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“She doesn’t belong to him.”
“He’s not going to accept our claim.”
“I don’t care.” Olivier’s fists were clenched.
“You should care. As long as someone like Marc wants her, she’s not going to be safe.”
Olivier turned and glared at his brother, who took a step back. Gahariet took a second step back and put his hands up.
“Pursuing her any longer wouldn’t be safe for Marc,” he told him, menace clear in his voice.
“We’ll do the best we can, but there aren’t any guarantees. And we still don’t know where her brother is.” Gahariet shook his head.
“We can find Xuan, I’m sure. It’s not safe for him to be on the streets, not when Marc is out there. We just need a little more time, that’s all.”
“I don’t know if we need more time to find him. He’s pretty well hidden. Do you think that our mate knows where he is hiding?”
Both of them looked at their floating mate, whose eyes were still closed.
“We’ll do everything we can to keep her safe. What if she’s pregnant with our babies?” Gahariet asked.
“I don’t know what would happen if he kidnapped her while she was pregnant.”
“Well, I don’t want to find out.”
“He’s not going to touch her,” Olivier promised.
Gahariet shook his head. “I’ve got to get back to work. I’ll talk to you both later.” Gahariet left the lagoon, leaving Olivier and Phuong alone.
Olivier shucked off his clothes. The Draka didn’t care much about nudity, and he didn’t mind getting a little dirt on him.
He waded into the water, then he began to float next to Phuong. It had been a long time since Olivier had taken the time to just float around…maybe a decade. Maybe more.
Her eyes were still closed, but she reached her hand out to him. The two of them floated together in the pool in a perfect moment of peace and silence, a stark contrast to the kidnapping attempt that Marc had perpetrated.
Olivier wished that their peace could last forever, but he knew that it wouldn’t.
32
Demand
Gahariet
Gahariet went back to his office. He looked at his twin’s empty seat and shook his head. Olivier would dodge his responsibilities as often as he could. He lived for the moment, which for him meant spending as much time with Phuong as possible.
Gahariet supposed that someone needed to watch Phuong, so he didn’t mind going through all the paperwork on his own.
Today, the paperwork seemed even more boring than usual. There were a bunch of Assembly arbitration decisions that he had to make. He shuffled through them, sighing. Sometimes, being the responsible twin meant that he was inside a lot more often than his brother was.
There was one envelope that wasn’t like the others. It had the Alrech Auction House wax seal on it, the wax as red as blood.
He took a slender letter opener and opened the envelope.
In crimson ink, Marc had written: “Return my property.”
Gahariet tossed the letter down on his desk. Phuong was more than just a valuable auction item. She was a Yore princess in her own right. She was a wonder and a mystery. Above all of those things, she was their beloved blood-bound mate.
Fate itself had determined their path. The three of them belonged together. It wasn’t an accident that they had been in the auction house on the same night. If they hadn’t come by… Phuong would still be trapped with Marc, probably. Stars only knew what he would’ve done to her.
