Loving Them

by Rebecca Royce

  “Paloma.” A gasp caught my attention as Mrs. Heydan—Lulu to my mother—rushed toward me. “You’re back.”

  “I am.” I let the woman hug me. I didn’t know that we really had that kind of relationship where she should be embracing me, but seeing as she was the first person, outside of the Alexander crew, that I recognized in the place that was once my home, I let her hold on for a second. Finally, she let go.

  I smiled at her. “This is one of my husbands, Clay McQueen.”

  She shook his hand as they said their hellos.

  “Well,” she finally finished, “I’m glad to see you’re out of that horrible place.” News of the Sisterhood’s demise hadn’t made its way everywhere yet, and I wasn’t going to fill anyone in lest they ask too many questions I didn’t want to answer. “But I have to run. This place is getting away from us today. We may have to close until we can find more staff. The kitchen is backed up. Half of our chefs ran away after the bombing. They were only here temporarily anyway, but I wasn’t prepared to find new staff yet.”

  “I can help.” I made the offer before I even thought about, before I even looked at Clay to see if he thought it was a good idea or not. I just offered because I wanted to, because I could actually help. “I can cook. I learned how. I could help.”

  “Oh.” She grinned at me. “I’d be glad for it.”

  I turned to look at Clay. “You need to work. Everyone is busy. I need to be busy, Clay.” I was doing this whether he wanted me to or not. But I really hoped he’d get what I was saying.

  He stepped back. “Lots of security here today. Safe place. See you later?”

  I grinned at him, and he winked at me. He and I both knew that if I had been here with Tommy or Quinn, they’d have given me a hard time; they’d have said someone needed to stand over me. It came from a place of love, but it would have been a different conversation. Keith would have reacted like Clay had. I just knew it. Funny how between the four of them they split down the middle in the way they reacted to things. The promenade had blown up the last time I’d spent significant time here. Yet still, Clay got it. Neither he nor I could control what happened. We still had to live.

  I winked back. “Absolutely.”

  He kissed me before he walked off. I was pretty sure he’d be on his tablet any second letting the others know where I was. I looked down at my own device. They could reach me if they needed to.

  That was enough for today.

  I wished I’d worn short sleeves. Hours felt like minutes, and the only indication that a lot of time had passed was the amount of sweat I had to wipe off my brow at any given time. Still, I was happy as a clam. This was what I’d gotten good at, preparing meals. I loved cooking, creating things that others wanted to eat.

  There were three chefs, not including me, in the hot kitchen. They were nice men, Daniel, Fisher, and Ashton. Although we had little time, they’d quickly gotten me up to speed, and as long as I kept the ingredients for every dish up on a screen in front of me, I had really gotten the hang of things. It was exactly the way we’d cooked at the Sisterhood.

  Fisher left and was eventually replaced by Xavier. He was equally as helpful, and the time was flying by.

  Eventually, Daniel tapped me on the shoulder. “Your tablet has been dinging.”

  Had it? I wasn’t even aware. “Sorry.”

  “No, you should take a break. You’ve been working more than any of us. You can be done. It’s way past the dinner hour.”

  Was it? I felt like a repeating robot. Had it? Was it? Sheesh. How out of it had I been?

  Mrs. Hayden—“Call me Lulu,” she’d insisted—rushed in. “Paloma, can you come again? Can you work for me?”

  I grinned at her. “I can. I’d really like that.”

  I had a job. My first real one, considering I wasn’t going to count my less than twenty-four hours with the hotel before Tommy had come to get me.

  I washed my hands before I took off the cap we all wore to keep our hair back. I was on Mars Station, married, and working for my favorite restaurant. Life had certainly gone differently than I’d thought it would. Right now, it was so much better than I’d imagined it.

  I pulled out the tablet.

  Each one of the guys had called the tablet and left messages, which the device had transcribed into texts.

  Clay: Have fun today.

  Quinn: Be safe. Love you.

  Keith: Miss you. Love you.

  Tommy: Get in touch with me when you want to leave. I don’t want you walking alone.

