Page 108 of The Safest Place She Knows

“Why? Lya seemsnice.”

“Lya is great.My father and her mother were siblings. Both were raised in fostercare, in separate homes. After an accident that left half of hisbody scorched and scarred, my father liked to drink, and he and mymother lost custody of me when I was ten. I was removed from myhome and flitted through a few foster homes before I found myfamily who adopted me and met Lya when we were seventeen. I savedup for circus training, and that is where Lya and I intersected. Irecognized her mother’s name, and we dug a little from there. Webecame friends and had a thin tie of blood. It was funny to us whenwe both made it through the show trials.”

He was still.“So, your family was not pleased with your progress?”

“My family,with the exception of Lya and Tamara, is gone. Car crash under theinfluence.”

“They werebetas?”

“Yes. Justnice, normal folks who couldn’t catch a break, according to them.They didn’t bother with visits. When I was removed, they were free,so I sought ways for me to be free, and I found them.”

“Circusstunts?”

“Hey, with theright man catching, I can fly.” She chuckled.

“I am sorry Iasked.”

“With theshadows behind you, you are facing the light.” She looked up athim.

He smiled andcaressed her cheek. “I am increasing your spending stipend.”

“That is aweird way to show affection.”

He sighed.“Well, I have already been kissing you, cuddling you, and you arecarrying our little one. The funds are with you when I am not.”

“Aww. Now, I amnot going to spend anything.”

Kaiyunchuckled. “Of course, I could just give you access to all of myaccounts, and you decide how to spend.”

“Pleasedon’t.”

He kissed hercheek. “So, when is your birthday?”

“We have sixmonths, so I am going to be huge. And you, when is yourbirthday?”

“Just over ninemonths from now.”

She paused.“Wait.”

He chuckled andreached out to put a hand on her belly. “Happy birthday to me.”

ChapterSeventeen

Lya sat in her leatherdress and strappy shoes that went up to mid-thigh, and the hood wasdrawn forward to shadow her too-thin features. She could see vagueoutlines of the studio audience as she waited to be called on.Zelle sat next to her in a designer gown that left little to theimagination but looked graceful and flowy at the same time.

Her slight bumpwas visible through the gauzy fabric.

Zelle also hada microphone in her hands, and they waited while the guys wentthrough their descriptions of why they made certain decisions.

When the hostlooked at her and said, “Zelle, you took yourself out of therunning.”

“Yes.” Shenodded.

“Can youdescribe the circumstances as I am sure that viewers will want toknow what happened?”

Zelle winced.“Ah. Right. That. Well, at the beginning of the process, I filledout a form, and I swore that I wasn’t dating anyone on theproduction or anyone involved with it. So, that changed.”

“When, exactly,did it change?”

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