I shook my head. “No.”
“Now.” He sighed. “I don’t have time for you to throw a tantrum.”
I was going to strangle him with my bare hands. I’d have to leap up in the air to pull it off, but I’d do it. I would.
Everything I thought I knew, the trust I’d handed over so easily was like the bitter taste of burned ash in my mouth. So much for honor on this damn planet. He’d rather hide the truth than harm his dear family. In return? Our family—Rager, Liam, Evon and me—never had a chance. The Tyrell family was no better than the corrupt political systems on Earth, the powerful protecting their own. Lies. Deceit. Exploitation. And I’d fallen for Evon, hard.
I’d fallen for the hope of something…more.
Biting back tears, I bit my lip to keep from saying something I knew I couldn’t take back. If he wouldn’t listen to reason, perhaps Rager or Liam would. Evon loved his sister, so I could understand how he’d try to rationalize this. Why he’d want to assume I was wrong. Even with the clear proof he’d seen with his own eyes.
He opened the door and held out his hand to indicate I should precede him down the hall. I knew the way. The base wasn’t large, and I’d always been exceptionally good at mental maps. When his hand landed on the small of my back, I pushed him away and stiffened my spine. His touch felt dirty now.
The five-minute stroll seemed to last an hour and when the door to our suite opened, only then did I dare glance back over my shoulder to find Evon’s eyes burning with rage. Yeah, I wasn’t too happy with him either.
“Go inside, Bella.” His voice had a sharp bite to it. One I’d heard before when he was arguing with his brother, but never with me. “Rager will see to you.”
With that, he turned on his heel and walked away, head held high, his jaw tense with stubborn pride and anger.
I crossed the threshold to our quarters, took in the rumpled bedding from our recent bout of wild fucking and realized that I’d made the classic female mistake, thinking that getting naked meant more than it did. That orgasms could fix everything.
Fucking. Yes. That was the right word. Evon had fucked me. Used me. And when push came to shove, he’d chosen his blood family, and his sister, over his mate.
I swallowed, trying to get rid of the painful lump in my throat. If the tears started, they wouldn’t stop. I couldn’t explain this to Rager if I was babbling like an idiot. I had to keep my shit together, talk in cold, hard facts. Data. That was what I had.
The entry door slid closed behind me and I heard Rager’s voice from the bathing chamber. I walked closer, my intention to close the door so I wouldn’t have to listen to him in the shower, imagine him naked. I wasn’t in the right mindset for that kind of thinking.
Even furious, the thought of Rager filling me, soothing me with his patient brand of loving, was too great a temptation. I refused to be that weak. I refused to run to him and bury myself in pleasure just because Evon had broken part of my heart. I wouldn’t be the needy, dependent female I so despised.
Now was not the time to give myself to him again. It would feel good, would make me forget for a little bit, but that was all. Everything ugly would still be there waiting once the orgasm faded.
No, I formulated my plan as I closed the distance. Rager would get out of the shower and dress. Then we’d call Liam and I would tell them both what happened. Sure, Evon wanted to protect his sister, but Liam was innocent, and I could prove it. Even with Evon’s true loyalties elsewhere, I couldn’t imagine he wanted his friend to be executed. I didn’t know the laws or customs on Viken, but my mates did. And they knew Evon. We’d figure this out together.
Or was I wrong about that, too? I’d never been one of those people who intuitively knew what others were thinking. The opposite, in fact. I had trouble relating to people, found them, on the whole, difficult to talk to and lacking in common sense. I’d been told I was odd, quirky and distracted, difficult to talk to, hard to read.
Maybe it was me. Maybe my lack of spectacular people skills was going to really hurt this time. Maybe I just didn’t know enough about the men I was mated to, or about their history. Could I be so wrong about my mates? Was the Interstellar Brides Processing system not as fantastic as they claimed? Could three men hold me down and fuck me like I was their whole world when actually I meant nothing to them?
Yes. Yes, they could. I didn’t want to think it, didn’t even want to consider the possibility, but on the whole, I was a realist. This whole Bride thing had been a wild hope, throwing my cards to the wind and hoping for a winning hand.