  I shook my head. Ever since the bounty hunter incident, I wasn’t supposed to go places alone. That was fine. I wasn’t any more at risk on the promenade or the station transporter than I’d been in the restaurant. If my complying with this meant that Tommy had less anxiety, then so be it.

  I spoke into my tablet. “Come and get me.”

  His voice responded through the tablet. “I’m outside.”

  He was? I walked out through the side of the restaurant onto the promenade. Tommy sat, his feet spread out in front of him, on a bench by one of the water displays that was permanently located outside the restaurant. He grinned at me, and I took a deep breath. It didn’t look like he was going to give me any trouble about today. I didn’t want to fight with him, but I was doing this whether he liked it or not.

  He stood and extended his hand to me, which I took. Soon I was in his arms. “Tommy, I’m all sweaty.”

  “I don’t care.” He kissed my forehead. “Missed you.”

  “I missed you, too. How was today?” He smelled clean. I really did not.

  He put his arm around my shoulder, and we walked slowly in the direction of the transporter. “Good. I think we got a lot done. Some planning in the works. They won’t be able to hide forever, the traitors. Things will be back to working order here in no time with some big changes to prevent this from happening again. Not that the general populace will notice. Their lives will go on as normal. So, I’d say it went well. Did they offer you a job?”

  I stopped moving. “How did you know?”

  “That’s the smart thing to do. I’d do that if I was in their position. You’re here, available, and trustworthy. You’re talented. You said yes?”

  I nodded. “I did.”

  “Good. I know how much you wanted to work. As my wife, you don’t have to. But I get wanting to. If you were earning a fortune and told me to stop, I wouldn’t. You need this. Good work, love.”

  I sucked in a long breath. “That wasn’t at all what I expected you to say. I thought you were going to give me a hard time about safety and not talking about this with you and… I’m sorry I misjudged you. Yes, you understood completely.”

  He grinned at me. “Paloma, we’re really brand new at this. I love you. You’ve only been with me on the shuttle or when we were in hiding. We’ve come out to the world here, a little bit. Your friends know who we are. We’re making plans. I don’t know what I’m like anymore not having to be so… on all the time. Even as a General in my father’s cartel, I wasn’t like I’ve had to be. I want you to be happy. You’re my wife. That’s first and foremost to me. I know the safety in place on the promenade now. I believe you will be as secure here as you would be anywhere. And even if I didn’t think that… I don’t get to order you around.”

  “Really?” I kissed his chin. “You order your brothers around.”

  “It’s different with you.” He smoothed my hair off my forehead. “You’re my whole life. I’m not going to destroy that by stifling you.”

  I tugged on his shirt. “I love you.”

  His grin was a beautiful sight. “It’s almost ten. They overworked you today because you volunteered. Tomorrow she’ll have to treat you more like an employee. Set start and stop times. Let’s go home.”

  After another shower—I was going to have to get a better routine with these things—I sat down in the living room of the suite. Keith climbed behind me on the couch with a device in hand. “Tommy says you’
re all bit up. That’s going to start to be really uncomfortable if you don’t let me heal it up a bit.”

  I had started to become very aware of the bites every time I moved. “Sure. But leave a couple, will you? I like the reminder, a little bit.”

  Keith kissed my cheek. “Okay. I’m leaving the one I gave you, too. You’re so cool.”

  “She is.” Tommy placed a bowl of popcorn in my lap. I’d never even heard of it before it had been brought up on the ship. They had it in the station? I’d never known. I didn’t want dinner, and the others had eaten. I was too tired for food, or so I’d said. Tommy said this would be light, and I should eat it.

  I put a piece in my mouth. And then another. It was an unusual, light, buttery taste. Okay, he was right. I could eat that.

  Quinn sat down next to me on the right. He fiddled with his tablet until a screen appeared on the wall. I grinned. A lot of families watched entertainment together on the wall screen at night. Not mine. But Diana’s had. I’d done so with her a few times.

