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In the small section at the back of her store designated as a cooling storage, Amelie stacked the last of the ordered tulias on the hover-pallet and swiped her forearm across her damp forehead. Sweat ran in a continuous stream from the labor intensive work. At least today’s work was finally done.
The four dozen potted plants with their cheerful yellow petals soared above her head as she hit the remote to send the pallet on its track to the outdoor pad. A truck would arrive here in an hour to the prepared staging area and pick up the entire shipment for off-world delivery.
Never had Amelie imagined that she’d be selling plants from the garden center all over. The business had expanded into far more than what she’d hoped for thanks to her advertising and Scarlett’s advice on a strong sales plan.
“Do you want me to do anything else before I leave, Amelie?” Toyja asked.
Toyja had been with Amelie for two years and was turning out to be a great employee despite her lack of prior experience. Some customers had been initially put off by her lavender skin and two dangling tentacles in lieu of hair but her sunny smile and bright disposition soon won them over.
“Everything is done except for some reports I’ll finish up on the comp later. You go ahead and leave.”
Toyja shrugged into her jacket, freeing her tentacles from the collar and offered a jaunty wave on her way out. “Thanks. Sorry to bail but I’ll see you tomorrow. I’m already late for date night with my bond mate. He’ll be grumpy.”
Doubtful. Her Gerelin bond mate towered over her diminutive frame and treated Toyja like a treasure.
When the door closed, Amelie let out a deep sigh and headed to her desk at the front of the store, hitting the sensor lights along the way. The difference between the artificial lighting and the dim glow worked wonders on her mood and Amelie found herself subconsciously letting go of the tension from an intense day.
She pulled her stool close to her comp station and began the tedious task of closing out the numbers for the day. Her stomach started growling half-way through but Amelie ignored it with the intent to grab something on her way after she picked up Fleur.
Their meals tended toward whatever she could get her daughter to eat and rarely anything Amelie truly enjoyed. Nidbits and curlies ranked far down on her list of fine dining cuisine.
The sensor on the door beeped, activating the vid on her comp. She stiffened at the sight of Aviana on the screen strolling in. By the time Roan’s wife reached her desk, the woman’s mouth twisted down and her nose scrunched, conveying disgust.
Amelie rubbed determinedly at the pain that suddenly burst in her head from the untimely arrival. She really didn’t need this. Pasting a smile on her face, Amelie stood and walked around the counter to confront her. “Hello, Aviana.”
Aviana glanced around the building before turning back toward her with a sneer. “This isn’t a social call. I’m here to see what you want for the girl.”
Amelie’s heart skipped a beat. She couldn’t mean what Amelie thought. “I don’t understand.”
Sniffing, Aviana placed one hand on her hip and gestured at Amelie. “How much do I have to pay you so we can have Roan’s child.”
“You can’t buy my daughter. Under any circumstances.” Anger at the thought had heat boiling in Amelie’s gut.
“Everyone has a price. Do you know who my father is? We can afford to pay you a generous amount.” Aviana waved at the inside of the store. “You certainly wouldn’t have to trudge your days away in this dump.”
This supposed dump was her livelihood. Amelie gritted her teeth and spoke as calmly as she could. “I don’t trudge my days away and I’m not sure what Roan has told you but I’d never sell my child. Fleur is mine. Not Roan’s, mine, do you understand? And neither of you are taking her from me!”
“If you want to play hard about this, I will.” Aviana’s tone dipped and her eyes narrowed to slits. “This was your last chance to come to an amicable agreement and you blew it. Be prepared for us to prove you don’t deserve her. We’re here for another three days and when we leave, Fleur will be our daughter. In fact, she’s young enough for us to change that ridiculous name you gave her.”
“Are you threatening my bond mate?” a voice calmly asked from the front entrance.
Both of them spun around in shock. Sulen walked in with a confident stride, his black leather coat trailing behind him.
How had he come in without her hearing him? The sensor hadn’t gone off, or she would have heard it. The sound was ingrained in her conscious after hearing it so often. Amelie leaned back to check her comp. The screen remained blank, no vid image.
“Because I wouldn’t like it if you were.” He drew to a stop beside Amelie and placed a hand on the curve of her hip.
She controlled the urge to flinch and watched Aviana. The other woman’s gaze leisurely roamed over Sulen’s muscular form, hesitating in a noticeable and blatant manner at his groin area before continuing up. Her smile was seductive, the red paint giving them a plump texture.
“Amelie and I were just talking. I came on Roan’s behalf.”
Her voice was simpering and grated on Amelie’s nerves. Sulen didn’t react at all. Not that it mattered. He wasn’t Amelie’s real bond mate and she didn’t have a prior claim on him.
Aviana smoothed her hands down her hip and dragged a finger to her mouth to tug on the bottom lip. “He’s devastated by the discovery that this...that Amelie would keep his daughter a secret all these years. Being a father is a dream for him and—”
She paused on a sob. How she managed to get a tear to well up, Amelie didn’t know. Aviana drew in a deep trembling breath. “A-a-and, I have personal issues that have prevented us from being able to make that happen. Learning about F-fleur when we came here seems like it was meant to be.”
“Mmm.”
Sulen’s response to the pack of lies was non-committal and Amelie was eternally grateful he wasn’t falling for it. She didn’t know if Roan had told his wife the truth but the fact the woman chose to believe him about Amelie keeping Fleur a secret without any proof and was determined to take her daughter was inconceivable.
