Page 26 of Caught By Menace

Naya understood what he was asking. “I’m not going to lie. I’m not the world’s worst housekeeper but I’m not the kind of girl who embroiders tablecloths and cooks five-course meals.”

“Neither am I,” he said with a smile. “Between the two of us, I’m sure we can make it work.” He motioned to her plate. “Eat. It’s getting cold.”

“Yes, sir.” She gave a mock salute and tucked into her meal. It was actually quite good. She looked around his home as she ate. “At least you don’t have a lot to dust.”

“I haven’t been here long enough to clutter up the place.”

“No?”

He shook his head. “I lived in a section set aside for bachelor officers until a month ago. When I put forth my name for this quarter’s Grab, the housing department offered me a choice of married housing units. I picked this one because it’s close to friends who have taken wives. I thought it would be good for you to have support nearby.”

His consideration touched her. Even before he’d taken a wife, he’d put thought into how to make her transition to this new and scary life easier. “What made you decide to enter the Grab now? Earlier you said you’d been a soldier for twenty-four years. Why not do it earlier? Did you not have enough points?”

“I had the points.” He drank some juice. “I’ve had enough points for years, but we were on the front lines for so long.Fighting in the field for months on end isn’t conducive to building a new relationship. It’s one of the reasons why they rotated our battle group out here. It’s still dangerous but it’s much quieter. It’s our reward for fighting in the very worst battles of the war.” He suddenly had a far-off look. “There were battles where less than twenty percent of our forces returned. It was more than the enemy, but just barely.”

Naya tried to reconcile those figures. To go into battle knowing that only twenty out of one hundred men would survive must have been harrowing. Menace had been one of those lucky ones. Of course, she wasn’t so sure if lucky was the right word for surviving an experience like that.

“I was happy living my single life. I didn’t really see a reason to change anything until Hallie.”

She remembered the woman’s name from earlier. “Your friend’s wife?”

“Vicious,” he said. “He’s a general and the highest-ranking member of the land corps in this sector.”

“So he’s your boss?”

Menace nodded. “He’s a good one. There isn’t a man I’d trust more with my life. Well,” he hesitated, “maybe Terror. He’s just as honorable and brave. The three of us were raised together at the academy and fought side by side in the worst of it.” He took another drink. “I never thought Vicious would take a wife, but he found Hallie down there in Harper’s Well and his whole life changed. In a good way,” he added. “I grew envious of his happiness and thought, why not me? Why shouldn’t I take my reward?”

Naya tried to process the idea that he considered her his greatest reward. “Menace,” she said gently, “you shouldn’t put so much stock in me. I don’t want you to be disappointed.”

His gaze snapped to her face. “How in the world could I ever be disappointed in you?”

She blew out a noisy breath. “I’m a nobody. I’m nothing, okay? I’m just some poor kid who never finished school. I’m not the kind of person most men would consider worthy of being deemed a reward.”

“Don’t say that.” Menace looked irritated. “You’re a survivor. You had a successful business. You showed loyalty and honor during the Grab. You’re a good person.”

“You don’t know me.” She dropped her gaze to the plate of half-eaten food. “I’ve done things that you would not understand.”

“Look at me.” She didn’t dare refuse him. His gaze burned her skin. “We all have a past, Naya. I don’t much care about yours. It’s done. It can’t be changed. Let’s leave it where it belongs.”

“You make it sound so easy. In my experience, the past has an ugly way of finding its way right back into the present.”

“If it does, we’ll deal with it.” He spoke with such definitive finality.

She arched an eyebrow. “Just like that?”

He nodded. “Just like that.”

She marveled at his certainty.

Menace reached for an orange. “What’s that look?”

She shrugged and picked up the last bit of bacon on her plate. “I was thinking about how nice it would be to have an ounce of your arrogance.”

Menace laughed and sat back in his chair. “It’s a cultural thing, apparently. At least, that’s what Hallie is always telling me.” He jammed his thumb into the bright orange peel and nicked the skin. “I think you’ll like her.”

“We’ll see.” Naya didn’t want to tell him that she’d never been particularly good at making friends, especially with other women close to her age. She had always been awkward and abit strange. Other girls couldn’t relate to her. “You said she was from Harper’s Well, right?”

“Yes.”

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