Charlotte and the Alien Ambassador (7 page)

He ended the transmission and had it sent.

Borgoz took a shower, dressed, and ordered his breakfast. He was afraid to check on Charlotte until he heard back from the Senator, too afraid he’d try to claim her without her father’s permission. He reasoned that she was old enough to make her own decisions, but he’d made a promise to her father and intended to honor it.

When the Vid-Comm notified him of an incoming message, he listened to it with trepidation.

“Chief Councilor Borgoz, you do my daughter a great honor. I feel this honor would be better bestowed on my other daughter, Charity. She was supposed to travel to your world, but I couldn’t bear to let her go. However, if there’s a guaranteed match with a man of your station, I will part with her… if you make her your wife. Please send Charlotte home on the next shuttle, or keep her there and let her find another mate. You are far too good for my eldest daughter.”

Borgoz was seething by the time the message ended and he knew he could never show it to Charlotte. She already knew her father didn’t like her, but he knew it would be a hard blow to realize just how much he disliked her. Not giving himself time to cool down, he sent another message to the Senator, telling him in no uncertain terms that he would never mate with Charity and that whether the Senator liked it or not, Borgoz intended to claim Charlotte as his.

He sent the message and then went in search of Charlotte, anxious to settle things between them. After a thorough search of the house, he tracked down Helio to see if he knew of Charlotte’s whereabouts. Now that he’d decided to mate with her, he couldn’t think of anything else and wanted to share the news with her as soon as possible.

“She’s gone,” Helio said.

“Gone? You mean she went out for breakfast or shopping?”

Helio slowly shook his head. “Larimar picked her up this morning, along with her belongings. She’s moved into a suite in the tower where the unmated human females stay. I don’t know what happened between you last night, but she looked completely shattered this morning.”

His heart ached at the thought of hurting Charlotte, and he knew he had to make things right. He just wasn’t sure how to do it. Going after her seemed like the logical thing to do, but would it be enough? Nothing had really changed. He would still work long hours. He was still far too old for her. And now, her father had declared that Borgoz couldn’t have Charlotte. There was much work to be done before he could go after his chosen mate. He only hoped he wouldn’t be too late.

“Helio, I’d like you to call the council together. We’ll convene at the council headquarters within the hour.”

Helio’s eyebrows rose. “Of course, Chief Councilor.”

Borgoz went to his office to gather his thoughts and set things in motion. The first thing to do was hand off some of his responsibilities. He had a council for a reason. It was time for them to take a more active role in Terran society. There was no reason Borgoz had to handle everything on his own. He would delegate some of the lesser responsibilities to the council members and only take on the larger problems. Everything else could be prepared by the others and presented during council meetings for a vote.

Then he had to figure out what to do about Charlotte’s father. Now that the man knew Borgoz was interested in Charlotte, he doubted he’d heard the last of him. It wouldn’t surprise Borgoz in the slightest to discover Charity on the next shuttle from her area. Not that it would do any good. Borgoz was determined to claim Charlotte and no other female would do. Besides, if what Charlotte had said about Charity was true, the child was willful and spoiled. Not at all the kind of mate Borgoz wanted.

Before the council meeting, he received two more messages from the Senator, each nastier than the first. It seemed the Senator would be happy with nothing short of Borgoz mating with Charity, which meant they had a slight problem to overcome. It seemed his nephew had -- what was that Earth term? -- dodged a bullet by not mating with the young Charity. Never again would he assume that he could choose Kelvyk’s mate for him. If the boy wanted to claim his own woman in his own way, then Borgoz was going to stay out of it and let him handle things.

Now that he’d come to care for one of the Earth females, he understood what those other couples had been through. And he was ashamed that he’d made it so difficult for them to be together. He couldn’t change the past, but he could do better in the future. From now on, he would listen when a male asked to be mated to a human female, and he would consider the issue from all points of view. If there was one thing he was learning, it was that love should overcome anything and always come first.

He just hoped he hadn’t learned that lesson too late.