“I came here to see if we could all get together and discuss the matter like civilized adults but Amelie has been very resistant to finding a workable solution.”
Sulen tugged Amelie closer and her hip smacked against his side. He looked down at Aviana from his greater height and glared. “Considering your husband’s aggressive approach toward her at the community center, wouldn’t you say she has every right to be leery?”
Aviana’s cheeks took on a fiery cast as she shook her perfectly coiffed hair over her shoulder. “Roan was justifiably upset.”
“So upset he sent you here to threaten Amelie?” Sulen shifted his weight to the side and his long coat swung back briefly to reveal the weapons strapped to the left side of his body. Two knives and a blaster that Amelie could spot before the material dropped back in place.
There was also a definitive bump on her left side where his right hip was pressed against her. How many weapons did one man need?
Aviana’s gaze rounded then snapped back up. “I hoped that as women we could resolve this peaceably. Surely you can understand a man’s desire and right to be aware of his unknown child’s existence.”
Sulen shrugged. “Maybe if he had been of better character, a woman wouldn’t have felt the need to hide a child, or better yet, maybe a woman didn’t hide it and the man chose to ignore the idea of being responsible for a baby. I can’t say since I’ve not been in that position.”
Amelie swallowed and pushed back a rising grain of fear. Sulen hit too close to the truth with the last comment. Roan had been very much aware she was pregnant. The difference was he’d hoped he’d intimidated and abused Amelie enough that she would have followed his directive and gotten rid of the child. Or lost her all together.
“Fine. It seems like you’re unwilling to listen as well.” She pointed to Amelie. “You will not get away with your lies. Roan and I will find a way to prove you don’t deserve to keep his child. You’ll regret your refusal to work this out amicably.”
With one last sniff and a chin lift, she stalked from the store and slammed the door behind her. For a moment, Amelie wilted in place. The threat took the last of her steam and she pounded her fist on the counter. Stupid, Roan.
“Are you alright?” Sulen placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.
At least Amelie wanted to think it was meant to be comforting. The grip was more firm than it needed to be. “I’m fine. Just didn’t expect to have someone offer to pay me for my daughter at the end of my workday.”
He turned her around and tipped her chin up with a scarred knuckle. “Have you prepared for the eventuality that the truth will come out?”
“There is no truth to their story. I...” Amelie took several deep breaths. She couldn’t reveal the truth. Not all of it. “I’m sorry you got dragged into all of this.”
The corner of his mouth curled up and he tilted his head to the side. “Are you? I mean, I’m listed on an official registry as father and bond mate to you and your daughter. Sounds like I was deliberately included.”
Embarrassment caused her face to flame. Flustered, Amelie checked the time and shuffled around the counter to grab her keys and things. “I have to go. It’s time to pick up Fleur and I don’t want to be late. Who knows what Roan will try to do next.”
“I’ll go with you,” he said, right on her heels as Amelie shut everything down and locked up the garden center.
“You don’t have to,” she protested, eager to be out of his presence before he questioned her further.
“Listen.” He gripped her arm, stopping Amelie from rushing down the street. “The school you have her in doesn’t have the greatest security and despite my feelings on your ex and his wife, I don’t trust either of them.”
“You’ve been to Fleur’s school?” she asked, bypassing everything else he said.
She tugged her arm free and her steps quickened. Getting to the school became a priority. Amelie needed to make sure her daughter was safe.
Sulen kept pace with her, his ground eating strides not causing him any problem. By the time they reached the learning academy, children already streamed from the front door to their waiting parents. As Scarlett had warned, there were plenty of dads here today.
Amelie stopped on the walkway, scanning the small bobbing heads. Sulen saw Fleur first and stretched his arm over her shoulder to point. “There she is.”
Fleur came streaking through the front door, hands in the air and wearing a big grin. “Daddyyyyy!”
Her cry drew the attention of the others. Amelie wanted to curl into a ball and hide. Instead, she went to one knee to catch Fleur, who showed no signs of slowing her rapid approach.
Going right past her, Fleur hit the bottom of Sulen’s legs and wrapped both arms around his knees. “You came back.”
Amelie was stunned. She stood up, shock more than likely visible on her face. Sulen scooped her daughter up as if it was no big deal and propped her on his forearm to hold her aloft. Fleur curved one arm about his neck and pressed her face against the hollow of his throat.
Fleur never went to anyone like that at the end of the school day except Amelie. It was their special ritual from the first day Amelie had dropped her daughter off. Fleur called it her missed you so much hug. Now someone else was on the receiving end of that embrace.
“Are you okay with going out to eat?” Sulen asked.
Staring at their two dark heads together with matching green eyes, it hit her all at once. They didn’t just have the same coloring. They favored strongly from the shape of Fleur’s nose to the way her eyebrows had a funny way of arching up. Like Sulen’s. The resemblance was unnerving.
“Amelie?” Sulen sent a frown in her direction.
Amelie shook her head in dazed confusion as thoughts of the impossible ran through her mind. He and Fleur had been carrying on a conversation without her hearing a single word. “What?”
“Fleur wants something called curlies and said you don’t have any more at home.”
A snort escaped and Amelie gave her daughter a mock glare, which was met with an unremorseful grin. Amelie faced Sulen. “There’s an eatery that just so happens to serve a certain person’s favorite food. We can walk there.”
During the all too short trip, the idea building in her mind refused to quit and Amelie knew she’d have to have a serious conversation with Scarlett to see if what she was envisioning was improbable.