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Her hand clutched around the orb. “It’s mine.”
“Then it must be worth more than most pretty gems. It’s worth something to them.”
Her gut cramped. There was consideration in his eyes. He knew there was more to this, and he wouldn’t let it go. Dammit.
Then he stood, and she realized he was leaving.
Her stomach turned over. “Unlock me. Don’t leave me here like this.” Helpless. Trapped.
“I’m going to talk with my brothers. You need to finish healing under the med scanner. I’ll be back.”
She watched him leave, feeling sweat beading on her forehead. She remembered being locked in that gang dungeon, hearing the cries of the other girls echoing down the hall.
Dakota squeezed her eyes closed. The past was gone. She’d escaped it, like she had that gang dungeon—with her wits and determination.
She looked down at her cuff.
And she’d escape from this situation, as well.
CHAPTER FIVE
In the hall outside of the med bay, Dare conferred with his brothers. “She’s conscious.”
“Well, what did she say?” Ry asked.
Dare’s jaw worked. “She says she bought an artifact and didn’t know it had been stolen from Golden Nova.”
Justyn shrugged. “Maybe she did.”
Dare raised a brow. “She’s lying.” Dakota was a damn good liar, but he could see through it. “She has an orb. Some sort of blue jewel shaped like a sphere. Either that’s it, or she’s trying to throw me off. Maybe she has it hidden in her cabin.”
Ry shook his head. “We searched her cabin. Her stuff is just clothes, and I pulled the room apart. Nothing.”
“Well, whatever it is, she’s willing to risk her life for it.”
“Golden Nova doesn’t give up, and they don’t like being made fools of,” Ry said. “They’ll send more assassins. Is that something we want to be messed up with?”
No, but they were already in the middle of it. And Dare wanted to know exactly what was going on. He looked at Justyn. “How’s Nissa taking the news?”
His brother shrugged, but he had a worried look on his face. “She’s pretending it doesn’t matter. But any mention of Golden Nova and that brother of hers…it upsets her.”
Dare frowned. “I’ll get the truth out of Dakota.”
“Oh?” Justyn drawled. “I know that look.”
Dare scowled at his brother.
“It’s the Dare ‘I’m in charge of everything’ Phoenix look.” Justyn tilted his head, studying Dare’s face. “But it’s more than that, isn’t it? You’re attracted to her.”
“I barely know her.”
“You barely know any of the women you take to bed.” Justyn wagged a finger. “You’ve got the ‘this is mine and no one else is touching it’ look happening as well.”
Ry went still. “He never looks that way about a woman.”
Justyn stroked his chin. “Why all this trouble for her? Why not drop her off at the next habitable world? She doesn’t need to be our problem.”
Dare looked at the two people who meant the most to him in the world. He tried to never lie to them. “Truth is…hell, I don’t know. Something about her just gets to me. She’s resourceful, a fighter. She has this look in her eyes… She looks at everyone like she’s assessing how long it’ll take someone to swindle her, or hurt her. It’s a look I recognize.”
