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HOW HAD SHE GOTTEN herself into this situation? She should have known she loved Shawn. The signs were all there. But she’d talked herself into believing it was lust. And it was his fault. She might not have fallen so hard if he hadn’t insisted on sharing the phrase during their sex.
She wasn’t sure where this left them but she was sure of one thing. She couldn’t let him know. He was her trainer and only someone as pathetic as her fell head over heels for their trainer. Hell, she’d gotten a little crush on Jason back before he took up with Lily. Maybe it was a thing with her. Falling for those in a position of authority.
After she’d left his place early this morning, she’d gone home to change her own clothes, promises to meet him within twenty minutes to head to work. They agreed to meet outside the main hub. It was back to business as usual now that the sex was out of the way.
She headed out the front doors of the main hub and down the steps. Shawn approached, scanning the front as if he waited for her.
“Are you ready? We’re heading to talk with Leah. No Trance involved this time. I’ve sent him out to work the front gate.”
“You wished to get him out of the way?”
“You got it. Now that she feels more comfortable with you, she may share more with us.”
It was the “us” that got her. Maybe Shawn meant that the two of them were a team—partners—but it still gave her a giddy feeling inside. Her smile at him was bright.
He paused, looking into her eyes as if searching for something, and then leaned down to touch his lips to hers.
“What was that for?” she asked, looking around. This was work time. Work time was separate from their bedroom training time.
“Because sometimes I just can’t resist,” he said, and then hooked his arm around her neck. “Come on.”
When they reached Trance’s quarters, Shawn scanned his hand on the visitors pass. They waited while the computer notified Leah of who waited at the door, and then it was opened.
“Trance isn’t here,” she said, standing in the opening.
“I know,” Shawn said. “We’re here to talk to you.”
Warily, she opened the door fully, allowing them access.
Shawn escorted her to the sofa where the three of them sat.
“Can I get you anything?” Leah asked. “Tea? Lemonade?”
“No, we’re good,” Shawn said. “But we’d like to talk to you some more about your husband.”
Leah took a deep breath. “I just have to hide out for ten more days. The divorce will be final then. I think he’s trying to kill me.”
“What?”
“I think he may have taken out a life insurance policy on me. As his wife and his primary source of income, he was able to. But any policy would be null when the divorce hits, so I just need time. He has a gambling problem and when the money source dried up—which was my earnings—he came up with another solution for a payout.”
“How do you know?”
“He was my manager before I married him. I was making a pretty decent living on Iota Nine as a chef. He focused our business on live streaming. We were able to jump around on the nine floating cities. It gave him anonymity.” She took a deep breath. “I’m not even sure when the beatings started. It was mild, at first. A shove. Then a slap. I was embarrassed and in denial. Hid it from everyone and tried to keep emotions on an even keel, but they happened more and more frequently and got worse as his temper increased from the stress of my popularity going downhill. Pretty soon he was handling all the bills, all the publicity, all the finances. I was a figurehead. We slowly got booted from one city to another as we racked up debts until my latest job—cooking for Xenia. I’m ashamed to admit it took me that long to realize things were never going to get better and that I needed out.”
“When you say you were a figurehead, do you mean you had no access to your job? Your credits?”
“Nothing. As my manager, he locked me from my bank account. I didn’t have the choice as to which jobs to accept. He told me my debts were racking up because my popularity was going downhill and I needed to make changes. So different clothing, longer hair. Sometimes my cleavage was exposed. I was appalled at the direction my persona was taking but when the position opened on Xenia, I was excited. Here I could be a normal person. No one expected me to be the sexy chef he’d presented to the world.”
“But he still took your Xenia credits? Do you even know how much you make?”
“Not at first. After the latest”—she winced—“recovery, I decided to lie. Tell him I lost clients because I was new and wasn’t at work for a couple weeks. I had to rebuild from scratch. Then when I returned, I asked Robyn to separate two thirds my income and my tips and hold them for me. I figured one day I’d have enough to escape. But he was furious at the cut in pay and the first stub that she gave me? I was floored. Floored that I’d cut my pay in thirds...and it was still more money than most people make full time. For the first time, I had some hope. I could save enough to hide out. But if I left Earth-Ground, I lost my job and income. And I love working here. But that amount of income made me wonder how much I had been worth. And it made me realize the danger I was in. He would never let me go. And yet he was killing me. Each beating grew more and more violent and being on Earth-Ground, he no longer seemed to care about avoiding hospital records. I started researching how to apply to be a citizen of the city, but it took time and I didn’t have time. So I mentioned that I wanted to show my support for the homeless ranks. Robyn allowed me a trial cabin, but somehow he knew. It could be because I had nowhere else to go, but I figured he’d find out the homeless boundaries were closed.”
“It was publicized,” Shawn said. “One of our city employees was testing the new structures that would replace the tents.”
