Assassins in Love by Kris DeLake Read Free Book Online

“I don’t need saving.”
    He slowly leaned forward, his arm dropping at his side. “Really? Because those security guards were on their way when I found you. If I hadn’t helped, they would have found you fiddling with that airlock door, a dead body beside you, and you would have been arrested.”
    She crossed her arms. “I would not. They found us on a different floor.”
    “It doesn’t matter,” Misha said. “You don’t think that the moment a passenger touches the airlock controls that someone notices?”
    “I would have made the notice look like a glitch,” she said.
    “With what?” he asked. “Your magic powers?”
    She let out a small breath. She wasn’t going to argue that point with him. Once she had figured out the changes in the airlock controls, she would have made the changes.
    “They weren’t going to arrest me,” she finally said, knowing it sounded a bit lame.
    “Yes, they would have. The moment they saw Testrial’s body. Then, if you told them you’d been hired, they would have asked for proof, and you don’t have proof because I never gave you any.”
    “Except the initial order for the job,” she said.
    “Which isn’t enough for Litaera Sector.”
    “Fortunately, if they had found me with a dead body in that corridor, then they would have known I killed him in the NetherRealm. Tell me, who would have prosecuted me? In case you’ve forgotten, there’s no government in that realm, and the ship’s passenger instructions clearly state that the ship has no responsibility for crimes committed on board. The ship gives those instructions to cover its ass, in case thieves work the ship, to make sure there’s no liability. But it works the other way. The ship has security guards, sure, but they have no way to prosecute criminals.”
    “Right,” Misha said. He was leaning even closer, his blue eyes flat. “They give anyone they catch to the local government when they land.”
    “And the local government prosecutes if they have jurisdiction. But they have no jurisdiction in the NetherRealm.” She stood up. “I’ve done this before. A lot. And no matter what you think of me, I know my job.”
    “If you knew your job, you wouldn’t be causing so many goddamn problems.”
    She raised her eyebrows. He looked a bit stunned, as if he hadn’t expected those words to come out of his mouth. Or maybe that was just an act.
    “Problems?” she asked softly.
    “I’ve been arrested three times for your kills,” he said. “I’ve had to prove that I had nothing to do with them.”
    “Really?” she asked. Then she smiled. “Thanks for the confirmation.”
    His eyes narrowed. “Of what?”
    She grinned at him. “That my method works.”
    Then, wrapping her hand in a cloth napkin, she grabbed the biggest, gooiest pastry. She waved at him with the other.
    “Thanks for the great night. It always feels good to not only scratch an itch, but get some free clothes and food in the bargain.” She walked across the room.
    This time, he didn’t try to stop her. She got to the door before he even stood up. Then she waved two fingers, said, “See ya,” and let herself out.
    But before she closed the door, she leaned back in.
    “Oh,” she said as if she had just remembered something. “Since you saw my work, you know that I completed the job. You owe me the balance. Might as well pay now, since the final balance was due on notification of completion.”
    Then she pulled the door closed and headed down the hall.
    She wished she felt as jaunty as she had sounded. Instead, she was off balance and a bit confused.
    He had hired her? Why? Because she annoyed him?
    Or because he had planned for her to get caught, so he could prove that she was the one responsible for whatever killings he’d been arrested for?
    She stopped when that thought hit. The bastard planned to turn her into the authorities.
    Which was why he kept her in his room. The good sex, for him, was just a bonus.
    Suddenly she felt