Royal Recruit - Susan Grant Page 0,27

open the royal uniform that was scratching his neck.

“Jared, please,” Jana called.

He spun around, walking backward, hands up. “Just give me some space. I need…I need to think.” He felt betrayed. Used. He was married. Jesus. “I was happy to help—hell, I wanted to help, but, damn it, you should have been straight with me. You didn’t explain the risks.”

Jana looked heartsick. “We didn’t know.”

“Did you really expect the Coalition would jump through every hoop we put out for them? They knew exactly what they were doing when they logged on today. They were determined to neutralize our threat, and they did. Did you really expect them to fight fair? You especially, Cavin. You know what they’re like—you served as one of their highest-ranking officers. When they want something, they go after it, like Earth.” He shoved a hand through his hair. “Like me.”

He strode away, shrugging off the medal-encrusted coat, shoving it into an assistant’s hands, an “assistant” who was probably in reality the dictator or prime minister of a small country.

“Jared,” his sister called out. “Where are you going?”

“Home. Tahoe. Somewhere.” He needed to get away. He’d been dragged here against his will for what he’d thought was just supposed to be a little face time with Queen Sunbeam, another part of the big ruse like the phantom fleet was. Now she was his wife? Screw that. “Get yourself another sacrificial lamb.”

Horrified, Jana watched her brother cross the room, rebuffing attempts from dignitaries to congratulate him. It wouldn’t do to have an emotional meltdown in front of the leaders of the world. She siphoned poise from a deep well that came hardwired to her Jasper genes.

Sure, her brother was as full of himself as ever, the consummate ladies’ man and hotshot pilot, but as a national guard officer and businessman, he was as honest and loyal as they came. He was also one of the calmest, laid-back individuals she knew. Leaving the room in a snit was not typical Jared behavior.

But then she’d asked a lot of him. Earth had asked a lot of him—and much more than she’d ever anticipated. Jared… Oh, God, poor Jared.

“I’ll talk to him,” Dad said. The congressman took off across the room, his red tie flailing over his shoulder. He caught up to Jared and laid a calming arm over his son’s broad shoulders—shoulders that had borne more than anyone else’s had today. It wasn’t that Jared was incapable or even unwilling to assume risk and responsibility, but he’d been literally dragged here, doing as they asked of him without question—and without a lot of explanation.

Even Cavin’s lips on her hair failed to erase her frown. His hand found her back, rubbing in a slow circle. “He trusted us,” she whispered. “And we abused it.”

She started to run after Jared, but Cavin caught her hand.

“Let him go, Jana. Give him the time he needs. I know your brother. I consider him a friend. He’s as good a man as they come. He will agree to this, but he has to make the decision his, not something I or anyone else rammed down his throat, intentionally or otherwise.”

“That’s the way he feels right now…like we forced him into this.”

“In effect, we did. We forced him to face a risk none of us fully understood. What is your Earth expression—play with fire and you might get burned? Yet, what we can’t forget is that we just bought Earth a safer, brighter future.”

“But at what cost?”

“A terribly high cost to one man. One family. In exchange, over seven billion souls get to resume their lives.”

“That is, if the Coalition doesn’t figure out the original trick.” The fake fleet. As much of a triumph as that lie was, living with the fear of being found out was hell. “Something tells me they won’t be too happy finding out they married off their precious queen to a poor, country commoner.”

“I didn’t say our work was over. The most difficult wars are won one battle at a time. For now, we have Earth back in our hands.”

At the cost of her brother.

Until now, Jared had managed to steer clear of the blinding spotlight focused on their famous political family. But, boy, that sure had changed. Jared was center stage now, all eyes on him. He had to perform. He couldn’t fail. Simply put, her big brother Jared, self-proclaimed “regular dude”, was possibly the one and last chance to keep the Coalition’s hands off Earth.

“He’s a Jasper,” Cavin reminded