Born of Defiance (35 page)

“Those are the fees that are currently being paid by your patron and the fees Anatole has agreed to continue for the next ten years.”

Talyn was paying fifty thousand credits a year to her agency to have her? Holy gods! That was more than five times the normal agency fee! Was he insane? And that was in addition to paying for her living expenses, university fees, and monthly spending stipend and salary.

“You're the only one I wanted, Felicia.”
He seriously hadn't been joking when he'd said that. Virtually every credit he made as an officer was going to
her
. Probably more, given his caste. What the hell was
he
living on?

And never once had he told her to go easy on his money.
“Your comfort and safety are my priority.”

If she hadn't loved him before, she would now.

Tears choked her. “I will not break Talyn's contract. I'll get you your buyout fee.”

“With what? You're not
that
attractive.”

She ached to slap the arrogant, insulting expression from his face. But she couldn't afford the lawsuit. She needed every credit she had to fight this. “You'll get your credits.”

“Then I'll e-mail you the bill. You have fifteen days to pay it or we will accept Anatole's contract on your behalf.” He hit the
Send
button on his computer screen.

Her link buzzed immediately, letting her know that the bill was already in her inbox.

“Now, if you don't mind, I have work to do.”

Dizzy and shocked, she pushed herself away from his desk and headed to the street. As soon as she reached the lift, she took out her link and wanted to die as she saw the full amount she owed her agency.
524,050.

Her mind reeled. Not even her brother had
that
kind of money. No one she knew did. Except
maybe
her father. But he'd laugh her out of his home if she dared ask him for that amount.

What am I going to do?

She'd kill herself before she let a monster like Anatole touch her.

Climbing into a transport, she set her home address, then used her link to access her bank account. She didn't even have three thousand credits to her name, and that was
with
the savings account she'd had since she was fourteen.

Her heart breaking, she erased the condo address and typed in her mother's. The transport turned and headed in the opposite direction. Choking on a sob, she called Talyn, who was alone at the condo.

“Maj…” his voice trailed off as he caught himself. “Lieutenant Batur.”

Even though she wasn't running the video feed, she brushed the tears from her cheek. “Hey, sweetie. Is it okay if I see my mom while I'm out? Would you mind?”

“Not at all. Is everything all right?”

“Fine. Why do you ask?”

“You sound weird. Like you're upset. Did something happen at the agency?”

More tears fell as she ached to tell him. But he didn't need to hear it right now. “Just regular crap.” She cringed as he requested a video chat. Wiping her cheeks again and taking a deep breath to calm herself, she accepted it. “Hey, handsome.”

He frowned at her. “Do you need me to come get you?”

His thoughtfulness choked her. No matter what, he always put her first. “I need you to rest. You're not supposed to leave the bed. You know that.”

His scowl deepened. “I will come get you if you need me to. Just say the word.”

She traced the lines of his face on her small screen. “Thank you. But I haven't seen my mom in a few weeks. Do you want me to pick something up for you while I'm out?”

“Nah. I'm good. Just be safe.”

“I will. Now lie back down and rest.”

“Yes, ma'am.” He kissed his fingers, then held them out to her.

Smiling, she duplicated the gesture before she hung up and sat in silence while she ran over every possible legal way to get that amount of money.

I can always rob a bank.
Prison was an acceptable alternative to being Anatole's companion.

The transport stopped outside her mother's condo building. Felicia paid the fee, then headed for the door. She ran up the stairs and waited for her mother to buzz her in to the complex.

As soon as she reached the hallway, her mother was at the door, waiting.

“What's wrong?”

Felicia started crying again as she threw herself into her mother's arms and told her everything. Ever tall, elegant and graceful, her mother led her into her the kitchen and made them tea. She didn't speak as Felicia unloaded her entire predicament.

“What do I do, Mommy?”

Her mother handed her a box of cookies. “What did I tell you about being a companion?”

“Not to fall in love.”

“And what's the first thing you do?”

“I can't help it.” Felicia held her link up to show her mother the lock screen photo of Talyn in his uniform. “Could you say no to this face?”

“He is pretty. But—”

“You don't know him, Mama. He's not like other males. He takes care of me like I'm his beloved wife. Talyn's precious and kind. Funny. Warm.”

“And your father once took care of me, too. Until his wife forced him to leave us. Even though I'd given up everything to be with him, including my family's support and a staggering trust fund, he didn't look back.”

That was true. But Talyn wasn't her father. “Talyn can't legally marry.”

“You think that makes this better, Felicia? You stay with him and you'll never have children of your own.”

She shook her head. “I can't be the mistress to Anatole. Not for five minutes, never mind ten years. He's a beast like his brother … who he'll probably share me with. I'd sooner kill myself.”

“Don't be melodramatic.”

“I'm dead serious. The thought of it makes my skin crawl.”

Her mother sighed wearily. “I have fifty thousand I can loan you, but it has to be a loan. I don't have that kind of money and it's every bit of what I have in savings. Maybe we can work out a payment plan with your agency?”

She gave her mother a droll stare.

“I said
maybe
.” With a heavy sigh, her mother sipped at her tea. “Since the day you were born backwards, you've been impossible, child. You've never, ever done anything the easy way.”

“I know. I'm working on shaving more years off your life.”

Her mother snorted. “Yes. You are.” She took Felicia's hand into hers. “But you are ever my beautiful baby girl. And I will do everything I can to help you. You know that. Give me a few days to talk to your father, and see if I can work something out with that old goat.”

