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Vegas swallowed, trying to ease the tight feeling in her throat. “One Galaxar considers the other insulted him.”
Diadora sighed. “These Galaxars are so proud. Anyone would think they were a warrior race.” What passed as a smile slid across her face. “What does the victor win?”
“They win Vegas.” The words burst out of Heather, who had been shifting from foot to foot since they’d entered the office.
Diadora finally turned her full attention to them. She leaned back in her seat and clasped her hands over her flat stomach. “Is this true? You have asked two Galaxars to fight over you?”
Vegas slid an irritated glance at Heather. She tried as hard as she could, but Heather had an inability to keep her mouth shut at inappropriate moments. “No. There’s been a misunderstanding. They know I’m not available.”
“Yet they wish to fight for you.” Diadora tapped a finger against her chin. “What did you do to make them want you? You know fraternizing with clients is forbidden.”
“I didn’t fraternize.” Vegas ignored the images that popped into her head of her making out with Solan. That had been for educational purposes.
“Which Galaxars are we talking about?”
“Brigadier Boros and Colonel Solan.”
An amused glint lit up Diadora’s usually dead eyes. “The Brigadier. How interesting.”
Vegas couldn’t help herself from asking. “Interesting how?”
“He came to see me about you,” Diadora said.
A sliver of concern slid down Vegas’s spine. She didn’t like the look in Diadora’s eyes. “He’s unhappy with my work?”
“Your work was not mentioned,” Diadora said. “I did not expect Boros to have a challenger.”
“A challenger for what?” What the hell had Diadora and Boros been talking about?
“For reasons unknown to me, Brigadier Boros took an interest in you when he came aboard the station. He wants you as his chosen mate.”
Vegas’s stomach turned over. “You made it clear to him that I’m not available? He knows the rules?”
“He does. He is also a persuasive Galaxar and a wealthy one.”
Vegas found it hard to breathe. What had Diadora done? “What does that have to do with me?”
“Boros has offered to buy you out of your employment contract,” Diadora said.
The sound that came out of Vegas’s mouth was a cross between a cough and a laugh. “An offer! I hope you rejected it?”
“He is a brigadier in the top-performing Galaxar troop,” Diadora said. “I felt it only fair that I listen to his offer in full.”
“And then reject it.”
“And then consider it.”
Vegas shook her head. “He doesn’t have the right to buy me out of anything.”
Diadora raised her hands in a what-are-you-gonna-do gesture. “You I can replace. The finance from the Brigadier is another matter. His offer for you was one I simply could not turn down.”
Vegas heard Heather gasp.
“I’m not yours to sell.”
“No, but you are a fertile female and within the breeding age. The only reason you weren’t included in My Single Alien is because of your position. That can change.”
Vegas licked her lips. She hadn’t signed up to My Single Alien because she wasn’t ready to be a mother. Most were happy to sign up, giving them a chance to get off the toxic wasteland of Earth and gain the protection of an alien on a prosperous planet. Who wouldn’t want that? She didn’t. Vegas still wasn’t ready. She wasn’t going to be bartered over by Boros and Diadora.
