put to the test at least once before we left Venus Hive.
I checked in on my baby who had been given an impressively large room all to herself. I kissed her forehead and caressed one of her horns before letting my mate take us to our room. Cuddling up against him, I let sleep take me away, my heart soaring with the hope of a joyful new beginning.
Morning found me fully refreshed. Although I knew the rooms to be properly soundproofed, I refused to play naughty with Krygor, to his utter dismay and annoyance. He didn’t understand why it would be a problem for his son and wife to know we’d been going at it. It wasn’t like they didn’t have a clear idea of what we’ve been up to during our two-week flight from Sarenia and even before that. It was silly, but I couldn’t help it. Once I got more comfortable with them, maybe it wouldn’t feel so awkward. And yet, somehow, I believed I would always feel self-conscious about it.
We finished breakfast with the kind of joy and excitement I had always craved, between Anton’s three children, my daughter, and us four adults, this was truly the family spirit that had been denied to me and my children our whole lives. Gavin—Anton’s oldest son—who had recently turned nine—had an impressive maturity to him. When Siona brought up the Sarenian Prince, Gavin mentioned he, too, had already found his soulmate: a young girl named Zhara who lived in the Western Quadrant. That spurred on another discussion at the end of which I realized my newfound extended family was far more powerful than I ever imagined.
As we finished breakfast, Anton received a com message from William informing him that Roman had arrived. Krygor then explained that he had business with both him and his son. I rejoiced at the thought of seeing the broker again. I owed him a lot.
Just as we were heading to Anton’s office where Roman waited for us, it was Krygor’s turn to receive a com, this time from his king. He apologized and went to take it in our room for some privacy. While Grace looked after the children, I followed Anton to his office. Roman rose to his feet as soon as I entered, a warm smile on his face.
“I hear things have been quite exciting for you lately,” Roman said in a teasing tone. “Trouble seems to follow you everywhere.”
“So it seems indeed,” I replied slightly discouraged. “But, hopefully, this was the last of it. Trouble would truly have to be a vindictive bitch to follow me all the way inside a Braxian compound.”
The two men chuckled, and Anton gestured for me to take a seat in a fancy, collection-item chair made of red leather, which stood right across from his massive dark wood desk. That struck me as odd. Roman, still standing next to the minibar on the right side of the room, nodded encouragingly at me to proceed. Not wanting to make waves, I complied and settled in the incredibly comfortable, and luxurious Empire chair.
Anton circled around his desk to take a seat in the imposing chair behind it. His dark gaze lost all the warmth—correction: the pretend warmth—he had been displaying since my arrival. The man sitting before me was no longer the son of my mate, but the ruthless businessman who had built the greatest adult entertainment empire in both the Western and Eastern Quadrants. A wave of unease washed over me, and I cast an inquisitive glance at the broker. His face was unreadable, which only heightened my discomfort.
“Trouble indeed has followed you your entire life. It was quite an unexpected twist of fate that my father should have come to Lilith Hive when he did. The perfect timing to meet with the one female that could have almost passed for my mother’s sibling,” Anton said matter-of-factly.
My stomach dropped, and I clasped my hands nervously on my lap to keep them from shaking. There it was, the conversation I had so dreaded since first learning of my resemblance to his mother. In that instant, I realized Krygor being called away at this time had probably been deliberately orchestrated for me to get cornered here by these two men. But why Roman? Why would he turn on me? I felt totally betrayed and fought the urge to just get up and walk out of the room. But I would not run away and hide. I had found my Prince Charming, and I would fight for him tooth and nail. No one, not even my mate’s firstborn, would take away what I had searched for my entire life. Krygor and I deserved this happiness. We had earned it.
“It is truly uncanny,” Anton continued, tilting his head to the side as he examined my features.
“So, it may be,” I said in a clipped tone. “But she’s not me, nor am I her. As you can see,” I added waving at my horns, “we’re not even the same species. And I am pureblood.”
“That you are,” Anton replied. “And yet, you came to my father the same way she did, as an Indentured Servant.”
Once more, his tone was factual, devoid of any emotion and, thankfully, any contempt. Still, I felt slighted, offended, and even humiliated despite the truth of his words. It was the comparison to his mother that hurt, the implication that I could be as cold and calculating as she had been. I bit my tongue not to point out that his own mate had come to him through indentured servitude. I lifted my chin defiantly and waited for him to finish his thought, both fearful and eager to see where this was headed.
“I love my father, Ms. Morak. I owe him my life in far more ways than you can even begin to imagine. I would do anything to protect him. Anything.” This time, a hard glint shone in his eyes.
“That is understandable,” I replied noncommittally. “Your father loves you very much as well. You are his greatest pride.”
An emotion I couldn’t define flickered through his brutish features, vanishing so quickly I wondered if I hadn’t imagined it.