Felicia choked on another sob as the uselessness of that cut her to the bone. “He didn't pay for my school. Why would he do
this
?”

“You didn't ask him to pay. You didn't want to.”

“Fine. Assault me with the truth. But he doesn't love me. Not the way he loves his legal children. You know that.”

“Still … you are his flesh and blood. I'll ask him for a personal loan. If he doesn't have it, maybe he'll cosign a loan with me for it from a bank or one of his investor friends.”

“You would do that?”

Her mother gaped at her astonishment. “I'm not a total heartless bitch, Felicia. You are my daughter and I don't want to see you become the pawn of a male like Anatole. He obviously intends to use you to strike back at Talyn. The gods only know what he'll do to
you
in the process. I will kill him myself before I allow him to hurt you like I fear he might.”

“Thank you, Mommy.”

Her mother hugged her tight and kissed her head. “Smile for me, daughter. Trust in the gods as I've taught you. We will find a way to get you out of this. I promise.”

They spent the rest of the afternoon catching up. By dinnertime, Felicia felt a lot better. She still had no real solution, but it helped to know that her mother was on her side.

On her way home, she stopped at her favorite restaurant and picked up dinner for them. She texted Talyn to let him know, and headed back to the condo.

As she neared the front door, a shadow fell over her.

“Excuse me,” she said, stepping around the male without looking up from her link.

An iron grip fastened onto her biceps.

Gasping, she looked up into the face of Chrisen Anatole. “Let me go!”

He shoved her against the wall of her building. “No
minsid
whore turns down my contract. Who do you think you are?”

Felicia shoved her dinner at him and tried to run.

He caught her wrist and backhanded her so hard, she feared she might black out. He grabbed her dress, ripping it, and dragged her toward his transport. “I'm going to show you what happens to whores who don't mind their place.”

 

C
HAPTER
19

“Major Batur!”

Talyn shot out of bed as he heard Aaron's shout. A shout that was punctuated by Felicia's gut-wrenching sobs. His heart pounding, he ran to the living room to find Aaron carrying her. He set her down on the couch and stepped back. Her face was red as if someone had struck her, and her dress was torn.

In that moment, a horrifying rage the likes of which he'd never known descended on him. Worse, it started that forgotten sensation of burning skin on his back.

He had to get control. Fast.

“Felicia?” Talyn pulled her gently against him.

Trembling and sobbing, she latched on to him and held him as if terrified.

Aaron swallowed hard. “I saw a male trying to pull her into a transport on the street. I only got part of the transport's markings. Sorry.”

His back still burning, Talyn fought down his fury before he let loose something he couldn't take back. “You saved her. That's the most important thing.”

Aaron nodded. “I just wish I'd seen her sooner. One second more…” He met Talyn's gaze. “I'm so sorry. I swear to the gods, it won't ever happen again.”

“Could you call a medic for us?”

“Absolutely.”

“No,” Felicia said. “It's okay. I'm not really hurt. Just scared.”

Talyn dipped his head to make sure she wasn't being brave as he slowly got his body under control. “You sure?”

Nodding, she sniffed back her tears. “I lost our dinner, though. I beat him with it.”

Talyn rolled his eyes. “I don't care about dinner.”

“I'll make sure you have food delivered from the restaurant downstairs. Free of charge.”

He inclined his head in gratitude. “Thank you, Aaron. For everything.”

Felicia reached out to touch his hand. “Yes, thank you!”

Aaron bowed slightly. “Any time,
mu tara
. I'll see to your food.”

As he left them alone, Talyn cupped her cheek in his hand. “What happened, baby?”

Felicia bit her lip, unsure of what to tell him. But the one thing she knew above all was that if he ever learned it was Anatole, he'd kill him. No questions asked. As much as she hated to lie, she could
never
let Talyn learn the truth. Not if she wanted to keep him from execution. “I don't know. It happened too fast to see anything.”

“Lish…”

“I mean it, Talyn.”

“If it was Anatole, I will fucking kill him!” he snarled.

As he started to rise, she latched on to his arm to keep him by her side. “No! You don't know it was him! You can't go after him. They'll kill you if you do.”

His gaze burned with a fury so raw, it singed her.

“Talyn … please! I can't live if they take you again! We don't know, okay?”

Tears filled his eyes as he pressed his forehead to hers and held her in a way that told her exactly how much he loved her. His hands shook as angst darkened his gaze. “Is that why you're pulling your contract from me?”

“What?” she breathed.

He nodded grimly. “Your agency called yesterday to tell me. They wanted me to pick another companion.” If she lived a thousand years, she'd never forget the deep-seated hurt in his handsome features.

Never in her life had she wanted blood the way she did right then. After what Anatole had told her about Talyn and this … “I'm not breaking the contract, Talyn. I went to them to ask about buying it back.”

He flinched and nodded. “It's for the best. I understand.”

As he started to withdraw, she cupped his face in her hands and forced him to look at her. “I wanted to buy it back so that I can stay with you. Forever. I love you, Talyn.
Only
you. They told me a few days ago that they had accepted another contract for me, and that they were the ones breaking this one. I told them that I refused to do it. And I only went there today to find out how much I'd need to buy my contract out.” She pulled her link from her pocket and handed it to him. “You can see the e-mails for yourself, and the timestamps on them.”