Blake, Abby - Hot Inspiration [A Bride for Eight Brothers 5] (Siren Publishing LoveXtreme Forever) (7 page)

“What happened with the police?” Brock asked.

“They held off charging me with assault, for the moment at least. They’ve been surprisingly supportive, but they need Zedahla to press charges against her husband before they can attribute my actions to defending her.” He shook his head as the information the police had shared once again made him feel sick to the stomach. “Apparently, domestic violence is a big problem in the community where Zedahla was raised, but the women simply won’t report it.” It was obvious to Lachlan by Zedahla’s refusal to ask for assistance at the hospital that the women were conditioned to believe their husbands had a right to treat them the way they did.

It was possible that many lived happy and fulfilling lives under such conditions, but just like Dom-sub relationships, a weak or selfish man could take that power and turn it into something cruel and dangerous.

“So what happens now?” Ryan asked.

“For now I think we need to concentrate on getting our contract completed. We still have several months of geological surveys to work on, but I’d like to get this one done faster if we can.”

Everyone nodded in agreement.

* * * *

It was less than a day before the police arrived to formally charge Lachlan with assault. Fortunately, Zedahla was brave enough to give her side of the story, and the charges were summarily dropped.

Their next visitor, however, didn’t bring such happy news.

The pompous, rounded, arrogant little man arrived without warning, demanded to speak with Zedahla, and then did the one thing guaranteed to anger all of them—disrespected Mikayla.

“Lower your eyes, woman,” he said with arrogant disdain as he looked her over from head to toe. Matt and Bryce looked as angry as Lachlan felt, but Mikayla managed to take control of the situation with a smirk.

“Sweeten your tone, asshole,” she said in a very controlled voice. The little man looked shocked all the way to the tips of his dusty boots. Obviously, a woman had never spoken back to him before. Mikayla took two steps closer. She was about the same height as their visitor, and Lachlan tensed, wishing Mikayla could’ve conveyed her irritation without getting close enough for the man to hit her. “You are in my home, and if you wish to speak to Zedahla, it will be under my terms. Got that?”

The man simply didn’t know where to look. His gaze bounced around all the men in the room, but when none of them came to his rescue, he finally nodded his agreement.

“Good,” Mikayla said, pointing at the chair just inside the door of John’s office. “Take a seat.” The man sat before any of the brothers needed to move. If the situation hadn’t been so serious, it might’ve been half funny. Obviously, the arrogant, little man had no experience dealing with women like Mikayla, and he had no clue what to do next.

That, however, didn’t stop Lachlan, Bryce, and Matt from standing guard over the man while Mikayla went to speak to Zedahla.

* * * *

“Zedahla?” Mikayla whispered just in case the woman was asleep.

“Yes, Mikayla, please come in.” Zedahla was sitting up in the bed. Her face was purple and bruised and slightly swollen, and she was unable to open her left eye fully. The cuts and splits on her lips would probably heal in a week or so, but it was the emotional recovery that would take time.

“Zedahla, there’s a man here to see you. He says he’s your…Po…Potentate?”

Tears filled the young woman’s eyes, and she nodded. “He is the leader of our religious community.” She looked at Mikayla with such hope in her eyes that Mikayla wasn’t sure what to say next. Judging by the man’s attitude, whatever news he had to deliver wouldn’t be good.

“Would you like to talk to him? I can tell him to go away if you’re not up to it.”

Zedahla shook her head. “No, I would like to speak to him. He is not only our religious leader, he is also my grandfather.”

“Oh,” Mikayla said because she couldn’t think of anything else to say. Zedahla was already covered neck to knee, but she reached for her coat and managed to pull it on despite having two cracked ribs.

“Can you stay with me while I speak to him?”

“Of course,” Mikayla said quickly. She’d had every intention of staying close, but at least this way, Zedahla wouldn’t be offended if she caught Mikayla eavesdropping.

As soon as she saw her grandfather, Zedahla dropped her gaze to the floor and painfully lowered herself to kneel at the man’s feet. Mikayla was torn between anger and understanding. She often knelt at Brock and Lachlan’s feet, but she did it by choice as their submissive. She suspected that Zedahla’s motives weren’t the same.

A genuine smile of affection graced the man’s face for a brief moment before he adjusted his features and began talking in a loud and officious voice.

“Zedahla, your husband has requested a divorce. He has laid formal complaint at your father’s door, and your father has granted his petition. You are hereby outcast.”

Unable to keep quiet, Mikayla asked, “What does that mean exactly?” Being outcast from a family that would sanction Zedahla’s husband’s behavior wasn’t really a bad thing as far as Mikayla was concerned, but it was the old man’s attitude that worried her.

Again the man looked startled that she addressed him directly, but he must’ve sensed the growing agitation in Mikayla’s husbands because he finally answered her.

“It means she has no protection. If you hadn’t interfered, she’d still be safe.”

“Safe?” Brock asked in his deceptively low Dom’s voice.

“Yes, without her family to protect her, she will be used by any man who desires to do so.”

“You mean she’ll be raped,” Lachlan said, holding his jaw tight enough to crack teeth.

“That’s exactly what I mean,” the man said angrily. “You did this to her. You should not have interfered in a culture you don’t understand.”

“Look at her,” Mikayla demanded angrily. “Look at the damage her husband did to her face, to her ribs. If Lachlan hadn’t stepped in your granddaughter would be dead.”