When he met with the council, he delegated several tasks. “I know I haven’t done this before, that I’ve always done all of the work, but I’m trying to free up my schedule more. I’d like to take a mate and it wouldn’t be fair to her if I worked as many hours as I do now.”

Larimar drummed his fingers on the table. “You should have thought of that before now, before you pushed Charlotte away.”

“I know you came for her this morning. I’m glad that she felt she could turn to you when she was so upset, but I plan to right all of my wrongs and go after her. As soon as this meeting concludes, I’m going to ask her to move back into my home.”

“You don’t know?” Larimar asked.

“Know what?”

“Charlotte’s father contacted her as soon as she entered her new quarters. She didn’t even get a chance to unpack before he demanded she be escorted to the shuttle. I don’t know what you said to him, but he was infuriated and told her that she had better be on the shuttle or he was going to come after her himself.”

Borgoz’s heart kicked in his chest. “When does it leave?”

“It left. Before this meeting started.”

His Charlotte was gone? The world spun for a moment and he gripped the edge of the table, needing to anchor himself. He never should have contacted the Senator. It was his fault Charlotte had been sent home, and now he’d lost her. Because of his position, a trip to Earth was out of the question. And he doubted he could convince the Senator to send Charlotte back to him.

“She’s gone?”

“I’m sorry,” Larimar said. “If I had known you’d changed your mind, I would have done something to keep her here. Did her father know you wished to mate with her? Perhaps if you contact him and let him know, then he’ll return her immediately.”

“He knows. That’s why she’s gone. He wanted me to claim the younger daughter, Charity, and send Charlotte home or find her another mate. He was adamant that I not claim Charlotte.”

“And you can’t go after her,” Helio said. “Your position requires you to remain on Zelthrane-3. If you can’t convince her father to return her, then…”

“She’s lost to me,” Borgoz said, a feeling of despair filling him.

The council members looked concerned, and he wondered if he looked as sick as he suddenly felt. How was he going to live day to day without Charlotte in his life? Just knowing she was in his home had been enough to get him through the miserable days without her by his side. Now he didn’t even have that.

“This meeting is adjourned,” he said, moving toward the door, but a hand on his shoulder drew him to a halt.

“Let’s get something to eat, and we can discuss the matter further,” Larimar said. “I don’t want to see you give up. There has to be a way to get her back. We just have to figure out what it is.”

“Unless you know a king or ambassador of another world who would claim the snotty Charity, I think we’re out of options,” Borgoz said. “The Senator is determined to see his youngest soar to dizzying heights while his other daughter falls so far she ends up in the gutter. Or married to a man old enough to be her grandfather. I can’t bear to think of what she’ll go through when she gets home. They’re horrible to her.”

“Then we’ll work the Charity angle. Start negotiations with the Senator again, and then we’ll find a male desperate enough for a mate that he’ll claim one sight unseen. If this Charity is as ill-tempered as you say, it would be best if her future mate doesn’t see her before the claiming ceremony.”

Borgoz snorted. “Even that might be too soon. Maybe they should mate her by proxy.”

Larimar laughed and led Borgoz to his favorite restaurant. He didn’t have much of an appetite but he listened to Larimar’s ideas, and hope began to blossom ever so slightly. Maybe all wasn’t lost like he’d thought. It would take some time and a bit of coercion on his part with the Senator, but maybe Charlotte would be returned to him in the end, and they could start their life together.

Charlotte stared at her father across the expanse of his desk. He’d sent a driver to pick her up from the Terran station, but when she’d entered the mansion, her bags had been left by the front door. Her stomach clenched as she contemplated why he would do that. Why weren’t they being returned to her room? Was he going to make good on his threat of disowning her?

“When I sent you to Terran, I never imagined you would capture the attention of the planet’s leader. Had I thought a coup such as that was even possible, I’d have sent Charity. If anyone is going to help rule a planet, it’s going to be your sister. So you have a choice, Charlotte. Charles Brower is still interested in taking you as his wife.”

“He’s over sixty.”

