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“Lunch with me today at noon. You’ll be met at the shuttle gate.”
No greeting, no pleasantries. Unmistakably a command.
Adrenaline spiking, Micki considered her options, which were abysmally few. She and Denzin might claim each other as siblings and he might have saved her yesterday but he was a high ranking Amarotu Combine mobster and there was no way she could ignore this summons. She didn’t exactly have any fear about meeting him but she was sure he didn’t want to discuss old times in the camps. He must want something. The idea terrified her. She had too much to lose nowadays. Being a runner for him when she was a kid with nothing to her name was one thing but she was a long way from that version of herself.
And then there was Josh. Micki knew with certainty he’d never approve of this lunch date.
Checking the time Micki was galvanized into action. She had barely enough time to run through the refresher, change into a nice dress and run to the shuttle deck. If she missed the next trip to the planet she’d be unforgivably late to meet Denzin. Luckily she was good at performing under pressure and in a short while was leaving her cabin heading for the crew gravlift. As she made her way to the shuttle deck, she got out her handheld and called Tassia, cutting her old friend’s greeting short.
“Listen, I’m in a rush but I need you to do something for me, okay?”
“Anything you know you can rely on me. You sound so dramatic—are you okay?”
“I’m fine but if I don’t make it back to the ship tonight, tell Liam to talk to Maeve about the message I got today. It’s really important.”
“You’re scaring me,” Tassia said. “Are you sure you ought to be going back to the planet after what happened yesterday?”
Micki was going up the ramp into the shuttle now. “I’ll be fine but I can’t talk anymore. Promise me.”
“I promise. Call me the instant you get back on board the Zephyr.”
“Will do.” Micki ended the call and pocketed her handheld. If Denzin did have anything nefarious in mind at least the authorities would have a starting point to search for her. As she picked a seat and settled in for the short flight, she breathed a prayer to the Lords of Space to be returning on the same shuttle in a few hours.
When she exited the portion of the spaceport where CLC shuttles landed there was a tall, extremely muscular man in an expensive suit waiting and she deduced he had to be the escort Denzin had sent. The man approached her and said, “The boss is waiting. The car is over here.”
Micki wasn’t keen on getting into a car with this obvious thug but she was here and she had no choice. On the drive to the restaurant in the heart of the city she sat quietly in the corner of the backseat, as far from her companion as she could get and tried to think about dancing. Anything to keep her nerves from short circuiting with anxiety because she’d need all her wits about her for the coming lunch.
The restaurant was upscale and Micki was escorted inside rapidly, after which a beautiful hostess took her into the private dining room where Denzin waited. No one else was in the room but her old friend sat with his back to the wall at a beautifully set table, with wine and hors d‘oeuvres already waiting. Micki made her way to the chair opposite his, conscious of his steady regard. There was a beautiful long stemmed flower laid across her plate and as she sat, she raised the bloom to her nostrils and inhaled the exotic scent. The effect was calming.
“You remembered how much I loved starscent lilies.” She was oddly touched and her pleasure was genuine.
“I remember everything,” Denzin said, pouring her a glass of the wine and handing it to her. “I already ordered.”
“No problem, you know what I like and don’t like,” she said. “Are we in a hurry?”
“I’m a busy man,” he said, stone faced.
“Thank you for yesterday.” She selected two of the dainty offerings on the hors d’oeuvres tray and bit into one. The flavors, as expected, were sublime.
“You were lucky I happened to be at the camp. It’s not my territory.”
“They all knew who you were though.” Micki remembered how easily her old friend had made the group of would-be thugs stand down and give up their plans. “Just like old times in our camp. No one tangled with you, which was good for me.”
Denzin leaned forward. “Is he good to you? Does he treat you right?”
Josh was a dead man if her answer didn’t satisfy the dangerous Amarotu Combine boss sitting across from her. “Absolutely. I’m head over heels in love with him—he’s a good man, Denzin.”
“Playing above your class is never a good idea.”
“When was I ever smart enough to follow the rules?” she laughed, remembering her earlier, misguided crushes and some of the more recent affairs. “This is the real deal we have going on.”
A pair of waiters brought their meal and the conversation languished while the plates were put on the table. Denzin flicked his hand and both servers immediately withdrew from the room, closing the door quietly.
“Absolutely delicious,” Micki said, tasting her entrée.
“The management does a good job here and it’s discreet.” Denzin didn’t touch his meal. “Guys like him don’t marry dancers who started in the camps. Are you ready for what will happen when the dance show ends?”
She laid her fork on the plate and met his hard gaze. “It isn’t going to be like that for us. But if—if—we don’t go the distance and get the happy ending with all the bells and whistles, I won’t have any regrets at all, understand?”
