Chapter 152

Charles followed me into the bedroom, keeping so close that I nearly tripped over him. His hands kept skimming their way all over my body, up-and-down my back, through my hair, against my hands and my hips.

It was going to be a struggle for him to sit still long enough to hear the most important words that I had to say. But I was positive that once I got them out, his immediate need for sex would get pushed to the back burner, and he would be able to focus on bigger problems.

Sure enough, the moment the door closed, he pulled me against him, wrapping his arms around my waist and kissing my neck. “Are you sure this can’t wait?”

“I found my way onto the dark web,” I muttered in his ear.

He jerked back as if I’d doused him with hot water. He didn’t say anything, but a slow hiss escaped from between his teeth.

I nodded. “I thought that might cool you down. Shall we take a ‘shower?’” I used air quotes with my fingers.

He nodded and headed straight for the bathroom, turning on the water to block out any sound of our conversation that could be overheard through the door. When we had the door to the bathroom shut, he leaned against the sink, crossing both his ankles and his arms as if trying to keep out the bad news and the danger that this represented.

“How did you manage to do that?” he asked. “Are you safe?”

I nodded. “When I was doing some of my feel-good articles, I just had a gut instinct about one of the women that I interviewed, and sure enough. We decided to hang out just for friendly reasons and for me to get a chance to try to open the door without blatantly asking her about illegal things. The truth all just sort of tumbled out during that visit.”

“She even got me a clean laptop and a burner phone so that I don’t have to worry about who’s monitoring. I’ve been trolling around the whole dark web, collecting all sorts of information. I could write a novel on all of the things that are wrong with our government, and they are exactly as bad as I feared.”

He let out a sigh and rubbed a hand across his face. “Things with the alphas are bad, as I feared, too.”

“How did the interviews with the alphas go?”

His face was grim, his mouth a tight line. When he spoke, his voice was rough and angry. “Calling them interviews… It was a joke. It was like the officials needed an excuse to get them all into the office and process them without actually arresting them. We took their fingerprints and statements, but it didn’t matter. Everybody that I worked with just assumed that all of the alphas were guilty. I felt horrible having to turn on my own like that.”

“You didn’t turn on them,” I said, reaching for his arm.

He shuffled away, his gaze angry. “I did,” he growled. “I wasn’t with them, being interviewed as an alpha.

Instead, I was the one basically accusing them of being corrupt. Doesn’t that make me an active party to what’s certain to be their downfall?”

I took a step closer to him, risking the proximity and hoping that it wouldn’t start anything sexy until we were both ready. We had a lot of news to discuss between the two of us. I made sure to shake out my hair so that he could get a whiff of my scent.

Charles drew in a deep breath, closing his eyes and letting out a sigh. “Smart,” he said. “I’ve been without your scent for too long. I’ve got myself all bound up in knots.”

I took a deep breath off his chest. His vetiver filled my whole body as it entered my lungs. “I know just how you feel. Being apart from you has been horrible,” I admitted. “And I can see now that I’m the one who tortured us both.”

He put his hands on my cheeks, cupping my face and turning it up to look at him. “As I said before, you’re not entirely to blame. so don’t put this all on your head.” He let out a sigh and tipped his forehead forward until it rested against mine. “But let’s not rehash that we’ve already settled this between us. We’re back together, and that’s what matters. And what we need to do now is clearly move forward. So, tell me how the dark web is set up.”

So, I explained to him about all the forums and whatnot and where I had found the information in the discussion boards that had led me to even more sites. In the end, I let my shoulders droop, leaning forward so that he took my weight while he was still leaning on the cabinet.

“The problem is,” I said, trying to find the words to express how distressing what I had found was, “the news is definitely worse than I expected. But the hardest part is that I have no good way of getting information out to people. I can’t take this information to my work and publish it. The Palace Press Panel would just shut it down, and then they might arrest me.”

“Or worse,” Charles added.

I nodded against his chest. “It’s not something that I can just toss out there.”

“What about this?” Charles started slowly, throwing an idea out there with hesitancy. “What if I were to purchase a news outlet here in town? One wasn’t the Palace Press, so you didn’t have to go through a panel?”

I shook my head against this chest. “I thought about asking you for that already, but it won’t work.”

He pushed me back and looked down into my eyes. “Why not?” he demanded.

“Because my name will still be on the article. I’ll still find myself jailed just as quickly because then whoever monitors these things will only be slowed a little in finding something that the palace doesn’t want to be published.”

“Everything will disappear,” I complained. “Did I tell you that my previous work on the corruption in Lustrum has been banned here? The only people who have read it in Packhaven are those whose families have sent it in or found it through clandestine sources.”

He let out a low growl. “That does present a problem.” He crossed his arms and uncrossed them several times, and then shifted away from the cabinet and started pacing around the space in the bathroom, making little circles around me.

“What if we just start at smaller for now?” Charles suggested. “It sounds like there’s no cohesive news source on the dark web, some place that consolidates all of this information and reports back all of the problems so that if people want to see the whole picture of what’s going on, they can. Because unless they’re as industrious as you, and they’ve been all over the dark web, it doesn’t sound like anybody would have a really good idea of how deep this corruption goes.”

“Not to mention it would be a place to compile a list of names,” he added without ceasing his pacing. “That way, if anybody sees somebody who has been partaking in the corruption that is listed, they can get in touch with you.”

“That’s a really good idea,” I agreed. “Would you even know how to set up a webpage on the dark web?”

He gave me a wolfish grin. “Honey, you’re engaged to one of the most powerful news magnates and the whole of Orlune. Of course, I know how to set up a webpage. And while I’ve never been on the dark web, I’m sure I’ll figure it out in no time.”

“There’s just one problem with your statement,” I said.

He cocked his head, looking confused. “I’m not engaged to you.”

Charles caught up my hands and pulled me to his chest, his eyes sparkling. My breath caught in my throat. Was he about to ask what I thought he was going to ask?

Charles’ face came toward me, his lips hovering over mine, and he whispered the words, “Elena Laurentia, would you do me the honor of being my wife?”

“Yes,” I breathed back, letting the word caress his lips in return. “A thousand times, yes.”

His lips came down on mine, and the problems of the world seemed to dissolve in that one touch.