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“Good?” I asked.

“Oh muh gawd,” she said around the pastry. “Maybe it’s the hangover but it’s best donut ever.”

I grinned, and then shook myself. How stupid was it to be pleased just because she liked my synthesized donut? I really needed to get a hold of myself or I’d be a love sick fool in no time.

I cleared my throat and took a bite before continuing.

“You’ve already got the combat skills, so that’s most of it.

These guards don’t show their faces, ever.

It helps us sell the cover story since no one would’ve seen your face to know you haven’t been a guard.

But that won’t work for you in the matches, so you won’t have the usual masks they do.

And they have a…particular kind of outfit. ”

She stopped mid bite to glare at me.

“Why do I feel like I’m gonna hate this?”

“Because you are.”

I handed her the holo tab with a mockup of the version of the ‘uniform’ she’d be wearing in the fight pit.

She took a long drink of her coffee, set it on the table and looked at the image. At first I thought maybe she was just stunned, or the hangover had her processors slowed. But the longer she stared the more I could see the wheels working in her mind.

“That’s a lot of skin,” she finally said. “How the hell am I supposed to not get hurt wearing this when the other fighters probably have full armor?”

“The other fighters won’t be wearing much more than you are. Part of the draw of the female fights are the skimpy outfits.”

“I should’ve guessed that.”

“And the areas where skin is showing is covered in a cloaked mesh of finely woven armor. It’ll stop a knife. Mostly.”

“That makes me feel so much better about fighting in bikini mail.”

I snorted and gave her a playful grin.

“Maybe you’ll like it.”

“I think you’re thinking of you, creeper.”

She set the tablet on the bed and slowly got to her feet.

“What else?”

“We’ve got VIP lodgings with Zelena. During the matches I’ll be in the high roller box with Zelena so I can schmooze and get in with whoever Lady Seraph has looking for a fighter.

You will need to be one of the last five standing to get into the top bracket and be the first chosen by a syndicate family.

Lady Seraph isn’t well liked. You’re going to be the most sought after fighter there when you make it to the last five standing, and that alone will make you a prize she’ll want so she can rub it in everyone else’s faces. ”

“They’re not a big fan of hers, huh?”

“Let’s just say that killing your whole family and taking the reins isn’t looked upon kindly.”

She nodded and grimaced, holding her head in her hand.

“You gonna be up for tonight?” I asked, kicking myself for letting her drink that much last night.

“I’ve fought feeling worse.”

“These are trained professionals, not some wannabe dictator’s minions. And you’re going to be thrown into a large arena with at least twenty of them. It’s going to be fast, bloody and vicious. They’ll wipe the floor with you if you’re not ready.”

“Thanks, I didn’t know that,” she snapped. “If I say I can do it, I can. I’m not arrogant enough to risk the mission over my pride.”

I frowned at her, still worried in spite of her assurances.

“I need you not to treat me with kid gloves because of our past, got it?” she asked, her voice halting a bit on the word ‘past’. “I’m your partner and you’re mine. We have to be honest and trust one another or this won’t work.”

“Alright,” I leaned back and crossed my arms over my chest, “I’m worried you’re pushing through a really bad hangover only to end up badly injured and everything goes to shit.

Because if anyone finds out you’re not who Zelena has said you are?

We’re all dead, including her. It doesn’t matter that she’s famous and has dirt on half the people there.

These fuckers will kill us all and sleep well after. ”

“It’s not my first mob rodeo.”

“But it is your first match with women who had childhood experiences that make ours look like a prep school. Most are psychotic, a few are certified murderers who get away with it because they make these people a lot of money.”

“Not. My first. Rodeo.”

I grunted in frustration and slapped my hand on my thigh.

“Are you hearing me?” I demanded.

“Are you ? I’m not…” she took a breath and closed her eyes like she was steadying herself.

When she spoke again, her voice was tense but more quiet, controlled.

“I’m not the inexperienced child I was when we met.

Trust me, please. I know what I’m doing but I need you to at least act like I can hold my own when we get to the station, or those women you’re so scared I’m under estimating will hear about it and everything will go sideways before we even get to the fight tonight. ”

I opened my mouth to retort and snapped it closed.

