“Now is that necessary? We’re all friends here.”
Kaia snorted. “Cut the bullshit, Silas. We’re far from friends. I don’t trust you, so yeah, it’s necessary. Let’s get this shitshow started, shall we?” She tried her best to ignore Baz, who was seated next to Silas, but her gaze kept flicking over to him. Goddess he looked good. She missed his hair though. He used to wear it longer and she’d loved running her fingers through it and gripping it during sex. Blinking away the thoughts, she focused back on the reason she was there.
“A woman of purpose, I like that. All right. You know of Drago, right?”
“Yeah, what about him?”
“Seems he’s been keeping secrets. He’s got himself a little inventor who is inventing a machine that can drill deep into the planet to reach water, but he doesn’t want to share. I want you to get her, and her plans, for me. Now me, I’m a good sort. I want to see the planet restored. I’ll share the invention. You do this for me and we’ll be square.”
“Let me get this straight. You want me to break into Drago compound, kidnap a woman, steal her plans for an invention for a drill, bring her to you, and you’ll wipe Aimee’s debt clear?”
“That’s about it.”
Kaia stared at him.
“Well fuck. It’s not like you’re asking for the impossible or something,” she muttered.
“If you can’t do it…”
“I didn’t say that,” she interjected. “Shit. You’ve got a deal. I’ll let you know when the job is done.”
“Excellent. I knew you’d be the perfect person for the job. You’re just crazy enough to pull it off,” Silas chuckled. He got up and slid out of the booth.
Baz followed him but paused at the table. “Are you sure about this?”
“Aimee’s not going to be a whore for him, and killing him would be a nightmare, so yeah.”
“Just be careful. You might not believe me but I still love you, Kaia. It would break me if something happened to you.”
“Save it, Baz. You lost the right to tell me that when you left,” Kaia hissed. The words hurt too damn much to hear.
He knocked his fist on top of the table and followed Silas out. They waited ten minutes before finally leaving themselves. Their people fell into step with them as they made their way back to their rovers and then headed home.
“I can’t fucking believe what he wants you to do,” Tuck said from the backseat of the rover.
“Yeah, me neither. But I’ll do it. No,wewill do it. This will be a team effort. It’s going to require some serious planning, a big diversion, and a lot of firepower. Shit, it’s going to get ugly if things go south.”
“Then we don’t let it go south,” Tuck said matter-of-factly.
Kaia laughed. “You’re always good at being blunt when I need it.”
“That’s what you keep me around for,” he deadpanned.
“You know it,” she said cheekily.
They all laughed at that and the tension in the rover eased. Kaia was already going over plans in her head by the time they reached the compound.
“Thank the Goddess you’re back!” Aimee said when she got out of the rover.
“Aw, were you worried about us?” Kaia asked.
“Well duh, you were meeting with Silas. Like you’ve said before, the man’s a viper.”
“Don’t worry, kid, I kept them safe,” Tuck said.
“I wish you would quit calling me that. I’m not a kid anymore. I’m all grown up now, in case you haven’t noticed,” she said, hands on her hips.
“Oh I’ve noticed,” he countered. “And so have all the other single men here,” he growled and stomped off.
