Sucking in a deep breath, she focused on keeping her voice steady when she replied, “When I get back from Aura Terminal, I want you gone. I suggest you start packing up your things today. If you’re still here when I get back, I’ll have the Lord’s Watch march you out of the tower.”
Tian reached up then, his hands clasping her shoulders. His grip was bruising, although Jenna managed not to flinch. Gods, she wanted him out of her life
A muscle worked on her husband’s jaw. “Are you threatening me?”
Jenna continued to hold his gaze. “I don’t speak idly,” she replied, her voice surprisingly steady. “Test me and see what happens.”
His grip on her shoulders tightened, his fingers biting into her flesh.
Jenna’s pulse started to thunder.
Tian had never actually lifted a hand to her, but she could feel he was on the brink of doing so now.
The comm next to the door buzzed then. A second later, a man’s baritone vibrated through the chamber. “Ambassador, the shuttle is ready to depart.”
“Thank you,” Jenna replied, her gaze never leaving Tian’s. “I’ll be right there.”
“Very well, Your Excellency.” The comm then clicked off.
Long moments passed before she murmured. “Let me go.”
Tian’s lips thinned, his gaze still smoldering.
Victory ignited in the pit of her belly. She’d defeated him, and they both knew it.
He released her then, stepping back from her.
Turning to the bed, she closed the suitcase and set it down at her feet. “Hand me my bag, Daisy.”
“Yes, Mistress,” the droid bleeped its acquiescence, amber lights blinking as it swiveled around and plucked the large bag from the chair behind it. Daisy—DA15Y—was a D4-class utility-droid who’d been with Jenna since she was eight. In the two empty years of her marriage to Tian, the droid had provided much-needed companionship. However, Daisy couldn’t ease the knots of misery in her stomach whenever she contemplated her future with this man.
She hadn’t planned on ending their marriage today, but now she had, she suddenly felt light, free.
Glory is the reward of valor, Jenna.
Resolve hardened under her ribcage as she reminded herself of the Mir-Brennan clan motto. There was no going back now.
Taking the bag, Jenna slung it over her front. She then turned to face Tian once more.
He was still watching her, and she didn’t care for the glint in his dark eyes. It was calculating—a further reminder of why she wanted out of this marriage.
“I’ll contact my lawyer as soon as I get to Aura Terminal. Expect to receive divorce papers within a day,” she told him, marveling at how calm she sounded, despite her racing pulse. Years as a diplomat and then as her brother’s ambassador had served her well.
Without awaiting a response, Jenna grabbed her suitcase and headed toward the door.
Stepping out into the corridor beyond her quarters, Jenna found Captain Malik Mir-Draven waiting for her.
Clad head-to-toe in gleaming black armor, his face partially shielded by a helm, the man seemed out of place against the elegant gold-hued walls, sparkling pendant lights, and pots of desert succulents lining the wide spider-vaulted corridor. The captain, who led her brother’s team of elite bodyguards, wore a breastplate with a blood-red sand-scarab embossed upon it. A heavy crimson cloak rippled from his broad shoulders.
Trying not to let the relief show on her face—for she couldn’t believe she’d just had the nerve to leave her husband—Jenna nodded to the head of the Lord’s Watch. “Captain.”
“Your Excellency,” he greeted her. “Your brother is waiting for you downstairs.”
Jenna eyed Captain Malik warily. She’d always found the man intimidating: her brother’s silent, watchful shadow.
Together, they set off down the corridor toward the bank of elevators. “Cathal must be impatient,” Jenna noted, wishing her voice didn’t sound so breathless. Truth was, Tian scared her, and she was relieved to be out of his presence. “If he’s sent you up to fetch me.”
Indeed, her brother’s trusted bodyguard rarely left his side.
