Authors: Laurie Roma
Archer jerked at the sound of the door to the holo room sliding open, then relaxed again as he saw Jax enter. Frowning at them, Jax braced his hands on his hips.
“Well, hell. You started without me.”
“You snooze, you lose, bro,” Archer said, nuzzling Serra’s throat. “You snooze, you lose.”
“The schematics were just transferred. Takeshi said we should have a location soon.”
“That’s good news.” Serra glanced up, and a slow grin curved her lips as Jax began to undress. “Perhaps we should celebrate.”
“Just what I had in mind…”
***
Chapter Thirteen
New Vega was a floating pleasure palace in space.
On approach, it looked like a large destroyer-class vessel, made of a black metal and dark tinted glass that blended seamlessly into the backdrop of space. The owners of New Vega took the safety of their patrons seriously. No expense had been spared to outfit the ship with defenses, as well as power weapons, making it an almost impenetrable fortress.
But inside, it was a whole different world.
The cruiser docked in one of the landing bays and half of their party left to enter New Vega by a separate entrance that had been arranged with the Krytos owners so anyone watching wouldn’t see them arriving together. Serra, Jax and Archer walked toward the main doors with Skylar, Officers Ryans,
Meyer and Rhine following behind them. The large doors leading into New Vega slide open silently, and a barrage of sounds assailed them all at once.
The stark gray of the landing bay gave way to the cream and gold opulent interior of New Vega. Laughter and music drifted through the perfumed air, and Serra paused as two beautiful women with breasts the size of large melons came forward to greet the men.
She had never really given the women who worked on New Vega much thought, but that changed as she saw the double take her men did at seeing the female greeters ample assets on display through their transparent gold sarong dresses. She frowned as the two women practically rubbed up against Jax and Sully as they placed leis of white flowers around their necks. Serra shared a look with Skylar as her friend moved to her side.
“Oh, hell no,” Skylar muttered under her breath. “No wonder men like to come here so often. Are those things even real?”
“I don’t believe that’s anatomically possible.”
Skylar let out a snicker. “Want me to drop those bitches for you?”
Serra considered her friend’s offer for the briefest of moments before shaking her head. “Not worth it.”
“I disagree, but it’s your call,” Skylar groused, then lowered her voice into a purr. “Well, well. Now we’re talking…”
Serra turned her head in the direction Skylar was looking and blinked in surprise as two enormous men walked up to them holding leis made of pale pink flowers. The male greeters had skin tanned a dark, golden-brown, and their bare chests were oiled to a gleaming shine. Both males wore a sarong wrap around their waists, but the cloth was short enough to reveal their muscular thighs.
One of the men stepped forward to place his lei around Skylar’s neck, using it to pull her closer. A sharp bang sounded from above, and Serra looked up to see Dominic and Arik up on one of the balconies, glaring down at Skylar. Serra was about to warn her, but was distracted as the other male greeter moved forward. Before he could touch her, Jax ripped the lei out of the male greeter’s hand and growled, “I don’t fucking think so.”
The lei was unceremoniously shoved over Serra’s head, then Jax pulled her away from the other males. “Hypocrite,” Serra accused softly, but gentled her rebuke with a small smile.
Jax glowered at her. “I’d rather not start our vacation off by killing someone.”
“At least you didn’t break the building.” Serra looked up just in time to watch Dom toss away a broken piece of the railing.
Archer leaned in so his lips were close to her ear. “I wasn’t really looking…I was just trying to figure out how those women were able to stand up straight with those implants. You’d think they’d fall over or something.”
“Stop wondering,” Serra said dryly.
She shot him a glare as he coughed to cover up his laughter, then yelped as Jax pulled her roughly into his arms. “You know damn well we aren’t interested in anyone but you.”
“I know,” she said with a happy sigh, but lost her smile when one of the female greeters spoke.
“I would be pleased to show you to your room.”
No way in hell.
“That’s okay,” Serra said with an icy smile as the woman moved toward Archer again. “I believe we can find our own way.”
“Fierce,” Jax breathed out before nipping her ear with his teeth.
