Total pages in book: 142
Estimated words: 134725 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 674(@200wpm)___ 539(@250wpm)___ 449(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 134725 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 674(@200wpm)___ 539(@250wpm)___ 449(@300wpm)
I got a whoosh in my belly as we sat down, and I squeezed his hand.
He smiled, looking like he was still pulling himself out of shock at his father-in-law’s show of affection.
Treya sat slowly and deliberately, crossing one leg over the other, her eyes on Zane. He didn’t seem to notice, but I sure did.
“Wine?” Spar asked.
“Can you cut Tanya’s seventy five percent with sparkling water, please?”
“Oh. I’ll cut it with sparkling pomberry rather than water. How’s that?” Spar asked.
“That’ll be fine,” Zane replied.
Treya was eyeing me.
“Your wine is a fair amount stronger than ours,” I explained.
“I’m having pomberry myself. I’m pregnant,” she shrugged.
“Oh! Congratulations,” I exclaimed.
She smiled. “Twins.”
“Two babies? Oh wow,” I smiled. “That’s great.”
Spar brought us our glasses.
I hesitated before sipping, suddenly worrying about allergies.
“Have I had this juice before?” I asked Zane.
He kissed my ear and whispered. “I had Dr. Knox give me a list of any potential allergens based on your DNA profile. I got it an hour ago. Pomberry isn’t on it.”
I let my shoulders relax and sipped.
“Wine or layered whisky, Zane?”
“Whisky is good,” Zane said. Zane’s phone made noise and he excused himself to take the call. He stepped away, answering his phone.
“What’s this about allergens?” Treya leaned forward.
“I had an allergic reaction the other day,” I said.
“Oh?” Treya asked.
“Shame Ollie isn’t here,” Spar cut in. “I was looking forward to seeing him.”
“He, uh, had plans,” I shrugged. “Sorry he couldn’t make it.”
“That’s all right. We’ll catch up later. So, how are you liking it here so far?”
“It’s amazing,” I said. “I’m very happy.”
Spar gave me a warm smile. “Zane is very happy, too, I hear. Good for you both. My sincere congratulations. I hear he had his sights set on you. Ran for you the minute the gate opened.”
I flushed pink and sipped the wine.
“This wine is excellent,” I remarked.
“It’s cut with wine from my son Daxx’s vineyard,” he said, with pride. “It’s very coveted. When he visits, he always brings me a few bottles.”
“Oh, yes, I’ve had some of his wine at Zane’s house. Very good. I understand Daxx married Jetta Michaels,” I said. “She and I got very friendly on the way here. It’ll be nice to spend more time with her.”
Treya made a sound at the back of her throat with an eyeroll. My eyes darted to her. She didn’t even attempt to mask her contempt. It struck me that Jetta had won Daxx away from her and though she’d married someone else, it had to sting.
I gave her a sympathetic look. Her returned look was almost venomous.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean anything by that,” I started to say, voice low, tucking my hair behind my ear and leaning toward her, hoping to backpedal.
“Not a concern. It was an arranged marriage. I had no feelings for him,” she shrugged, but her mouth moved in a funny way as she said that, and not just due to the differences in our language. I had a strong suspicion she did have feelings. Maybe not love, I wasn’t sure, but feelings of being jilted. She looked like she’d had to swallow a very bitter pill.
Spar ignored her, mixing several different types of alcohol from fancy decanters into a glass. But he had to have heard.
Zane strolled back in, eyes on Treya and his face etched with concern. “My regrets for the interruption. When do we eat?”
“Oh dear,” she suddenly clutched her throat. “Zane, can I speak with you a moment?”
Zane gave her a strange look.
“Privately,” she added, looking panicked.
“I don’t know why you’d need to speak to me privately,” he gave her a look of disdain.
She looked at me with disgust.
“It’s just…”
“Out with it, Treya,” Spar said, an edge of warning in his voice.
“Her ear stone. Zane. It’s…it’s black.” Her eyes were huge.
“I was in danger,” I replied.
“You’re not to be trusted,” she snapped back.
I shook my head in shock.
“It’s not as simple as that, Treya,” Spar interjected.
I spoke next. “I had a reaction to something and it caused the earring to malfunction.”
The woman looked at me as if I accused her of being born yesterday and then gave a look to Zane that made my stomach churn.
“Her ear gem is malfunctioning? That’s hardly believable. Everyone knows how strongly those stones function. Zane’s company created the devices and that’s a mark of absolute trust.”
“The stones I use are synthetic,” Zane said, “modeled after the natural gems that come from the moon flowers. They aren’t those gems themselves. It was a poetic move on my part, thinking we’d never have those flowers blossoming again, so it was an ode to the lost women that the colors be represented in the synthetic gems. I use chemical reactions to trigger the color effect. And although deceit does cause a specific chemical reaction in Earth people, it appears that an allergic reaction does, too.”