with me for it from a bank or one of his investor friends.”
“You would do that?”
Her mother gaped at her astonishment. “I’m not a total heartless bitch, Felicia. You are my daughter and I don’t want to see you become the pawn of a male like Anatole. He obviously intends to use you to strike back at Talyn. The gods only know what he’ll do to you in the process. I will kill him myself before I allow him to hurt you like I fear he might.”
“Thank you, Mommy.”
Her mother hugged her tight and kissed her head. “Smile for me, daughter. Trust in the gods as I’ve taught you. We will find a way to get you out of this. I promise.”
They spent the rest of the afternoon catching up. By dinnertime, Felicia felt a lot better. She still had no real solution, but it helped to know that her mother was on her side.
On her way home, she stopped at her favorite restaurant and picked up dinner for them. She texted Talyn to let him know, and headed back to the condo.
As she neared the front door, a shadow fell over her.
“Excuse me,” she said, stepping around the male without looking up from her link.
An iron grip fastened onto her biceps.
Gasping, she looked up into the face of Chrisen Anatole. “Let me go!”
He shoved her against the wall of her building. “No minsid whore turns down my contract. Who do you think you are?”
Felicia shoved her dinner at him and tried to run.
He caught her wrist and backhanded her so hard, she feared she might black out. He grabbed her dress, ripping it, and dragged her toward his transport. “I’m going to show you what happens to whores who don’t mind their place.”
Chapter 19
“Major Batur!”
Talyn shot out of bed as he heard Aaron’s shout. A shout that was punctuated by Felicia’s gut-wrenching sobs. His heart pounding, he ran to the living room to find Aaron carrying her. He set her down on the couch and stepped back. Her face was red as if someone had struck her, and her dress was torn.
In that moment, a horrifying rage the likes of which he’d never known descended on him. Worse, it started that forgotten sensation of burning skin on his back.
He had to get control. Fast.
“Felicia?” Talyn pulled her gently against him.
Trembling and sobbing, she latched on to him and held him as if terrified.
Aaron swallowed hard. “I saw a male trying to pull her into a transport on the street. I only got part of the transport’s markings. Sorry.”
His back still burning, Talyn fought down his fury before he let loose something he couldn’t take back. “You saved her. That’s the most important thing.”
Aaron nodded. “I just wish I’d seen her sooner. One second more…” He met Talyn’s gaze. “I’m so sorry. I swear to the gods, it won’t ever happen again.”
“Could you call a medic for us?”
“Absolutely.”
“No,” Felicia said. “It’s okay. I’m not really hurt. Just scared.”
Talyn dipped his head to make sure she wasn’t being brave as he slowly got his body under control. “You sure?”
Nodding, she sniffed back her tears. “I lost our dinner, though. I beat him with it.”
Talyn rolled his eyes. “I don’t care about dinner.”
“I’ll make sure you have food delivered from the restaurant downstairs. Free of charge.”
He inclined his head in gratitude. “Thank you, Aaron. For everything.”
Felicia reached out to touch his hand. “Yes, thank you!”
Aaron bowed slightly. “Any time, mu tara. I’ll see to your food.”
As he left them alone, Talyn cupped her cheek in his hand. “What happened, baby?”
Felicia bit her lip, unsure of what to tell him. But the one thing she knew above all was that if he ever learned it was Anatole, he’d kill him. No questions asked. As much as she hated to lie, she could never let Talyn learn the truth. Not if she wanted to keep him from execution. “I don’t know. It happened too fast to see anything.”
“Lish…”
“I mean it, Talyn.”
“If it was Anatole, I will fucking kill him!” he snarled.
As he started to rise, she latched on to his arm to keep him by her side. “No! You don’t know it was him! You can’t go after him. They’ll kill you if you do.”
His gaze burned with a fury so raw, it singed her.
“Talyn… please! I can’t live if they take you again! We don’t know, okay?”
Tears filled his eyes as he pressed his forehead to hers and held her in a way