The older man nodded in agreement and then said quietly, “She would’ve been better off.”

Lachlan escorted the man to the door, and Mikayla followed, more than willing to kick this asshole to the curb where he belonged. But out of earshot of the others, Zedahla’s grandfather turned to Lachlan and whispered urgently, “Please protect her. I begged her father not to do this, but as Potentate, I must enforce the laws of my people.”

Lachlan nodded just once.

* * * *

Several hours later Lachlan wandered into the kitchen a little too early for dinner. They planned to work double-time so that they could get this contract finished and get off the planet, but he needed food and, thanks to a sleepless night at the hospital, was already overdue for some rest. He had visions of taking a nap while holding his wife close. Of course it would be much easier to sleep if they made sure they were both thoroughly exhausted first.

The sound of Mikayla and Matt laughing together was very welcome even if it did derail his more lascivious plans.

“That is a very sweet sound,” he said as he stepped into the kitchen.

“Well hello, stranger,” Mikayla said as she moved into his embrace and hugged him hard. Matt glanced in his direction, said, “Hi, Lachlan,” in a happy voice, and went back to cooking.

“What’s for dinner?” he asked when he couldn’t quite identify the delicious aroma.

“Sautéed krelp…ah…what did you call it, Mikayla?”

“Bubble-snake,” she answered with a broad grin.

“Sautéed bubble-snake with green vegetables and pichula grain.”
 

Lachlan suddenly found his appetite waning. He knew what pichula grain tasted like. It was similar to brown rice from Earth, and he’d enjoyed many of the vegetables grown on this planet. But the idea of eating snake—especially one that looked like something someone had coughed up—didn’t appeal to him at all.

Mikayla was obviously reading every expression that crossed his face because she laughed and hugged him harder.

“The market seller assured Matt that it tastes very much like chicken.”

He’d heard that one before.

Suddenly, working through dinner didn’t seem like a bad plan. But Mikayla looked at him with such amusement on her face that he found himself agreeing to be waiting eagerly at the dining table in a half hour.

He held Mikayla close for a moment longer as he mentally went over the things they would have to do to finish this contract early.

The sound of the proximity alarm was very unwelcome.

Lachlan moved to the intercom. “Bryce?” he asked quickly.

“A sky pod with three human occupants is heading this way. It doesn’t seem to be hostile, but I sure as hell don’t like unexpected visitors.”

Lachlan agreed. Their last official visitor had been Zedahla’s grandfather, and they didn’t need any more announcements like that one, but it was the flybys that were most worrying. Several times in the past few hours, sky pods filled with young men had buzzed the building. Fortunately, none of them had yet been brave enough to land, but it meant that Lachlan and Bryce were once again armed and ready inside their own home.

“Stay with Matt,” Lachlan said as he released his wife. She nodded reassuringly, and he turned toward the front entrance.

* * * *

Bryce practically ran the length of the hallway. He was pretty sure this wasn’t what the doctor had in mind when he told him to take it easy for a few days.

“Talk to me,” Lachlan said as he joined him.

“This one landed. Whoever they are, they fully intend to get inside.”

Together they watched the surveillance feed for the front door. Adrenaline buzzed through Bryce, the type of fight-or-flight response that had kept him alive for years, and he welcomed the clarity it gave him.

Falling into the silent teamwork they’d built over the last year, Bryce and Lachlan each took control of a camera and followed the pod as it landed inside the compound base. The first person to leave the small craft was a man dressed in very ordinary clothes. He looked older than the youths who’d been circling the compound previously, but that probably made him more dangerous, not less. It was the woman who followed him out that took them by surprise.

The third person stayed inside the pod. Every hair on the back of Bryce’s neck prickled with tension as they watched the man and woman step up to the front door. “State your business,” Bryce said in an aggressive voice through the intercom. The woman jumped back, but the man quickly pulled her into his arms and seemed to speak to her in a quiet voice. Too quiet, unfortunately, for the audio receiver to pick up.

The man’s behavior certainly didn’t match what they’d seen of other people on this planet—especially the ones who came from the same religious community as Zedahla.

The man spoke both clearly and confidently. “I am Danki Kylan Halosweeta. This is my wife, Zecarla. She would like to visit with her sister.”

Bryce felt every instinct he owned flip on to red alert. Something wasn’t right with this picture. A woman visiting her sister shouldn’t look so damn frightened. It was possible that she feared the reaction from Bryce and his brothers. But if she thought her sister was here, and being protected by them, wouldn’t she feel more comfortable?

Lachlan gave Bryce a look that confirmed he was thinking the same thing.

“Zedahla is not here right now. Can I take a message?”

The look of relief on the woman’s face only confirmed that something sinister was in the works.

“My wife and I shall return when she is available,” the man said in quite an agreeable tone. “Or perhaps we could visit her wherever she is now. Where is she?”

“Off planet,” Bryce said, signaling for Lachlan to head to Zedahla’s quarters and make sure the young woman was protected. Despite the reasonable tone it was obvious this man was fishing for information.

Bryce’s suspicions were confirmed a moment later when an older man stepped from the pod and joined the couple on the doorstep.

“Hand over my daughter immediately,” the man said angrily. “She is not off planet. She is inside cowering behind strangers.”

“She is no longer your daughter,” Bryce said, letting all of his aggression and anger leak into his voice. “You forfeited that claim when you had her made an outcast.”