Chapter 41

Aiden and Darren disembarked the frigate at Calisto's spaceport and boarded one of the small shuttles parked up front. Darren flew it right into the heart of one of Calisto's less popular neighborhoods, located in the part of the city where those with less means resided and where the tall modern buildings gave way to shabby apartment complexes and dirt-infested squares. But, on the flip side, it was also the place where surveillance was more of a myth than reality.

"Howe, do you know who we are looking for?" Aiden asked when they got off the shuttle. They were in front of a covered market on a busy street, hordes of people billowing around them.

"I do. But we aren't meeting Kristen until later." He held up the tablet with the shopping list Nyle had provided and cocked his head toward a congregation of food stalls. "Hungry?"

"Yeah, sure," Aiden replied, realizing he'd forgotten to eat. Or well, he'd not really felt like it until Darren brought it up just now.

Maintaining a lazy pace, they scanned the various food options and settled on noodle soup. A friendly man in his sixties served them their orders, patting them both on the backs and thanking them for the tip Darren left. While they ate, neither said anything, which invited back thoughts of Claudia and the lie Aiden had been living for most of, if not all, his life.

It was the same questions again and again, whirling endlessly and demanding answers he didn't have. Sometimes, like now, he managed to shoo them away, which made his mind move onto other issues. Like Darren. But unlike before, along with the monster Aiden had believed Darren to be for so long, now there was the other Darren too, the man who'd helped Aiden run away from Marcus and who'd opened his eyes to the truth.

Even if that truth had broken his heart all over again.

"Kesley, what do you think?"

Aiden blinked at Darren. "Huh?"

Darren placed his chopsticks over the rim of his empty bowl, giving Aiden's still half-full one a questioning glance. "Should we get food supplies first or swing by the electronics place to pick up Nyle's tools?"

Was Darren seriously asking that? Obviously, the food was to go last, after they'd picked up the tools and Kristen.

"Howe—" Aiden cut himself off as the reason for the pointless question hit him. It was a distraction meant to give him something to shake his head at so his thoughts wouldn't consume him. It was a lifeline thrown to him by Darren, who had no obligation to do so. "I need clothes," he finished on, his snappy scolding abandoned. "Then electronics, the engineer, and finally food."

Smiling around the rim of his glass of water, Darren nodded. A lock of raven-black hair fell over his eyes. "I know a place."

Once Aiden finished his food, they meandered further into the market. Glittering knickknacks and shiny jewelry alternated with cured meats and long-shelf food, then turned into second-hand electronics and even companionship services as they passed by colorful stalls and bargaining patrons. The crowd stayed thick here too, and the smell of sweat and fried foods permeated the air. It was the first time Aiden was seeing something like this, a place of commerce so different from the glass-front boutiques and high-end stores he and Claudia had frequented in Atlan and New York, or the online platforms he was used to on Europa. The chaos of it all was head-spinning, but not bad, and he stopped every now and then just to take in the fascinating buzz of activity.

"Is this your first time at a market?" Darren asked after Aiden stopped to gawk at a man trading a chicken for a used engine.

"It is, actually," he replied honestly, studying Darren's soft, nostalgic expression as he tucked his hands in his pockets and studied him in turn.

What Darren was unconsciously showing Aiden now was genuine. A part of the man he hid behind the mask he'd mastered that Aiden was able to notice only because he was guilty of the same crime. Because he too had his fake personas, the Aiden-s he could become based on the circumstances.

"I could tell," Darren chuckled, his gaze moving on to the surroundings.

"Would you like a reward for that?" Aiden shot back, not really sure why he felt the need to tease the other man.

"Nothing you'd be willing to give me," Darren replied and pointed to his left. "Clothes shop is over there."

Aiden wondered what Darren had meant. More sex? Or forgiveness? But he was right, Aiden couldn't give him those. And besides, it didn't really matter what Darren Howe wanted because tolerance was all that Aiden could give. They were stuck together because of their dire circumstances and not by choice. He intended to keep his distance. He was going to help Howe because that was the only way he could fight Marcus, but that didn't mean they were ever going to be more than two men temporarily working together. For his own sake, he couldn't allow it.

