Star Crossed (11 page)

Early the next morning Stefan found Taron at a table in the rec room. His brother looked troubled as he stared into his coffee. “How did it go on Shevalli?” Stefan asked as he ordered coffee from the replicator.

Taron sighed. “The house blew up before I could give it a good once-over.” Stefan choked on his coffee. “It what?” He took a seat and set his cup on the table in front of him.

“Carlone apparently anticipated someone coming there and had the house rigged.” He frowned. “For what purpose?”

Taron pursed his lips as he studied the cup on the table. “My guess would be just for kicks. As far as I could tell there was nothing there.”

“There had to be something there. Why would he blow up an empty house?”

“Maybe in the hopes he would get one of you in the process?” Stefan whipped his gaze around to see Krista standing not ten feet away. She looked adorable in her tight pants and one of his oversized shirts. It swallowed her whole, but he loved seeing her in it. It looked right.

Suddenly he frowned. He didn’t want her concerned about what was happening.

“Would you like some coffee?” he asked as he stood and headed for the replicator.

“Yes. Thank you.”

Stefan handed her a cup and their fingers brushed. The electricity in that touch made him stop short. His gaze locked with her blue one, and he winked. With a blush, she set her cup on the table.

“So, Taron. How’s the investigation going?” she asked.

“I think we’ve stalled. It seems no—”

“Taron.” Stefan pinned him with a glare as he pulled his chair out and sat down.

“What?” Taron shrugged.

“You better not be doing what I think you are,” Krista snapped at Stefan. Krista hadn’t missed the look Stefan gave Taron. He was trying to keep her in the dark, but why? She narrowed her eyes at him. “I’m not a child.”

“I never said you were.”

“Then why are you trying to keep me out of the loop?” She leaned her elbows on the table and raised an eyebrow, her coffee forgotten.

Stefan opened his mouth but stopped when Taron stood. “Maybe I should just let the two of you hash this out alone.”

“Oh no.” Stefan reached up and grabbed his arm. With a scowl, he pointed to the chair Taron had just vacated. “Sit. This is all your fault to begin with.” Taron frowned. “Mine? Where the hell did you come up with that nonsense?” Krista held up a hand and snapped, “Enough.”

She almost laughed at the men’s expressions. Both looked shocked to say the least.

“Taron, sit down.”

The corners of Taron’s lips twitched as he took his seat. Stefan leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest. His shirt was open down the front and she fought the desire to let her eyes roam over his muscles. She brought her gaze back to his eyes and noticed they were filled with laughter.

“Are we about to be put in our place?” Stefan asked with amusement.

“You are.”

Taron chuckled but stopped when Stefan flashed him a glare. She watched the two of them and would have fought back laughter of her own if she hadn’t been so mad.

Stefan had a bad habit of babying her, and she’d had enough.

“At least Taron has the decency to treat me like an adult and not hide things from me. I’m in this just as deep as you are, remember?”

Stefan sighed. “You’re right.”

Wow, that was easy. Too easy
.

She eyed him with suspicion as he stood and walked to her side of the table.

Squatting down on his heels, he put one hand on her knee, the other on the back of her chair. Some of her anger began to melt away as he rubbed her thigh with his thumb.

Tingles spread along her skin, and she placed her hand over his to keep it still.

“Why don’t I fix us all some breakfast and we can talk about this later?” He smiled up at her. “How’s that?”

She crossed her arms in front of her. “I have an even better idea. How about we fix breakfast and continue discussing the assassin.”

Taron choked trying to hold back a chuckle and Stefan glared at him. “I’m so glad you find this amusing.”

“Come on, Stefan. She’s right.”

“Why are you having such a hard time with this?” She touched his hair and let a lock of it fall between her fingers.

“I just don’t want you involved.”

He stood and walked over to the replicator, keeping his back to her. She faced Taron and he nodded his head in Stefan’s direction, a ghost of a smile tugging at his lips.

