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Ivy bit her bottom lip, worried Rosalina was on the verge of another crying session.

Instead, Rosalina held out her little hands for the star, a smile on her face.

“Excellent choice,” Boden said. “She loves anything that makes a noise.”

Ivy handed the star over. “She’s welcome to hold that when she has her picture taken if it will make her happy.”

Boden checked the baby’s forehead. “I think she’s fine. Rosalina got a little hot under those lights. It’s important she is cared for. She’s our only one.”

“Our only one yet.” His mate giggled. “Trust me, we’re working as hard as we can for baby number two.” She blushed as she looked up at Boden.

“It is not work, my sweet. It is pleasure.”

Ivy scowled at seeing how disgustingly happy they were. It was a front; it had to be. Behind closed doors, she knew married life wasn’t fun. Her parents had argued every day for fifteen years until her dad had walked out one night and never came back. People put on this ridiculous charade in public to make everyone else think they should get coupled up and married. This alien and human match wasn’t the exception to that reality.

“Whenever you’re ready, we can take the last photos.” Ivy grabbed a coffee and headed back to Diadora.

“Is everything under control?” Diadora took the coffee without a word of thanks.

“All sorted. We’ll do a few more photos and then wrap up. You don’t need to stay if you have somewhere else to be.”

“I do,” Diadora said.

Worry surged through Ivy. Did Diadora know what happened last night? Ivy was sure she’d removed all evidence of Karn breaking into the office. She’d left nothing behind. Diadora’s visit couldn’t be about that.

Ivy spent the next twenty minutes focused on the couple and their baby. They’d finally relaxed enough to get decent shots. Rosalina didn’t cry once she was so engrossed with her new yellow starry friend.

Ivy clapped her hands together. “Thanks, everyone. We’re done for the day.” She led the couple to the door and said goodbye to them. She let Rosalina hold on to the star. Ivy had plenty of other toys to entertain kids who came for photo shoots.

She turned to see Diadora had followed her to the door. “I hope that wasn’t too boring for you.”

Diadora’s eyes narrowed. “What are you playing at?”

Ivy blinked in surprise. “What do you mean? The photo shoot went well. We got some great shots. I can show them to you.”

“This is not about the photos.”

Ivy pushed past Diadora, her heart racing. “Then I don’t know what you mean.”

“Come over here.” Diadora walked to a table and placed her tablet on it. “Look at this.”

Dread kicked at Ivy’s heart as she stood beside Diadora. She watched what must be images from a security drone. It was of the corridor outside My Single Alien’s office. She saw herself come out of the office door and hurry away.

“What were you doing in the office at that time of night?” Diadora turned to her.

“There’s no law to say I can’t go to the place I work however late it is.”

“I know you hate working late.” Diadora glared at her. “On the one occasion you do, it’s a big coincidence that the previous day’s matches are a complete mess.”

Ivy swallowed against the tightness in her throat. “The matches? What’s wrong with them?”

“There have been a number of unsuitable ones. Heather believes somebody manually entered the system and uploaded a program to alter the matches.”

“I had nothing to do with that.”

“You know something about this?”

Ivy looked at the ground. She’d been an idiot. What had she been thinking, trying to cover up for Karn? She’d had him arrested. She should have told Diadora what had happened. She’d held back and couldn’t figure out why.

“If you value your job, you will answer my question.”

Ivy raised her head. She was so screwed.