“He is mine as well” Anton said. “Therefore, I would like to make you a proposal.”
My blood turned to ice. The feeling of dread that had hung over my head since this whole conversation had begun now came to the forefront with a vengeance. I cast another glance towards Roman who averted his eyes with something akin to guilt and shame.
“You may speak your offer,” I said stiffly, “but I strongly suspect that it will not interest me.”
“My father bought your contract for three million credits, with the agreement to pay you an allowance of a thousand credits per month for two years at which point you will be free,” Anton said calmly while he tapped a few commands on his datapad which he then turned towards me. “I’m offering to pay off your contract and, instead of the 24,000 credits you would receive at the end of it, I will give you three million credits, deposited directly to your account and free for you to use however you see fit, if you and your daughter leave Venus Hive today and never come back. You are never to
contact my father again for anything. My head of security, William, already has transport on standby to take you and your child to the sanctuary planet Haven, here in the Eastern Quadrant, where you will both be safe from anyone who might want to hunt you. Alternatively, the Veredians have agreed to offer you asylum on their home world if you prefer.”
I felt the blood drain from my face as I gaped at him, disbelieving. I turned to look at Roman, hoping for him to tell me this was just some kind of a sick joke. The embarrassed expression on his face crushed the last illusion I still held. The pain that clawed at my heart went deeper than the humiliation I felt at my mate’s son thinking he could so easily buy me. It was the dream of my perfect family crumbling around me, the knowledge that Krygor would be utterly devastated by his son’s ruthless—if not cruel—behavior.
Worse still, the possibility that my giant might be in on it cut me to the core. I understood that he had been terribly hurt, but how could we have any future if he didn’t trust me? Was that a test?
“I will pretend you never made such a disrespectful offer,” I said in the iciest tone. “In fact, I will pretend none of this ever happened.”
“Fine. Twenty million credits,” Anton countered in a sharp, hard voice, his black eyes never wavering from mine. “Same conditions.”
I froze, my brain unable to even comprehend that anyone could so casually throw away such unfathomable sums. Speechless, I stared at the man I had hoped to call ‘son’ just like his sire had adopted my daughter as his.
“It is an honest offer, Hope,” Roman said in a soft voice, snapping me out of my daze. “I have reviewed the contract. You know I have your best interest at heart.”
“My best interest?” I hissed. “You think my best interest is to walk away from the one man who has ever shown me kindness and respect? Who has ever made me feel like I was worth something? That I wasn’t just some fuck toy or exchange currency for men to advance their personal affairs? The only man who has made my daughter and me feel safe and showed us what it was like to be happy?”
I turned back to look at Anton, holding back none of the anger burning inside of me. He lifted his chin and held my gaze unflinchingly. I fought the urge to get up from his damn fancy chair and reach over his desk to smack him a good one in the face.
“I don’t give a fuck about your wealth or how much of it you can throw around,” I snarled. “Your father loves me and, newsflash, I love him with all my heart. No amount of credits can ever buy what we have. How dare you try to destroy his happiness? You’re allowed to have it but not him? I thought you, of all people, would rejoice for him.”
“One hundred million,” Anton said impassively, almost sounding bored, as if he hadn’t heard a single word I had said.
At that instant, my heart broke. Whatever I could say wouldn’t matter. He had judged and condemned me before I even arrived here. It hurt all the more that I didn’t know where I’d gone wrong or if there was anything I could have done to bring about a different outcome.
“If I hadn’t shared similar facial traits to your mother, would you be acting the same way?” I asked in a soft voice, musing out loud.
“That’s irrelevant,” Anton said with a dismissive wave of his hand. “Do we have a deal? One hundred million credits deposited within the next few minutes into your account, and you leave with your daughter within the hour with the explicit promise never to contact my father again.”
“Fuck you,” I said calmly, in a conversational tone. “Fuck you and your offer. You can throw at me all the wealth in the world, my answer will always be the same. No amount of credits will ever be worth what I have found with Krygor.”
“Hope—”
“Fuck you, too, Roman,” I snapped, interrupting him. “If you want to make yourself useful, you can draw a new contract for this fool,” I said, gesturing with my head at Anton. “Since we’ll be here for a full week, please draft the equivalent of a prenuptial agreement by which I confirm that should I ever leave Krygor, whatever the reason, I forfeit any rights to his wealth, leaving only with whatever I brought into the relationship, and the twenty-four thousand credits agreed upon in the original contract. That’s the only ‘agreement’ I’ll happily sign.” Rising to my feet, I leveled both men with a look filled with contempt. “I do not require your love or your respect, but I will not let you ruin my mate’s happiness. For his sake, not yours, I will pretend that none of this shitshow just happened. But be warned, you say anything unbecoming to my daughter in any way, shape, or form, and all of your millions will never be enough to protect you from what I’ll do to you.”
