Page 46 of Secretly Craved By My Monster Alien Boss

“I don’t know, something about soulmates, it’s all very complicated,” Kiara said. “So…are you? Because that would be very romantic. And people love romance. I could go the whole star-crossed lovers route in the official statement and–”

“No,” Nazyn said through gritted teeth. “Fated mates are sacred for Deruzians. The bond should be cherished, not used. And Deruzia doesn’t want that information to become public.”

Kiara held up her hands. “Sorry, I didn’t know.”

“You shouldn’t have known about fated mates in the first place,” Nazyn said.

“Humans talk, Nazyn.” Kiara rolled her eyes again. “And I really don’t know what it really is, so you can unclench.”

“I am not clenching,” Nazyn said as he kept fisting and unfisting his palm. Not a lie. Fisting and clenching were two very different things.

“I need to saysomethingand give you a fighting chance tomorrow for the presentation,” Kiara said. “So what’s going on? Are you two together? Was that just a moment of passion?”

Nazyn and Darcy glanced at each other. In sync, they opened and closed their mouths, but no words came.

“Oookay, I see you haven’t had the relationship talk. Figure it out and let me know, I have five missed calls,” Kiara said. “And for the love of God, make out somewhere away from the cameras. The attention needs to be on the device.”

With that, her hologram blinked out of view, leaving Darcy and Nazyn alone and restless.

With so many issues coming at them all at once–they still hadn’t found a solution for fixing the wireless hologram issue–they had very little time to spare.

One at a time.

“This morning, you wrote that we needed to talk,” he said, turning fully toward Darcy.

She took a deep breath and tilted her chin toward him. “Yes, I did.”

“Then let’s talk,” he said.

But he was not prepared for what Darcy had to reveal.

21

DARCY

“And that same day, I broke up with him. It was awful. The screaming, the lies, the threats. I packed my bags in the middle of the night, fried every single one of my codes I could access in the system, and left. I had nowhere to go, no job lined up, nothing. But it felt…good. Freeing. Terrifying, but freeing. And now that I’ve finally told someone, it feels even better,” Darcy finished, her entire body sagging as she sat on the bed, Nazyn next to her.

She’d told him all about Richard and his lies. She was proud she hadn’t shed a single tear throughout it. Nazyn’s warmth by her side had been a comfort she hadn’t known she’d needed.

This story had sat in her mind and her heart for so long, eating away at her motivation and courage. No longer. Now that it was finally out. Someone had finally heard the whole truth.

She felt liberated. The ghosts of her past were slowly quieting.

Which was strange, because this day had truly been a shitshow. An emotional one.

She gripped the sides of the bed, her fingers digging in deeper the longer Nazyn took to reply. He sat still as a statue, eyes boring holes into the wall in front of them. He didn’t even look like he was breathing.

So when he jumped to his feet, Darcy flinched.

He paced at Deruzian speed, a blur of anger vibrating in the room. Then, just as quickly as he began moving, he stopped so suddenly, nothing on his body moved except for the chain in his ear. His eyes were on fire.

“I want to make sure,” he began, voice growly and deep. “The whole no-killing-Richard…is that still a rule?”

“Yes.”

“This would never happen on Deruzia. A slight like this would be avenged. Swiftly.” He surprised Darcy again, crouching in front of her. He took her palms into his, warming them up. Darcy instantly felt more grounded. “I am sorry that has happened to you.”

Darcy shrugged. There wasn’t much else she could do about that situation.

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