It took a second for my brain to process exactly how wrong it was that a door on my presumably empty ship had just opened without me opening it. Adrenaline dumped into my veins. I jerked violently, grabbed for a nonexistent blaster, and then whipped around to face the threat with my hands up in a defensive position.
Aoife yawned widely as she entered, stretching her arms over head. Behind her, Alexander’s eyes quickly flickered around the room before landing back on me. His expression remained impossible to read.
“You couldn’t have waited until morning?” Aoife complained.
Shock stole my voice. When I finally found it again, I could only growl, “Bianca . . .”
“Your sister cares about you,” Aoife agreed. “She figured you’d run. It’s what she did, after all. So she let us crash on your ship in case you moved up your plans. Surprise.” Her tone was dry as dust.
“I’ll kill her.”
“I’m sure she would welcome you back on Earth, if you’d like, but you better hurry. She has her own trip scheduled. Otherwise, we need to make plans. You and Alex have less than two days to get your stories straight.”
I dropped my hands and took a deep breath. I tried to shake off the adrenaline and anger flowing through my system. I’d spent my whole life charming people, subtly manipulating them into doing what I wanted while they thought it was their own idea.
I smoothed my expression into my friendliest smile and relaxed the tension around my eyes. “I appreciate that you’re willing to go so far to help us, but I am more than capable of taking care of myself. When we get to Honorius, I’ll pay you whatever you are owed and we can part ways.”
“Bianca has you dead to rights,” Aoife said, “but I’ll tell you what. If you can make it through the door, I’ll believe that you can take care of yourself and let you go your own way in Honorius. If you can’t, you’re stuck with us—and Bianca’s orders.”
I eyed her and Alexander. Neither was directly between me and the door, but both were close enough that I wouldn’t stand a chance in a fair fight, even with my advantages.
I borrowed a bit of Mother’s haughty stare. “That is a fool’s bargain,” I sniffed. “I don’t have time for this.”
I made it past Aoife and was mere steps from the door when warm fingers closed gently around my wrist and pulled me to a stop. Goosebumps rose along my skin and I suppressed a shiver. I glanced up at Alexander and raised an imperious eyebrow. His eyes crinkled at the corners, as if he was trying not to smile.
“Clever,” he murmured, his voice deep and velvety smooth, “but you won’t get out that easily, not unless you are willing to admit defeat.”
“Unhand me.”
“Agree to take us with you.”
I lunged for the door, far faster and stronger than I appeared. I’d spent so long learning to moderate myself that even this tiny break felt like freedom. Yet, somehow, impossibly, Alexander anticipated the move. He looped an arm around my waist and used my own momentum to spin me farther into the room. He let me go and stepped back slightly, but he kept the light grip on my wrist.
We stared at each other in shock for an eternal second before I remembered my mask. “What does it matter to you?” I demanded. I had to distract him.
His expression was impossible to read. If he had questions, he hid them well. “Bianca wants you safe and we owe her a debt.”
My eyes narrowed. “What debt?”
A grin touched his mouth. “One between her and us.”
“You are the most infuriating man I’ve ever had the displeasure of meeting,” I growled. It wasn’t exactly true, but warm tingles ran up my arm where he touched me and his voice kept sending delicious shivers skating along my nerves.
“He gets that a lot,” Aoife chimed in from behind me.
I stiffened. I’d forgotten she was here, and worse, I’d forgotten they were partners. I ordered my wayward body under control.
“Giving up?” she asked.
“Never,” I vowed.
I STOPPED TRYING TO ESCAPE LONG ENOUGH TO LAND Chaos in the House von Hasenberg hangar on top of our main building in Honorius. I wasn’t due at House James until tomorrow night, so I might as well spend tonight in the penthouse, in my own bed, as I’d planned. Unfortunately, I hadn’t planned on having guests.
Aoife swore that she would let me go on my own if I could escape the flight deck, so after landing, I spent the next four hours attempting to do just that. I tried talking my way out, sneaking out, and occasionally just running for it when they moved away from the door, but I limited myself to normal speed and strength. I couldn’t risk arousing suspicion, not after the first attempt had failed.
I’d been sickly as a child. By all accounts, my siblings had sailed through their training, but I’d struggled with the physical tasks, often too tired and too weak to complete them. It was one of the reasons my brothers and sisters still babied me so much—I’d worried them for years.
