Page 54 of My Orc Billionaire
“I’m sorry,” I breathed, and began to move my fingers again.
I felt him relax a bit, exhale. After a long moment, he shrugged, his hold on me loosening. “I needed medical attention, and we knew Luxor—his legs used to be withered—was with us by then too. So Sakkara moved up his timetable, got us to the scientists, and they locked us up.”
Remembering what Tarkhan had told me of that year, the indignities the males had undergone, I frowned. “You don’t think that was your fault, do you?”
“No, I think it was the humans’ fault.” He was frowning when he pushed himself up off my stomach. “But we wouldn’t have ended up there so quickly if it hadn’t been for me.”
“You did nothing wrong, Abydos.” I reached for his cheeks, my fingers wrapping around his ears as I pulled him to me. “You didnothing wrong. The guys who hurt you,theywere the assholes.”
He loomed over me, his weight resting on his palms. “You’re a remarkable female, Riven, do you know that?”
I snorted and raised my head to brush a kiss across the corner of his lips, near his broken tusk. “I’m just telling you the truth. And you’re a smart male, you know this is the truth. You’re not to blame, and you don’tdeserveany of that pain. Just because they broke your tusk?—”
“They didn’t break my tusk.”
With that announcement, Abydos flopped to the side, rolling so his head rested on the pillows, his glowing green gaze locked on the ceiling.
Well, what the hell else was I going to do except roll over to hover abovehim?“Abydos,what? What’s that supposed to mean? I thought your hatred for humans?—”
“I started Vengeance as a way to beat the humans at their own game,” he said dully, his fingers laced across his chest. “I’d heard them call usbeastandmonster. I knew they valued money and control…so I learned what I could, and I beat them all.” He flicked a glance at me. “Do you know how difficult it is to make this much money in a decade?”
There was nopridein his tone, mere questioning, but it surprised a bark of laughter from my lips. I pressed my hand against his chest. “Yes, love, I know,” I said dutifully. “You’re remarkable. And youwon, Abydos. You don’t need to keep trying.”
One of his large forearms rose to rest across his eyes, as if the faint light hurt his eyes, or if he couldn’t look at me. “I know. But I made plenty of enemies. Even today, we have humans picketing our mine, protesting and…” He sighed. “In the beginning, I hired humans and orcs and anyone who wanted to work. Gargoyles are particularly good in a mine. But then, about eight years ago...”
A dull sense of certainty came over me. “Something bad happened? The humans hurt you again?”
“Not just me.” The words were clipped, fierce. “We were celebratingKap’paraland had gathered in an aluminum structure along one edge of the pit mine. One of my employees, a human blaster… He left a manifesto talking about how disgusting it was to see humans mixing withmonsters, as if we were equal to him.”
Only one kind of person left a manifesto. I closed my eyes, not wanting to hear the rest, but knowing I’d asked for this. “What happened?” I whispered.
“He planted explosives where they shouldn’t have been and collapsed half a cliff on top of us. If Garrak hadn’t been there…” Abydos shook his head. “He saved us. Savedme. I refused to leave until we’d dug everyone out, and he knew enough about engineering to know the beams weren’t going to hold. One of them came down on him as he was dragging me out of there, and he lost his leg.”
“That’s horrible.” I swallowed, then shook my head, my fingers digging into his chest. “Abydos, that’shorrible. Did he survive?”
His lips curled ruefully. “He’s a tough bastard. Not in the mine anymore, but he runs the whole operation. I owe him my life, but we lost three friends that day.”
My touch moved to his lips. “And your tusk.”
It wasn’t a question, but he nodded once. “Because of hate and fear. It just…” He moved his arm from his eyes and met my gaze. “Any attempt to feel goodwill toward humans broke that day, along with my tusk. Until I met you.”
What had started as fear had turned to hatred, coiling inside of him until it had consumed him. I’d seen it that day in his office, when he’d roared at me, his claws out. If I hadn’t had the courage to stand upto him then, would he still be like this? Was it possible I could help him understand the truth about the world around him, that there were good and bad people, and we couldn’t make assumptions.
Of course you can. You love him, don’t you?
“Yes,” I breathed in realization, not in answer to his statement.
I loved Abydos. I loved his fierceness, I loved his quick intellect, I loved his loyalty. I lovedhim.
The awe that came with such a realization was quickly followed by dread. Because I might love him, but to Abydos, I was just his employee. Someone who was here to help him, to take care of him.
I didn’t have a claim to his heart, and I never would.
“Riven?” he lifted his head, his lips pressing against my fingertips. “What’s wrong?”
I forced a smile. “Absolutely nothing. I’m just thinking.”
“You shouldn’t think about that shit.” He reached up to lace his fingers through mine. “It’s in the past.”
