Page 56 of Bearing Secrets
He tried to explain, but she got up and stalked away, pacing back and forth across his room, talking inaudibly to herself. Eventually, he got up and intercepted her course, putting his hands on her shoulders. She ducked away and continued to walk back and forth.
“Natalia…”
She looked up abruptly. “I want out. I’m going home. This is unbelievable. I didn’t sign up for this, Kirell. You lied to me. I’m going home.” She started snatching up her stuff.
“You can’t,” he told her. “You showed yourself to everyone. It’s too late. You’re better off sticking with the plan. If you leave now, everyone will know.”
“Not my problem,” she said icily.
“Please, just listen to me. It’s going to work out fine. We have the support of the majority, that’s all that’s necessary. Stick around for a few more days, attend the confirmation ceremony with me tomorrow, and then you can go back to your life, with some money in your pocket and I’ll sign the documents to get you your Green Card so you can stay here. Don’t throw it all away now.”
She walked over to the nightstand and snatched up the car keys he’d left there. “I’m not throwing anything away. I’m keeping my life. Even if I have to go back home, I’ll still have that, and it’s much more valuable than your money. By the way, I’m borrowing your car.”
Walking over to the wall, she pushed on the panel until it clicked, and then walked inside without turning back, leaving Kirell to stand there, dumbfounded.
His first thought was to chase after her, to try to calm her down and make her see logic. But he couldn’t, because she was right. If she stayed, shewasin mortal danger. He would protect her as best he could, but in the end it might not be enough. Klebra was dead set on ensuring Kirell didn’t become Captain, and his will to do whatever it took had caught Kirell by surprise.
No, he had to let Natalia go for now, to give her some time to cool off before he approached her again. Everything could still be salvaged. There was time before the ceremony still, enough that she could sleep off her ire tonight and still be at his side tomorrow, if he played his cards right. It wasn’t the end of the world.
Not quite.
25
“There you are!” Loren said, flinging her door open at the third knock.
“Hey.” She pushed past her best friend and into her house, dropping the few belongings she had with her, including the dress.
“Nice, um, outfit. Where did you get such smashing clothes?”
Natalia looked over the brown sweats outfit she had on. “It’s a long, long story. I don’t even know where to start. Do you have any wine? I need a glass. Or a bottle. Maybe a case.”
“Hoo, boy.” Loren sized her up. “Sit,” she ordered, pointing at the couch. “Pizza, or Chinese?”
“Chinese?” she said, flopping down with a loud sigh, not bothering to disguise her current sentiment toward the world as a whole.
“Good choice.” Loren made a quick phone call, opened a bottle of wine she had hidden away in her fridge somewhere and then poured them both large glasses. “Alright, start talking.”
Natalia sat up and took a sip of the wine, using the time to formulate her thoughts. During the drive back—which had been exhilarating, and she still couldn’t believe Kirell hadn’t tried to stop her from taking the multi-million-dollar machine—she’d worked on her story. It pained her to lie to Loren, but she couldn’t tell her about half of the things she’d learned while with Kirell. No matter how mad she was at him just then, the Queen’s threat still loomed over her head like a guillotine.
“These people arefucked, Loren. It’s probably a good thing they never interact with the rest of us. I swear, it felt like walking into an old-world aristocracy in there. FormalHousesand positions of power and politics… and—holy fucking shit—it was just so ridiculous!”
“That’s so interesting.”
“Not really,” she said dryly. “If you think it’s that good though, I’ll set you up with one.”
Loren perked up. “Would you really do that?”
“Oh, God. No! Trust me, you don’t want it. They’re hot, sure, and at least Kirell is really good in bed, but trust me Loren, you don’t…oh shit,” she muttered, noticing the reaction on her friend’s face.
“YOU SLEPT WITH HIM?” Loren exclaimed excitedly. “No fucking way. My little prude hooked up with him?”
“I’m not a prude, I just don’t like jumping into bed with guys as easily as some.” Her tone left no question about who thesomemeant.
“Ya, ya, ya. Whatever. I’m proud of you. It was good?”
Natalia just smiled, letting her mind drift back to the sight of Kirell on top of her, his muscles gleaming with sweat. Or the casual way he’d picked her up and pinned her to the wall of the shower before having his way with her. Even just the memory of things like that had her body reacting.
“Youhaveto set me up with one now. Does he have any friends?”
