Authors: Allie Ritch
Well, he wasn’t a man to stay tidily out of the way and make things easy. He’d done that for his ex-wife while they’d been married, and look where that had gotten him. She’d cheated and betrayed him right under his nose—his proper, pedigreed wife. Now that he thought about it, he should have recognized the type.
Hearing the quiet hum of a vehicle pulling up his driveway, Krux powered down the screen and got to his feet. Although anger made his movements slow and stiff, he had enough mastery to keep his expression purposefully blank. He peered out his front window through the tinted glass. Sure enough, there was Katra being handed out of her car like she was royalty. If she’d bothered to explain herself to her driver at all, she’d probably concocted some excuse for her presence here. No doubt she planned to keep her relationship with Krux a secret so as not to upset her precious Lu’Kett.
Not going to happen, Krux thought. It was time she learned he was her equal, not a mangy mutt to be petted in private and then locked behind closed doors when the guests arrived. He was nobody’s guilty secret, and he had no intention of letting her pretend otherwise. She’d stirred his temper before. Today she was about to feel it in full force.
*
Katra smiled to herself as she strode up to Krux’s front door. After he’d left yesterday, she’d had some time to think things over. If there was one word she’d never use to describe herself, it was “coward.” She certainly wasn’t going to play that role now. No matter how much it scared her, she’d give this relationship a chance and see where it went. While she had no delusions that she and her arrogant Brachoi would always get along smoothly, she knew they were both stubborn and passionate enough to fight for what they had. At her age, Katra didn’t know how many more chances she’d have at love. The pickings seemed to get slimmer with each passing year. This was worth the risk.
Fortunately, her business success last night bolstered her confidence. She pasted on a grin even as nerves and excitement formed a heady brew in her belly. For the first time in years, she’d decided to take a day off and hoped to convince Krux to play hooky with her tomorrow. Even if he couldn’t, maybe he’d at least pop home for lunch and a little midday lovemaking. After the orgasm he’d given her yesterday, she was in a generous mood and willing to wait on him.
Chiming in at his door, she was surprised when a full minute passed before he answered. When he did open up, he immediately stepped back to let her in. He didn’t lower his head, so she had to stand on her toes to kiss his cheek as she passed.
“Hello.” Flicking her gaze from his bare feet to the T-shirt straining across his muscled chest, Katra flashed her teeth at him. “You look scrumptious in any attire, but I have to say I like the casual look best.” It made her feel like she got to see a side of him he didn’t show anybody else.
Her smile faded when he crossed his arms and didn’t bother with a retort. They usually started their meetings with playful needling and banter—their favorite form of foreplay, she now admitted.
“Sit down.” He indicated the sofa in the living room.
This was certainly a surprise. After yesterday, she’d expected to find him in an amorous mood. Instead, he seemed far too serious. Her own cheerfulness quickly deflated.
“Is something wrong?” It was still the weekend, so nothing could have happened at work. Had someone gotten hurt? “Is your family all right?”
“There’s nothing wrong with my family,” he announced in a snipped tone. “Funny you should bring that up, though. Sit down.”
The way he commanded her got Katra’s back up, but she could tell by the stubborn set of his jaw that he wouldn’t talk until she complied. Taking her time, she tilted her chin and threw back her shoulders before slowly moseying over to the offered seat. Out of the corner of her eye, she swore she saw him grind his teeth at her body language. Good.
“Care to tell me why you’re acting so surly?” She was feeling far less charitable toward him now than when she’d arrived. This was supposed to be a pleasant time together.
Although he wasn’t wearing one of his high-powered business suits, he might as well have been as he took a seat—not by her side on the sofa, but on the chair across the cocktail table from her. She imagined him wearing that exact same look while drilling one of his employees for insubordination. Used to being the boss herself, she didn’t care for his attitude one bit.
“Care to tell me where you were last night?” he asked.
Although she was surprised by the question, she replied with a deliberately steady voice. “I wasn’t aware I answered to you. Why do you ask?”
“To see if you’d come clean. You see, I already know the answer. Didn’t you realize there would be reporters at your little party? Your picture was in the news today—the one where you were with another man.”
