Total pages in book: 107
Estimated words: 101280 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 506(@200wpm)___ 405(@250wpm)___ 338(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 101280 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 506(@200wpm)___ 405(@250wpm)___ 338(@300wpm)
“You see?” Ass-licks threw out his hands. “Nothing.”
His bald-faced lying made my blood boil. I knew that Vik’tor had told me to stay in the ship, but I just had to say something.
I rose and pushed the button that opened the ship’s door.
THIRTY
VIK’TOR
“You see?” Azz’lx said, throwing out his hands. “Nothing.”
I felt a growl of frustration rising in my throat. I knew he was guilty of having Natalie driven away and trying to have her killed and he knew he was guilty, too. But I needed to be able to prove it. I fully intended to fire the fucker, but if I didn’t have good evidence of what he’d done, he could take me to court and make things difficult.
Suddenly, the door to my ship opened and Natalie stepped out.
Azz’lx stared at her as though he’d seen a ghost. Which as far as he knew, she was, since he’d given orders to have her killed.
“Wh-wh-what is she doing here?” he finally got out, in a quavering voice.
“Yeah, what are you doing out here, baby?” I asked, frowning pointedly. I had wanted to keep her in the ship so she would be safe in case Azz’lx got any crazy ideas.
“Just proving a point,” she said coolly. She stepped up to the passenger side of the tunnel crawler and leaned down. Reaching under the seat, she pulled out what looked like a little white cloth package.
“What’s that?” Azz’lx asked blankly.
I was wondering the same thing myself, but Natalie was quick to answer.
“It’s the snack I packed myself after we ate breakfast together,” she told me. “See?”
She unwrapped the napkin and I saw the crumbled remains of the multicolored pies and a few of the little cakes we’d had during our first meal together. It was funny to think that had been just yesterday. It seemed fucking years ago, which I guessed wasn’t surprising considering everything we’d been through since then.
“You see—she was stealing from you!” Azz’lx exclaimed triumphantly.
“No, I wasn’t!” Natalie denied. She looked at me. “I just wasn’t sure if you were really going to want to keep me around so I…I wrapped a few things in a napkin just in case you decided to send me back down to the Central Hub.”
“As if I’d want to let you go, baby,” I murmured, putting an arm around her.
“Will you listen to yourself!” Azz’lx demanded, glaring at me. “’As if I’d want to let you go’,” he mimicked savagely. “This Blood Whore has bewitched you! You need to get rid of her before she empties your entire bank account and takes over your building!”
“Why, you nasty little man!” Natalie lifted her chin, glaring at Azz’lx. “You think I’m trying to do away with Vik’tor and take over his money and property? Well let me tell you—I wouldn’t care if he owned all of O’nagga Nine, I still wouldn’t want to stay here! The only thing I want is to get back home to Earth and to never see this miserable ball of ice again!”
I stared at her uncertainly. This was definitely going to put a crimp in any future relationship. My business and my home were on O’nagga Nine. There was no way I could leave it.
Well, we would have to talk about that later. For now, I needed to settle things with my soon to be former second-in-command.
“Azz’lx,” I said, frowning at him. “Are you still going to try and deny that you sent Natalie away in your crawler to a dangerous tunnel outside of Gaz’snx and then called her pimp and ordered him to kill her? And remember—all of this is being recorded by the viewscreen of my ship right now.”
“No, I don’t deny it—the little whore deserved it!” Azz’lx snapped, glaring at Natalie. “First she denied me what I wanted, then she made you mad at me. I knew if I let her stay she’d only cause more trouble so I tried to get rid of her.” He pointed at me. “And don’t bother trying to take me to Court or get the authorities involved—you know hsh’frux don’t have any rights on O’nagga Nine. Nobody’s going to care.”
“I’m not going to try and get you arrested,” I growled. “I’m not even going to kill you—which is what I fucking wanted to do.”
Azz’lx paled and took a step away from me.
“Vik’tor, listen to yourself! How can you be talking like this to me of all people? Why, you’ve known me for years!”
“No, Azz’lx—I’m beginning to think I never knew you at all,” I told him. “I never knew you were the kind of male who would try to rape a female—or try to have a helpless female killed, just to cover your ass. But I’m not going to kill you, as I said. And you can thank Natalie for that,” I added. “She’s the one who begged for your life.”