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My mind raced with all her possible exploits on the mission. Did she outsmart some guards? Fight off some goons? Sneak past Conii herself to get this evidence?
Then something new hit me. A feeling that I’d never truly had before, at least not in that way. Pride.
I was proud of Amber. She took these matters into her own hands and got the job done. She not only proved herself to Conii and all the others that treated her so poorly, but she proved herself to me, too. I’d never underestimate her abilities again.
“Amber, I…” My instinct was to finish the sentence with ‘love you.’ My instinct was to pull her close to me again and kiss her. My instinct was to grab her and never let go.
I loved Amber. That much was suddenly clear. What I felt was love, constant longing for her even when she was in the room, concern for her when she wasn’t. I’ve heard my Vinduthi brothers talk about their mates, and I realized now that love, like they had found, was the only explanation.
That moment just proved that fact to me. She was clearly a strong and formidable young woman. And there would be no one I’d want at my side more.
But I stopped myself. It was not the time for that. Plus, if I told Amber that I loved her… Well, if she didn’t feel the same way, admitting it would not be smart.
“You what?” Amber asked, responding to my sudden silence.
“I… Good job,” I managed to spit out.
“Thank you,” she said back with a smile.
“Did you get everything we needed?” I asked. It’d be best to get back on task before I said something I couldn’t take back. There would come a time later to process my thoughts about Amber.
“Oh,” Amber explained as she took a step back from me. She held up all the evidence in her hands, which, at first glance, seemed to be a lot of data chips. “I think so. I really do!”
I took all the evidence from her and scanned it quickly. None of it was encrypted which made it very easy. And she was right, she did well.
Baneck’s stolen liquor, receipts paid in full to the rival bar owner who bought it. Notes on the new CEO of TROI Corp, with details on selling as much stock as possible. Even Mr. Woviuya’s investment tip was there, in shares of investment stock of iridium.
This was exactly everything we needed, and then some more. Conii’s time on Thodos III was numbered.
“Fuck,” I breathed. “Amber, you’re fucking incredible.”
“Is it enough?”
“We need to get all of this to Draven, right now!”
“You think so?”
“Come on!”
I grabbed Amber by the hand, and she held onto me. I didn’t have to drag or pull her at all. The two of us rushed out the door onto the halls of Thodos III. The two of us ran all the way back to the Black Star Casino.
I could’ve easily ran ahead and made it to Draven with the evidence in less than half the time. But that wouldn’t be right. It was Amber’s victory, too, so I matched my pace to hers. She deserved to revel in it.
Once we reached the casino, we just sprinted through the crowds. The smart guests jumped out of the way. But a few unlucky folks not paying attention got tossed to the side by me.
We went straight to Draven’s office. I didn’t bother to knock or anything. I slammed the door open, and we rushed in.
“Ryrik!” Draven shouted from behind his desk. Thankfully he wasn’t in a meeting or with his mate, or I would’ve been in a lot of trouble regardless of how good this evidence was. “What’s the meaning of this?”
“We got it! Well, Amber got it!”
“Got what?” Draven demanded. “Tell me already!”
I tossed all the evidence Amber brought back onto Draven’s desk. He then tentatively looked at it. I watched as his eyes widened and his mouth went slack.
“Evidence of everything Conii has been up to lately. All her evidence to undermine the Black Star Casino by targeting our guests and using privileged information to hurt them. Everything that’s made our operation look shady to the guests recently can be linked back to her.”
“Holy fucking shit,” Draven muttered as he poured over the evidence. “This is what we’ve been waiting for.”
