Born of Defiance

Oh… that explained why his mother was so incredibly young.

“After his father left me and was disinherited for it, Merrell still wanted me… but only if I agreed to abort my baby.”

“You chose to keep him.”

Galene nodded. “I wanted to hang on to that bit of his father that only I had. Stupid and selfish, I know, but I loved his father, Felicia. More than you can imagine. Sadly, I still do. Don’t get me wrong… I’d give anything to gut the bastard for what he did to us. But deep inside…”

“I know. Feelings are so frustrating. I hate my father with a vengeance for things he’s done, and yet I still love him terribly.”

Galene sighed and folded up her tissue. “It pains me that Chrisen was transferred to Talyn’s base. He was always vindictive and cold. Like his brother, he truly hates Talyn’s entire paternal family. I wouldn’t have pledged with Merrell even if I hadn’t been pregnant. He always made my flesh crawl.”

“Is there any way we can get Talyn away from him?”

She handed her link to Felicia. “That’s why I was crying. Chrisen’s set Talyn’s career back by a decade with what he’s done to him. On paper, Talyn is nothing but a disciplinary nightmare. No commander will touch him with that file. He’s lucky his rank hasn’t been busted because of it all.” More tears fell. “What am I going to do?” She pointed to the screen. “Look how they treat my baby. And there’s nothing I can do to stop it. I had no idea all that was going on. He’s never said anything to me about it. Whenever I ask about his welfare, all I get out of him is that he’s fine. Not to worry so much.”

Felicia choked on her own tears as she read all the times he’d been punished for Anatole’s vendetta. It sickened her to see it. Especially what had been done to him since they met.

Like his mother had said, he never once breathed a word of it. To anyone.

She held Galene against her. “It’ll be okay.”

“How?”

“My half brother is a commander and my father is one of the advisors to the tadara.”

Galene pulled back with a gasp. “What?”

Felicia nodded. “We’re not really close and they’re both obnoxious snots, but I’m going to call in a favor.”

Her jaw slack, Galene stared at her. “Are you sure?”

“I don’t know if they’ll do anything, if they can do anything, but I’m going to try my best. I’ll start with my brother and if that gets me nowhere, I’ll call my father. Surely, between the two of them, we can get Talyn transferred away from Anatole.”

“You would do that for him?”

Felicia touched the heart necklace Talyn had sent to her. “Absolutely.”

Galene pulled her in for another tight hug. “I would be forever in your debt.”

“Think nothing of it. Just promise me that you’ll never tell Talyn what I’ve done. I don’t want him to be angry at me or to feel obligated in any way.”

“But —”

“I’m serious, Commander. You gave me your secret. I’m giving you mine. Win, lose, or draw, I never want him to know.”

“Okay. I’ll take it to my grave.” Galene pulled back as the doctor left Talyn’s room and came over to them.

He inclined his head to them. “Good news. Barring infection or fever, I’ll release him day after tomorrow.”

“For home or duty?” his mother asked before Felicia had a chance.

“Home. He still needs to recuperate before he’s ready to return to active duty. I trust he won’t be left alone?”

Felicia smiled. “I’ll stay with him.”

“In a week, he’ll need to start therapy. I have the number for a therapist —”

“I’m a licensed therapist. Can I do it?”

He glanced back toward Talyn’s room. “Given what I’ve seen here, I think you’re an excellent choice. The best we could have. I’ll write everything up and e-mail you with the instructions on what I want him to do.”

As he walked away, Galene laughed. “Talyn was always a very stubborn beast. Hardheaded like his father… ah! The stories I could tell you about that aggravating male! The more you try to tell him what to do, the more he digs his heels in.”

That was definitely the truth.

“Who’s his father?”

Deep agonized pain descended over Galene’s face. “It doesn’t matter. But if you ever see his father, you’ll know. He looks and acts just like him.” And with that, she headed back toward Talyn’s room.

Felicia frowned at what Galene had just said. If his father was just like Talyn in actions as well as looks, then there was a lot to the story of why his father had left them. As protective and loving as Talyn was, he’d never abandon his family.

Not without a damn good reason. And not without one hell of a battle.





Chapter 8





A

t their condo, Felicia helped Talyn into bed. It was his first day out of the hospital and the ride home had taken its toll on him. His features pale, he struggled to breathe against the pain as she peeled his uniform off while he lay on the mattress.