I turned on my heels so abruptly that the fancy chair almost toppled over. As I stormed towards the door, the scraping of Anton’s chair resonated behind me.
“WAIT!” he shouted.
I ignored him.
“Please.”
Something in his voice stopped me dead in my tracks. I turned around, baffled, only to have the wind knocked out of me at the sight of the vulnerable expression on the brutish face of one of the most intimidating men in the Eastern Quadrant. Lips parted in shock, I stood frozen as he slowly approached me, like one would a frightened animal—or, in this case, a vicious one. Eyes widening, too shocked to react, I watched him stop before me and raise his massive hands to gently cup my cheeks. My fingers instinctively closed around his wrists. The tender look on his face, so similar to his father’s, took my breath away.
“I am so glad he has found you at last. Father has searched for you his whole life,” Anton said in a soft, gentle voice. “He fell for her because she was a pale version of the one that had truly been meant for him. But it had always been about finding you, Hope. You are far more beautiful than she ever was, or ever could be, both inside and out. I wish you had been my mother. Marla would have never fought for me—and in fact never has; not like you did and continue to do for your daughter… my sister. Forgive my previous cruelty, but I needed to be sure. I do not give my heart easily. But when I do, it is unconditional. Welcome into our family.”
My throat was too tight to speak a single word. When Anton leaned forward to press a soft kiss on my forehead, tears pricked my eyes and a shiver ran through me. My hands, still wrapped around his wrists, tightened their grip, and I exhaled a shuddering breath.
The sound of the door opening startled me. Anton slowly straightened and gently released my face from his hold.
“What the fuck is going on here?” said the thundering voice of my giant behind me.
I turned around to see him standing just inside the door, a deep frown creasing his already strong brow, making him look even more menacing than usual. His eyes flicked between us, a suspicious expression on his fearsome face. My mind raced to answer, not wanting to create a conflict between father and son, especially not now that Anton and I just had this breakthrough.
“I just offered to repay Hope’s contract and give her one hundred million credits to leave you and walk away,” Anton said casually.
My head jerked towards him, my mouth gaping in shock. Roman’s choked gasp behind Anton was muffled by Krygor’s powerful voice.
“WHAT?!” Krygor shouted.
The anger on his face and the look of betrayal as he stared at his son with murder in his eyes was terrifying. I instinctively took a protective stance in front of Anton and raised my palms in an appeasing gesture before me as I looked at my mate.
“It wasn’t like that,” I said in a soothing voice. “Well, not quite like that.”
“It was exactly like that,” Anton countered. “I do not keep secrets from my sire.”
I looked at him over my shoulder in disbelief. What the fuck was he thinking? Why was he attempting to further provoke his father?
“And she told me to shove it,” Anton continued.
“Actually,” Roman intervened, “fuck you were her exact words.”
Krygor’s confused gaze cycled through each of us in turn, clearly taken aback by the absurd situation he’d just wal
ked into.
“I already waived her contract,” Krygor said through his teeth. “I’ve already set her free.”
My head jerked towards my mate, flabbergasted. At this rate, I’d soon be getting a whiplash.
“I know, but she didn’t, which made it easier to attempt to bribe her,” Anton confessed. “However, she wasn’t even remotely tempted. Heck, I would have even offered three hundred million credits, not that it would have swayed her. She genuinely loves you.”
“I know that,” Krygor said, both upset and baffled by his son’s behavior—although hurt dominated. He extended a hand towards me, and I willingly went to him. “As I love her, too. Why would you try to drive her away from me? She is not your mother. She is nothing like Marla. I may have shown poor judgment all those years ago, but I am no longer a fool. Hope is my soulmate.”
“I know that now, beyond any doubt,” Anton said sheepishly. “I wish nothing but your happiness, Father. You are everything to me. I am sorry if what I did hurt you, but I will never apologize for attempting to protect you, our family, and yes, myself as well.”
“As you should,” I said softly. I extended a hand towards Anton, the same way my giant had done with me. Anton came willingly, taking my hand in his much bigger one. I smiled at him before turning to Krygor. “I am his mother, now,” I corrected gently. “The same way you have become my Siona’s father. I do not just take you as my life partner, but everything that comes with you: your three sons, your clan, Braxia, and anything else that matters to you and that has helped define the man who has captured my heart.”
“My Vaya,” Krygor whispered.
He leaned forward and gently kissed my lips, but I could feel him restraining himself not to show even more emotion. Straightening, he gazed at his son’s face and then gently held him by the nape.
“We’re family,” Krygor said.
Anton glanced at me and smiled. “Yes, we all are.”
“You know that I love you, right? That you are my greatest pride and joy?” Krygor asked his son. A powerful emotion crossed Anton’s face. He swallowed hard, blinked quickly, while nodding his head. “Good,” Krygor continued. “Now, attempt to bribe my mate again, and I will put you across my knees.”