Ivy shook her head. “Take care of Zara. That’s all. Earth girls stick together out here.” Ivy glanced from Isaak to me. “If you need me, call me. We’ll come. Got it?”
“Yes. Thanks.” I meant that, with every cell in my body. They were helping us because they were friends. Because they were good. Because they cared not because they wanted something. They didn’t have an ulterior motive.
With one last nod from both of them and a hard glare at Isaak from Zenos—which I didn’t quite understand—they were gone.
“You need to call your father,” I said.
“No, I don’t.” Isaak remained at the wall panel as data and maps began to appear and disappear on the large screen where Ivy and Zenos had been moments before.
“Look, I know you have some kind of family issue, but you have to call him. Or your mom. Somebody. We have to warn them.”
He turned to look at me, the resignation in his gaze, the stiffness of his shoulders something I recognized well. He was bracing himself for pain.
“They’re already here.”
12
Zara
My back went ramrod straight, and I felt as if I were back on Earth and meeting a date’s parents for the first time. Okay, that had never happened to me before, but I’d seen it in movies, and it was just as it had been depicted.
“They’re here?” I couldn’t miss the shrill tone of the question. I looked down at the sheer gown, the clearly visible nipple rings and chain, my bare feet. “Are you crazy? I can’t meet your parents like this.”
Isaak did something to make sure the screen was blank then turned and pulled me into his arms. It was supposed to be a reassuring gesture, I was sure, but it wasn’t helping. “You look beautiful, gara. Perfect.”
I blushed as much from his words as the heat in his eyes. “But—”
He put a finger over my lips. “No. You are perfect. They will not be allowed to believe otherwise.”
I realized then that he hadn’t seen his parents in years. Why was I panicking? There was a shit-ton of issues between them that I doubted I’d even register. How was he so calm?
A loud pounding sounded at the door before I could argue the obvious. He could not control his parents’ thoughts—about him or me. And although I knew a bit about the rift that had driven Isaak from home, I knew from my own personal experience that family could be messy. He’d stayed away four years. That was messy.
And then there was the elephant in the room… Isaak was only on Trion to help me take care of Bertok. If he hadn’t run into me, he’d never even have considered returning to his home planet. He wouldn’t be facing his parents right now or ever. He was leaving again soon, going back out into space, for his ship and the freedom he seemed to need as much as he needed air.
He held me, and the pounding sounded at the door again.
“Fark, boy. Open the door before I have my guards blow it open.” The voice was deep and commanding. Sounded like someone I knew all too well.
Isaak actually chuckled. “Patient, as always. Seems my father hasn’t changed.”
He released me and walked to the door, waved his hand over a panel and stood with his arms crossed over his chest as the door slid aside to reveal an older woman and a near exact copy of Isaak with a few more lines on his face.
Same stance. Same build. Same eyes.
Same scowl.
Isaak’s skin had a richer tone than his father’s, more like melted caramel, but the similarities between the two males startled me into a grin. Wow. Talk about strong genetics.
“Greetings, Father. Mother.” Isaak inclined his head in a bit of a bow, and his mother rushed into his arms, an oomph escaping Isaak’s chest from the impact.
“Isaak! I’m so glad you’re home.” He held her, a female just a bit taller than me, with dark brown curls and amber eyes. Her skin was darker than both her mate and son, as if she was from a different race or region of the planet. She had to be old enough to be Isaak’s mother, but she didn’t look a day over thirty. Not fair. But that wasn’t what shocked me. No, what had me consciously closing my slack jaw was the see-through cream gown she wore. Even more revealing than mine, I could see everything, including the sparkling chains that ran between her breasts,