Katra’s frown deepened. There’d been a reporter at the cocktail party last night? The only attendees she’d noticed at the convention center were other businesspeople, most notably the man she’d gone to talk to about replacing one of her suppliers. Jerry Gylle was president of a small but ambitious agricultural cooperative. She hoped to start buying a large portion of Ti Sala’s herbs and spices from him. Since she’d spent most of last night’s party talking to him, she supposed he must be the man Krux was referring to. Somebody had taken a picture of the two of them?
Oh! Katra finally caught on. Never mind how or why the press had bothered to take a photo of her and Jerry. Her silly Brachoi had obviously seen a picture of her with another man and gotten the wrong idea. The realization that he was experiencing a painful bout of jealousy softened her.
“Krux,” she said more quietly, “the man you saw me with wasn’t my date. I was talking to him about a business arrangement.”
“Is that what you call it?” His tone was all the more cutting for its blandness. “The press made it sound like you’re all but married to the guy. Are you saying they’re wrong?”
Now she jerked her head back in shock. “What? That’s ridiculous! I haven’t even worked out the details with him yet, let alone talked about anything legally binding.”
“So I’m the only man you’re seeing romantically?”
This interrogation was giving her a headache. “Yes.”
If he kept this up, he could count himself out too. This was just the sort of highhanded, possessive behavior she’d glimpsed in him from the beginning, and she didn’t want to deal with it. He had no right to question her. Either he believed her or he didn’t. Trust was the real issue behind all of this—trust and his over-inflated pride.
“Why wasn’t I invited to the party then?” he demanded, still not letting it go.
Pursing her lips in exasperation, she managed to hold on to her temper by a thread. “It really wasn’t your type of thing. In fact, it had nothing to do with your business, so I don’t know why you’re upset.”
“None of my business? I just realized my lover hasn’t bothered to tell anyone she’s with me, and you think leaving me behind to go to some party with another man isn’t my business?”
That hadn’t been what Katra had meant—she was literally referring to business as in their separate industries—but the second part snagged her attention first.
“What do you mean I haven’t told anyone? Xindra knows we’re together now.”
Those arms of his stayed defiantly crossed. “What about your family? Why haven’t you introduced me to them?”
“My family?” She scowled in confusion as she tried to follow his line of thought. “My father is back on Duosi. You want me to take you there?”
“Not him!” He singed her with his temper. “The illustrious Wi’Yalus!”
Hearing those words, Katra felt her heart shrivel and her body turn numb. “What?”
“You heard me. I won’t be treated like I’m not good enough to meet the great Wi’Yalu clan. You people get chauffeured around and attend your precious parties like you’re better than everyone else, but you’re not. You’re nothing but a spoiled princess. I wonder what you’d do if you ever had to work a day in your life.”
Krux couldn’t have hurt or stunned her any worse if he’d hit her. Anger swiftly followed shock. How dare he? Katra had thought he was different, thought he was worth taking a chance on, but he was no better than her ex-fiancé.
“So that’s it, is it?” Jumping to her feet, she clenched her fists at her sides. “You thought you’d use me to cozy up to the Wi’Yalus and make your way up in the world?”
“Of course not.” He denied it with a disgusted scoff.
“Oh no? That’s what it sounds like to me. Now you’re demanding an introduction. Tell me, just how did you learn what the family is worth?”
“I can read,” he snapped. “I pay attention to the news, and I did some research after you told me your full name. You certainly like throwing that around, don’t you?”
“Because it’s mine, not anyone else’s.” She wanted to stamp her foot, but she settled for a hiss. “No wonder you pursued me so tirelessly. You weren’t after me. You were after the Wi’Yalu fortune.”
“That’s not true! I have plenty of my own money—enough to keep you as pampered and well kept as you like.”
If she’d been a less dignified woman, Katra might have scratched his eyes out. Instead, she stiffened her spine and lifted her chin higher.
