Saved by Venom 3 (Grabbed)(46)

“This cake is pretty good.” He pushed a plate with a small slice her way. “I can’t believe they didn’t do a proper cake cutting with the bride and groom.”

Dizzy picked up a clean fork from her roll of silverware and poked at the spongy confection. “They’ve only been doing weddings here for a little while. Give them time. The most important customs have migrated. That’s something.”

“I guess.” He took a drink of the fizzy champagne that had been imported from one of the wineries in the colonies. “No music and no dancing—but damn. They’ve got some good booze.”

Dizzy smiled at the Red Feather fixer. “You’ve known Naya a long time?”

He nodded and cut into his cake. “She’s the closest thing I’ve ever had to a best friend.”

She didn’t miss his wistfully sad expression. She suspected Danny felt more than friendship toward Naya.

“Speaking of best friends,” Danny swirled the alcohol in his glass, “Ella tried to reach me before I came up here. I didn’t realize she was trying to get a message to a friend or I would have found a way to meet with her. If there’s anything you want me to tell her I’ll make sure to look her up as soon as I hit the ground.”

“Tell her I’m happy and I miss her.” She thought of Ella’s message. “Let her know that I’ve already added her name to the visitation list.”

“Will do.” He took a long sip. “Look—I know this ain’t the time or place to talk about serious things…but we should chat about your daddy.”

Dizzy eyed her purse. She still hadn’t read the letter Terror had given her. “Just lay it out for me, Danny.”

“I don’t know the specifics, Dizzy. I’ve heard that someone was putting pressure on him to get a shipment together.”

“Who?”

“Take your pick on the who, kiddo. Fat Pete, the Sixers, the Splinters?” He shrugged. “There’s a shit-ton of shady operating in The City these days. Everybody’s looking for a bigger piece of that nasty little pie—and your daddy has black market connections that everyone wants.”

“But he sold my lottery number, Danny. He said—”

“A father will say anything to protect his child,” Danny cut in wisely. “I’ve known Jack for years. If he thought you were in danger and there was no way else to get you out, he would have pushed you toward a Grab. Nothing from back home can touch you here.”

Dizzy watched Menace licking a bit of frosting from Naya’s fingertip. The passionate love those two shared radiated across the room. Had Naya escaped to the Valiant believing nothing from her past, from Connor’s Run or The City, could ever touch her again? How wrong she had been!

“I’m not so sure about that, Danny.”

He followed her gaze and made a humph sound before smashing his cake with his fork. “That situation was different. Naya never would have ended up back on Calyx if that one-eyed bastard hadn’t dredged up ancient history.” Danny glared at Terror who sat with Vicious and Hallie at a nearby table. “You stay far away from that guy. Understand? He’s a shit magnet if I’ve ever seen one.”

Dizzy doubted she had ever heard such colorful descriptions. Considering the Shadow Force men she had encountered so far—Terror, Pierce and Torment—she was incredibly thankful Venom wasn’t in that line of work. His spot on the SRU team was dangerous enough but the men who carried out covert operations put their lives on the line in ways even more dangerous than Venom. At least he always had his team to back him up and support him. Just by looking at Terror’s scarred face, Dizzy could tell these Shadow Force men were on their own out there.

“When I get back to The City I’ll sniff around and see if I can’t find your dad. There’s a story here. Who knows? It might be something important enough to get him a ticket off Calyx and out to the colonies.”

Dizzy perked up. “Do you think the Harcos would make him a deal?”

“They’ve been doing it for years.” Danny swigged down the last of his champagne. “They started cultivating their ‘assets’ in the colonies and on Calyx more than twenty years ago. Even before their civil war kicked off, there were rumblings. Good intelligence means having boots on the ground.”

“I don’t know that I would want my dad to be an asset.”

Danny shrugged. “He might not have a choice. If Fat Pete or the Splinters were trying to pressure Jack to do something for them and he said no?” He shook his head and sighed. “Jack will want to get the hell off Calyx as quickly as possible. Spending a weekend with some sky warrior interrogators and spilling his guts for a ticket and a new identity in the colonies? That’s a mighty fine trade.”