At the clothes shop, Aiden didn't spend too long browsing, picking just necessities like shoes, a few shirts, a couple trousers his size and enough briefs and socks to last him a while. He took the basket of items to Darren, whom he found with a few items of his own.

"Did you get everything you need?" Darren asked, eyeing the pile of stuff.

"Yes," Aiden said, reluctantly handing the items over as he didn't have his own money.

"Let's go, then. I've got everything, too."

They went to pay, which was when Aiden's eyes inevitably ended up noticing the promiscuous underwear Darren had picked for himself… or perhaps for Nyle, since the red g-string seemed too small a fit. Curiosity out of nowhere almost made Aiden ask, but he stifled it down and kept quiet. It wasn't his place to poke his nose into Darren's affairs just because they'd had a one-night stand.

By the time they finished with their remaining non-food-related tasks, they were at the other end of the market, standing in front of a junk shop with a neon sign that read ‘Second Chance'. A tall man with short black hair came out and started fumbling with the lock.

"That's Tiverich, I assume?" Aiden tipped his chin at the man.

"Yes." Darren waited until the man had locked up before approaching him. "Kristen Tiverich?" he said in his deep, yet smooth baritone.

Aiden had been listening to it all day, yet it made his skin tingle now for some reason. Maybe it was because of the settling darkness around them, or perhaps it was the relatively secluded spot. He wasn't sure, but it reminded him of Darren's room last night. A pleasant but unwanted hum spread through his body. He tried to get rid of it but failed.

Pinching his elbow, he focused his attention away from Darren as the man spun around. His hair was styled to one side, and he had alert dark-brown eyes that smiled along with his mouth when he was done scanning Darren. He also had a cute dimple.

"About time you showed up, Your Highness," Kristen said with a half-assed salute, making Aiden wonder if anyone even took Darren's royalty seriously.

Darren laughed, patting him on the arm. "Darren will suffice."

"Darren, then. And you are?" Kristen shifted his gaze to Aiden.

Before Aiden got to introduce himself, Darren jumped in, "That's Sir Kesley, one of my loyal knights."

"Howe," Aiden gritted, not hiding his annoyance. To Kristen, he said, "It's just Kesley."

It crossed his mind to use his actual name, but it felt a little weird after so long. Plus, he'd have to explain the whole fake ID thing and he couldn't be bothered.

Ignoring the scowl Aiden threw his way, Darren moved off the shop's stairs so Kristen could pass. "Do you have everything you need?"

"Yes. Bea let me know you'll be coming today, so I've got it all in my shuttle. It's near the park on the other side of the market."

Darren pulled out his phone, flicking the screen on. "Well, we've got some time to spare if we don't need anything, so how about we grab some dinner before picking up the food supplies and heading back to the ship?"

Kristen gave the thumbs up. "Sounds good to me."

"Kesley?" Darren turned to Aiden, raising an eyebrow.

Clasping his elbow with one hand out of habit, Aiden held the shivers-inducing midnight-indigo gaze of the Valrais heir as the darkness engulfed the last of the fading dome-fabricated twilight. "There was a decent-looking grill place in one of the side alleys," he offered, unable to look away as Darren's tongue darted out to wet his lips and piercing.

That tongue had been worshiping his dick mere hours ago, hot and slick and nimble unlike the smooth solidity of the hoop piercing. It had been in his mouth too, devouring him as Aiden had devoured Darren back.

"I know the one," Kristen said, already walking toward the market.

Darren inched in closer, his eyes imploring and still locked on Aiden's. "Be careful, Kesley." He leaned in, his breath hot against Aiden's ear. "Or I might mistake your hate for something else." He pulled back and just looked at Aiden for what felt like more than a few loud heartbeats, his gaze dipping to Aiden's lips.

Then he shoved his hands in his pockets, turned on his heel and caught up to Kristen, leaving Aiden with his heart in his throat and his skin covered in tingling goosebumps.