Disappointed him?
The accusation was so ridiculous that it stole Solara’s voice. She’d done everything he had asked of her, completed each demeaning task without once complaining. How dare he accuse her of failing to honor her side of the bargain?
Her vision tunneled, and she thrust a finger at him. “I came to your suite in the middle of the night to bring you a glass of water when you were too lazy to walk to the bathroom. I cleaned your girlfriend’s vomit off the sofa cushions.” Solara’s voice raised a pitch. “For God’s sake, I even fetched her panties when you two left them in the elevator! I wanted to amputate my own hand after that!”
Doran’s cheeks flushed bright pink, but he kept his tone cool. “I don’t tolerate liars.”
“Liars,” she repeated, finally understanding the real issue. She’d refused to share the details of her conviction with him. Well, that wasn’t going to change. She ripped off one glove and held her knuckles in his face. “So this is what it’s about? You want to know what I did to earn my ink?”
His blue eyes narrowed. “I can’t promise I’ll reconsider my decision.”
“That’s okay. I want you to know.” She gripped the stair rails and leaned down until she was close enough to smell his musky cologne. “I killed my last boss—buried a wrench in his brain when he tried to fire me.”
Doran took one step backward down the stairs, then another.
“But the judge had mercy,” she said, holding his gaze as she followed him down the steps. “Because my boss was just like you…a total waste of flesh.”
“I don’t believe you.” But Doran’s trembling voice contradicted his words.
“That I killed someone?” she asked. “Or that you’re a waste of flesh? Because one of those statements is true.”
He glared at her. “While you’re hustling a ride to the outer realm, I’ll be sipping champagne in bed with my girlfriend. Who’s the real failure here?”
“You are,” Solara said. “No doubt about it.” An odd sense of calm settled over her, steadying her pulse and slowing her breath. It felt good to speak her mind, even if each word was a nail in her coffin. “I might have dirt under my fingernails and tattoos across my knuckles,” she told him, “but I can fix that with a hot bath and a visit to the flesh forger. You’re dirty in a place that can’t be washed. You’ll never change, and you’ll never make a difference. When you die, no one will miss you, because your life won’t matter.” She followed him down the stairs until they stood nose-to-nose at the base. “You don’t matter.”
If she didn’t know better, she’d think her words had stung him. “Don’t pretend you’re better than me,” he whispered. “By the time you afford your first bolt bucket, I’ll control all the fuel in the galaxy. The Solar League would collapse without Spaulding, and they know it. If you hadn’t been expelled, you would’ve seen the League president at graduation—to congratulate me.”
She shook her head. “You still don’t get it.”
“You’re the one who’s deluded.”
“You know what? I’m glad you dropped me here.” She jabbed a finger toward his forehead to punctuate her final words. “You’re not worth my time.”
Lurching back to avoid her touch, Doran pointed at the top of the stairs. “Don’t let me stop you. Your passage here is unpaid. I’d hate to see you arrested as a stowaway.”
But despite her bold words, Solara didn’t budge.
Couldn’t budge.
Beads of sweat formed along her upper lip, because once she left the safety of this transport, there was no turning back. She would never survive out there. And if she stayed on board the Zenith and the crew caught her, they would show no leniency. Not with her conviction so fresh. They’d send her to one of the prison colonies, where she would spend the rest of her life mining the fuel ore that made Doran so rich.
No.
She couldn’t lose her freedom over him. There had to be another way.
“Better hurry,” he said with a smug smile. “I’ve traveled on plenty of vessels like this, and they don’t take all day to refuel.”
While he gloated, Solara scanned the engine room for anything she could smuggle out and barter for passage on another ship. She spotted an upgraded gravity drive, but without the tools to remove it, the device was useless to her.
Think harder, she told herself. There’s always unexpected currency to find.