Dizzy conceded that the fixer had a point. Thinking of how stressed and weary her father must have been to betray her, she started to feel so incredibly sad. Their relationship had been rocky since her mother’s death. They had both said and done things that left her feeling a bit of shame. She remembered the way she had screamed at him, telling him she hated him, that evening he had confessed to losing her to the loan shark and selling her lottery number. What if Danny was right? What if he had been trying to protect her?

“Sugar, are you all right?” Venom had sneaked up on them without her even realizing it. He must have seen the sadness on her face because he caressed her jaw.

She started to lie and say she was perfectly fine. Venom had asked her to always be honest with him so she didn’t. “I’m not feeling so well. Can we go home?”

“Of course.”

She gathered up her purse and gave Danny’s hand a squeeze. “Thanks for the cake. If you see my dad…” Her voice drifted off as the painful clump in her throat made her eyes water.

“I know what you want to say,” Danny said gently. “You can count on me.”

“Thank you.”

Venom placed his hand against the small of her back and walked her out of the reception. There were four soldiers waiting for an elevator and they all ended up in the same car. Venom silently communicated his concern for her by rubbing the spot between her shoulder blades. He didn’t say anything until they were safely locked inside their quarters.

Pinning her between the door and his hard body, Venom placed both of his hands against the wall and lowered his face until their breaths mingled. “What has you so upset?”

“I’m just thinking about my dad. I’m worried that he’s in real trouble. Between what Ella said and what Danny told me tonight, I can’t stop thinking that he’s caught up in something really big.” Her stomach roiled and she swallowed hard. “Then I start thinking about that stupid blood test. Somewhere out there my biological father is lurking. Is he a good guy? Is he a jerk? Did my mother love him? Did he hurt her? Did he abandon her? Why didn’t he stick around? Why didn’t he want us?”

“Dizzy,” Venom whispered, the sound pained. “Honey, you’re going to make yourself sick thinking about all this. Whatever happened back then—it’s in the past. I know it’s hard to let it go but you can’t dwell on the what-ifs. You may never track down your biological father. Even if you get Jack—your dad—to talk to you about your mother, he may not even know the details. There’s a possibility—however slim—that he doesn’t even know you’re not his biological child.” Venom touched their foreheads together. “You’ve got a letter in your purse from your father. Start there.”

The envelope shoved into her purse suddenly felt so heavy. What if the letter held truths she didn’t want to face? “I can’t. Not tonight.”

“That’s fine. There’s no rush.” Venom tugged her purse from her grasp and placed it on the entryway table. Interlacing their fingers, he led her into the living area. He left her standing next to the couch while he flicked through the buttons of his uniform jacket and peeled out of it. Crouching down, he unzipped and toed off his boots.

Dizzy followed his lead and kicked off her heels. Standing barefoot, she asked, “Now what?”

“Now,” he said with a little smile, “you’re going to teach me how to dance.”

“What?” A nervous laugh escaped her at the idea of being held in his arms and swaying with him in their living room. “You don’t know how to dance?”

“I do not.”

“But—you know how to do everything.”

Venom chuckled. “You know how to stroke my ego.”

“I’m not stroking your ego.” Dizzy took his huge paw and placed it on her hip. “You have to be the most capable and skilled man I’ve ever met.”

He studied her for a long minute. “You’re serious.”

“Yes. Now—this would be easier with music but just match my steps.” She clasped his other hand and took one step back but Venom didn’t budge. Gazing up into his curious face, she realized that he had no idea how incredibly special he was. “You don’t even know, do you?”

“Know what, sugar?”

“How damn amazing you are,” she said with a touch of awe in her voice. “Venom, you’re an elite soldier who serves with a highly skilled unit—yet you’re the kindest, sweetest, gentlest mate.” An erotic heat quivered between her thighs as she added, “You’re a wonderful and patient lover.”