The doctors had tried a variety of treatments, but nothing had worked until I was nearly a teen. At twelve I’d gotten dramatically worse and then dramatically better in the span of six months. By the time my thirteenth birthday rolled around in the fall of that year, I was healthy. Father had been especially interested in my recovery. I’d had to undergo so many tests. And each time I excelled, he pushed me harder.
I was so happy to be able to use my body without pain or fatigue that I’d strived and trained and practiced until the day I’d broken my adult sparring partner’s arm—a week before my thirteenth birthday.
Father had been so proud. For the first time, he’d looked at me with something other than cool disinterest. He’d looked at me like I was special.
And then he’d sat me down and shattered my dreams, one by one.
I hadn’t just been sick, I’d been a test subject. I was an experiment—the first one who had lived. The doctors treating me had tweaked my DNA, altering who I was. I would be the House’s greatest hidden weapon. Stronger. Faster. Better. A killer hidden behind a pretty face and a High House name. I would be welcome everywhere; I could kill anyone.
My elation had morphed into horror.
Father must have noticed. Albrecht von Hasenberg was nothing if not observant. He explained precisely what would happen if I told anyone. First, they would kill me, because I was an abomination in the eyes of Consortium law. Then they would kill my doctors. Then they would strip House von Hasenberg of our status and kill anyone who knew about what had happened. My siblings would die if I told them, so I had vowed to take the secret to the grave.
I had to give it to him—Father knew exactly how to manipulate me.
With no other options, I’d kept training, but I’d refused to hurt my sparring partners. Father, being the problem solver than he was, had put me in the ring with a convicted killer and told me to fight or die.
I’d very nearly died. I still woke up sweating and wondering if I should have.
Alone and trapped, I’d done the only thing I could: I started to hide my abilities. After all, if I wasn’t special, then Father couldn’t use me as a weapon. And if I was the first successful experiment, then no one would know that the effects weren’t temporary.
Over the next three months, I’d begun to slow my responses and pull my punches. I’d gotten my ass kicked so hard and so often that Father began to believe that my abilities really were fading. I’d caught him shouting at my medical team more than once.
Thanks to a careful, sustained campaign on my part, everyone thought the side effects had faded. That I was just a normal woman.
But the DNA changes remained, so I had to be very, very careful. Any bloodwork had to be done through specific House doctors, and I’d been advised that having a child would be risky—as if I wanted to burden an innocent with a secret like this. The other High Houses would love nothing more than to crucify House von Hasenberg for illegal gene manipulation.
I was still tested every six months, but moderating my abilities during testing was second nature now.
I could fake normal almost as well as if I were normal.
And I’d risked that hard-won stability just to escape having an extra guard for a couple of weeks. I shook my head at myself and blamed it on the fatigue dogging my steps. I hadn’t slept well this week, and now I’d been up for over twenty-four hours straight.
I endured another half an hour before nature’s call made the game far less fun. I was either going to have to concede or epically humiliate myself.
“Very well, you can come with me as my guards,” I agreed mutinously. It took most of my willpower not to wiggle in place.
Aoife wasn’t having it though. “I will be your guard, and Alex will be your guest. That was Bianca’s requirement.” Her slightly evil grin said she hadn’t missed my nervous pacing and longing glances at the door.
Fifteen minutes later, I’d had all I could take. “Fine, you win this round. Let me out.”
“Promise you won’t try to ditch us once we’re out of the ship.”
“I promise,” I grated out.
She nodded and moved away from the door. I made a beeline straight for the en suite bathroom in my quarters. Once I’d taken care of business, I splashed some cool water on my face. My eyes had circles under them and I looked as exhausted as I felt. Sleeping was the first order of business.
Alexander and Aoife were waiting for me in the cargo bay. “Feel better?” Aoife asked with a grin.
It was impossible to stay mad at her. It wasn’t her fault Bianca had sent her to babysit me. I was a job for them, and it wasn’t fair of me to make their job harder just because I didn’t appreciate Bianca’s meddling. “I do, thank you.”
“What is your plan for the day?”
“We should have the penthouse to ourselves. First, I need to sleep for a few hours. After that, I don’t know.”
