Nykyrian Quiakides she knew immediately by sight, but only because his face had once adorned more wanted lists than hers and Darling’s combined. Given his extreme height and long white-blond hair that was braided down his back, he was a hard man to miss. And while he was no longer a League assassin, he still wore the dark sunglasses that kept anyone from seeing what he was looking at or who he was targeting.
Next to him was an extremely pregnant redhead. She put her hand on Darling’s arm to stop Syn from taking him straight into the operating room.
Pulling the sheet back, she tsked at him. “Don’t tell me they couldn’t get you here any other way.”
Darling laughed. “Ah, you know. It happens.”
The woman took his hand into hers, sending a little wave of jealousy through Zarya. “I know Syn will take care of you, but… I love you, sweetie. God speed and keep you.” She placed a kiss on Darling’s forehead, then stepped back.
“Don’t worry,” Maris whispered in Zarya’s ear. “Kiara’s an old friend of Darling’s and she’s married to the tall blond killer dwarfing her.”
In spite of Maris’s kindness, Zarya was beginning to feel like an outsider. Even as long as she and Darling had been together, there was still a lot about Darling she didn’t know. And the people here brought that home with a vengeance. Not only did she not know who they were, she wasn’t sure what they meant to him.
The next to stop Darling was a rather large group.
She could identify the tallest of the men, but again only by reputation. Dressed more like a Tavali pirate than royalty—right down to the blaster strapped to his lean hips—Caillen de Orczy was the Exeterian prince and heir to his father’s empire. He’d been hunted a couple of years back when the League had erroneously accused him of assassinating his father and the Qillaq queen. For weeks, no one had been able to go near any news broadcast without seeing his face.
Tall, dark, and exceptionally gorgeous, Caillen had his arm around a brunette woman who was holding a little girl. Asleep on the woman’s shoulder, the girl looked so much like her that it had to be her daughter.
And if Zarya didn’t miss her guess, the red-haired woman beside Caillen was Shahara Dagan—one of the most lethal tracers in the business. Her name was synonymous with death, and anyone who carried a bounty on their life knew exactly who she was. You’d be a fool not to. No one wanted to tangle with Shahara. Most of all, they didn’t want to be pursued by her.
Shahara held a toddler boy in her arms. He blew Darling a precious kiss before laughing and bouncing in his mother’s arms. Then he practically jumped from Shahara to Syn who caught him and held him tight against his chest before he kissed the boy’s cheek.
Zarya’s jaw went slack as she realized the boy looked just like Syn.
“Syn has a son?” she asked Maris.
“Two, actually. The other was with his first wife.”
She arched a brow at that disclosure.
“It’s a really long story,” Maris added.
The boy launched himself from Syn to Darling who sat up to catch him. Squealing, the boy wrapped his little arms tight around Darling’s neck and hugged him close like he was another father.
“Hey, little guy,” Darling said with a laugh. “Look how big you’ve grown.”
The boy laughed and bounced in Darling’s arms.
Her heart melted at the sight. Especially when Darling tickled him, then kissed his cheek. In that one moment, she could see Darling as a father…
“Dang, Shay,” Darling said to Syn’s wife. “What have you been feeding my boy? He weighs a ton.”
“He does not,” she said defensively. “He’s perfect for his age. Absolutely perfect.”
Darling made a face. “He’s also smelly.”
Shahara narrowed her eyes at Darling and then Syn in turn. “If you two weren’t heading into surgery, I’d make one of you change him.” She clapped her hands at the boy. “Come to Mama, Devy-baby.”
The boy arched his back and fell into her arms.
“I’ll change him for you,” the man with her group said. He looked at the shorter of the two women with Shahara. “I need to practice. I’m sure Tess is going to make me change more than my fair share.”
The woman who must be Tess grinned. “Oh baby, you know it. But look on the bright side, Thad. You still have a few more months of freedom before Devyn has a cousin.”
Groaning, Thad carried a laughing Devyn out of the room.
Tess and the taller woman with brown hair came forward to wish Darling well and give him a quick kiss on the cheek.
The last group that stood in front of the operating room doors was all male and all feral testosterone.
Among them was Ryn who had returned to wearing his black Tavali gear. In fact, all four of them belonged to that renegade pirate group. An Andarion who reminded her of Hauk, a blond human male, and another man with dark hair whose features were similar to the woman with Prince Caillen.
All four of them touched Darling on the shoulder or bumped knuckles with him, but none of them spoke. It was as if their bond to him was such that no words were needed.
As Syn started to take him through the doors, Darling made him stop. Still sitting on the stretcher, he crooked his finger at her.