Matavara had a well-earned reputation for being one of the most dangerous cities in the ’verse. It made Brava look like a pastoral resort town. Matavara had no good districts; it only had bad districts and worse districts.
“Silva is providing their own security, so the event will be safe enough. I can’t get you an invite, though, and I doubt gate crashers are going to be welcomed.”
“Depends on the gate. And the crasher.”
Chapter 11
Ian seethed in silence as the transport returned us to Brava, which suited me fine. The transport dropped us at the Jade hotel, where this ill-fated evening had begun. Ian wrapped his hand around my upper arm, his grip almost painfully tight.
“If you want to bruise me, there are easier ways,” I said.
He released me like I was on fire. “Do. Not. Move,” he ordered, biting off each word. “I have a transport on the way.”
“I must return to Aurora and prep it to meet us in Matavara. Or were you lying about that as well?”
Ian rounded on me so quickly that I couldn’t suppress my flinch. Fury suffused his face before he took a deep breath and hid it beneath a mask nearly as perfect as my own.
“Aurora isn’t going anywhere near Matavara,” he said.
“You’re breaking your word?” Disappointment, hot and heavy, pressed on my chest. I’d trusted him and he’d lied to me. Twice. Fool me once and all that, and I was indeed a fool.
The more I thought about the betrayal, the deeper the hurt stabbed, until my public facade was in danger of cracking. I shoved the feelings deep and locked the door.
I was done with people who lied to me. I turned on my heel and walked away.
But nothing was ever that easy when Ian was involved. He fell into step beside me. “I said Aurora wasn’t going near Matavara, not you, Lady Bianca. I know you want to paint me as the villain in your little drama, but if you would stop jumping to conclusions, you would realize we were on the same side.”
I stopped and spun to face him, anger blazing bright enough to shatter the ice surrounding me. “Oh, so we were on the same side when you were working a deal with Guskov that would send me home trapped in a prison of my own honor? Is that when we were on the same side? Or maybe it was when you were putting a bounty on me? We are many things, Ian Bishop, but we are not on the same side.”
“Are you finished?”
Anger spiked into rage, but I wrenched my emotions under control, until my voice came out cool and cutting. “With you? Yes, I am quite finished.” I started walking again, not sure where I was going except far away from him.
Ian did not follow me. Instead, he called after me, “We have an agreement. Now who is breaking their word?”
I kept walking. “I learned from you that I only have to honor agreements when it suits me,” I said over my shoulder. “And today it does not suit.”
“I can get us an invite to the party,” he said.
“So can I,” I called back.
“I have a ship that’s ready to jump,” he said. He was following me now, keeping me in speaking distance but not coming closer.
“I can catch a starliner.”
“I can stop negotiating and return you to your father.”
I whirled around and stalked back toward him. I stepped into his personal space, nearly chest to chest. I glared up at him, cursing my height as much as him. “Do it, then,” I taunted. “I dare you. Lock me in my suite in House von Hasenberg. I’ll be out before the end of the day and on my way to the party before you realize I’m missing.”
“Keeping pushing me, Bianca, and I will lock you in your suite, even if I have to carry you there myself and then sit outside the door.”
The thought of Ian carrying me to my bedroom was not as repugnant as he probably meant it to be. In fact, in the right circumstances, it would be delicious. I banished that thought before it had time to grow roots and make itself at home.
“Are you ready to be reasonable yet?” he asked.
I closed my eyes and counted to five. If I kept staring at his handsome, infuriating face, then I would do something unwise.
“Why did you betray me?” The question slipped out, tinted with sadness and pain.
I opened my eyes in time to catch the flicker in his expression. His mask slipped a tiny bit, revealing a kaleidoscope of feelings, before smoothing over once again. “My job is to keep you safe,” he said. “I don’t want to see you hurt.”
“And it didn’t occur to you that your betrayal would hurt me?”
I’d surprised him. He said, “I thought you would be furious.”
“I am,” I assured him, “but I’m also hurt. Despite rumors to the contrary, I am not a robot. When I trust someone and they break that trust, it stings.”
“You trust me?”
“I did. Why would you doubt that? You’re the director of House security and I’ve known you for nearly seven years. You may infuriate me on occasion, but you’ve never lied to me before.”
His expression flickered again. Holy hell, he had lied to me before, and I’d not caught it. I shook my head at my own stupidity.
A transport settled next to us. Ian clasped my elbow with extreme gentleness, as if I were made of glass. He’d taken my dig about bruising to heart. “Please come with me, Lady Bianca,” he said.
I shook my head. “I am not setting foot on your ship,” I said. “You are no longer trusted. If you wish to accompany me, you may. We will go to Aurora to get supplies, then hop a starliner to Andromeda Prime. I need a dress.”
“Aurora is already on its way to your sister on APD Zero.”
My mouth popped open in surprise. “What?”
“Your ship is no longer here,” he said. “It’s in orbit, waiting to jump to APD Zero.”
All ships were capable of autonomously navigating between locations without an active crew, but I’d never used the feature with Aurora. I liked my ship and stayed on my ship, and if I had to leave it, I came back for it. Although I knew it was perfectly capable of making the trip, anxiety fueled my anger.
“The guards just let you waltz away with my ship?” I demanded.
“The guards were well compensated to look the other way. If you didn’t want me to steal your ship, you really should’ve changed the override codes.”
Yes, I really should’ve. I could blame the oversight on weariness and adrenaline, but it was a critical failure on my part. I hadn’t expected Ian to catch up with me so quickly and now I had to deal with the consequences.
“Why send the ship to Ada?” I worked through it. “You didn’t want it on Earth where I could use it to escape again. You bastard.”
He didn’t reply.
“Were you ever planning to let me go to the Syndicate party or was this a ruse from the beginning?” When he remained silent, I closed my eyes. Of course. “I’m surprised you let me meet with Guskov at all. Why?” I paused. “Ah. You wanted me to be bound by my word to return to Earth. Well played, Director Bishop.”
I’d been manipulated from the beginning. If not for my ability to read messages from thin air, I’d be on my way back to Earth right now. I tried to summon the protective fury I’d found earlier, but I just felt sad and tired. I don’t know why I’d expected Ian to be different from everyone else, but I had, and the letdown hurt.