Dragging in a deep breath, Jenna tried not to think about the risk Vic would betray them. She held her breath in for a moment or two before exhaling slowly. It was a trick she employed before tense negotiations, one that kept her centered and calm. “So, you’re happy to let me carry a laser-pistol?” she asked after a few moments. Best not to focus on the claustrophobic darkness or the cyborg who held their lives in his hands.
“I am … you handle yourself well, for a novice.”
“Thank you,” Jenna replied, her mouth curving. “That’s praise indeed from the Captain of the Lord’s Watch.”
She placed her palms on the cool floor on either side of her body. The steady thrum of the engines changed then, andThe Wayfarershuddered. They were coming out of hyperspace.
Idral—and the Mir-Ferrin blockade—would be looming before them.
“Do you want me to kill your husband?”
The question, uttered in barely more than a whisper, caught Jenna off-guard.
She went rigid, her pulse accelerating.
“Gods, you don’t know how tempting that is,” she replied. “However, I think it’s best we concentrate on getting Cathal, Isla, and Bea freed.”
“I want to save your brother and his family too … but Tian deserves to die.” Malik’s voice was still quiet, yet there was no mistaking the steel just underneath. “What kind of man sends assassins after his wife?”
Jenna’s mouth twisted. “One who doesn’t like being bested by her … one who wants the last word.”
Silence fell once more, and when Malik finally broke it, there was an edge to his voice. “That was quite a sacrifice you made … binding yourself to him.”
“It was,” Jenna agreed softly. Her throat tightened then. “I should never have let my father promise me to him.”
“So why did you?”
“It’s the way things are in the ruling class, I suppose … duty is everything.” She paused then, sliding her palms across the cool metal floor, and trying not to think about the fact the Mir-Ferrins were likely scanning this freighter right now. Nonetheless, her pulse started to race. She hoped Vic was right about this hold. “It didn’t occur to me to say no.”
A pause followed this revelation. “So, there was never any affection between you?”
“No.” A weight settled on Jenna’s chest then, as memories of the first days of their marriage returned. She hadn’t gone into the union determined to hate Tian—the opposite, in fact. A part of her, the romantic dreamer, had hoped that once they got to know each other, she’d discover a different man beneath the arrogant façade.
But their wedding night had extinguished that hope.
“Tian wasn’t easy to warm to.” She reached up and rubbed her temples. Talking about Tian gave her a headache, yet at the same time, it was strangely cathartic, and a welcome distraction from their currently tense situation. It had been a strain, not saying anything to Cathal or Isla. “Believe me … I tried.” She drew in a deep breath then. “But behind closed doors, he was a bully.”
Silence fell once more, and when Malik broke it, his voice roughened. “Are you sure you don’t want me to kill that piece of shit? I’d be happy to.”
Jenna let out a shaky laugh. She didn’t need to tell Malik the details about her marriage; she’d said enough, and he’d guessed the rest.
Shuffling closer to her bodyguard, she reached out in the darkness, her hand closing over his knee. She then squeezed. “I want you to know, I don’t regret what happened between us back on Morith either,” she murmured, shocked by her own admission. Hadn’t she promised herself she’d locked that episode away? “I might have been under the influence, but I knew what I was doing … I wanted it.”
She felt his body stiffen under her hand.
Heat washed over her then. Damn it, she’d let her mouth run away from her. The forced intimacy, the darkness, had lowered her barriers.
She was about to remove her hand when Malik’s hand closed over hers.
Wordlessly, he squeezed back.
It seemed an eternity before Vic finally yanked open the hold doors.
Bright artificial light flooded in, causing Jenna to blink rapidly.
“Sorry about the wait,” the cyborg greeted them.
“What kept you?” Malik asked, his tone hard-edged.
