“I was so worried about you,” I whispered as I squeezed her tighter. “I was just about to storm in there and put them in their place .”

She laughed softly. “I would have paid to see that happen. I’m fine though. There has been another spy attack. He got the defenses down, but I bet they have them back up by now. They honestly think that I have something to do with all this .”

“I don’t want you going home tonight,” I said softly to her. “There is no telling how much damage Adams little smear campaign did. Especially if the real spy got the defenses down. The people will be worked up into a panic .”

“Okay,” she said. “I know a few places I can stay .”

“You are staying with me,” I said firmly. “I won’t hear anything else about you staying somewhere else. If you are with me, it’s the safest place that you can be. No one knows my place, it’s pretty secluded .”

“I don’t know about that,” she muttered. “When he was interrogating me. I had to tell him who I was calling earlier. The spy used that connection to hack into their system. It’s what triggered the alarm .”

“Then it’s someone that you know. Do you think it could be one of the crew ?”

“I don’t know. I don’t want to be here anymore though .”

“Okay,” I whispered. “Let’s get you home then .”

I still had a few unanswered questions, but they could wait until we were back home. I mostly believed that she wasn’t the spy. It didn’t make any sense for her to be one, but I’d been wrong in the past about people’s alliances and the trust issues that I had ran deep. No matter what happened, I would have to keep my guard up until I knew the full story. It was going to take some time, but if we worked together, we could figure out what was going on .

When we pulled up outside the manor my mother was sitting in a chair, carefully trimming the wildflowers that had taken ground there under her careful care. The land of Vaxvia was fertile, but stubborn. It took machinery to break through the solid, red crust and down to the soil underneath, but my mother had diligently worked outside to create beautiful raised flowerbeds. When she saw that I wasn’t alone, her eyes lit up .

“Rizor! I wasn’t expecting you back just yet,” she called .

“Mom, there is someone that I want you to meet. This is Clara Vega .”

“Ahh,” she said in a playful tone I hadn’t heart in many years. “The young woman from the news .”

Clara blushed. “Not my finest moment, but yes. It’s a pleasure to meet you, ma’am .”

“This is the Dowager Queen of Drags, Briana .”

Clara shot me a surprised sideways glance, but quickly hid it again. I knew that there would be questions to answer later .

“Please,” said my mother. “Call me Briana. I haven’t been a queen in a very long time and I like it that way. You don’t see me going around with a crown now do you ?”

“No ma’am,” said Clara with a smile. “Still, it’s a pleasure to meet you. I hope you don’t believe all that nonsense they are saying on the news .”

My mother shrugged. “I try to stay out of the politics. It doesn’t affect me that much out here. I mostly just keep to myself. I like the quiet .”

“It’s a beautiful garden,” said Clara earnestly. “I wish I could grow anything, but I just don’t have that touch .”

“Will you be joining us for dinner?” she asked .

Clara looked at me before nodding. “I think so. We are kind of waiting for things to die down in the city .”

“Ah, that makes sense. Well, if I can make a suggestion? You should probably stay here for a few days then. If there are no oppositions of course. Maybe pop in and get a few of your things. God knows we have the room. I’m always telling Rizor this house needs some little feet running around .”

“Mother!” I said in shock .

She smiled and waved me off as she stood. “I am going to lay down for a while. We will talk more over dinner, my dear. You are welcome in this home anytime. Don’t let this bullheaded man scare you away. He really is a softie at heart .”

I groaned. She was not going to make things easy for me. Thankfully she was taking a nap though, I needed the time to talk more to Clara. I wanted to put my mind at ease and to know beyond a shadow of a doubt that she was innocent, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that there was more to the story than she was telling me. She had a secret, but even thinking about it made me uneasy. I still had my own secrets that I was hiding from her, one that might change how she felt about me altogether. Before I opened up to her, I needed to know that this was the real thing .

“Mind if we talk for a while?” I asked her .

She nodded. “I think that would be best .”

We sat down on the wooden bench I had restored and set out in the garden for my mother. “There is something that you aren’t telling me about the spy. I can’t help you if you aren’t honest with me .”

She chuckled. “You want to talk about honesty? Prince ?”

I shook my head. “I haven’t lied to you. I just didn’t know what to tell you. It’s a very long story, but I promise you that I am no prince. I think you are avoiding answering my question .”

Clara sighed. “I don’t know that there is much to tell. I think I know who the spy is, but I don’t want to believe it myself .”

