Free Beloved Stranger: Gaian Series, Book 5 by Janet Miller

that.”
    “I remember that. And if you hadn’t drugged me, the door’s alarm would have woken me.”
    “I didn’t set off the alarms.”
    “You didn’t set off the ones you found. There were others.” Like the one at the top of the doorway that had triggered when she’d opened the front door. It had a passive switch that a standard lock pick tool like the one he’d taken from her wouldn’t detect. That was why he’d installed it in the first place.
    A man couldn’t be too careful when living in a mining colony full of prisoners. He’d just never expected that he would need to protect himself from the woman he’d married.
    Sonja shrugged. “Alarms on top of alarms. And you can out-stealth me.”
    “I’m glad I found a way to impress you,” Roan said dryly. “But I have some questions too. What is this all about? Why did you leave in the middle of the night?”
    “I had some business to attend to.”
    “Business?” He stared at her. “What kind of business could you have in the middle of the night?”
    “Nothing that concerns you.”
    It was all he could do to keep his temper. “Everything about you concerns me. Sonja, you are my wife.”
    She stiffened and that stubborn chin of hers went up. “That’s not necessarily true.”
    An empty pit opened in his stomach. “What are you talking about? We were married just last night. We both agreed to it.” At her expression, the pit widened. “Unless…are you already married?”
    If she already belonged to someone else their marriage would be invalid.
    Sonja startled and shook her head. “No, nothing like that.”
    Roan let out a relieved breath, but she didn’t let him relax long. She folded her arms and faced him.
    “I’ve read about Gaian marriage. There is a three-day period where either of us can back out of it.”
    Sweet Gaia, he hadn’t expected she’d studied their customs enough to know that. In fact he hadn’t even considered that his wife might take advantage of the grace period. Of all the marriages he’d seen, and that had been more than a few, given his business, none of the wives had taken advantage of the grace period and left their husbands.
    She was really planning to leave him? After what they’d shared in bed earlier, this was the last thing he’d expected. Of course he hadn’t expected to find his wife dressed for stealth and sneaking around the bubble carrying an illegal stunner either.
    “So running away was your way of asking for an annulment?” He pulled the dart, knife, stunner and lock pick out of his pocket and slammed them onto the table. “And what about these? Don’t tell me that lock picks and stunners are standard for a new bride’s trousseau these days.”
    Sonja returned his glare for a long moment, and then he saw something in her face. Weariness, and possibly even guilt. She looked sad, like she wasn’t happy about what had happened, and he didn’t think it was just because she’d gotten caught.
    Could she also be unhappy about leaving him?
    He’d woken to the sound of the door’s alarm, still sounding after she’d been gone for some time. His head hurting, Roan had grabbed his own illegal stunner and headed into the living room, not bothering to dress. He’d thought his home had been invaded, and his first thought had been to protect his new wife, in his fuzziness not remembering her sticking him with a dart.
    But then he’d remembered, and realizing Sonja was gone and that she’d taken her bag, he’d known she must have triggered the alarm. He’d thrown clothes on and followed her, using a pocket locator to track her wristband.
    He’d wondered if she intended to meet one his competitors or one of the enemies he’d gathered over the past few years. He even wondered if she’d been a plant to get inside his home.
    He could barely believe it possible, though. How would any of his enemies have managed it? First to find a woman Roan could attach to, then bring her in to the same marriage meet