  Clay took the ottoman that flanked Tommy’s lounge chair. Were these going to be our official spots? Keith worked on my back, his hand with the device under my shirt. The small healing machine felt like warm bursts against my skin. I tried to stay still even when it tickled a little bit.

  The screen turned on, and it looked like we could choose between three movies. The station tried to offer a variety every day. Quinn picked the movie, which turned out to be a romance. One man, one woman, in the dark lands running from pirates. He saved her over and over again. Eventually, Keith stopped fixing my back and leaned me against him to watch the movie.

  I loved it. It had been so long since I’d seen a movie. I was riveted. How were they going to overcome these odds to be together? Oh, and the way the hero loved the heroine. He was…

  Quinn shifted, and I looked over at him. His eyes were closed. He was asleep. Wow, had the movie bored him? Why hadn’t we just put something else on? I turned to ask Keith only to find that he, too, was old cold.

  A quick glance told me that across the room, Tommy and Clay had each given in to sleep for the night. Huh. Okay, I settled back against Keith, who didn’t stir. If no one else wanted to watch it, I would finish it by myself. By the end of the movie, with tears running down my cheeks from how beautiful the reunion between the two main characters had been, I used my tablet to shut down the screen. There was a slight chill in the air, which meant the station had turned up the air conditioning. Maybe they were taking in supplies that had to be kept cooler in transport. It was only ever a two-to-three degree difference. Still, I didn’t want them to be cold.

  I got off Keith’s lap as gently as I could. His neck looked like it was in an odd position from the way he’d had to hold me. I nudged him a bit until he looked less like he was going to wake up with neck pain. He sighed and readjusted. I walked into my bedroom and came out with four blankets. First I draped Clay in one. He still clutched his tablet like it was a lifeline. He had been working until he passed out. I hoped he’d figure out soon what he needed to do for his client so he could get some real rest again.

  I took the tablet from him, half-expecting it to wake him up. His eyes moved gently beneath his lids. He was dreaming. I kissed his forehead. Next, I wrapped up Tommy. He breathed gently through his lips, which were slightly open. When I had him tucked in, he shifted, his mouth closing and an easier look coming across his face.

  Quinn muttered something when I draped him in the blanket. “I have to…”

  I kissed him like I had done Clay and Tommy. “You don’t have to do anything,” I whispered in his ear.

  “K,” he answered without waking. “I won’t.”

  It was Clay who usually talked in his sleep. Or at least mouthed in his sleep. He rarely made any noise as he talked out whatever he dreamed about. But tonight, he was still.

  Finally, I got back onto the couch next to Keith. Maybe he’d sleep better if I left him alone and climbed into my own bed. I was being selfish. I wanted to cuddle him. I wrapped us both up in the blanket, his arms coming back over me like they’d always done so. His arm was my pillow.

  My tablet beeped, and I looked down at it. Who was messaging? The guys were all with me. It was my schedule for the next week at the restaurant. She wanted me there at five in the morning. Okay. That was going to alter things quite a bit. I hit the tablet to wake me and then placed it between me and the edge of the couch.

  With my hand already on the tablet, I turned off the lights in the suite, draping us in darkness.

  I’d had such a fantastic day.

  9

  Revisiting

  I was awake before my alarm. I’d hardly slept, more like dozed on and off. The guys barely moved. Every once in a while I’d hear one of them sigh or breathing deeper. They were all comforting sounds. Still, when I closed my eyes, I had that damned scorpion chasing me again. It was an hour or so before the alarm was set to go off when I snuck away from Keith. I turned off my alarm before it went off.

  He let out a long sigh and rolled over, gripping the couch pillow like it was me. I quickly threw on some clothes, put my hair in a ponytail, which would go under the electronic hair cover better than my style the day before, and left the suite without waking anyone. They must have really needed the sleep.

  Picking up my tablet, I left them a message. “Hey loves, I’m at the restaurant from five am on today. Didn’t want to wake you. Love you.” I marked the message as non-emergency so it wouldn’t buzz and wake them.