“If you are hiding information from the militia, they may try and use that against you .”

“I know,” she muttered. “But if I am wrong, I will be throwing one of my own, innocent men under the bus. I just can’t do that until I know for sure. I know what it’s like to be in their crosshairs. It can ruin someone’s life .”

I let out the breath I’d been holding in and put my arm around her. “Don’t worry, we will figure this out. The only way to clear your name and put your suspicion to rest is if we catch the spy ourselves .”

“Are you sure? You are tying yourself to a woman who has a tarnished name. I don’t know if we are ever going to figure out who is leaking information, but if they take down the defense system again, we could be in a lot of trouble .”

“I know. The Federation has been waiting to take back Vaxvia. Our troops won’t have the time to get here if they break through. They will be able to take the planet by force alone. No one will be safe, not civilians or royals .”

“Can you alert them? Tell them they need to get out ?”

I shook my head. “They would never go without fighting. Plus, until we know who the spy is, their ship could be intercepted via communications. The best thing we can do is narrow down the list of suspects and start our own hunt .”

“Back at my place I have a logbook I was going to go over right before I was arrested. I might be able to match-up the dates with when Jordan was onboard .”

“Do you really think it’s him?” I asked .

She shrugged. “Either that, or he is the least competent engineer I have ever seen in my life .”

“So, we need to go back to your place?” I asked .

“Yeah, but I would like to know what your secret is first. If your mother is the dowager queen, how are you not a prince like the rest of them ?”

I shuddered. Because I was a monster, the bastard son of a villain and murderer. I shoved the angry emotions back down and smiled at her. “Can it wait until we are finished? I want to get to your place before anyone else does. I’m sure the police are going to head that way before too long .”

“Yeah,” Clara muttered. “I wish we had a little bit of time to just be with each other though .”

She leaned into me, her hand trailing up my leg. Any other time I would have carried her up to the bed and had my way with her, but there just wasn’t time. I groaned as her hand slipped further up, brushing against the head of my cock. If she didn’t stop soon, we weren’t going to make it anywhere. Which, as she lightly squeezed the tip, seemed like a great idea to me .

Clara turned and looked at me, a playful wink in her eye as she jumped out of her seat and laughed. “Ready ?”

“Woman, you are going to be the death of me,” I muttered as I stood up .

She ran from me, but I caught up to her and wrapped her into my arms, planting a ferocious kiss on her lips before taking her hand and pulling her to the large garage that housed my vehicles .

“Whoa,” Clara whispered .

I grinned. “I have a bit of a hobby. Here,” I said, leading her over to a small, two-seater hovercraft. “This is modified, small but fast and almost as silent as the wind .”

“Can I drive?” she asked as she ran her fingers over it .

I laughed, nodding my head and tossing her the keycard. “Go for it, just don’t kill us .”

I climbed in next to her and held on as she gunned the engine out of the shed. We went silently down the road as the sun started to set. The timing couldn’t have been more perfect. The night would give us cover from those we didn’t want to deal with, basically everyone at this point. We made it to her small house on the other side of town in a few short minutes. Thankfully, as we scoped the place out, we saw that no militia men were circling around .

“Ready?” I whispered .

Clara nodded and slipped off the vehicle next to me. We silently made our way up to the steps and right away I noticed it. There were marks all across the door where someone had tried, but failed to break in. Vulgar words were sprayed across the door in paint .

“Well, at least they didn’t get in,” I muttered. “How exactly did they not get in? This door is thick, but not that thick .”

“Not to the naked eye, it’s not. I had it custom made and reinforced. This neighborhood isn’t the best and I keep a lot of my weapons in here .”

“Let’s get in there and get what you need. I don’t like staying around here longer than we need too. There are too many people out there looking to blame someone and Adams gave them that person, even if it might be the wrong one .”

“Might be?” she said, her eyebrow raised. “You know if there is something you want to get off your chest, tell me now before I invest anymore time into this relationship .”

“Clara,” I stammered. “I didn’t mean it like that .”

She shook her head. “I think you did. So, start talking because I’m not going anywhere with you until you do .”

“You have to understand; my life has been full of people claiming to care only to disappear. There is a lot of mistrust in my life. I want to believe that you have nothing to do with the Federation, but trust is so hard for me .”

“You think this is hard for you?” she hissed. “I am wanted by the law! My own people have turned on me and now you? Get out,” Clara stammered. “I don’t need anyone else who doesn’t believe in me in my life .”