“Forgot you’ve got quetzal hearing now. I’m going to have to bite my tongue.”

“Don’t. It hurts too much . . . and the scabs get in the way of tasting a good wine.” Dek used a sleeve to wipe his mouth.

Talina figured old Claudio would have burst a vein if he could have seen his son do that.

Dek took his plate, walked over to the sink, and washed it. Placing it on the rack next to Talina’s, he turned, thoughtful yellow-green eyes on hers. “So, let me help you with your little problem. I told you, you’re getting glimpses of my hell. I grew up as a Taglioni.”

“You grew up like a sadistic Roman emperor. So, tell me, given all that, what makes you worth my time?”

He turned, giving her a thoughtful stare. “You and Kalico thought I had a death wish when I got here. After my family, after the horror of surviving Ashanti, it was more of a life wish. It didn’t matter how long I lived. Hours, days, weeks, or months. I just needed to live. Free. On my own terms. I needed to be respected for being the kind of man I am, not who I was.”

Dek smiled, paused, then said, “I was there, Tal. I made it. And then this damn quetzal comes along and starts dragging me right back down that same damn wormhole. Back into a universe I’d mostly come to think of as a bad dream. And I can’t shake it. Like right now, I can feel Demon inside my brain. Like he’s hovering over my memories, peering down into them, figuring out which one he’s going to pull from the bin and replay for my own personal humiliation and self-loathing.”

“Sorry about that. But, given what you just told me, would you rather I had let you die that day out at your claim?”

“For that kiss? I guess, win, lose, or draw, it was worth it.”

“You’ve got to be kidding.”

“Marry me.”

“What?”

He gave her a wistful smile. “Ah, there, see? That hesitation, the instant disbelief. That’s the same response you’d give Stepan Allenovich if he asked you. And, yes, you respect Step for his abilities as a man on Donovan. But he’s not worthy of you. I plan to be. In spite of my past and who I was.”

She threw her hands up. “Pay attention here. Step’s a philandering, whoring, drinking gambler. He’s not my kind of man.”

“Damn straight he’s not. But I intend to be when I get this thing out of my head.”

“Thought you understood the biology. It’s all through you. And it’s not going away.”