  I was early for my arrival time, but soon we were all prepping for the day. I wasn’t nearly as intimidated as the day before since I at least had a clue what was going to happen. On day two, I was more determined to make this work.

  I got to business.

  Starting at five, I ended at lunchtime. I was less sweaty than the day before, having thought to dress in layers so when I got hot I could be in short sleeves. I stepped out onto the promenade, looking around. It had been empty early this morning, save for the few people heading to work and the guards. Now, it was hopping. I saw mostly men but a few women as well. Thanks to Melissa making Mars Station a female-friendly environment, there were often more women here than anywhere in the universe.

  I stared down at my tablet. They’d once again all sent me messages. I smiled. It was so beyond nice to have people love me. Unlike the day before, Tommy wasn’t waiting for me outside. Still, I walked over to the bench by the water and sat down.

  Tommy: I’m so sorry we all fell asleep during the movie. Thank you for the blanket. Love you. How did you get out without waking me?

  Keith: Hope you have a great day at work. Next time, wake me up.

  Clay: Love you.

  Quinn: I’m in the casino.

  I read Quinn’s message twice. He was in the casino? I’d forgotten that we had a casino on the station. I’d certainly never been anywhere near it. My parents considered themselves above gambling. Well, if Quinn was there, it was as good a time as any for me to go see what it was all about. I took the transporter to the casino floor and got off to a loud, boisterous, red-orange mass of people laughing, drinking, and playing games I’d never seen before.

  People came to Mars Station for the gambling. They stayed on the floor with the games, came and went just from the floor itself, and never saw anything else on the station at all. Anyone who lived on the station could come and go as they wanted, but people in the casino couldn’t necessarily get up to the rest of the station.

  My tablet gave me access to anywhere I wanted. Without it, I wouldn’t have been able to get back up to the rest of the station when I left here.

  I stepped into the main gaming area, looking around. I didn’t see Quinn anywhere, even after a few minutes of looking. I pulled out my tablet and spoke into it. “Quinn, I’m here in the casino, but I don’t see you anywhere.”

  I did, however, get smacked into by two people who were practically stumbling they were so intoxicated. A hand grabbed me and
pulled me out of the way. It took me a second to realize it was Quinn. “Should have told me you were coming. I would have met you at the elevator.”

  “Where did you come from?” I kissed him lightly once. Then twice, just because. That was when I noticed there was something off about Quinn. It took me a second. I pointed at his eyes. “What’s wrong with your eyes? Your pupils are huge.”

  He smirked. “You don’t miss a trick.”

  “That’s not an answer. Are you sick? Should we go to the doctor?” What caused eyes to do that? Was there something wrong inside of him? His brain? Did he need a scan of some kind… the med machine? That could do it and…

  He shook his head. He kissed my cheek and whispered in my ear. “I’m here today because I’m trying to get some information. See if I can hear anything going on. People start to talk the drunker they get and the more they win. I took something. A pill. It’s not technically legal. It dulls the senses a bit. I did it on purpose. Otherwise this casino is too easy. The winning would be too much. I wouldn’t make friends.”

  I wanted to punch him in the arm, but I didn’t think I should make a scene right then, particularly because he was losing. “So you’re here, what? Undercover?”

  “Exactly. The bad McQueen. The one who spends all day in the casino. Calling you down here makes me even worse, doesn’t it? All of a sudden I’m corrupting my wife, too?”

  The hanging out in the casino didn’t bother me. He was a professional gambler. He made and lost a fortune every night on his tablet in interspace black rooms that weren’t exactly legal. It was the taking the pill thing that really bugged me. “Quinn, couldn’t you have just pretended to lose?”

  “How boring would that have been?” I rolled my eyes. Quinn did hate to be bored, beyond the amount of a normal person. “Come on, P. Let me show you.”

  I let my absolutely stoned-out-of-his-mind husband bring me over to the table where he hopped onto a stool. The game was called Blind Daisies. They played with a deck of two hundred and two cards. I watched as the dealer’s hands moved faster than I could follow. Soon eight cards were dished out. People were betting. I couldn’t really make sense of any of it.