Page 47 of Under His Skin

So he wore the crappy suit and went with them to the courthouse, past all the crowds all wanting to gawk at Anna. They ended up in a private room in the courthouse, where the only thing to watch was a newsreel. Alex was getting so sick and tired of the news. He stretched out on the couch and closed his eyes, hoping to take a nap before he was forced to participate in this stupid trial.

He hadn’t gotten a lot of sleep again, not at all helped by Galanis questioning him over and over about everything Tracht made him do on the Sigrun.

“Mr. Stone, I want you to know that you are perfectly safe during the testimony,” Galanis said, interrupting Alex’s attempts at sleep. “We’re currently requesting that Captain Tracht not be allowed in the same room during the testimony, and—”

Alex shot upright. “Wait. What? Why the fuck would you do that?”

Galanis gave him a strained smile. “It’s standard procedure when former bondservants testify. Some of them have a hard time being honest when in the presence of their former masters.” He was pacing on the other end of the room, clearly impatient about something.

“Well, I’m not pussies like them,” Alex growled, standing up and crowding Galanis. When Galanis took a step back, Alex followed, until Galanis was pressed up against the wall. “I don’t need Tracht to be banned from the room. I don’t agree to this at all.”

Finally, for the first time, he managed to ruffle Galanis. The man started to sweat, and there was a moment where he shifted his gaze towards the doorway, probably trying to figure out if he could get away from Alex.

Alex slammed his arms onto the wall on either side of Galanis. He grinned at the way Galanis startled. “So call Ms. What-the-fuck-ever and tell her I want Tracht in the room when I testify.”

Galanis swallowed hard, and then he nodded quickly. “Ah, of course. But, if you’d be so kind as to step back so I can reach my tablet?”

With a nasty grin—the kind that made Alex’s scar warp in such a way to make it appear worse—he backed off two small steps and folded his arms. Just far enough that Galanis could make the call, but still well inside Galanis’s personal space.

Galanis called the lawyer chick and explained curtly, “There’s no need to bother the judge with the request. Mr. Stone insists on testifying with Captain Tracht present.”

On the other end, the lawyer sighed. “Well, that saves me some trouble. Judge Tracht’s lawyers were fighting it too. Apparently since Captain Tracht isn’t the accused, we have no right to request this.”

Alex grinned on hearing that. Score one for Anna’s lawyers. Maybe he didn’t hate Anna after all.

Once the call was over, Galanis ducked away. Alex let him, although he did grab for him at the last moment just to scare him. Galanis’s shudder was priceless.

“Was that… was that necessary?” Galanis asked when he was safely on the other side of the room.

Alex shrugged. “I told you what I wanted yesterday. And the day before. Not my fault you ignored me.”

He wanted that to be a warning, but Galanis’s posture relaxed. “Yes. I suppose I have been a bit overeager. My ambitions have clouded my judgment somewhat. Is this how you usually approach problems?”

“Uh…” Alex glared at him suspiciously. “No? Sometimes?”

“Sometimes? How often is that?” Galanis looked at his tablet, then sat down on the couch.

What was Galanis on about now? Alex leaned against the wall for support, keeping his arms crossed defensively in front of him. “Sometimes means sometimes.”

“Hmm. Does Captain Tracht convince you like this too?”

What the hell? Alex sneered at the man. “Does it look like Tracht could overpower me?”

“Not physically, no.” Galanis sat down at the table and gave Alex a once-over. The look was strange, like he was considering Alex for a fuck. “But I’ve been told that Captain Tracht can be very intimidating when he wants to be, and he has—had—the contract to fall back on.”

“You think I’m scared of Tracht?” Alex pushed away from the wall and went over to slam his hands on the table. “Tracht doesn’t scare me.”

“I wouldn’t want to be caught in an elevator with him myself.” There was a brief pause while Galanis rubbed his beard. “Mr. Stone, have you considered the possibility that Captain Tracht might not want you to return? He spoke pretty words, but what do you have to offer him that he can’t get from somebody else?”

Nothing. There was nothing Alex could give Tracht, because Tracht only wanted it if Alex didn’t, but Alex couldn’t lie to save his life. When he tried to pretend he was giving up, Tracht always saw through him. How was Alex supposed to believe when Tracht said that nothing changes if everybody lied to him and there were so many other people that Tracht could fuck over who would cry like they actually meant it?

Emotions welled up inside Alex, making all of his muscles tense. He didn’t want to deal with any of this. He didn’t want to think about it, and he especially didn’t want to talk about it with Galanis.

“Shut the fuck up! He’s not going to go back to Dimitri or Mikhail or whoever. He said nothing would change. He said I was still his!”

With a fucking pitying smile on his face, Galanis said, “If that’s true, why did he go to a kink club without you?”

Alex’s heart froze. That couldn’t be true. Galanis had to be lying.

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