"I know this must be hard for you," Aros said after the room cleared of servers. "You must know I didn't know you were alive. If I had even suspected, I would have torn the universe apart looking for you."
Nykyrian took a sip of his drink, tempted to curl his lip and make a caustic reply. He remembered Thia.
No one had told him about her, and to her knowledge he was just as guilty of abandoning her. For all Nykyrian knew, Thia harbored the same feelings of rejection and isolation. The revelation almost choked him. How could he blame his parents for the same thing he had done to his own child?
"I don't blame you." Nykyrian caught Kiara's astonished look. "Why don't we forget the past and just start with this moment and go forward."
Aros saluted him with his glass. "I regret the lost years. I can tell they are one of my greatest losses."
Nykyrian snorted, looking straight at Kiara. "You were probably better off. I was a rotten child who spent weeks sulking."
Kiara smiled. "Some things never change."
His parents laughed.
Grateful for Nykyrian's changed mood, Kiara wondered what had caused it. He was so handsome sitting next to her, she beamed with pride. Leaning toward him, she whispered in his ear.
"I'll show you," Nykyrian said, scooting his chair back.
Kiara blushed at the stares she collected. She seemed to be going to the rest room every few seconds lately. "Just tell me where it is and I can find it."
He shook his head. "It's too crowded. I don't think you should go out there alone."
Kiara's face felt so hot, she feared it would explode. "I can go alone," she said, stressing the words. "I'll be right back."
She could tell by the tense line of his jaw, he wanted to argue some more. "Don't be long."
Kiara smiled, relieved he had yielded. "You won't even have time to miss me."
Excusing herself from his parents, she made her way out the door. It didn't take her long to find her way through the dining room and to the restrooms.
As Kiara left the bathroom, she smiled at the maitre d' as he passed by her, leading another set of guests. Happy her husband was behaving and not being too sullen, she made her way back through their dining room. "Kiara?" She stopped, wondering who had called her.
Turning around, she tried to locate the source of the familiar voice. Kiara's heart stopped as she recognized Jullien seated at a table with another man. Why wasn't he in their room with his parents?
She started to head back to the dining room without acknowledging him, but her conscience wouldn't let her. As Aros had said, she was family now and she couldn't be rude.
Jullien crossed the floor, stopping right in front of her. "I didn't expect to see you again so soon," he said warmly. He took her hand and placed a wet kiss over her knuckles.
Kiara stifled her shudder.
His smile was warm enough, but she wondered at the coldness behind his eyes. "I realize you must be here with someone," Jullien said, looking around the room. "But could you take a m oment to say hello to my friend. He's a fan of yours and he's dying for a chance to meet you."
She tried to pull away, but his hand tightened around hers. "I promised not to— "
"It'll only take a mom ent," he begged with those eerie eyes. "Please?"
Reminding herself this was her brother-in-law and a royal prince, she nodded her head.
Jullien gave her a warm smile and led her back to his table. "This is the woman I was telling you about."
The man stood and slowly turned to face Kiara. Her heart hamm ered in fear.
"You!" she gasped, recognizing the man who had glared at them that day in the bay of her flat— Aksel Bredeh.
He pressed a small blaster into her stomach. "Act like you're happy to see me," he said in a low menacing tone. "Or the chef will have fresh human entrails to serve the hybrid.
Smile," he suggested.
Kiara wanted to spit in his face, scratch out his eyes, anything other than go along with him. But what choice did she have? She had no doubt that he would kill her if she so much as twitched.
One day, she would learn to listen when someone cautioned her not to do something!
Provided she survived this, her mind taunted her.
"I owe you," Aksel said to Jullien before narrowing his gray eyes on Kiara. "Walk slowly to the outside door."
Nykyrian looked up from his food expecting to see Kiara enter, instead it was the frightened maitre d'.
"Comm ander!" he said, his voice and hands shaking. "Your wife just left with a friend of Prince Jullien's. I don't think she went willingly."
Coldness gripped Nykyrian's soul and he tightened his hands into fists.
He heard his mother's gasp of fright and his father's curse. But that was all he heard before he concentrated on the raw anger pulsing through his body. He drew strength from it, because he knew he was going to kill someone over this.
Nykyrian ran for the door, pulling his blaster from his holster. As he crossed the dining room looking for his target, diners screamed, ducked, and ran.
He left the restaurant and headed for the nearby landing bay. Nothing. Not a sign of Kiara anywhere. His grip tightened on his blaster. Nykyrian clicked back the release.