Fated Mate Conquered - Luna Voss Page 0,54

with more respect. That treats me like I matter.

I haven’t told Turan about the way I’m feeling. I don’t know how to. I don’t have any experience with relationships, much less with an unsuppressed gangster who wields such authority. The only thing I know how to do right now is take space for myself.

“I’m not feeling well,” I call to my mate. “I think I just want to take a night to myself. Do you mind sleeping in the other cabin?”

There’s a long pause before Turan answers. “Okay,” he finally replies. “I’m here if you need anything.”

He sounds hurt. And I’m not even sure if that makes me feel good or bad. I don’t want to wound him, but I do want him to understand that things aren’t just fine between us.

Sighing in frustration, I put on the rest of the movie I was watching when I first came here to isolate myself. Might as well finish the damn thing.

Turan

Kora seems mad at me. But I don’t understand why. We did it. We captured Rizban. And it was relatively quick, too, with minimal fuss. I had been looking forward to celebrating with her, to reveling in my triumph with my Fated Mate.

Now I just feel crummy.

Momentarily, I consider knocking on Kora’s door again, but I think better of it. I wouldn’t know what to say, and it’s not like I’m much good with words anyway. Hopefully she’ll be in a better mood tomorrow.

Unfortunately, I can’t get rid of this nagging feeling that I did something wrong. Having a mate is a new experience for me, and I don’t know exactly how to navigate it. I had thought I was being nice to Kora by bringing her along to capture Rizban. I knew she had been wanting to get out of the suite, and my plan didn’t carry any real risk, so it just seemed like the thing to do. But it feels like that’s why she’s mad at me. Is it because I didn’t tell her about the plan? I could understand that, but not telling her definitely seemed like the smart move at the time. I didn’t want to take any risk of her giving the game away to Rizban.

Bah. Females are complicated. I do my best to ignore my angst and go to check on our new prisoner.

We should have brought the UPE prison ship. Or at least, it would be more convenient if we could lock up Rizban the same way the Empire locked up me. Instead, we have him in one of the empty cabins, blindfolded, gagged, and tied to a chair. His eyes widen as I enter, and he looks at me with fear.

“It’s better, talking to you like this,” I say to him. “Now that you’re nice and comfortable in your new temporary home.”

He glares, squirming against his bonds, making angry grunts that are muffled by his gag.

I give him a patronizing grin. “Yes, yes, the ropes are very secure. Don’t worry, they won’t come loose. But thanks for checking.”

He stops squirming and glowers at me. And while I certainly don’t intend to lord this over him the whole time we have him as a captive, I have too much pent-up anger from my time in UPE lockup not to enjoy this moment just a little bit.

“You thought you were so fucking smart, turning me into the UPE,” I hiss, stepping closer to him. “You should have killed me. No one in your Family is going to respect you after this. Your daddy is going to have to buy you back, and at significant cost. All the Gordulla captains are going to know they lost the war because of you. Everything our Family takes from them, whatever sacrifices they’re forced to make, they’re going to blame you. And they’ll be right.”

I turn and exit the room, shutting the door behind me and leaving him in the dark. As far as I’m concerned, I don’t ever need to see his face again.

Rojan and Geddion are on the bridge, Rojan still wearing his Imperial armor. I join them, watching stars streak by on the viewscreen as we rocket through hyperspace.

“You were perfect,” I tell them. “Absolutely perfect. Almost had me fooled.”

“Impersonating Imperial guards was a brilliant idea,” says Geddion. “I don’t know how else we would have gotten Rizban out of the casino without a shooting match.”

“Are we far out enough that we can drop out of hyperspace and send out a comm?” I ask.

Rojan checks