Viktis chuckled, enjoying the curves visible through the clinging fabric of her street clothes. The woman knew how to fill out a shirt. “You hide it well, but I know your soul yearns for me when we’re apart.”
“Oh, is that what that is? I thought I’d eaten a bad pastry.” The elevator halted and she stepped into the hallway. “If you’ll excuse me, I have a reservation with a good book and a soft bed. I don’t plan on moving for two days if I can help it.”
Viktis followed, his worn boots sinking into the plush carpet. He wasn’t letting her get away that easily. “I’d be happy to keep you company in that bed. Provide some extra protection, you know, just in case MYTH tracks us down here.” The words were filler—vapid flirtation—but he wouldn’t say no if she agreed.
Keva turned, her gaze narrowed in a wordless threat.
He took a step back, holding up his hands in defeat. He also didn’t plan on getting punched today, either.
“I think I can manage on my own.” She walked away, but Viktis matched her long strides. She was sadly mistaken if she thought he’d just give up.
“What do you want, Viktis?” she asked, a note of weariness creeping into her voice. “Is it too much to ask for forty-eight hours of peace and quiet?”
“Look, I know it isn’t fair of me to ask, but I need your help.” And he’d do whatever it took to stop the Cordozas. One way or another.
Keva jerked to a halt in the middle of the silent hallway, eyes flashing. “No! I’m not going to help wash your back! Or anything else for that matter.”
He chewed his lip to keep from bursting into laughter. His mirth was chased away by an image of Keva covered in nothing but soap bubbles. The hallway suddenly felt oppressively warm and he tugged at his collar. “That’s not what I need. I’m being serious here, Keva.”
“Lieutenant Keva.”
“Fine, I’ll call you whatever you want if you’ll just hear me out.”
“I didn’t spend a week’s worth of salary on this room to stand here in the hall with you.”
“Does that mean you’re inviting me in?” he asked, glancing at the frosted glass door.
She rolled her eyes. “Not on your life. So spit it out, pirate. You’ve got sixty seconds before you’re kissing glass.”
“I don’t need sixty seconds.” He lowered his voice. “The captain and I need your help to take down the Black Widow.”
Keva’s eyes widened and she sucked in a tiny breath. “You can’t be serious. Anyone who’s ever tried to go after her has ended up dead or locked away for life.”
“But I have a plan.”
“I’m sure that’s what the rest of them thought, too. I can’t believe Captain Finn is helping you with this.” She frowned, eyebrows furrowing. “You’re not bribing him are you?”
“No. I’m not. Shocking, isn’t it?” Viktis said with a grin. “So what about you? Is the spoiled, rich girl afraid of getting her hands dirty?”
Keva’s lips parted with a furious gasp. “How dare you? You know nothing about me!”
Well, that’d struck home. Interesting. “I know enough,” he said. “Your accent is pure Preill. High-family stuff. You even walk like a royal, despite your military training. I should know. I used to be one myself.”
A muscle jumped in Keva’s jaw as she gritted her teeth. “Whatever my background is, it’s none of your business. And I’m not getting involved. You and Finn can do this without me.”
He crooked a hopeful smile at her. “Look. I thought you MYTH-types were all about stopping injustices and make the galaxy a better place. Getting this woman locked up for life is the best thing for everyone.”
Keva sighed heavily. “Except me.”
Viktis watched her shoulders slump. She was starting to crumble. He pushed forward. “The woman almost killed Myka. She’s a slaver and a bully, and the tech she’s here to retrieve could change everything. If we don’t do something, she’ll be unstoppable.”
Keva slipped her keycard into her door and shook her head. “I’ll think about it. After my nap.”
Viktis nodded to her room. “I could help you with that, if you wanted…”
“I don’t.”
Viktis saluted as she shut the door in his face. That had gone better than he’d expected.
CHAPTER 4
Three hours later, Viktis tugged at the high collar of his suit jacket and surreptitiously wiped his sweating palms on his black tuxedo pants. The last time he’d worn a suit was for Big Joe’s funeral, but according to his intel, Kitty Cordoza was a sucker for a man in a tux, and if he hoped to get close to her, he’d need to play the part.
Hopefully Finn was already playing his.
He walked through the casino doors, inhaling the scent of credits and desperation. The clanging metallic slot machines played their festive ditties in the background, while a group of Conyara aliens, squat women with grayish skin and thick ridges running parallel across their bald heads, stood around a roulette table, shouting at the little white marble in deep, raspy voices.
Across the room, he spotted Lieutenant Keva in the doorway. She paused, surveying the room, her tight black dress skimming her curves and showing off her long, long legs.
Viktis swallowed. Damn. The lieutenant was clearly hiding more than just a rich girl persona beneath her uniform.
He was going to have up his game. No doubt about it.
The woman spotted him and inclined her head regally before slowly making her way toward him. She’d pulled her silver hair up, and her violet eyes looked big and luminous in the glittering chandeliers that hung from the ceiling of the casino. A blue-clad waiter passed by, carrying a tray of champagne. Keva lifted a glass without missing a beat.
A woman after his own heart.
He couldn’t help but watch her wet her lips before taking a sip. Her eyes fluttered closed as she swallowed.
Viktis fiddled with his collar again and shifted uncomfortably. Pull yourself together, he ordered.
“Not bad,” Keva said, letting her gaze travel down Viktis’s body. “You clean up well. For an Ileth.”
“I’d make an equally witty comment about you, Lieutenant, but you’ve left me so breathless I can’t find the words.”
She looked away, but Viktis caught the curl of her lips and tried to ignore the thrill that shot through him. There was nothing better than making a beautiful woman happy. There were a few other ways he’d like to delight her, too. Unfortunately, they would have to wait.