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“If you walk away from me, you’ll never find him,” Kozien assured her. “I swear it. We’re wasting time right now. Valuable time. He could be in terrible danger.”
He saw something flash through her eyes, and he realized he had hit on one of her worst fears. A part of her was worried her brother was in real, mortal danger, and every second wasted could mean his life.
“Okay,” she said hesitantly, “but I wasn’t kidding that I don’t have any credits to pay you.”
Yes, he doubted she had any credits to give, and what few she had were too precious to waste.
“As you like,” he nodded. This pretty much confirmed his suspicions that she couldn’t pay. “Come and meet my brothers. They aren’t necessary for the mission, but it’s always good to have backup when you’re heading into dangerous territory.”
Kozien rose and headed out onto the street. Gianna followed, the late afternoon sun reflecting off her dark hair in ruby red glints. He couldn’t take his eyes off her, and he knew his infatuation with her was a very bad sign.
I might be signing up to this for all the wrong reasons. It’s not like I can help myself, though.
He found his brothers not far away at a different bar, which was far more reputable than the one where he’d met Gianna. Grux and Trigg were setting up to play a game with a group of other patrons, something to do with throwing darts at a nearby target. When they saw Kozien approach, they beckoned him over, but their faces fell when they realized the human was with him.
“Kozien, what are you doing with thathuman?” Grux muttered. “Come on inside and get ready to play against our friends here. We could use a third.”
“No, no.” Kozien held up his hands. “This is more important. Gianna, this lovely young lady, has a missing brother, and she would like to hire our services to find him.”
There was a moment of intense silence as Grux and Trigg looked between Kozien and Gianna’s faces. Then they burst out laughing at the same time.
“Are you out of your mind, brother?” Grux cackled. “She can’t pay. Even you can see that.”
“No way am I working for free,” Trigg wiped his eyes. “What the hell are you thinking? Don’t waste our damn time.”
Kozien fought to control himself as tension ran through his arms and shot up into his neck. He couldn’t believe his brothers would dare to speak to him like that.
“It is a good mission,” he muttered. They laughed even harder.
Gianna took a step back. Even though Kozien didn’t blame her, he couldn’t let her leave.
“Wait!” He spun and gently grabbed her arm. “Don’t listen to them. I don’t even need them. I was asking them simply to be polite.”
Behind him, his brothers tried to regain control, but they couldn’t stop chuckling. Kozien sighed and ignored them.
“If you are willing, Miss Clay, I can help you without them tagging along to slow me down.”
He heard his brothers attempting to hold their giggles back, but they weren’t doing a good job.
“I don’t know,” she muttered, her dark eyes full of confusion. He saw a lot of fear there, too. She was genuinely worried about her brother.
“Just you and me.” Kozien pressed his fingers into her arm just a little. “No one else. I can do this, and I can do it far better on my own.”
His brothers had settled down now, even though one of them still chuckled. Kozien could feel their eyes on him as they watched the action, no doubt ready to judge him and give him hell for his decisions, no matter which way it went. He may be their leader on paper, but they were his brothers and quick to jump on any perceived weakness.
“I…” Gianna looked around uncertainly and then back into Kozien’s eyes. She focused on him, her mouth setting into a straight line.
“Just you and me?” she whispered.
He nodded. “Just us. No one else.”
Even though she still didn’t seem sure, he saw a look of determination cross her features. Gianna kept staring right at him as if she was blocking his brothers out of view.
“Okay,” she said. “I really need to find my brother. If you say you can do this, I believe you.” Gianna reached out and took his hand, squeezing his fingers gently. “I trust you,” she said. “I’ll go with you—alone.”
Kozien stared into her eyes, not quite believing what he just heard. He couldn’t wait to be alone with this woman, and for the first time in his life, he wasn’t bothered by what his brothers might say.
Gianna tilted her head a little and smiled at him. A flare of excitement lit in Kozien’s belly, igniting his heart. This was turning out to be a very interesting day.
