Page 15 of Tail, Dark and Handsome: Celestial Mates
Nox.
Disgusted, she tossed the device on the table and covered it with a napkin. Ignoring her problems at least for a few days had been too much to ask.
The comm unit vibrated again, dancing across the table between plates and cups.
“Are you going to answer that?” Valerian asked.
So much for a peaceful breakfast.
Two new messages.“Enjoy your trip. We’ll talk when you get back,”Nox wrote, and followed that with a picture of his hands wrapped around a steaming mug of tea. Her favorite mug.
Lovely. Now she’d have to throw away her dishes.
Mari must have made a face or scowled because Valerian said, “What’s wrong? Your aura is out of alignment.”
“Mom, auras don’t have an alignment,” Mari said.
“But you admit something is wrong.”
Mari poured herself another cup of coffee and bought herself time adding milk and sugar. Morning sunlight warmed her shoulders. She tilted her head back, enjoying the feel of sunshine on her skin. A born spacer, she spent her life on ships and stations and had the pale complexion to prove it. The forecast promised rain, but she didn’t let that keep her inside. Her exposure to real sunlight or weather—like the promised rain she looked forward to—happened rarely.
Wind fluttered the loose strands of hair around her face. A wide brim sat in an empty chair next to her. That morning, the cleansing unit automatically coated her in sunscreen after her shower. Only two days in the sun and her complexion already picked up a slight tan.
“Sunshower in a Marigold Fields, do not ignore me,” Valerian said.
The comm unit vibrated again. Before Mari could grab it, Valerian snatched the device. She frowned. “Is this from Joseph? Why is he giving wine to a houseplant?”
“What?!” Mari reached for the phone, horrified at the photo of Nox emptying a bottle of not inexpensive wine into her potted fern. She furiously typed back,“I’m deducting that off the cost of my debt.”
“I also had a snack. I can’t say I’m impressed with your selection of cheese,”Nox replied.
“Stop eating my food!”
“Pay me my money,”he replied.
Ready to scream with frustration, Mari turned the comm unit off. He’d sent her messages for the past two days, mostly of him invading her privacy in her empty apartment but also, disturbingly, pictures of the outside of her cabin at the resort. He knew her location and had a connection on the island to keep tabs on her. There was no escape and no way to pretend, even for a little while, about the debt hanging over her head.
She couldn’t sleep. She couldn’t enjoy breakfast.
Her gut instinct told her to bury the problem and hide it from her mother, but Mari knew it would come to light. Valerian would eventually read the messages because she was a nosy busybody. It’d be better to get in front of this, to take away the hold Nox had over her imagination.
“I got a problem, Mom,” Mari said.
The bemused expression slipped from Valerian’s face. “Tell me.”
“Tomas borrowed money from people, the kind of people who always get their money back. I may have—okay,didsign a promissory note.”
“You did what?” Valerian’s teacup rattled in the dish. “I think I need something stronger than an herbal blend this morning.”
“I don’t remember, but there were so many forms. I just signed anything Tomas gave me.” Mari stared down at her hands in her lap, shredding the paper napkin. “I trusted him.”
“You loved him,” Valerian said.
Mari shook her head. “Not anymore.” If she ever did. The more she discovered, the more she realized that she hadn’t known Tomas at all. He presented a false front, designed from the start to be her perfect match.
“How much does he owe?”
Mari told her. Valerian spilled her tea.
