Page 34 of Chosen By the Alien King
June sashayed her way toward the house.The camera drone hovered far above, but we could kind of make out someone waiting for her though.I couldn’t tell who yet.
June was wired up with mics so we’d find out soon enough.
My heart shuddered with her every step.I hated sending others in to do my dirty work since it had gone so poorly last time, but here I was, doing it yet again.
Sensing my unease, Maxx rubbed my lower back, evaporating some of my tension.
As June reached the porch, I took a deep breath and steeled myself for what came next.
“Palagway?”a male voice said.
Deep.Familiar.One that chased a shiver up my shoulders.
That was none other than Mike.The man who once shared a life with me, whose heart held so many secrets.My ex-husband, now my enemy, now a symbol of the corruption we were fighting against.
Wow, he was stupid.Never mind what that said about me for marrying him, butwow.How the fuck did we get so lucky?
Unless this was a trap.This was probably a trap.
Cold sweat trickled down my spine.
Mosely looked at me with wide eyes.
Darc mouthed, “Fuck.Me.”
Maxx rubbed my back harder, pretty much keeping me upright at this point.
“Palagway, yes.That’s me.And you are?”June’s voice sounded cool and detached as she climbed up the porch steps.
“Not important,” Mike said smoothly, his voice dripping with insincere charm.“What a pleasure it is to meet you.”
I just about gagged, but I was too busy studying every twitch of Mike’s face, every glint of suspicion in his hazel eyes.Was he onto us?Or was that just his face now?
He was minus his uniform today, likely meant to put distance between him and Space Fleet given the illegality of his current situation, and was dressed in plain, boring shorts and a V-neck.
“Likewise,” June agreed, her one eye narrowing slightly.“Well, Not Important, can I see it?”
He feigned surprise, but I could see the tension in his shoulders, the way his fingers clenched ever so slightly.“So eager.”
“We both have places to be, I’m sure, especially since this meeting was not originally on my agenda.So let’s cut through the bullshit and get to it, shall we?”Her cherry snowcone mouth drew up into a macabre smile.
And damn did I want to give her a standing ovation right now.
“If you insist.”Mike brought something from his pocket.
I tensed.So did everyone else with me, but all he handed her was something tiny.Mosely did his best to zoom in on it with the drone controls on his computer.
“It’s real?”she asked, inspecting it closely.
“As real as it can get,” he affirmed.“How much are those going for nowadays?”
“Two million credits minimum,” June said without any hesitation.
Something dark gleamed within Mike’s eyes.“Is that all?”
I called bullshit right then and there.He hadn’t been expecting that high of a number.I knew him too damn well.
June looked up from the scale in her palm shrewdly.And as I watched her unflinching gaze meet his, I knew this was the beginning of the end—not just for Mike and his twisted agenda, but for the entire corrupt organization known as Earth Space Fleet that had caused us so much pain and suffering.
