Page 58 of Badass Alien Boss

He’d ignored Ruyn’s wishes and hired Michaela on the sly, attempted to pass her off as an administrative assistant. While she turned out to be the love of his life, he’d been humiliated at first. Had that been the intent? Older brother puts down the younger? A metaphorical reprise of tricking him into eating dirt?

Or had the motivation been sincere? Perhaps he had been trying to help.

He didn’t know what to believe anymore. Very few people were all bad or all good. Most were a mix, leaning to one side or the other. Korsan could be a criminalanda loving brother.

Except now, Ruyn would question everything. He wouldn’t be able to trust him or take anything he did at face value. It wouldn’t surprise him if Korsan faked an “audit” and produced a false report.

What the phuk do I do now?Confront him again?Pretend everything is copacetic but keep digging?What if he found the answers? What then? Snitching was anathema, but he couldn’t condone or enable wrongdoing with complicit silence, either.

Maybe he should quit. Walk away. Go to Earth with Michaela now and leave Korsan to the mess of his own making.Why is it my problem to fix?

Maybe there isn’t a problem.Maybe he was reading too much into the lack of an outright denial. Afterall, there was only circumstantial evidence of illicit activity. The unusual expenses and deposits wereconsistentwith money laundering, but he didn’t have proof that funds from an actual criminal enterprise were being filtered through the company.

I can’t walk away. He’s my brother.

Just as Korsan had tried tohelphimby hiring Michaela over his objections, he had to try to save his brother from himself.I guess we’re alike in one respect. We’re both going to do what we want regardless of what the other one desires.

I have to find out exactly what he’s involved in.For that, he hadto probe way deeper and would need Michaela’s help. She would be much better at cyber investigations than him.

But he could start tonight, since he’d never get back to sleep anyway. He glanced around for his tech tab then remembered he’d left it in the bedroom.

Moonlight slid through the gap in the drawn blinds to reveal Michaela asleep on her side, hair over her face. She’d kicked off the covers. His heart swelled with love for her. Despite Korsan’s actions, he owed him a debt of gratitude for bringing her into his life.

He crept to his nightstand and retrieved his device then bent and kissed her on the head. She slept dead to the world, totally still. Careful not to wake her, he smoothed the hair from herface and then squinted. Was her skin…bumpy? Did her face lookswollen?

He brushed his fingers over her cheek. Phuk!

He dropped his tech tab on the nightstand and hit the light switch. Her face and throat, covered in hives, had ballooned. He shook her shoulder. “Michaela! Wake up! Wake up!” He shook her again, but she didn’t move.

“Michaela!”She’s not waking up!He shook her harder then lightly slapped her face. She didn’t so much as twitch.

He pressed a hand to her chest and his face to her nose and mouth.

There wasn’t the slightest movement or breath.

Chapter Twenty

Michaela couldn’t move her arms or legs. It felt like an elephant was sitting on her chest.

Her chest hurt with every inhalation, and something covered her nose and mouth. Was that why she couldn’t breathe? Moaning, she thrashed her head from side to side to dislodge the object on her face.

“It’s okay, it’s okay.” Ruyn’s voice. He clasped her hand.

Her eyelids were so puffy, she could barely open her eyes.

“Whassss…appening?” she slurred in an unfamiliar voice. Her lips seemed to have doubled in size, and her tongue felt too big for her mouth. “Myfayss…sumthinwrong with myfayss…can’tbreeth.”

“You’re on the way to the hospital.” A uniformed man stepped up. “We’ve given you some antihistamines. You have a breathing mask on. You’re secured in the hover litter so you don’t fall. We’ll be arriving soon.”

The medic retreated to his seat, and she looked at Ruyn.

“You weren’t breathing when I found you. I used the injector Dr. Adanna had given us for the flight home. Then I performed mouth-to-mouth resuscitation until the medics arrived and took over.”

I needed mouth to mouth?She remembered waking up, having trouble breathing. Ruyn had been gone. But then what? She had no recollection of anything after that.

“They gave you another shot, conferred with Dr. Prymr, and put you on an emergency transport.” Worry etched lines into his face, and his skin seemed to have grayed and aged ten years.

Because of me.“I’m sorry…sorry…for all of this.”