“I’ll show you fierce. If she comes anywhere near our room, I’m asking that mountain over there to carry my bags,” Serra whispered back tilting her head toward one of the large male greeters who patiently waited a few steps away.
Jax’s eyes narrowed. “Not going to happen.”
He picked up her bag himself, then gestured their entourage forward. They had only walked a few steps when Tania Lysander-Dobbs stormed up in front of them and slapped Serra hard across the face.
“You stupid whore! You’ve ruined everything!”
Hearing his woman cry out had Jax’s blood boiling, and he had to force himself not to strike back against the older woman. Instead, he pushed Serra into Archer’s arms and stepped in front of them, meeting Tania’s furious gaze with his own.
“If you ever strike my chosen again, I will break your fucking hand.”
Tania must have recognized the icy blast of his barely controlled rage in those softly spoken words, because she stumbled back a step, straight into Skylar’s waiting arms. She let out a screech of protest as Skylar roughly jerked her hands behind her back.
“Give me a reason, you bitch,” Skylar whispered gleefully as she slapped on the restraints. “Please resist and give me a reason to knock your stupid ass unconscious.”
“What is the meaning of this? Unhand me!”
Holding a hand to her cheek, Serra tried to move to Jax’s side, but he used an arm to hold her behind him. “No, baby. You stay away from her.”
Serra sighed. “Well, at least she made it easy to find her.”
“She did,” Jax agreed, then turned his attention back to the struggling woman when she let out a wild screech of pain.
Skylar shot him an innocent look as she held up one of her bare hands, so only their group could see the energy crackling along her palm like faint wisps of blue lightning. “It was only a little jolt. She’ll live.”
Jax ignored her, focusing all his wrath on the woman who had terrorized his beloved as a child, and cost them years of happiness together. His smile was downright feral as he said, “I’ve been looking forward to speaking with you, Tania. In fact, I’d say I’ve been waiting years for it.”
Dark satisfaction filled him as the woman went still, and all the color drained from her face. “I don’t have anything to say to you. Serra, you tell them to let me go! How can you let them treat your mother like this?”
“You stopped being my mother the second you messed with my mind,” Serra said, her voice devoid of all emotion. Tania’s mouth dropped open and her eyes widened in fear.
“Take her up to our suite,” Archer ordered Skylar and the officers after he noticed the attention they were getting from the crowd. As they left, he gently lifted a hand to touch the red mark on Serra’s cheek, and couldn’t stop his own hands from shaking with anger. “Are you all right, baby?”
“I’m fine. Or I will be. Let’s just get this done.”
****
Archer watched Serra carefully as she huddled in front of her data unit with Takeshi.
He had to admire how well she was taking the entire situation, but he was also worried. She was excellent at compartmentalizing, and was focused on finishing their mission before she dealt with her emotions. It might not be the healthiest of reactions, but it was how she processed bad situations and kept working. God knew she’d had enough of those in her life so she’d had plenty of practice. He knew there would be fallout later, but he would be there for her when that happened.
Both he and Jax would always be there for her.
Hell, Archer had to keep it together, especially after Jax had all but lost his shit. The worst of Jax’s rage had been alleviated by slamming his fist through the wall as soon as they had entered the privacy of their suite. Archer was used to Jax’s tantrums, but they had both been worried about Serra’s reaction. Even at his worst, Archer knew that Jax would never hurt her, but she might not understand Jax’s need to release some of his aggression in a physical way.
But after Jax hit the wall, Serra had simply raised a brow and frowned at him. “You’re going to pay for that…and apologize to the owners.”
Stars, Archer loved her.
They had secured Tania Lysander-Dobbs in the conference room located within their suite. It was equipped with soundproofing and high-grade locks, which made it the perfect temporary holding cell for their prisoner. They’d decided to leave her in the room while they waited for the rest of their team to arrive, then they’d argued about who would get to interrogate her.
It didn’t help that everyone wanted a shot at Tania.
In the end, it was decided that Jax, Dom and High Commander Newgate would take the first run at questioning her. Archer had wanted to go in with them, but he’d needed to hold Serra while she had watched more then he’d needed to assuage his own anger.