“You can’t afford to be picky. If you decide not to marry the congressman, then I will have no choice but to turn you out. I’ll give you a small amount to get you started, but what you do after that will be entirely up to you. One thing is for certain, you won’t be able to afford the shuttle fare to go back to Terran. If anyone in this family is going to mate with the Chief Councilor, it’s going to be Charity.”

Of course it would be Charity, because Charity got everything she ever wanted. Who cared if Charlotte was happy or if she had what she needed or wanted? What did it matter if they stomped all over her heart by sending her younger sister to mate with the man Charlotte had fallen in love with? And she knew telling her father that she loved Borgoz would only infuriate him more.

“I’ll take the money,” she said.

“Then I’ll transfer some money into your account, but your credit cards have already been cancelled. Once the money is gone, that’s it. Don’t come back for more. I’ll make sure you have enough for modest accommodations. You’ll need to find a job near your home because I will no longer provide you with a driver, and of course you can’t drive yourself because of your hearing. Do you understand, Charlotte?”

Yes, she understood. He hated her, had always hated her, and finally he was going to be rid of her. She didn’t dare tell him about the baby. If he thought for one moment she had a permanent tie to Borgoz, it would end badly for her. She had no doubt that he would force her to terminate the child, and she would rather die than let that happen.

She’d have to find a place to live near the Terran station where she could have access to their doctor. Charlotte knew there was no way a regular doctor would be able to deliver the child. And there was always a possibility that the doctor would tell Borgoz about the child, but she wasn’t so certain that would be a bad thing anymore. If he wanted her just because of the baby, it was far better than never seeing him again.

Larimar had told her that Borgoz wouldn’t come after her,
couldn’t
come after her. Because of his exalted position on Terran, he had to remain on his world. They would never risk his safety on a trip to Earth and she understood, she really did. That didn’t make it any easier though. She wanted to cry just thinking about never seeing him again.

“Will your driver take me somewhere tonight? Anywhere I wish to go?” she asked.

“I suppose I can allow that. Now get out of my office and out of my house. I never want to see you again.”

Charlotte fought tears as she left her father’s office for the last time. It didn’t hurt nearly as much as leaving Borgoz had, but then she’d learned long ago that her father had never loved her. She’d once overheard him confess that he’d wanted her put up for adoption when her hearing loss had become known. He hadn’t wanted a defective daughter, but her mother had refused to give her up. And then her mother had died and left her alone in a silent world with a man who hated her.

In the car, she told the driver to take her to the Terran station. He frowned in the mirror, probably knowing that her father wanted her far from that place, but he took her anyway. When they reached the station, she got out with her bags and approached the front desk.

“May I help you?” the Terran male asked. “Weren’t you just here a few hours ago?”

“It seems I’m without a place to stay. Could you recommend a place that rents rooms by the week until I can find something better? I want to stay near the station.”

He frowned a moment and she wondered if her voice was off-putting to him. He wouldn’t be the first person who didn’t care for it.

“If you aren’t returning to Terran, why do wish to stay nearby? If you didn’t find a match on our world, do you really think you’ll find one with the males who have chosen to remain here?” His look clearly said anyone who sounded like her would never find a match with his people.

Charlotte blushed. “I don’t want to stay here to find a mate. I need to remain close to your clinic.”

He seemed puzzled and her blush deepened.

“I’m carrying a Terran baby. I can’t see an Earth doctor.”

His eyebrows rose into his hairline. “If you’re expecting, why are you not mated? I find it hard to believe that the male you were with doesn’t want the child or you. Or does he not know? We take our responsibilities very seriously.”

“I don’t want to be a responsibility. He told me to find another mate, that he didn’t want me. I can raise this child on my own. I just need to remain near the station so the baby will be around his or her own kind. Please. You have to help me.”

He seemed to weigh the pros and cons for a moment before coming to a decision. “There are a few suites here at the station, usually reserved for high ranking warriors or council members, but I think this is a special situation. I’ll make the arrangements for you to have a suite for the duration of your pregnancy, and then we’ll figure something out after that.”