Page 115 of Smuggler's Beauty

Cairn had just shrugged. “You’ll be queen. Pay the fine and move on, I say.”

Evelyn had then had a sudden need to excuse herself to the restroom, where she sat with her head between her knees for five full minutes before she’d been calm enough to come take her seat.

Aiden buckled himself into the other open seat next to Evelyn. She grabbed his hand and squeezed, needing the comfort of his touch as much as she wanted to provide him some. He gave a weak smile and adjusted his video glasses on his nose.

“So, landing directly on planet in the middle of a public square — better or worse for you than jumping out into the vacuum of space?”

He tilted his head as he considered her question. He adjusted his set of press credentials and sighed.

“Vaguely better. If we crash and die, hopefully the impact knocks us out, and we’re unaware. Being fully conscious as you suffocate in space sounds worse. And this way I get to really hold your hand.”

Evelyn felt her insides go all gooey.

“Stop it, you’ll make her go all soft, and we need her steely,” Veronique said. “Be romantic about your impending deaths later.”

Aiden just grinned, pulled Evelyn’s hand to his mouth, and kissed her knuckles. She tried to school her expression, but she could feel the grin tugging at the corners of her lips. Stars above, she was in love with this man.

She’d realized it when she saw the bookshelves in his — their — quarters, but worried he’d chalk it up to drunken amorous enthusiasm if she told him then. So she had kept her damn mouth shut.

But there was no denying it now.Great timing, brain. Real convenient.

Veselko finished securing the recording equipment and buckled himself into his seat across the narrow aisle. He was more subdued than Evelyn had remembered seeing him since they’d met.

Nerves get to everyone.

Elenor settled in next to him and patted his knee. She looked like she was hopping on a transpo to make a marketing meeting, unconcerned and polished as ever.

“Alright, everyone buckle in,” Cairn said. “This is going to be a wee bit . . . lurchy.”

Evelyn tugged on the restraint to make sure it was in place, then reached over and tugged on Aiden’s as well, mostly to try to make him laugh. He twitched the corners of his mouth, and she felt his hand tighten slightly around hers.

The ship’s faster-than-light capacity powered up. The engines hummed, and the gentle glow of the stars increased around them. The view screen became a brilliant mass of streaked white light, and Evelyn felt the bottom of her stomach drop out. Aiden’s grip on her hand was tighter still, but he avoided crushing her bones together, his admirable control still evident even in the face of his anxiety.

Her ears popped, and her body jerked against the restraints as the ship instantly decreased its speed. The light that emanated from the view screen was no longer the streaky lines of stationary stars being passed at staggering speed, but the bright, clear noontime sky of the Tanalian spring day.

People milled about on the ground. Those directly under the jump ship were scattering, running off the grass. People in the streets pointed at the ship, waved, took out their communicators, and started recording their sudden arrival. They had refrained from marking the jump ship in any way,but Lillian had rigged the speaker system to play the familiar Tanalian folk song that had been the background of the first round of videos.

It was not the theme song Evelyn would have picked for herself.

“Showtime, darling,” Veronique said.

“This is not subtle,” Evelyn grumbled.

“Subtlety only works on individual cons. The masses need to be beaten over the head with a concept.”

Nannette unbuckled her restraints and placed the last hairpin into the knot at the back of her head. She fished a pair of mirrored sunglasses from her jacket pocket and slid them on before helping Veselko settle into the vest and shoulder carrier for the recording equipment. They weren’t newscasters, but they were absolutely recording every move they made and streaming it across the planet. Other legitimate stations would pick up the feeds and run with them, and Lillian would be bypassing the locals and streaming directly to the galactic news networks’ tip lines.

Most people didn’t like to take pot shots when they knew there was simulcast evidence of their guilt. They were counting on the combination of eyes on Evelyn, the element of a surprise entrance, and Corvinia’s promise of chaos on the ground to keep Evelyn safe during the short walk to the Senate building.

Unbuckling her restraint, Evelyn rose from her seat and smoothed her skirt, amazed that the blaster in her pocket really wasn’t noticeable at all.

Let’s hear it for flowing skirts and miniature munitions.

The rest of the crew set themselves into their various roles. Elenor and Nannette looked like formidable, expensive security consultants. Aiden and Veselko were settling into their newscaster guises admirably. Veronique had set up an additional keyboard, functional buttons that mystified Evelyn,but her nimble fingers were flying across the keypad as she murmured to Lillian and Tariel back on theRising Dawn.

Aiden brushed a nonexistent piece of fluff from Evelyn’s shoulder.

“You can do this, dollface,” he said. He kissed her on the forehead.