When All Else Fails (A Push of a Button Novella)

Chapter Ten

Her throat went dry. Always watching. Just like the Supremacy did with those little red eyes and the listening chips planted all over their houses, parks, and public areas. "Do they spy on everyone, or just on the Supremacy?"

Dane shrugged, his stare vacant. "I don't know how far it goes. Only that we're on a razor's edge. One wrong move, and everything topples."

"And you're trying to topple it?"

"Yes. But the right way. The way that gives us the best chance of getting out alive. I just have to figure out the identities of everyone on the Supreme Council so I can figure out who the sleeper agents are. And then we will kill every last one of them at the right moment, and I'll bring their house of cards down."

"What you're proposing could destroy us all, Dane! If you bring down the Supremacy, people will be in an uproar. There will be mass panic."

He shook his head. "Not if someone steps in to stabilize things. If I step in to take control."

"The size of a coup that large would have to be incredible. How long can you really keep this going before you're caught?"

"They don't suspect their own. Never do. Very few have ever tried to even leave, and they're confident in their ability to mitigate the risk quickly and efficiently. There's so much corruption inside their organization that I could easily buy off most of the people in it, and luckily, I have the means to do so. Your father's helping."

"What?" She shifted on the bed to sit cross-legged facing him. "How did you convince my father to help you?"

"I just showed him exactly what they were planning to do to his baby girl." Dane smirked. "His love for you rivals any loyalty to the Supremacy. Always has. He didn't agree to give you to me because they told him to. He agreed because he knew that being married to me was the only way to ensure you wouldn't be hurt or want for anything in your life. You and Seb both showed signs of being too smart for your own good when they were fitting you for your buttons. But the contract and your parents' position ensured you got a button that worked instead of a death sentence."

She stared down at her lap. "So you and that contract have been protecting me my entire life?"

"Yes."

"Don't you think I deserved to know before, Dane?" Tears filled her eyes and dropped onto her hands. "If you had just told me before, I would've understood. But you let me live my whole life believing a lie."

He ducked his head. "I had no other choice, remember? Your parents wouldn't let me tell you, and the Supremacy decided to back them." He gritted his teeth. "And I never got why, but now I do. They always planned to fully reprogram you, and they lied through their teeth to me all that time."

"I still can't believe my father would help you with this..."

Dane grimaced. "Your mother was the government operative, not him. He cares more about you than the cause."

And in a strange way, that actually made sense. She sighed. Could she do this though? Marry Dane for the protection he offered and leave Sebastian in the past? Did she have a choice? If she had one, she wouldn't marry Dane. She still loved him, and she understood better now why he'd done as he had, but she couldn't see past growing up with him as her brother even though he wasn't. "What's your last name, really?"

He frowned. "You want to know that out of everything you could ask?"

"I'm stuck here. And I have to marry you, right?" She worried at her lower lip. "I'm guessing I don't have a say on that."

He shook his head. "Eventually, I'm going to have to bring you back and tell them that the reason we were gone so long is because I had to track you down or... I'll figure something believable out. But we're out here so you can adjust. So you can learn how things have to be between us. It's just a temporary reprieve."

She pulled her hands out of his and wrapped her arms around herself. Of course it was. The decision she'd made in the woods was seeming more and more foolish by the second. She'd tried to do things her way instead of just trusting the Father, and look at the mess that had created. Tears blurred her vision, but she blinked them back and forced a smile. "So if that's how it has to be, I might as well get to know you. The real you."

He moved to sit beside her. "My last name is really Calistar."

"And your first name?"

"Damien, but my middle name is Dane, and that's what I've always gone by."

"Huh..." She pulled her legs up to her chest and rested her chin on her knees. "Well, it's a start at least. Something's better than nothing, right?"

"Right." He stood. "And in the interest of trying to give each other a fresh start, will you join me for dinner? I cooked."

She stood with a raised brow. "I didn't know you cooked."

"I learn fast. But don't expect anything too fancy. I haven't had to prep or cook my own meals since... Well, ever." He headed for the door. "This should be considered a gourmet meal given that."

She followed him with a smile. This wasn't easy by any stretch of the imagination, but it also wasn't as hard as she'd expected it to be. Somehow, he seemed more real and open now than he ever had before. Was this the real man behind whatever secret identity he donned as an agent and the lies he told because the Supremacy forced him to? Or was she only making things up to make this more bearable for herself? Only time would tell, and it seemed like she'd have plenty of that, for the time being, at least.