Page 73 of Badass Alien Boss

“No,” Korsan said.

“I’ll put these boxes in the kitchen. Don’t kill each other while I’m gone.”

“Can’t promise,” Ruyn said.

She stowed their dinners in the cold storage, fortified herself with a deep breath, and reentered the sitting room. The two of them had squared off, Ruyn’s glare darkening, and Korsan looking even more miserable.

“Sit!” she ordered. “Both of you.” This wasn’t the first fight between brothers she had to mediate—although never had the stakes been so grave.

“What happened at the hospital?” Korsan directed his comment to her. “Will Ruyn be all right?” He shot a wary glance in his brother’s direction before focusing on her again.

“Do you care?” Ruyn snapped.

“Of course, I care.”

“We don’t know yet,” she said. “The situation is complicated. He was infected with a bio-engineered nanocyte that produces an antigen I am deathly allergic to. Apparently, he was poisoned by Murta.”

“Phuk. He can be cured, right?”

“Dr. Kurur isn’t sure. He’s consulting with a colleague on planet Oberia in hopes the nanocyte can be eradicated.”

“And if it can’t be?”

“Then it phuks up our lives forever!” Ruyn said. “Michaela and I will never be able to be intimate again because the antigen is passed sexually. I almost killed her!”

Korsan jumped up and began to pace. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I never wanted anything like this to happen. Never thought anything would rebound on you. Either of you.”

“It’s time to stop dancing around the truth and come clean. What did you get into?” Ruyn demanded. “How did you know Mama Murta is Prellim?”

Such a silence followed, she began to think Korsan wouldn’t answer, but then he raked his hands through his hair and exhaled. “I’ve been laundering money for the Prellim Cartel.”

Ruyn got to his feet and clenched his fists. “Of all the stupid, illegal, dangerous, self-defeating, asinine moves! Have you lost your phukking mind? Did I mentionillegal? Like go-to-prison illegal? Galpol is going to catch up with you.”

“I didn’t know Murta was Prellim at first. She’d served as the defense minister! I started eating at her café. We’d talk. I’d shared I was worried about my business. Then she came to me and said a friend of hers, a fellow business owner, wished to shield some of his earnings.”

“It didn’t strike you as odd thedefense ministerwould ask you to hide money?”

“Of course, it did. But I was desperate. I’d gotten into another financial jam. Creditors were hounding me. I’d filed for bankruptcy once and couldn’t do it again so soon. I would have lost everything. She promised that in exchange for laundering money, my debts would be canceled out.” He sank onto the sofa. “Everything worked fine for a while. It was small amounts, nothing drastic. Some of the subsidiaries like the Starlight needed improvements anyway, so why not fix things up and doctor the invoices a little?”

Ruyn swore.

“But then the sums I was expected to launder increased exponentially. It got harder and harder to disguise. I didn’t like breaking the law, and I suspected my new business partners were involved in some bad shit.”

“You think?” Ruyn shook his head disgustedly and dropped into a chair.

“I informed Murta I wouldn’t do it anymore. That’s when she told me who I’d been working with, and threatened that if I didn’t continue, I’d regret it. It rattled me, but I wanted to do the right thing.” His voice shook. “I refused to do it anymore. I was considering turning her in, turning myself in, and facing the consequences.”

His eyes were wet. “But…you had come home on leave.”

Oh. My. God.Michaela covered her mouth with her hand. She saw where this was leading.

“The night you gave the speech was the night I met with Murta to say I wouldn’t launder money anymore.” Korsan’s voice shook. “You were attacked as a warning to me. I am so phukking sorry, Ruyn. Everything that happened to you was my fault.” Tears slid down his cheeks. “I was scared to death. I-I-I was stuck. I couldn’t get out, or they’d kill you. I hired a bodyguard for you because I was afraid they’d try again anyway. I’d ruined your military career, so I gave you a job.

“Then you started digging into the finances, and you discovered discrepancies I couldn’t explain. I had no idea you were eating at her café. She poisoned you to try to kill Michaela as another lesson to me.” His shoulders shook. “I’m sorry. So sorry.”

Ruyn moved to the sofa to sit beside his brother. Their shoulders touched.

“You have every right to hate me,” Korsan said.