“Stefan?” She stood and walked over next to him. She touched his arm and felt the muscles tense beneath her fingers, but he didn’t pull away. Instead he turned to her with eyes full of guilt and remorse.

“I don’t want anything to happen to you because of me. If I hadn’t brought you up to the rings of Metalon you would still be on Daego shopping and sightseeing.” She tugged at his shirtsleeve and grinned. “Shopping and sightseeing sounds rather boring after a few days here with you.”

Stefan didn’t rise to the bait. Instead he frowned slightly.

With a sigh, she continued. “We can play the ‘what if’ game all day. In the end it’s still the same. I don’t blame you, and you shouldn’t blame yourself. I’m actually glad I came with you.” A cocky grin spread across her face. “Besides, I can take care of myself, you know.”

The corner of his mouth lifted in a grin. Some of the tension eased out of him and his arm relaxed. “Is that so?”

“Yep. Do I need to prove it?”

He chuckled and touched the side of her face with the back of his fingers. “No,
kisary
. You don’t need to prove it.”

His eyes softened and he tipped her chin up with his finger. She held her breath, anticipating his kiss as he dipped his head, but Taron’s loud cough stopped them. “I hate to interrupt…”

“Then don’t,” Stefan growled.

“But I’m starving.”

She listened to Stefan’s halfhearted grumbles about Taron being a pain in the ass and laughed.

“Okay,” she sat at the table and took a sip of her coffee, “So back to what we were discussing.”

Stefan sat a plate of Tilarian finger foods on the table and everyone dug in. Krista loved the small sweet cakes that were similar to donuts.

“Any sign of Carlone on Daego?” Stefan asked.

“Sidious has people looking, but so far nothing. I’m beginning to wonder if maybe he just happened to run across you in space.”

Krista swallowed her bite and cleared her throat. “Could he be in some sort of disguise and that’s why no one is seeing him?”

“That’s a very real possibility.” Stefan sat back in his seat and tapped his finger on the side of the coffee cup. “The question is what kind of disguise is he using?”

“What kinds are there?” She shrugged her shoulders.

“Unfortunately, numerous,” Taron replied dryly. “But before we get off track, I received a transmission from Senator Woods yesterday. Several of the senators have decided to postpone their upcoming meetings for the time being, until this assassin can be caught.”

Stefan nodded his head. “That’s probably a good idea.”

“They’ve decided not to postpone the upcoming vote, though.”

“That doesn’t make any sense. Why would they postpone meetings but not the vote?” Krista frowned.

Taron turned to her. “Meetings are expendable. They can always discuss what needs to be discussed later or conference through transmissions. They’ve been preparing for this vote for months. They weren’t willing to put it off.” Her gaze went from one to the other. “When is the vote?”

“Three days,” Stefan said.

She watched Stefan study his cup. What was he thinking? Did he want to attend the vote? More than likely he did. He hated being cooped up here. Even though he tried to make the best of things she could tell that he was fidgety and ready to finally have this problem at an end.

“What if you took me back to Daego? I should be safe enough at Sidious’ estate. He isn’t even after me, I was just in the way.” She waved her hand toward Taron. “You said yourself you don’t believe Carlone is there.” Stefan brow drew together in a frown. “What brought this on?”

“I just thought you might want to get back in the swing of things instead of being stuck here taking care of me.”

“I like taking care of you.”

The intensity in his eyes made her breath stop short. She averted her gaze and intently studied her cup.

“It’s settled. We’re staying,” Stefan said.

Her head snapped up and she frowned. “It’s not settled. Frankly, I’m tired of being cooped up here. I want to go back to Daego.”

Taron coughed and raised an eyebrow at Stefan. “Go ahead and say it, Taron,” Stefan sighed.

“I agree with Krista. I think she would be fine on Daego. I can put the
Vultair
in orbit cloaked and transport you straight to Sidious’ study undetected. Maybe if we play our cards right, your going to Rhenari might just work in our favor.”