“You odious, gold-digging bastard.” The last of her heart broke and dissolved beneath her rage. “I don’t need to be
kept
by you or any other man. And here’s some other news for you. You claim to be literate, but apparently you don’t read so well. My name, the name I like to throw around so much, is Wi’Yalu bu Pol ti Sala. The Wi’Yalu part is my mother’s legacy. The rest is from my father’s side, which welcomed my mother even when the Wi’Yalus you’re drooling over refused to acknowledge her marriage to a commoner. Those heartless snobs rejected her marriage and her low-bred daughter. I have nothing whatsoever to do with them, and they have nothing to do with me. So sorry to disappoint you.
“For your information, I’m a ti Sala. Ti Sala as in the company that packages seasonings for sale in your local supermarket. I founded the business under my paternal grandmother’s name and built it from the ground up. Not that I actually work for a living, right? After all, I roll around in money all day just for fun.”
Turning on her heel, she started for the door, but stopped when she reached it. Facing him one final time, she was pleased to see him stunned motionless in his seat.
“Oh, and the reason I hire a driver? My mother died in an accident just before I got my license. After working a double shift at my father’s restaurant, she fell asleep while running manual controls and slammed into oncoming traffic. She was killed instantly. I never drive, and I pay multiple chauffeurs to transport me so none of them is overtaxed or overtired. I’m such a spoiled princess.”
Turning her back on him, Katra stepped outside and closed the door with a quiet click that was far more damning than a hardy slam would have been. She kept her head up and refused to cry as she walked down his driveway and called her driver. Maybe time had dimmed her memory, but she didn’t remember her breakup with her fiancé hurting this badly.
*
As the door shut behind her, one word circulated through Krux’s brain:
shit!
All his life, he’d prided himself on his intelligence and savvy, his competence and control. In a matter of minutes, he’d just blown his temper and shown himself to be nothing but a boorish idiot, effectively throwing away all he’d ever won from his Duosien lover.
Sitting there alone, he called himself every foul name in the galaxy. How could he have done this? He’d accused her of being condescending and prejudiced when he was both those things and so much worse.
All along, there had been so many clues staring him in the face, but he’d ignored them. He’d had a name and a handful of news references and assumed he had her pegged. Now everything he’d experienced with her had to be realigned to fit this new truth. Of course his independent and fiery Duosien had her own business. She worked hard and had her own ambitions in life, and she’d earned her confidence the legitimate way, by learning self-reliance. He’d seen enough counterfeits in his life; he should have recognized the genuine article the moment he met her.
Instead, he’d bullied her, insulted her and, so much worse, hurt her. Although she’d held herself proudly and not shed a single tear, he’d seen the pain glimmering in her eyes. As far as she was concerned, he was just another power-hungry user like her ex-fiancé—the man who’d coveted the Wi’Yalu name. That guy had gone after the wrong Wi’Yalu, as it turned out, which meant, godsdammit, that the woman Krux had seen in the Society photo was another Wi’Yalu altogether. Probably one of Katra’s cousins who snubbed her like the rest of that family. Besides, Katra had kept saying
party
, not
ball
—probably some cocktail party she’d gone to for a “business arrangement.”
Krux had to get her back. Launching himself out of his chair, he raced for his door and threw it open with a bang. Not bothering to close it behind him, he charged barefoot down his driveway to catch her. There was no way he could let her go, no way he could lose her over this one act of stupidity. The woman had him crazy in love with her, turned upside down and inside out, which was the only explanation for why he’d acted like such an ass. Him, a self-possessed Brachoi with a reputation for logic.
He had to apologize and make this right. His pride be damned, he’d get on his knees and beg if that’s what it took, but he had to fix this. Yesterday he’d touched heaven with her, and now he had a glimpse of hell without her.
“Katra!” He spotted her at the end of the block.
If she heard him, she didn’t bother to turn around.
Sprinting down the road as fast as he could, he ignored the hard surface beneath his feet and the sharp debris that jabbed his soles. Just like before, he chased after her, only this time they weren’t playing an erotic game. He had to reach her, or he might never have another chance with her again.
Her pace was clipped as she moved farther away, but he was fast and determined, and he was closing the distance. Then her car pulled up next to her. He bellowed her name in desperation.