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Raider put my plate back down. “Did I miss anything you want, sugar?”
“No,” I said to him, blushing. He’d gotten everything I wanted, and skipped the things I didn’t want.
“Max went back to the hotel to check on everyone. They have all been staying at the one attached to Comet Canyon Saloon,” Stella said. “We opted for the ship because we wondered if you would come back here. And because of what happened, Rider paid for the hotel…”
Raider let out a disgruntled sigh. “He would, of course.”
“Not to pry…” Zin drifted off. Toras and Stella gave him a knowing look, and he sighed. “Okay, I am prying. Why did your brother frame you? How are we to trust that you are being honest? I have met Rider and he…”
“Seems like a good, honest person,” Raider said. He couldn’t keep the edge of bitterness from his voice. “He does seem that way. He knows how to play the game. You are a prince, so he especially would like you in his good graces. But maybe talk to someone below him and see how they feel.”
“I did,” Zin said. “And they hate him. I might be a prince, but I have good instincts.”
“More like Stella has good instincts,” Toras teased him.
Zin snorted. “That too. She felt that Mari would be okay. The ambassador is shady, but well connected.”
Raider seemed surprised by Zin’s insightfulness. I wasn’t, but I knew him better. I slid my hand into Raider’s under the table, giving him a gentle squeeze.
“My apologies for underestimating you. I’m not accustomed to royalty caring. Our royal family does not care in this galaxy, hence the corruption of ambassadors.”
Toras shook his head, clearly frustrated. “It’s horrifying to think that. I can’t imagine not caring about my planet or galaxy.”
Stella leaned against him, sliding her hand into one of his tentacles. “That’s why you’re good,” she said.
Toras blushed. I loved it when she made him blush because the glowing ring on his face turned bright red.
“Oh my gods,” Madam Moonie groaned. “When does the honeymoon stage wear off for fated mates?”
“Never,” Stella and I both said.
Raider chuckled next to me. “It’s different. Having the bond. It’s like the universe made us for each other. I can’t think of a future without her.”
“And it happens quickly,” Zin said, giving his mates a wink. “Everything changes once you know.”
“Okay, okay,” Madam Moonie said, holding up a hand. “My goodness, I’ve heard enough. Raider, you were talking about your brother…”
“He framed me for the murder of a woman we were both seeing. I didn’t know she was seeing him too. He killed her and framed me for her death. There was a letter written framing me as well, but I know she wouldn’t have written it. After that, he took my house, my designs and inventions, and had me thrown into jail. Since then, I’ve been biding my time. I did nothing wrong, but he’s always been jealous. The reason that I kidnapped Mari was because I heard from one of the guards that he was obsessed with the Galactic Gems, specifically Little Miss Mercury. I knew that he wanted her, so I made sure that I took her from him. But, I quickly realized that was a mistake. Or perhaps it wasn’t, since it brought us together. But, I was planning on using her to blackmail him to clear my name. Now, that is not an option.”
Everyone was silent. I leaned into him, trying to offer him a bit of comfort. He pressed his face against the top of my head, mumbling under his breath. “Eat so you have energy for later.”
My cheeks flamed red. I reached for a muffin, ignoring Stella’s increasingly smug demeanor. I’d given her a little bit of hell about instantly falling for her two mates, but now I understood.
“The only way we could possibly catch him is with a confession,” Zin said, humming to himself.
Madam sighed. “At least the enemy isn’t in my own troupe this time.”
True. That somehow made things easier and harder. The last time there was trouble, it had been Madam’s own assistant that was the problem. This time, it was Rider. But he had ‘evidence’ against Raider.
“We’d have to get him to admit he did it,” Madam said. “How could we do that?”
“We could throw a show and invite him,” I said. “Or I could corner him…”
“Absolutely not,” Raider said.
“But he’s interested in me, right? Maybe I could make him confess.”
“Not going to happen.”
