He put the papers on the counter and stood. "Next time, they'll bomb the building to get you."
She sm irked. "How do you know?"
"I would."
His deadpan voice frightened her more than anything else he could have said. Kiara swallowed the lump burning in her throat. "This is my career you're talking about. A missed performance could end it."
"Death would be a much more permanent end to it."
Well she couldn't argue with that logic. "What am I supposed to do? Stay imprisoned here, waiting for the next assassin to come in and kill me? Why not just bomb this building and have done with it?"
Nykyrian didn't so much as twitch a muscle as he responded in his low, unwavering voice, "League rules."
Kiara stiffened in confusion. "What?"
"The League forbids a free-assassin to detonate a bomb in a housing building."
She laughed at the absurdity of the idea of paid killers following a code of honor. "You mean assassins actually have rules to follow? Why should someone who kills for a living give a damn about some League ordinance?"
Still no visible reaction from Nykyrian The Tough. "If you had ever disobeyed the League, you wouldn't ask that question."
She moved closer to him and leaned against the bar. "What's that supposed to mean? Are you speaking from your own experience?"
He moved away from her. "Very few free-assassins have the ability to outwit League Assassins. Despite the corruption inherent in their own system, the League does try to keep some type of law over the free-assassins to make sure they don't become more powerful than the fat bureaucrats."
Kiara pursed her lips. That didn't answer her second question at all.
She studied Nykyrian, finding it amusing that he allowed someone to govern his behavior. She cocked a disbelieving eyebrow at him. "And you abide by these laws?"
"When it suits me to."
Kiara clutched her robe closed. The underlining threat of his words was not lost on her.
She had been right, he respected no man's rules, except his own.
She cleared her throat and quickly changed the subject. "Can I at least go shopping? I have a birthday present to buy for a friend of mine."
He went perfectly still and she wondered why her question bothered him. "If we must,"
he said at last. "I suppose you want to go today."
Kiara narrowed her eyes at him. "Well, with my pressing schedule, I don't know. I think I might be able to schedule it between my luncheon and party."
He didn't even bother to smirk at her sarcasm. "Go get dressed. It'll be better to go before the afternoon crowds start swarming."
With a sigh, Kiara retrieved her juice and a slice of grasdin then headed to her bedroom.
It didn't take her long to shower and dress, but before she finished, she heard Rachol talking with Nykyrian in the main room. They spoke a strange language she couldn't understand even though she listened very carefully for her name or any other word she might recognize.
Well at least Nykyrian's harshness seemed to fade a tad around Rachol. She would like to see some reaction from her bodyguard other than shrugs and clipped retorts.
A wicked sm ile curved her lips. Before her common sense could rear its ugly presence, she changed clothes. If there was one thing she had learned in her adulthood, it was that men loved her lean, muscular body. Maybe a little sight of it just might wring some form of reaction out of Nykyrian.
She pulled on a pair of tight black slacks and the low-cut matching blazer that hugged her curves in just the right way. Kiara tucked a white scarf into the deep décolleté to disguise the fact she didn't wear a blouse.
This was the outfit that had gotten her noticed by some of the most desirable men in the universe. She couldn't wait to see how Nykyrian would fare against it! Slipping her feet into a pair of low-heeled boots, she went to join him and Rachol.
As she entered the main room, Nykyrian looked up from his conversation and didn't so much as prolong a word, let alone trail off in the startled appreciation she usually received from men when she dressed this way.
Rachol turned around in his chair and almost fell out of it. He cleared his throat.
"Whoa," he said, looking back at Nykyrian.
"Thank you," she said with a disappointed sigh.
Nykyrian cam e to his feet, still refusing to acknowledge her dress. "Are you ready?"
Grinding her teeth together in disappointed frustration, she nodded. She thought Nykyrian would at least take her arm to keep her near him, but all he did was open the door and scan the corridor before waving her out of the apartment.
"Is Rachol staying here?" she asked, noting he didn't move from his chair.
Rachol's laugh answered her. "Yeah, Kip gets to guard you and I get to house-sit. Life bites the big tee-tawa."
She frowned. "The big what?"
"We won't be gone long," Nykyrian cut in before Rachol could answer. He shut and locked her door.