In that moment, Valeriealmostfelt sorry for her aunt.
“I am nothing like you,” she corrected.
Madame Allegria’s jaw set. Her gaze flitted out the window of the driverless car. London Street was empty. Not many ventured to this quiet little area, which was behind the much more enticing and bustling Restaurant Row.
“Very well,” Madame Allegria said. “You see? I am a reasonable woman. Don’t forget that.”
Valerie was wary, watching her closely.
“You’ll close the brothel?” she asked again, needing to hear it from her lips again. “You’ll give them their rightful credits and let them leave?”
“Yes,” Madame Allegria snapped, her gaze whipping across the cold air between them. “Isn’t that what I said?”
Valerie swallowed. She hated that the thick sound echoed around the car’s enclosed space.
“Only after you’re married, however,” Madame Allegria said, casting her a small, cold smile that sent a chill up Valerie’s spine. “On your wedding night, I’ll send them away from Everton. And you will not say anything about it to them. At all.”
Valerie’s lips pressed tight.
With a slight incline of her head, Valerie never looked away from her aunt’s gaze.
“Now, get out. I have to be on Genesis later this evening,” Madame Allegria ordered.
Relief threaded through Valerie’s chest.
“I’ll return in three days,” she continued. “And when I do, we have an engagement dinner to attend. The Larchmonts will be announcing it tomorrow morning.”
Valerie’s hand trembled as she blindly sought the button for the door.
She stumbled out onto empty London Street as evening was descending, her heels twisting underneath her. The car sped off the moment she stepped away.
Her eyes trailed up to the brothel, to one of the small circular windows on the top floor. Dravka’s room.
Her heart felt twisted and it ached terribly in her chest. She wanted to scream. She wanted to scream until her throat was raw, until she couldn’t feel or hear or see anything anymore.
When she lifted her hand to her cheek, she realized she was crying.
Chapter Five
Dravka frowned, pressing closer to the window when he spied Valerie climbing out of the driverless car. At least whom he thought was Valerie.
The car sped away, leaving the human woman standing in the middle of the street, clad in a long pink gown, her hair wild and curled, blowing with a slight breeze. It was too far away to see her face clearly but even from that distance, he could see the defeat in her shoulders, which were shaking slightly.
A rough growl tore from his throat, a restless panic climbing with it.
Something was wrong. Who had she been with? Where had she gone?
Evening was blanketing itself over Everton, a dark hush that slowly creeped over the colony like a fog. The three clients for the night would be arriving in a couple hours. Dravka hadn’t been able to sleep. He’d thought of Valerie, of what Tavak had told him—to cut her loose—and nothing else.
Tensing, he leaned forward, watching as Val began to slowly make her way towards the entrance of the brothel. His ears twitched, hearing the sharp click of heels on the cobblestones, shoes his clients often wore when they came to visit, though Dravka thought the fashions of the New Earth colonies were strange.
Valerie disappeared from view and Dravka stepped back from the window. They were tinted from the outside. She wouldn’t have been able to see him standing there. He wondered if she would come up to the Cluster now that she was back. Dravka wanted her to, if only so he could make sure she was all right.
He strode out to the sitting room. Tavak and Ravu were there, though they weren’t speaking. Ravu inclined his head in a brief nod when he saw him but frowned as he watched Dravka pace slightly. His eyes kept straying to the door, keeping his ears perked for the dull thud of heels on the carpeted hallway outside.
Only it never came and Dravka grew more and more impatient.
Tavak was watching him as well, setting aside the Nu device he’d been reading on. He kept up with the universe’s news. It was what he did most evenings before meeting with clients.
