Page 7 of Smuggler's Beauty

Aiden was a list man. There was something magical about the way that a juggernaut of a problem could become manageable when taken out of the anxiety spiral in his mind and put down on paper. He wished he had a whiteboard on the jump ship, but a mental list was going to have to do while they headed back.

He drew wrappers to his side from the pile in front of Cairn and absently wheeled them in the air as he tried to figure out just what Vinnie wanted with a human woman.

Was Evelyn to be a hostage for ransom? A political pawn? If so, why take this route?

And what the hell was Aiden and his crew going to do about the position they were in now? They had been counting on a big score to get them out of their various troubles. He knew that handing Evelyn over to be used as a ransomed hostage was out of the question for him, and for the entire crew of theDawn. If this was an actual kidnapping and not a rescue mission, their payday just went up in smoke.

Aiden didn’t traffic humans. Would he cheerfully smuggle a litter of kittens to Taurus Nine? Absolutely. They got to go be pampered in the houses of socialites whose parents couldn’t be bothered to fill out paperwork and wait for quarantine periods to be over, and the crew got paid. Blasters to revolutionaries on planets not inducted into the Galactic Planetary Collective? Not a problem, and good luck with your uprising.

But they all drew the line at human beings, and Vinnie knew that. As annoyed as he was at her for throwing him into thisposition completely unprepared, Aiden also knew that Vinnie respected his lines.

He wouldn’t sell someone for money. He wasn’tthatdesperate to get off theDawn.

Vinnie wouldn’t waste her credits on a mission he would refuse to fulfill.

That left political motivations.

Aiden didn’t know a whole lot about Vinnie other than she paid her bills on time and always came through with her end of a bargain. They didn’t even know what planet she was from. Vinnie had popped up in the criminal underworld seemingly out of nowhere about fifteen years ago. No one had a bad thing to say about her. She kept her mouth shut and didn’t welch. She delivered. Until now, it had been good enough for Aiden.

He zoned back in on the conversation happening around him.

Plenty of time to deal with this crisis on board.

The Rising Dawncame into view, a gleaming jewel hovering straight ahead of the jump ship. The name was painted on the side of the sleek silver ship in bright red script. “Premium Galactic Frivolity Vessel For Hire. You Buy, We Fly!” was printed in smaller lettering underneath the name of the ship, along with contact information for booking purposes.

“Is that. . . is that a party vessel?” Evelyn asked. She squinted. “You’re spiriting me away in a party vessel?”

“Brilliant cover, right?” Cairn said, nudging her with his shoulder.

“You can pretty much go anywhere when you’re shuttling rich idiots around for money,” Aiden said. “No one asks too many questions, especially if you act like denying the client is going to be more trouble than it’s worth.”

Evelyn tilted her head, considering. Her bottom lip disappeared beneath her teeth for a moment.

“You both lead much more interesting lives than I do.”

CHAPTER FOUR

Evelyn tuckedher hair behind her ears and squared her shoulders. The fact that she was being . . . Rescued? By pirates. On a party vessel. She supposed it wasn’t objectively any less weird than any of the other things that had happened to her since she entered into The Agreement with her father and Emil. At least this was giving her an opportunity to stretch her legs.

Is a rescue only a kidnapping if you’re displeased by the person who’s shown up for you?

Cairn was clearly showing off his skills as a pilot as he brought the jump ship in for the smoothest manual docking she’d ever felt, either to put her at ease or to annoy Aiden. From what little she’d been able to judge of him so far, Evelyn suspected his motivations were equally divided. She had liked the man immediately; his rakish charm and competent manner had put her at ease at once.

“Home sweet home,” Aiden said. He was standing at the entrance to the corridor they had entered the bridge from. A trio of candy wrappers circled in the air next to him, he seemed to be juggling them with an absent-minded lack of focus. When henoticed where Evelyn was looking, the wrappers sailed into his hand. “Sorry. Cairn tells me it’s a disconcerting habit.”

“Creepy,” Cairn said. “I say it’s a creepy habit.”

“I don’t mind,” Evelyn said. “It’s actually sort of nice to see something familiar after so long.”

Aiden nodded. “Shall we? No need to put the helmets back on. We have a clear path back to the lobby.”

“After you.”

Evelyn hefted the helmet up off the floor and hugged it to her body as she followed Aiden and Cairn down the corridor and through the hatch to the docking bay of theRising Dawn. The helmet was a far cry from the zing she’d felt holding Aiden’s hand as they’d drifted through space to the jump ship, but Evelyn would find her comfort objects as they came.

Captives can’t be choosers.

The floor was tiled with black and white penny tile, black flowers dotting an ivory background. The walls were a soft yellow, and one wall had the ship’s name painted in bold red script. There was a small stand with leaflets describing the ship’s amenities next to the doorway Aiden and Cairn were heading through. She grabbed one and tucked it down the front of the spacesuit. Hopefully it wouldn’t migrate too far down her body before she could get the damn thing off.