Breakwater: Rick (BBW Bad Boy Space Bear Shifter Romance) (Star Bears Book 2) by Becca Fanning Read Free Book Online

a villainous mastermind on your own, exactly?” He asked as she leaned into him, stretching out a few aches and adjusting to being on her feet.

    “I wasn’t alone. And Lan Doro isn’t a mastermind. And I am stealthy and amazing,” she told him, forming her words precisely as the fog of sleep slowly cleared out of her mind.

    “I mean I’d go with ‘you’re lucky that you’re pretty,’ but sure let’s go with that,” Rick answered. Zosha cycled through reactions to that, from offended to teasing to nonchalant, before focusing on the important bit.

    “You think I’m pretty?” she asked with a sleep-drunk smile, batting her eyelashes at him.

    “Haven’t kicked you out of bed yet, have I? Or the cockpit, for that matter.”

    “’Cause you know I’d kick you in the cockpit if you tried.”

    “Almost flawless comeback, that. Points off for there not actually being a pit near my cock.”

    “There will be if you try anything, just ask Custer,” Zosha said.

    Rick laughed and began pulling her towards the kitchen. “Alright, then, I’ll be a perfect gentleman.”

    “Nope, too late, you already told me about the Great Brothel Escape,” she told him.

    “And there goes the sterling reputation I’ve spent years polishing,” he said. Suddenly, his face fell. “Zosha, I just want you to know that everything is going to be okay.”

    It seemed like a silly thing to say out of the blue, and Zosha was confused until the conversation she’d thought she dreamed came back in fragments. She was suddenly much more awake.

    “Oh, God, they’ve decided what to do with me,” she said.

    “Yes, they have,” Rick said soothingly. “And they’re going to help you. I need you to trust me. Can you do that, just for ten minutes?”

    Looking in those warm, golden eyes, Zosha thought she could trust him for a lot longer than ten minutes. She nodded and followed him the rest of the way to the kitchen.

    The others were already sitting around the table when Zosha and Rick arrived, a sense of déjà vu sweeping over her. There were two chairs open across from where the captain was sitting, Annie leaning on his back with her arms around his shoulders, and Rick sat down comfortably, Zosha following suit after a second of hesitation.  

    “Alright, so,” Captain Ingram began, “the brilliant love of my life has had an idea. I, personally, think it’s a damn good one, and these chucklefucks,” he gestured at Dominic, Hyde, and Custer, “apparently agree enough that they’re willing to consider it. If you think you can do your part.”

    The captain looked up and locked eyes with Annie, who nodded. She straightened up, leaning an elbow on Ingram’s shoulder, and addressed the room.

    “So, it seems to me what we have here is a thief with a ledger and an asteroid locked in a civil war,” she said. “And, of course, what we’ve always had: our job. It seems to me there’s a way to combine those.

    “Stop me, Zosha, if I get any of this wrong. After Strathmore’s long overdue demise, the Rahm brothers split and began fighting each other for control of Lytos. You had the misfortune of pickpocketing the wrong man. Lan Doro, something of a supplier to the younger Rahm, had a notebook detailing the U4 trade he was running. This notebook is now in your possession. Yes? Good. Now, I know all of you know what U4 is and exactly how much you can make smuggling it because we’ve been on the lookout for an opportunity to get in on the game. And this,” Annie said, pointing at Zosha, “is that opportunity.”

    “How so?” asked Hyde.  

    “We know what all three parties involved in this want. Zosha wants to get rid of the notebook and make it out of this safely. We want in on the U4 trade. And the older Rahm wants his brother out of the way.”

    “Wait,” Zosha interrupted. “When did Sylas Rahm get involved?”

    “We’re involving him,” Annie said, the steel back in her eyes, “because it’s the