Rhys lost his veneer of easygoing charm. He looked more like I remembered him from when we first met. He also looked more like Loch. “I owe you a great deal, Lady Ada,” he said softly. “And I respect you in equal measure. I will not betray you or your secrets. But do not threaten me again.”
I nodded once. “I apologize,” I said. Hopefully when he saw Lin, he would understand my caution. “And you owe me nothing,” I added. “Our debt has long been settled. If anything, I owe you.”
“We will have to agree to disagree,” Rhys said.
I’d tried before to tell Rhys he didn’t owe me anything, but the man was nearly as stubborn as me. The first time I’d met him, I happened to be in the right place at the right time. I’d spent months tracking him down on a rumor that he had an inside line on Yamado’s newest weapons. House von Hasenberg very much wanted to examine them but we hadn’t been able to break into the supply chain. Even after I found him it took weeks of careful negotiation to set up an in-person meeting.
But Rhys, never content to do only one illegal activity, was also an expert forger. And it turns out that he’d forged documents for a person of interest to House von Hasenberg who had folded under questioning and given Rhys up. So while I was there undercover, trying to negotiate for the weapons, my own freaking House had raided his warehouse.
I wasn’t about to trash months of work for a little forgery, plus by then I’d gotten to know Rhys enough to like and respect him. I broke cover and bailed his ass out of trouble. After that I funneled as much House business his way as I could, and when he talked about expanding his business, I gave him the loan the bank wouldn’t.
In return, Rhys had never betrayed me, even after I left the House. He set up my new burner identities and forwarded me any info he had on where Father’s security forces were searching. He repaid my loan with interest, which gave me a tidy little off-the-books profit. I trusted him almost as much as I trusted my sisters and that was no small thing.
Rhys grinned and the moment passed. His mask fell back into place, as seamless as my own. “Loch and I will take care of securing this stuff. You get us a jump point.”
I mock saluted him then headed to the flight deck to do as he requested. If Richard did know we were here then it made sense to leave as soon as possible. Of course, turning on external communications could let any remaining trackers lead him straight to us. It was a risk, but one we’d have to take.
I brought the ship to flight readiness then requested a jump point in the Antlia sector near the supposedly empty von Hasenberg planet. Because it was so close to APD Nine, the gate was busy and we were deep in the queue. Even with the constant upgrades busy gates received, it would be at least two hours before we’d get our jump coordinates.
Two hours as sitting ducks.
I set the ship’s computer to alert me as soon as we hit tenth in line, then returned to my quarters to change into workout clothes. Watching as we slowly crept through the queue would drive me crazy. I needed to burn off some energy.
I took my blasters just in case of trouble, then slid down the ladder to the fitness room. The room was empty so I cranked up the music and set a brutal pace on the treadmill. It took longer than usual, but I finally found the zen point where my body worked hard but my mind drifted freely.
With an entire ship of people counting on me, I needed to execute my plan flawlessly. First, I would check out the von Hasenberg planet. According to our records it didn’t even have an outpost, so risk of discovery should be low. And if there was something there, then I’d know both sides were obfuscating the truth.
Once I’d ascertained that the records were correct, I’d head to the Rockhurst planets. The size of the mining operation would give me a good idea if I was on the right track about the planets being linked to faster FTL drives—if I was, they’d be stripping the planet bare as fast as possible.
Then I would have to reassure my sister I was alive and negotiate with Father—Polaris for my freedom.
I ran until my legs ached and my lungs sawed the air. Sweat dripped down my arms and soaked through my clothes. I increased the incline until I was sprinting uphill. My heart rate skyrocketed, and I felt my pulse pound through my body. I kept it up until I thought I’d collapse if I took another step, then I did another five minutes. When running was your best defense, you learned to run like hell.
By the time I was done with cooldown, my legs had picked up a fine tremble that I couldn’t control. I wobbled as I stepped off the treadmill. It was only then that I realized I wasn’t alone. Loch smoothly bench-pressed a bar loaded with weights. A quick calculation proved he was benching over 150 kilograms as easily as if it was the bar alone.
He could bench-press more than two of me without breaking a sweat. No wonder he had no trouble carting me around.
He racked the weight and sat up. “You done?” he asked.
“I should probably do some upper body work but I’m wiped,” I said. “And I need to be able to climb back to the flight deck when the alarm goes off.” Already the stairs were daunting.
Loch put the weights back and wiped down the bench. “I’ll follow you up.” His expression went flat. “I need to get my bag out of your room, since I’m locked out.”
Right, I’d locked him out after he was a jerk at our first meeting with Rhys and before we’d slept together. I rubbed a tired hand over my face. We needed to talk anyway. “Okay,” I said.
The trip upstairs was slow but Loch didn’t rush me or offer to help. I gripped the handrail with white knuckles but I didn’t fall. I pressed a hand to the access panel and the door to my quarters slid open. Loch followed me in.
The door slid closed. I had already half turned to him when he grabbed me and spun me around. The blaster appeared in my hand without conscious thought. He casually knocked it aside then his tongue slid into my mouth and my thoughts scattered.
Several minutes later he pulled back. “If you’re not going to shoot me,” he said, “you might want to put the gun away.”
Oh, this was bad. Bad, bad, bad. I took a large step away from him. He let me go but watched me with predatory stillness. I holstered the blaster, unnerved at how easily he had knocked it aside and distracted me. Even now my body burned for him.
“We need to talk,” I said.
“That’s never a good start.”
“No, probably not,” I said. I sighed. “I thought last night was the last time I’d see you,” I said, opting for honesty. “I figured you would be gone this morning. I don’t mean to offend”—I rushed on when I saw thunderclouds gathering in his expression—“it’s what I expected. In fact, if I’d known you were planning to stick around, I might’ve made a different decision.” I shook my head. The world ended in what-ifs and might-have-beens.
“You wouldn’t have fucked me, is that what you’re saying?” he growled, scowling.
“Yes. No. I don’t know,” I said. I shook my head in frustration. “I know how to have one-night stands. I don’t know how to have a relationship. Relationships require a level of trust I’ve never felt comfortable with. As daughter of a High House, no matter how far down the hierarchy, I’ve always been seen as a means to an end rather than a real person.”
His scowl deepened. “You think I fucked you because of your name?”
I hadn’t, not at the time, but I hadn’t been doing much thinking at all. “Did you not?” I challenged. I was a bastard for asking, but now that the possibility was there, I had to know. Tentative hope bloomed. Maybe he really had just seen Ada and not Lady von Hasenberg.
He turned away from me in an explosive move, a caged tiger with nowhere to escape. He turned back, furious. “You’ve tied my hands neatly, haven’t you?” He continued without waiting for my answer, “Deny it and you’ll think I’m lying. Agree and I’m an evil bastard.”