It enraged him when he’d felt her shaking as Tania had confessed to bribing her way on to Tartarus, where she had brokered the deal to have Serra programmed with the
xili
drug back when she was seventeen. And for what? Pure and simple greed. Tania had known Serra was the key to ensuring she had been able to live the lifestyle she had always wanted, and she’d been enraged when she’d heard about Serra’s claiming ceremony through her network of gossip.
Tania has sneered at Jax when she had answered. “I saw the way you looked at her. I had to do something. You would have ruined everything if you had claimed Serra when she turned eighteen, and I couldn’t allow that. You still managed to get your way, even though I paid good credits to make sure she stayed away from you.”
As she had been questioned, she didn’t hold anything back. Now that she had been caught there was no need. It was apparent that she didn’t understand how much trouble she was in, but it wasn’t their duty to inform her of the ramifications of what she’d done until they were finished.
Halfway through the interrogation, Serra had turned around and walked over to the living room to open her data unit. “I’ve seen enough. She’s nothing to me now.”
Takeshi also turned his back on the viewing screen, and after sharing a look with Archer, moved to sit down next to Serra on the couch to help her with her work. Archer shifted in his position so he could continue to watch the interrogation, and still keep his eye on his chosen. He was sickened by the way Tania continued to speak about how she had betrayed her own daughter with such ease, answering whatever questions she was asked. It wasn’t until Jax demanded to know about the theft of Serra’s work that Archer caught her lie.
“I’m telling you, I don’t know what you’re talking about. Who cares about that stuff, anyways. Serra just hands it all over to the Alliance, so why are you asking me?”
“Where is your assistant Eloise?” Dom pressed.
Tania’s lips tightened in distain before she spat out, “Why the hell do I care? I fired that useless girl a week ago.”
The men called a break and left Tania in the conference room, but when she saw Cade and Andrew standing in the doorway, she began to scream, demanding to be set free. “Do something! Help me, you fools!”
Ignoring her, Cade closed the door to the conference room himself, locking her in. “I always knew there was something wrong with her,” Cade began. “But I never knew she was just plain evil.”
Andrew turned to High Commander Newgate. “Sir, I’d like to officially request that our claim on Tania be stricken from—”
“Already done,” Roman Newgate said. “Your bond was broken the moment she committed treason by conspiring with the Tarins and used
xili
on your daughter.”
“She’s hiding something, but I need a break away from that bloody bitch,” Jax muttered as he stalked over to stand behind Serra. Needing to do something for her, he began to rub her shoulders.
“So do I,” Dom said as he rolled his neck to relieve the tension there. “Stars, she deserves the worst mother of the fucking century award.” He winced as he turned in Serra’s direction to apologize.
“Don’t worry. I agree with you,” she assured him.
“Archer and I will take the next round,” Arik said. “She was lying about her assistant.”
“She was,” Archer agreed.
Jax leaned over and pressed a kiss onto the top of Serra’s head. “Come on, sweetheart. Why don’t we take a little break—”
Serra tilted her head up. “We could…or I could tell you that the Strike Force Team you sent out got the buyer.”
“No shit?”
She nodded then let out a laugh when Jax lifted her straight up off the couch, turning her to press a hard kiss on her mouth.
“The buyers were tracked to a small outpost outside the Odalla sector on Reema,” Takeshi said as he fingers blurred over the keyboard. The viewing screen on the wall switched from showing Tania sitting in the conference room to the footage taken from a camera that had been on one of the Strike Force team members during the takedown. “The team found a group of marauders that have been known for trading in black market goods.”
“Any survivors?” Roman Newgate asked.
“Two. Five were killed in the takedown. No casualties for the Strike Force.”
“I need coffee.” Serra turned away from the violence on screen, trying to hold back a yawn.
“I’ll get it.” Officer Ryans popped up from his seat and hurried over to the food console.
“I want Officers Nolan and Prentice taken into custody. They’re here on New Vega, and I want them in interrogation. Since Eloise Greer is in the wind, they might know where she is.”