“Of course.” She groaned. “Robyn said it was a trial. I should have known, but since I wasn’t asked to interview, I didn’t think it had come out yet.”
“I sent Robyn a quick message,” Shawn said. “She’s researching for any life insurance policies on you.”
“We must flush the human out,” Tempest said.
“No.” Leah panicked. “No. I can’t do it. I can’t go outside and wait for him to spring.” She jumped up from the sofa, pacing.
“I would not ask my weak human friend to do that,” Tempest said, somewhat gently she thought. “I would go in your place.” She turned to Shawn. “Since it’s now out that she was the one who was trying the new cabin, I will simply wear one of her white smocks. Keep my hands in my pockets to hide my skin color as I head into her cabin for the night. It may take a few nights, but there I will wait for him.”
“I can’t put you in danger, Tempest,” Leah said.
Tempest laughed. “Thank you for your concern, my friend. I have more strength than a human male.”
Shawn tutted. “Ahh, but, my pretty, you will not be allowed to use it.”
“What do you mean?”
“You’ll be on the outside. There are drones out there and satellite cameras. Everything is recorded and we can’t have a Xeno Sapien on the outside harming a human. It’s against the laws we’ve set up with the President. So talk about the ultimate test of your strength. You’ll be forced to control yourself. I’m rather excited to witness this.”
Poor Leah looked confused so Tempest turned to her to explain. “Shawn has been teaching me control. When I lose control, I break my own bones and use them to stab people. He has been teaching me to fight without using myself as a weapon.”
Shawn smirked. “This time, my pretty little Xeno Sapien has to depend on her weak human trainer to defend her.”
“It is agreed, then? I shall dress and act as Leah?”
“Yup. You’ll need to spend some time mimicking her mannerisms. You want me to send the rest of your girlfriends over?” He smiled as he said this.
“How do you know about my girlfriends?” Tempest narrowed her eyes on Shawn.
He shrugged. “You have girlfriends, I have guy friends. People turn to others of their same sex for advice.”
The computer interrupted with a message. “Incoming notification from Dr. Robyn Saraven.”
“Pull up,” Shawn instructed.
A document highlighted in blue laser showed up against the white wall. “Active life insurance policy shows a payout for one million credits per month for the rest of the benefactor’s life. Manner of death overrided.”
“What does that mean?” Leah asked.
Shawn was grim when he answered. “This is one of the most expensive policies out there. He has to pay a huge monthly fee for this...which makes sense considering you had no idea how much income you were bringing in. But basically, anything that overrides a normal policy is allowed. You can commit suicide. You can die under suspicious causes. And he still gets a payout for the rest of his life in monthly increments.”
“So that is why he is so desperate as to kill her.”
“With that kind of money, he can buy the best attorneys to defend him. Counter for a plea bargain. Maybe serve ten years max for her death...and still have money rolling in monthly.”
“How is such a policy even legal?” Leah asked.
“We never hear of them because they’re nearly impossible to afford. But I’d say you were worth a lot more money than you ever realized. He paid through the nose for this. It explains why you went broke. He was guaranteeing his future on you.”
“And now he’s possibly in default of the policy?”
Shawn nodded. “That means he’s desperate to knock you off before the expiration date of the policy.”
Leah squinted as she peered at the hologram document. Then she laughed, though it hardly sounded humorous. “How ironic. It expires on my divorce date.”
Tempest reached over and patted her on the shoulder, careful to be gentle because Leah was a weak human, after all. “As soon as the girls get here to help me study your mannerisms, we shall also plan a bachelorette party.”
“Um, I think those are normally for women who are about to get married,” Shawn told her.
“Yes, I know. But we don’t know if Leah will ever be stupid enough to get married again, so she will have to have hers upon her divorce.”
Shawn’s smile was broad, showing the gleam of his white teeth against his tanned skin. “In that case, my pretty, kiss me goodbye. I sent a message to your friends to head over here. I’ll go hang out with some of the team at the front gate while we plan out the next steps.”
Tempest stood, wrapping her arms around Shawn. “Thank you for this opportunity to kill a human male with my kindness.”
He winced. “Yeah, don’t let me down, my pretty. No one else should share your bone shards but me.”
She snorted before kissing him soundly. She wanted him to remember this kiss the entire time he was with the other males. She already knew who was at the front gate, having heard snippets of telepathic communication in her head. There was Trance, Beast, Steele, Pax, Renegade. Jason was present along with Sam, their human resident who was once a cop on the outside.
She only stopped kissing her man when Leah cleared her throat rudely.
Shawn looked bemused as he squeezed her gently and then set her slightly away from him. A knock sounded at the front door.
“If you weren’t sleeping in the cabin tonight,” Shawn muttered as he went to open the door for her giggling girlfriends.
Ahh, yes. Things were not quite even in the orgasm department. She was rather glad for that.
