Dark Choices - I. T. Lucas Page 0,52

but the two assumed their regular positions on the front porch bench.

“Are you coming back here later?” Kalugal asked.

Rufsur shook his head. “I don’t think so.”

His boss nodded. “I’ll see you tomorrow, then.”

Kalugal didn’t look too happy about their relationship, and come to think of it, neither did Kian, but so far, their bosses hadn’t said anything to that effect. She wondered whether they were waiting for what they thought of as a fling to end.

From their perspective, they were right.

On the face of things, it looked as if she and Rufsur had nothing in common and their relationship was not going to last. But the truth was that under different circumstances, it could have. Oddly, their pairing worked despite their differences, or perhaps because of them.

A man who was just like her would have bored her, but the question was whether a woman who was just like Rufsur wouldn’t have matched him better.

“You’ve been awfully quiet on the way.” Rufsur gave her shoulder a little squeeze. “What’s on your mind?”

She wasn’t going to bring up her musings about their compatibility, or Robbie, or her plans to go see a shrink on Monday.

Talking about Kalugal and Kian was a safer topic. “I don’t think that our bosses approve of our relationship. I wonder what’s their agenda. Are they waiting for us to break up on our own? And if we don’t, will they intervene and demand it?”

“Not likely. They might not be happy about it, but there isn’t much they can do. Neither of them is a dictator, and ultimately, it’s up to us to decide how we want to proceed.”

“How do you see our future?”

He pulled her closer against his side. “Kalugal’s talk about a federation has given me food for thought, but I’m not smart enough to figure out how it could work for us.” He looked down at her. “But you are a clever woman. If you put that formidable mind of yours to work, I’m sure you can come up with something.”

She chuckled. “It’s not going to work, Rufsur.”

He raised a brow. “Are you giving up already? I thought that you were more tenacious than that.”

“I’m referring to you throwing an intellectual challenge at me, hoping that I’ll take the bait.”

“I know you will. You just can’t help it.” He smirked. “What if I come up with a solution before you do? Where is your competitiveness?”

She shook her head. “I’m amazed at how well you know me after such a short time, especially since most of it has been spent in bed.”

”I’m a good judge of character.”

“So am I.”

“Then you should know that Kalugal is a tremendous asset, and that having him as part of your community would strengthen it, not weaken it. The problem is that he is opposed to it because he likes his independence and he doesn’t want Kian’s nose in his business. And Kian doesn’t want it because he doesn’t trust Kalugal and his men. It’s a damn conundrum that I don’t know how to solve, but I just know in my bones that a solution is possible. If we find a way to form a federation of sorts, and everyone lives in the same place, the whole mess about who is going to live where will become a non-issue.”

Edna sighed. “What you are suggesting would require a major paradigm shift in everyone’s thinking. Things like that can’t happen overnight. Sometimes they take centuries. Just look at Europe, or even the United States. It is both a federation of states and a nation, but it took a bloody war to get there.”

“Our situation is not the same. The north and the south had to overcome a major conflict of interest, and their paradigm shift couldn’t have happened without a war. Only when they realized that they had more to lose by clinging to their old ways than abandoning them were they willing to sit at the negotiation table and reach an agreement. The clan has no conflict with us, and we don’t have one with you. We never did. The only thing we need to overcome is mistrust. The way I see it, with the right organizational structure, both sides will benefit from combining forces.”

35

Vlad

“You make the best steak, Roni.” Vlad rubbed his stomach. “I haven’t eaten that well in a long while.” He chuckled. “It’s good that Bowen and Leon are not here. They would have been offended. Both think that they are barbecue masters.”

“They don’t have the right tools.” Roni