But there was no bargaining with the devil.

Zalan had escaped as soon as he heard what had become of his wife and oldest child. He’d taken Zarya and her other two sisters and brother into hiding, and there he, along with several of his friends who’d also been targeted by Arturo, had set up the Resistance that had been plaguing Arturo ever since.

Thrown into a life of crime against his will, Zalan had been instrumental in helping to limit Arturo’s power through well-placed counterassaults. And he’d trained Zarya to lead and take his place should anything happen to him.

But after years of fighting Arturo and his own allies who argued inside the Resistance, and the death of his only son and another daughter, Zalan had lost his fire. He’d decided to leave politics behind and to take his two remaining daughters far away from the horror he’d raised them in. To get them to a better place where they could finally be children and not soldiers for what appeared to be a never-ending cause.

Six years ago when Zalan had been on his way to their safe house to pick up Zarya and her sister, his best friend had murdered him.

It’d been Zarya’s eighteenth birthday and Zalan had planned for their new life to be his present to her.

To this day, she couldn’t stand celebrating the day of birth. Something Darling had discovered the hard way last year when he’d thrown her a “surprise” party for the two of them. The surprise had been on him more than her. Instead of being happy, she’d almost taken his head off over it.

He’d felt like a total ass when she explained to him why she hated the date so much, and why the last thing she wanted to do was celebrate it.

In the end, after her tears for her family had been spent, they’d decided to move her birthday to the day they’d first met as adults. He could still see the fire in her amber eyes as she looked up at him like he was a hero for thinking of it. “I love that idea. I never had a life worth living without you, anyway.”

Tomorrow, he was going to make damn sure that she never had a reason to regret her decision to marry him.

Zarya set her link in the stand on her desk, then smiled. “Clarion wanted me to ask if you’d be back in time to help us liberate the prisoners on Baltael V, on the first.”

Another example of Arturo’s cruelty. Those prisoners were innocent business owners whose companies had been deemed government property and their assets and revenue seized.

Darling clenched his teeth in anger, but he didn’t want her to hear it in his voice since it wasn’t directed at her. “If what I’m doing tomorrow works, you won’t have to worry about that. They’ll already be free.”

“What do you mean?”

“I can’t tell you, Z. It’s Sentella business.”