“So you want to use me as bait?”

“What?” Krista snapped but neither man paid attention to her.

Taron nodded. “Your return might be the very thing that will lure him out. I think it’s time we played this card. I’m tired of chasing the son of a bitch all over the galaxy.”

“I agree.” Stefan stood to get more coffee and Krista followed.

“Wait a minute.”

Stefan turned to look at her and raised an eyebrow. “What is it, Kris?”

“When I suggested going back to Daego, I didn’t think you would be putting a target on your back.”

He glanced at Taron and he stood, setting his cup on the table. “I’ll go prep the
Vultair
and get her ready for the trip.”

Stefan nodded then turned back to Krista. He took her hand in his and kissed the backs of her fingers. Fear for him tightened her stomach but she refused to admit to herself the real reason she was scared.

“Everything will be fine.”

She opened her mouth to argue but Stefan put his finger over her lips. “Trust me.

You’ll be fine with Sidious while Taron and I take care of this.” The question “what then” formed on the tip of her tongue, but she already knew the answer. She would return to Earth and Stefan to Rhenari. What they shared would

be a fond memory and her life would return to normal, but she knew in her heart she would never love anyone like she loved him. She wasn’t sure what hurt more—the thought of him being killed, or the thought of loving him but never being able to have him.

* * * * *

Stefan loaded the new runner onto the docking bay of the
Vultair
and they took off for Daego. Krista stood on the bridge and watched the stars shoot by like in the screen saver on her computer. She had no idea how fast they were going, but she was sure it was well beyond anything Earth was capable of.

She noticed Stefan approach in the reflection of the glass, the smile on his face making the corners of his eyes crinkle. As always, the sight made her heart beat faster.

His arms gently wrapped around her and pulled her close. The warm heat from his chest seeped into her back, chasing away the slight chill of the bridge.

“You okay?” he asked. “You’ve been awfully quiet since we left the camp.”

“I was just thinking how much I’m going to miss that cave.”

“I’m going to miss what we shared at that cave. Now we’ll be back in the middle of the usual Marcone three-ring circus. We’ll have to get creative when it comes to privacy.”

She had been thinking about that ever since they left the old rebel camp. It had been fun and absolutely incredible but maybe she should call an end to it. After all, they were back home now. The fantasy was over.

“Stefan,” she began.

“If you’re fixing to say what I think you are, I’m going to put you over my knee,” he growled in her ear.

“You’re going back to Rhenari in a few days and I’m going back home to Earth.

Why prolong it? It was fun while it lasted.”

“What?” He stepped back and ran a hand through his hair, then turned to Taron.

“How long until we reach Daego?”

“About two hours. Why?”

“Can you handle it without me?”

Taron snorted. “Now that’s a stupid question. It’s my ship.” Stefan nodded and grabbed Krista’s hand, pulling her behind him.

“Where are we going?”

“You and I are going to talk.” He dragged her into the chute that would take them to the residential level.

“There’s nothing to talk about,” she said, her frustration rising quickly to the surface.

He turned to face her, his eyes ablaze with anger. “There is something to talk about and I’m not about to let you push it aside and ignore it.” The door opened and she followed him down the hall to his quarters. “I’m not ignoring it, I’m facing reality.”

“Your perceived reality,” he said as he stepped into his quarters.

She entered just after him and the door closed with a swoosh behind her. The elegant room drew her up short. Taking a second, she looked around. A huge window took up one wall, a massive bed sat against the other, a blue silk comforter draped over the top. It was a beautiful room, decorated with top-of-the-line furnishings and paintings. The scene only brought home the fact they didn’t belong together.

“You’re only forestalling the inevitable,” she said with a sigh. “You know it as well as I do.”

He stepped closer and glared down at her, his hands resting on his hips. “I know no such thing.”

“Please don’t make this any harder than it has to be. Mikayla is the only family that I have left.”