“Fine. Don’t tell me. I don’t want to know anyway.” Valene planned to pretend indifference. She would look for an opportunity to ruin his carefully laid plans.
“Are you going to cooperate?”
“Depends on what you expect me to do.”
“I expected you to be under my thrall. Quiet, obedient, pleasant.”
Valene snorted at the word obedient, but shrugged. “I won’t make a scene only because I don’t want you to hurt anyone else.”
“Good. I believe you. Now, let’s go. We’ve got a stop to make along the way that will likely take much longer than I intended.”
Valene resisted the urge to ask where they were going. As long as she wasn’t ensconced in the car’s trunk, she’d figure it out soon enough anyway.
The couple on the sofa never once looked up from the loud war movie.
“Are they going to be okay?”
“They’ll be fine.”
“Who are they?”
Indigo paused as if considering whether to share, then shrugged. “Daphne’s parents. This is their place. I couldn’t stay in Alienn, of course.”
Of course. Valene looked around at the luxurious home. She didn’t know Daphne Charlene came from money. She’d always heard about heraw shucks, I was always so poorpast and her subsequent short-term vault to success in the restaurant business.
She owned Skeeter Bite’s most popular place to eat. The formerly historic building had been completely revamped from a rundown dry goods store into Critter’s Café. Valene had never eaten there, but lots of folks said it was very good.
Maybe her success had provided her parents with a nicer home in their retirement. Daphne Charlene’s character went up a notch in Valene’s mind.
Indigo led her up a short set of stairs from the finished basement into the garage, accessed from the hallway next to an elegant and top-notch gourmet kitchen. Nice.
As they stood next to a very expensive and new-looking silver SUV, Indigo removed the cuffs from behind Valene’s back and promptly zip-tied one arm to the passenger seat hand grab. So annoying. The pungent new car scent rushed into her lungs as he got into the driver’s seat.
He pushed the button on a remote and a garage door opened behind them. Without any difficulty or hesitation, he wheeled the vehicle backward out of the garage, clicked the remote to close the door and drove down a long driveway bordered by very tall trees.
“Earth is amazing. I certainly understand why this backwater colony planet is so popular.”
Valene didn’t comment. She just looked out the window, trying to be ready for anything.
“Is that why you don’t want to marry that Wyatt guy and leave?”
She whipped her head around so fast it was a wonder she didn’t hurt herself. “How do you know about that?”
Indigo gave her a superior smile. “Daphne shared quite a lot about you and him and how she wished you would drop dead so she could have him. I also heard about the sheriff’s heartfelt proposal. The one you turned down in something called a biker bar, whatever that is. Daphne was particularly upset about that. But if it were me, I’d never want to leave here even for love.”
The notch up Valene had given Daphne Charlene for how she treated her elderly parents fell back down again in light of the fact the woman wanted her to drop dead so she could have Wyatt. She turned back to her window view. “Doesn’t matter why.”
“He’s human. You’re not. If you married a human, you’d both have to go to Alpha-Prime. I’m trying to be on your side. I’m saying I understand why you’d never want to leave here.”
Valene mentally rolled her eyes. “That’s not why I turned him down.”
“Oh? Why not then? Enlighten me.”
She shrugged, unwilling to share her reasons with this man. “What difference does it make?”
“I like learning things about people.”
Valene decided to get along. “It’s because Wyatt wouldn’t be able to tell his family. He’d just disappear and they’d never know what happened to him.” If one arm hadn’t been tied above her head, Valene would have crossed her arms and pouted.
