Ria remained where she was, flattening her lips, smashing her lids down even harder.
“I know you’re awake.”
She was about to burst. For some foolish reason, she held her breath when she landed on the floor. Now it was too late to try to breathe normally without gasping. Stupid.
“Your lips are turning blue. At least breathe in and out. Unconscious people do it all the time.”
Ria released a long breath and sucked in enough air to say, “Fine. You’ve found me out. Are you happy?” She opened her eyes, expecting to see Cam’s intimidating brother scowling down. He wore an engaging grin.
“I’m overjoyed, in fact.” Diesel offered her a hand. She took it and he pulled her to her feet.
Completely baffled by his reaction, she watched him warily. “Thanks.”
He nodded and crossed his arms comfortably, as if settling in for pleasant chat. “What’s your story?”
“Well,” she said ruefully. “It’s a long one.”
“I’ve got time.”
Ria surprised herself. She thought she had more self-control. Well, no, she didn’t, but she should when the situation was this dire. After keeping various guilt-inducing secrets throughout her illicit vacation on Earth, she unleashed a torrent of words that revealed everything. Absolutely everything.
She started with the odious arranged marriage to Dirt Bag FitzOsbern, moved along to meeting Cam at the earthling karaoke bar—she did, thankfully, manage to delicately gloss over what happened between that evening and the next morning in Cam’s bed—told Diesel about missing the ship and how she and Cam had been busily going about adding items to her bucket list and crossing them off.
She finished her stream of consciousness tirade by sincerely expressing her unshakable true love for Cam, her devastation over the impossibility of any future for them, and her fear and guilt regarding the worst-case scenario playing out with regard to a mysterious cellular mutation that could spell disaster for the Alpha colony on Earth. And it was all her fault for not wanting to face the fact of her stupid arranged marriage.
Diesel didn’t interrupt. He listened attentively, face as passive as if he faced such craziness all the time. Perhaps he did. Maybe that’s why he’d earned the role of Fearless Leader so young. He must have enduring patience to deal with what she considered a huge crisis full of unsolvable problems and the unfairness of the world in general.
“In conclusion, the best I can hope for is not to end up at gulag XkR-9 for my multitude of crimes against humanity and Alpha-dom.” Ria, exhausted by her verbal litany, plopped down on the small sofa and settled her hands on her knees. She pushed out a long, forlorn sigh.
Diesel surprised her by sitting next to her. He took one hand between his large, warm palms and patted it. “I don’t think you’ll end up at XkR-9, if that’s any comfort.”
“I’ll take it,” she said with a wan smile.
“Do you know who got aboard theRoyal Caldera Fortein your place?”
“Not a clue. Until today, I believed it was Prudence Westfall, the lady’s maid for my mother and either her aunt or one of her cousins. I don’t suppose you know who it is?”
Diesel smiled, but not in a happy way. “Although my brothers have done a pretty good job of trying to keep me in the dark, I have a pretty good idea. The more I think about it, the more I’m convinced I’m right.”
“Really? You should tell Cam and Axel because they didn’t seem to have any idea when they left.”
He patted the top of her hand again, released it and stood up. “Good idea. I’ll go hunt them down. You stay here. If you want, we can pretend this meeting never happened.”
Ria shook her head. “I’m tired of pretending and tired of lying about what I’m doing all the time. I’m turning over a new leaf.” Yet another cool Earther phrase. “I’m only telling the truth from now on.”
Diesel tilted his head to one side. “Keep in mind that should you end up living here on Earth with Cam—”
“I doubt that’ll ever be possible.”
“—you’ll have to hide the fact you’re an Alpha from any and all earthlings. No exceptions.”
“I understand, but I seriously doubt it will even be an issue. It would take a miracle.”
“Don’t discount miracles. They happen more often than you might imagine.”
He left her to ponder her rather contrary thoughts on miracles.
The Defender had done absolutely nothing to drain her of energy. The same couldn’t be said of her wrenching confession to Diesel. She sagged against the back of the sofa. Curling her legs up beside her, she propped one elbow on the arm and cradled her chin in her palm. Her eyelids felt unbelievably heavy. She wondered what magic it would take to produce the miracle she so desperately needed. Thoughts of Cam and how wonderful it would be to stay with him on Earth, building a life together on the beautiful slice of paradise he’d shared with her just a few short hours ago, followed her into sleep.