She was right, I was coddling her because I was terrified of losing her now that we’d finally found one another again.

I wanted to cart her off to the furthest reaches of space and forget about this weapon, about the GUP, all of it.That bordered on sentimental and I was many things but that wasn’t one of them.

This wasn’t a fairytale, and we weren’t going to ride off into the sunset with each other.

If we survived, she’d likely go back to the GIB and I’d head to one of my properties to drown myself in bourbon.

“I’m sorry,” I said, not looking her in the eye. “You’re right, you do need to appear strong and I need to trust you.”

She let out a long breath and picked up the second donut.

“Thank you. Now, when we get to the station, what’s next?”

“You’ll be fitted for the costume while I go introduce myself to the right people and pay my respects to heads of each syndicate, especially Lady Seraph. She might want to meet you, apparently news has spread fast that one of Zelena’s guards is fighting.”

“Is the free-for-all match armed?”

“Yeah, you’ll get to enter the arena with whatever weapon you want. Now, there’s a rule prohibiting sneaking in weapons but that doesn’t mean it can’t happen. At this level, and for the prize that’s being offered, these fighters will do anything to win, even risk being thrown out for cheating.”

“Got it. I’ll be careful.”

“They’ll likely disable your cyber weapons and check that you’re not hiding anything right before the fight. Are you okay with being searched?”

Her jaw clenched and I saw the flash of discomfort before the mask of professionalism slid back into place and she gave me a short nod.

“Okay, here’s the other thing you need to get up to speed on fast,” I swiped through the holo tablet until the star map came back up.

“This sliver there? That’s where Quarn station is currently parked in the neutral zone between the Krynn family territories here, and the Bryson territories on the other side.

These two families have been at war forever.

The only thing that keeps the peace are the other three families.

The Krynn family wears red, always. Brysons wear blue, Forenzi wears green, MacPhearsons wear silver and the Reynolds wear gold.

The Reynolds are the de facto head family, but Lady Seraph is gunning for the position, which means we need to be very careful how we position ourselves.

The Reynolds could help us break into the Krynn family database so we can find out if they have Norris, but we might not want to align with the family Lady Seraph hates. ”

“So we want Krynn to sponsor us.”

“Ideally, yes. Krynn has been amassing wealth at a crazy rate the past year, so it’s very possible Lady Seraph will be able to outbid everyone else, but who’s to say?”

“So, entertain them, don’t die, and hope that Krynn wins me at auction. Easy peasy.”

“Fuck, I hope so,” I murmured.

Zephyr grabbed my hand as I passed and stopped me cold.

It was skin to skin, and electricity shot up my arm straight to my cock.

She was so soft, so beautiful. Out of instinct, I rubbed my thumb over her knuckles, my breath catching at the way her pupils dilated.

It was a few seconds at most, but it stretched between us much longer until she let go of me.

The sudden loss of her snapped me out of the fog her touch had put me in and straightened my shoulders. It was clear from last night that all she wanted was friendship, not reigniting what we had. I would respect that and not risk my own pride by letting her see how much I wanted more.

“We can do this,” she said, with a confidence that shocked me.

“I’ve gotten very good at being able to tell what team to send for a job, how to make sure we weren’t caught with our pants down.

I know it’s risky, and there’s a lot of moving pieces we can’t exactly control, but I know us.

You and I are good at this, the best. We’re going to succeed, I can feel it. ”

“Your lips to whatever god’s ear is listening sweetheart,” I said with the sideways smile that had become so second nature that it hardly felt like a mask anymore.

Zephyr cocked her head to the side, a little frown dampening her smile, like she saw the moment I slipped back into my old persona. It made something in my chest squirm and I turned away from her.

“You should shower or whatever you need to get ready,” I said, walking up toward the cockpit. “We’ll be there in twenty minutes, though it’ll take us about fifteen to dock.”

“Okay, but only if there’s more donuts waiting for me.”

The playful tone caught me so much by surprise that I chuckled and turned around to find her eyes shining as she giggled at me.

“Is that how I get you to do what I want? Cheap pastries?” I asked.

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” And with a wink she disappeared into my room.