Hanvel's guilty admission
“I’m sorry if I shouldn’t ask, but your Dramok father…?”
“He
died four years ago,” Hanvel said.
“I’m sorry.”
“Thank you. It was an unexpected and devastating loss.”
“Lathen now holds Dramok Ahok’s seat in the Royal Council,” Selbi told Iliana. “He won it quite easily, and he adopted his father’s friendly disputes against my father.”
“Your father is a Royal Councilman as well?”
“He retired a couple years ago.”
“So you’re a bunch of political brats, happily following in your fathers’ footsteps, huh?”
Hanvel winced. He stopped in front of another competitive entertainment area. “Yeah. Cosdas, how about leading us in a kurble scrimmage?”
Iliana blinked at his abrupt change in mood. “What did I say?”
“It’s not you.” Selbi patted both her and Hanvel on their shoulders. “Hanvel’s first career choice was architecture. His parent clan pushed him into politics. Since Ahok’s father and two grandfathers were also councilmen, they see it as a sort of family dynasty.”
Iliana studied the Dramok. He watched her, as if gauging her reaction. “Why didn’t you push back if architecture was what you wanted to do?”
“I did. For a while.” He shrugged, clearly unhappy with the conversation.
“He took classes while working as a regional director,” Cosdas said. “Earned his certification and a position at a reputable architectural firm. Then he told his parents he was quitting politics.”
“It devastated my Dramok father,” Hanvel admitted. “He died days later.”
“What?” Iliana stared at him in horror.
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Their agreement
didn’t include falling in love. What happens when a ruse becomes reality?
Iliana Rossi’s reluctance to join a Kalquorian clan comes from a terrible loss that leaves no room in her heart for any men. Dodging the alien three-man clans eager for a Earther mate is a full-time job, and she’s running out of patience with those desperate to change her mind.
Hanvel, Selbi, and Cosdas pursue Matara Deefa, a rare unclanned Kalquorian woman. She’s everything they could possibly want. But her parents have promised her to another clan, and Clan Hanvel can’t seem to convince Deefa that love is more important than rank and family approval.
When Iliana meets Clan Hanvel, the solution seems obvious. They embark on a fake courtship that satisfies societal and family pressure; a relationship that requires no love, no commitment, and no responsibilities to each other.
But when passion wakes for the reluctant foursome, they have a choice to make: loyalty to the impossible past or a chance for love they can keep.
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