Chapter 27

Chapter

Twenty-Seven

M yrria stared at the man as he grinned at her, unable to believe what she was seeing. Tobert looked much like he had the day he'd walked out the door to join the mercenary crew that would take him off planet. His face had a few more lines and gray strands were interspersed with the brown in his short hair, but he didn't look much worse for wear. He certainly didn't look like he'd suffered for the past seven years.

"What are you—?" she started to say, her voice barely a croak.

Her husband pushed past her into the house with another harsh laugh. "You don't look happy to see me, darlin'."

Myrria's shock quickly morphed to fear. Rixx was hiding upstairs in the loft, but there was no way he hadn't heard everything. There was no way he wasn't witnessing her awkward reunion with her long-lost husband.

Her hands shook as she closed the door behind Tobert. If he found Rixx in his house, she didn't know what he would do. Rixx might be bigger and stronger, but she knew very well that Tobert fought dirty and would make such a racket that the Zevrians would be sure to come running.

She needed to stay calm and keep him distracted. She wasn't sure what her plan was after that, but her top priority was making sure that Rixx was not discovered. Technically, Tobert's name was on the house, and he could cast her out as an unfaithful wife without anyone in Kurril thinking twice about it. It wouldn't matter that he'd left her and Zala for years and hadn't paid a single coin toward the rent. The Den of Thieves was not known for being fair—or kind to females.

"It's been so long." Myrria said as Tobert strode into the house like he had merely stepped out for bread. "Everyone said you were dead. Everyone thought your ship was lost."

Her husband sat in one of the armchairs and stretched his legs long in front of him. "You can see I'm not."

Myrria had the strangest sensation of watching a stranger invade her home. It had been so long since he'd shared the house with her, and they hadn't even been married for very long before she'd gotten pregnant and he'd left. The time he'd lived in her home had been a blip compared to the years she'd lived there raising Zala and working herself to the bone to support them both.

"What happened to the short commission that you promised would make enough money to set us up for years?" Myrria had thought she'd shed her anger at being left ages ago, but seeing him saunter in without a care for her or a worry about how she'd supported their baby made all the old fury rise up fresh and sharp.

He flicked his gaze at her and sighed. "Don't start on me. I came back, didn't I? Aren't you going to welcome me home like a good wife should?" He let his gaze roam her body without hesitation. "The years haven't made you any less of a treat."

Myrria's face flamed. Her inner thighs still carried the traces of Rixx's seed and her skin held the memory of his hungry kisses. Tobert might be her husband, but she was no longer his to command. He'd given up his rights when he'd left her and Zala.

She took a step back toward the kitchen area, hoping her movement would mask the rustling sound coming from the loft. She made a point of clattering a pan and hoped that Rixx was escaping.

Tobert propelled himself from the chair with a ravenous look in his eyes, and Myrria said a prayer to the old gods that Rixx was no longer upstairs. If she had to fight off her husband's unwanted advances there was no way Rixx wouldn't show himself. Even now, she could feel his fury thrumming through her. What she didn't know is if he was angry at her or at her husband? Or was he angry with himself for getting involved with a woman who was not free?

"Mama?"

Zala's high voice made both her and her husband look to the ladder. Zala was dressed, which meant that she'd been awake long enough to know that Rixx was hiding in her loft and why.

"Is this the…?" Tobert scraped a hand through his hair, all the bravado and bluster knocked out of him as he stared at his daughter. "I'd almost for…"

He let his words die off, clearing his throat and shifting from one foot to another, possibly realizing the stupidity of his own words. But it was too late.

Myrria fought the urge to slap him as Zala flinched almost imperceptibly. If she'd held any lingering fondness for Tobert, it died in that moment. Not only had he left them without thought or worry, he hadn't remembered that he'd left behind a baby.

In the past, Myrria might have let him off the hook or smoothed over his boorish behavior, but she was no longer that innocent woman who believed every honeyed lie a man told her.

"You forgot you left behind a child? Did your crew suffer mind maladies or is it only you who did not remember his family?"

Tobert swung his head back to her, his eyes narrowed. "Your tongue has gotten sharper, woman."

She folded her arms across her chest. "That's what happens when you have to fend for yourself while raising a baby."

He frowned, clearly not enjoying the reunion he'd expected. "She's not a baby now." He gave Zala a wide smile that Myrria recognized as the smile he whipped out when he wished the charm women. "I'll bet she's a good little helper."

Zala returned his smile, but Myrria could tell it was forced.

Tobert stretched his arms overhead and then thumped his stomach. "Why don't my two girls fix me some breakfast while I wash off all the grime from the ship?"

Myrria opened her mouth to tell him that she was no longer at his beck and call, but Zala nodded. "I think we still have some sweet bread."

Tobert shot Myrria a smug smile. "That's my girl."

Myrria bit her tongue as he walked toward the bathroom, but she knew his confidence was misplaced. She was sure he had not won over Zala that easily.

Her belief was proven when the water flicked on and her daughter walked to her, pulling her down and cupping her hand around Myrria's ear like she always had when she wanted to tell her a secret. "He's gone. He went out the hatch. I gave him directions to someplace safe."

Myrria could imagine very few safe places in Kurril. "Where?"

Zala gave her mother an innocent smile. "Serena's place."

Myrria swallowed a groan. Zala had sent Rixx to take refuge in a pleasure house.