“We should spend the day together. You and Alex need to get comfortable with each other and I need to see how you move through the world.”
I glanced at the big, silent man in question before asking her, “Are you sure you don’t mind me getting comfortable with your partner? We’ll have to act like lovers in public.”
Aoife’s grin turned sly. “I don’t mind sharing.”
“That’s fine, but I do. It won’t look natural. We should stick to you both being my guards.”
She burst out laughing. “Bianca said you’d be persistent. Let me put you out of your misery: he’s my adopted brother. Get as comfortable as you like, but for the love of all that’s sacred, don’t tell me about it.”
Heat bloomed in my cheeks. I’d been trying to talk her out of continuing with the plan, but now all I could think about was getting comfortable with Alexander. I shook my head. I needed sleep so my brain would start functioning again.
But before that, I needed to ensure Alexander was on board as well. I turned to him. At a meter seventy-eight, I was a fairly tall woman, but he had at least twelve centimeters on me. He had broad shoulders, a flat stomach, and thick legs. His height combined with his muscular build made me feel almost petite next to him. “Did you agree to this plan or did Bianca railroad you into it?”
“Your sister is plenty fierce,” he said, “but I agreed because I think she’s right. You’ll be safer if I am your guest rather than merely your guard.”
“And pretending to be lovers isn’t going to bother you?”
His smile stole my breath. “You’re clever and determined. Any man would be lucky to stand by your side.” He met my eyes. “But if having me around like that is going to make you uncomfortable, we’ll come up with another plan.”
Aoife made a sound of protest, but Alexander held up a silencing hand. “Personally, I think it would be the wrong call, but I don’t want you to be uneasy because of me. The decision is yours.”
He’d just handed me the exact outcome I’d wanted, and yet I hesitated. Focused on me like this, he was overwhelmingly attractive. Dark hair fell across his forehead and his brown eyes were flecked with black and gold. I would definitely be uneasy with him around, but not for the reasons he thought, and I was oddly reluctant to use his kindness against him.
“Let’s see how today goes,” I hedged. “I had my own plans, but Bianca wouldn’t have insisted without a good reason. However, if we can’t pull off being a convincing couple, then we’ll have to consider some other options.”
He inclined his head in agreement. Aoife huffed out a disgruntled breath, but she didn’t argue.
I left my trunks stacked in the cargo bay and stepped out into the hangar. I had spare clothes in my room, so there was no reason to unpack and repack just for one night. Aoife and Alexander each carried a small bag. The house was unoccupied, so I’d been able to land in the small hangar on the roof, which meant just a short elevator ride down into the penthouse proper.
The penthouse was split into three floors. The top floor held all of the public spaces because it had the best view. The middle floor was for guests, and the lowest floor was for family. Access between the floors was restricted. Guests could go up to the public spaces, but not down into the family level.
I swiped my identity chip over the control panel next to the elevator. “Did Bianca or Ian add you to the House security list?” I asked.
“Yes,” Aoife said.
“Then you’ll be able to access all three floors, but you won’t be able to enter any of the family suites on the bottom floor. Guest suites are on the middle floor and they are all unoccupied, so you can pick whichever you like.”
“We’re staying with you,” Aoife said. “I don’t trust you not to sneak out, and you and Alex need to get used to being together.”
I was too tired to argue, so I called the elevator. “Fine, let’s go. But you’ll have to sleep on the couch and floor because I don’t have guest rooms.”
Aoife narrowed her eyes at me. “Are you okay?”
That drew a reluctant grin. “I’m dead on my feet, but don’t worry, I’ll be back to bedeviling you after I get a few hours of sleep.”
I led my silent entourage to my suite on the family floor. It was a much smaller version of my suite at home, with very similar decorations. From here, you’d never know we were at the top of a building, because the only room with an outside view was my bedroom.
“Did a color palette throw up in here?” Aoife asked, looking around with wide eyes.
“I see you’ve volunteered to sleep on the floor. That’s kind of you. I’m sure Alexander will appreciate your sacrifice.” I waved an arm at the kitchenette. “There’s a synthesizer in the kitchen if you’re hungry. Since I didn’t let the staff know I was coming, there won’t be any real food in the fridge, but you can order something from the main kitchen if you want.”
I pointed to the left. “The guest bath is there. My bedroom, office, and bath are down that hall.” I waved to the right. “If you leave, you won’t be able to get back in unless someone opens the door for you. The suite computer answers to Jarvis, or you can use the panel on the wall. Let me find you some bedding.”
I started toward the linen closet, then paused and turned around. “I guess we could move up to a guest suite. They have multiple bedrooms. I don’t know why I didn’t think of that before. You’ll be more comfortable up there.”
“This is fine,” Alexander said. “Aoife can have the couch and I’ll sleep on the floor in your room.”
He was pushing, to see what I would do, but I was too tired to play these games right now. “Okay. Fair warning, though, my floors are as hard as rock.”
He shrugged. “I’ve slept on worse.”
So had I, but that didn’t mean I was eager to repeat the experience. I opened the closet and handed them both extra bedding. “I’m going to try to sleep for at least four hours, so you’re on your own until after lunch.”
Aoife nodded and made her way back to the living room. I led Alexander to my bedroom. The walls were a pale peach and the furniture was white. A wall of windows with a tall glass door overlooked the balcony. Beyond, Honorius was just waking up under the early morning sun.
If Alexander was surprised by the decor change from the living room, he didn’t show it. His gaze quickly swept the room, then he began to lay out his bedding along the wall between the door to the rest of the suite and the door leading outside.
“I’m going to darken the windows, if that’s okay with you,” I said. When he nodded, I turned on the bedside lamp, then had the suite computer dim the windows until they were an opaque black. Without the outside light, the room faded into twilight, lit only by the lamp.
Now that we were alone, the strangeness of this situation struck me. I tried to remember if anyone other than family or staff had ever seen this room and I came up blank. I knew Bianca wouldn’t risk my life with someone she didn’t trust completely, but I barely knew him and now he had invaded my sanctuary.
He glanced up and caught me staring. He froze for a second, then quietly asked, “Would you prefer that I sleep in the living room?”
His voice was rich and deep and smooth. Here, unguarded, he had the tiniest hint of an accent, but it was too slight to place it accurately. “Tell me something about yourself. How old are you? Where did you grow up?”
“I’m twenty-six. I grew up in the outer rim.”
The outer rim consisted of the settled planets the farthest from Earth—and farthest from the moderating influence of the RCDF. They weren’t completely lawless, but it took a certain kind of hardiness to thrive on an outer rim planet.
It did not escape me that he’d answered my questions, but only in the vaguest possible terms. He stood still, waiting to see if I would ask him to leave.
“Are you familiar enough with Consortium etiquette to pass as my guest?”
He shrugged. “I know enough.”
“Show me?” I asked quietly. “Pretend I am Chloe Patel. She’s rich, spoiled, and a bitch—just like me—so you won’t have to stretch your imagination too far.” I painted on my social smile, cooled it until it had a chilly bite, and tipped my chin up to an arrogant angle. I raised one imperious eyebrow. “And you are?” I demanded with a dismissive little sniff.
Alexander transformed before my eyes. Before, he’d sort of faded into the background, despite his size. Now he loomed, even from across the room. When he approached, it was with a predatory stalk, his expression sharp, haughty, and fierce. Awareness shivered down my spine.
He stopped too close and took the hand I’d instinctively offered. He bowed over it and pressed a searing kiss to my skin. When he rose, his expression was knowing, like he’d looked into my head, pulled out every dirty thought, and approved of them all. “I am Alexander Sterling, my lady,” he said, his upper-class accent sharp enough to cut glass. “The pleasure is mine.”
I had long ago become inured to empty flattery and pretty faces—or so I had thought. Alexander smashed straight through that disinterest until it was a struggle to keep my mask in place. “Charmed, I’m sure,” I said coolly.
By his grin, he knew that I wasn’t nearly as unaffected as I pretended. “Would you honor me with this dance?”
Before I could decline, he’d swept me into his arms. He hummed a tune under his breath, and after an initial stumble on my part, we swept into an easy waltz. He was light on his feet and a natural lead. His gaze was hot on my face and I could feel the play of muscles under my hands.
I pulled us to a stop. “You are dangerous, Alexander Sterling.”
“Not to you,” he disagreed. He’d reverted to his normal accent. “And call me Alex.”